I'm in Australia!

G'day everyone! And yes, people do say that frequently here. You are about to go to bed and it is 3:00PM in your FUTURE! I AM IN AUSTRALIA and God is good!!! It has sure been a whirlwind past couple of days (which have felt like a week). This place is in some ways different than I imagined it, but I love everything about everything I've experience so far! Best continent EVER- let me just sum up why thus far :) Well, I flew into LA and had an 8 hour layover where I just chilled and caught up with about 5 different people on the phone which was fun! I boarded my flight to Aussie land at 10:45PM. The flight wasn't too bad- I slept on and off most of it. I was planning on watching a movie but I was just too exhausted. Meals were STRANGE on the plane because of time change. Since I was still pretty much on IL time, they fed me pasta at 2 in the morning, a sandwich at 6AM and breakfast at 1PM. WEIRD! Anyway, I sat next to a lady from Tasmania who was going home so was able to talk with her for a while which was fun! Once I got to Sydney customs were easy to get through and once I finally got my luggage, I found the AIDE abroad person quickly. She took me to an area where I was going to ride a shuttle to my hostel with quite a few others. I was most concerned that I wouldn't have anyone to explore with my first day there (you know me, I love to be with people), but you know how God always provides- there was a girl on my shuttle going to my same hostel that I started talking to right away. She's pretty awesome- her name's Sophie, she's 24 and is from Belgium! She's going to be here for 7 months and plans to go to New Zealand in a week or so for about two months, come back to Australia and then go to some other countries. It has been so fun to meet all these adventurous people from all around the world! People jump all over the place! I told her I was planning on going to Hillsong church as well and we were able to have some other conversations on what I believed and live for and stuff. She was really surprised that I was pursuing that because most of the people who go to church in Belgium are old people and hardly anyone goes. She also could not believe they had a band play in the beginning of church and that a lot of younger people actually wanted to go- so I think she's going to come and check it out this weekend! How cool is God?! So if you can- keep that in your prayers. I know He has a plan.

We got to the hostel around 10:30AM or so on January 11, but I couldn't get into my room until after lunch so we grabbed some food (since we were starving) and explored the city a little bit. It is much busier than I was expecting- but I like it :) It reminds me of a much busier version of Hamilton, Bermuda. One strange thing is that people cannot decide which side of the sidewalk to walk on here. Most walk on the left, but then some walk on the right so you're constantly running into people. But that's probably a good thing for me anyway since I walk into people all the time in the first place, haha. See, Australia is made for me :) When we got back to the hostel, I got all my stuff to my room and we got dressed to go to the beach! After a little wandering trying to figure out which bus stop the Bondi Beach bus went to, we found it and were on our way. We sat next to another very independent girl from Thailand/Sweden named Falita who was on her way to go surfing! We got talking to her and decided to get off where she was going to get off. The beach was smaller than I was expecting and was busy since it's summer, but was beautiful! The water is so blue and I cannot tell you how amazing the warm sun feels after not really seeing it for 5 months. We found the surf shop called lets go surfing and she booked herself for a few days. It's so expensive so hopefully I can just meet some Australians who will be able to teach me for free. We chilled on the beach for a while, but were being pelted by sand. It was seriously SO windy there. Almost as windy as it would get in Bermuda. It was a funny sight to see, I poured out so much sand from my backpack when I got home lol. Once Falita went to go get ready to surf, Sophie and I went to explore the cliffs which were right next to the beach. Seriously who has cliffs next to a beach- this place is incredible! They were amazing. You can't really tell how awesome they are from the beach until you start climbing on them. Then once you round a corner the sight is breathtaking! The beauty of God was everywhere! There were dogs exploring and swimming too which was fun. There were also a ton of kids there- what an awesome place for kids to grow up. And of course the smell of the ocean was enough to help me know that God put this place in my heart for a reason and to actually be living this life-long desire to be in Australia- whaaaaaa?! Once we finished exploring the beach we headed back to the bus stop and passed a park, but not for kids (no not in Australia) a park for people who wanted to work out. Funniest sight I have EVER seen- there were about 15 ripped guys doing pull ups, sit ups, push ups. I have never seen anything like it. I took a creeper pic when I passed so I'll post that a little later so you can experience the uniqueness of it as well haha. We had to wait a while for our bus to come- not a lot of buses were going back to the city. As we were waiting there were so many people with surf boards and surf attire who ran by, bikers and skateboarders heading to the skateboard park next to the beach... there's more activity here that I've seen in 5 hours than I've seen at home in 5 months. Another reason it's so awesome here- they have free filtered water on the street! Who does that? Amazing! Plus they are extremely environmentally friendly everywhere you go. The first bus was packed-full of people so we couldn't get on, but finally got on one about 20 minutes later. By that time it was about 7:30 and the sun was hidden by clouds so it was a bit chilly. On the bus we talked to a guy from France and a guy from Sweden. Both had been a lot of other places in Australia as well. Once we were able to get back to our hostel it was about 8:15/8:30 and we were starving since we hadn't eaten since about 11AM. We went downstairs to the restaurant/bar and ate delicious burgers and had some coke. Refreshing after a long, but fun-filled day. They had a live band play so we watched that for a bit, but then I had to go to bed. I don't think I've ever been so exhausted. It was 9:30 and I was OUT! I'm in a hostel with about 6 other people and it's so nice! I'm on the sixth floor and have a window view of the city. SO AWESOME! It feels like a mix between college and camp since there's so many young people who stay here. Some are only 18!

This morning I was able to meet some of the others in my room since they were sleeping when I came back (they all got in yesterday as well). They're all from Germany and had their orientation at the same place as me so we all walked there together this morning. But not before some free breakfast since we got two free bfast vouchers with our booking. I sat with another guy from Sweden and talked to him a while. He's leaving soon for Brisbane. And I got free coffee which was a perk. At 9:30 we walked to the AIFS office which took about 15 minutes- but talked to some of the others from Germany. I don't mind- it's nice to walk in the sunshine after being cooped up inside for so long. I love just being among the business of everything. We get unlimited free internet in the office which is fantastic, so I'm sitting on a bean bag chair in a room filled with tons of young travelers from all over the world updating their family and friends on the computer as well. I love it!

On the way back from the travel office I set up my bank account. It was the biggest most beautiful bank I have ever seen in my life! There was marble everywhere and they offered me three different times delicious Australian candy. After that I went to a mall on the way home which is SWEET! There are surf shops everywhere you turn and they have the softest board shorts I have ever felt in my life. Plus they are THREE levels. Three levels of surf attire- I think I'm in Heaven. Our surf shops are sooooooo lame compared to the ones here!

Well- that brings us to now. I'm just back in my hostel typing to all of you. I miss you all very much and really appreciate all of the prayers and support from everyone. It's easy to go somewhere alone with so many people praying for you. God has already answered many prayers and I know will continue to do so. I don't know what I would do without the support of my encouraging, brother and sister community :)

I am going to be super impressed if people are still reading this play-by-play of the past three days of my life, haha sorry I know it's long.

Until later, don't worry about me- I am loving life!

Your Aussie friend, Chelsea

Deuteronomy 31:8 "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."