We got up, took our last shower before travel and the taxi arrived. We leave our bikes and gear at the train station and spend the day walking all over town seeing the giant fig trees and the historical buildings the town is known for. One of those building is the oldest and largest cinema (art deco renovated). We watch an excellent movie called The King’s Speech. Then we went to the mall for t-shirts and reading material for the trip – we struck out on reading material – we didn’t want to spend $30 for one book…. Anyway we piddle around waiting til 2am to arrive. We ate our victory dinner at the clock tower hotel, watched a tennis match at a bar in that hotel that was collecting bottle caps for us (we made a haul there! And the guy even washed them!).. Finally we just went to the train station around midnight and slept on the benches outside waiting for them to open.
The train arrived on time and we got on with our luggage and bikes and the journey began. The train ride was kind of obnoxious but we got through it – at the end of the train ride we were to find a way to the airport. We got off the train and headed for a cart, got our bikes and bags and headed into the train station to find all city trains free due to the flooding and a man who not only gave us directions but helped us get our bikes through the gates and onto the lifts, tells us the platform to go to and that the train leaves in 15 minutes. We negotiate the lifts and board the train within minutes. These trains are nicer – clean and bright. We are on an express train to the airport so there are only a few stops and we are there. A man offers us information about which terminal stop to go to and which side to get off. When our stop comes up it is pouring rain. Two men help Larry get the bikes off. He runs them down to the covered area one at a time while I bring the luggage down. We get pretty wet… and our boxes are cardboard. Larry goes looking for a cart and comes back with a cart and a woman who works for the train station who helps load the bikes, tells us how to get where we need to go and actually rides the elevator with us and brings us a second cart so we can negotiate the next two lifts easier. We get inside the airline and a woman greets us with a service to wrap our bike boxes to protect them which means it no longer matters that they got wet. We do this and then head to the departure area. Here we freshen up from the night on the train, change clothes and remove the stuff you can’t carry on the plane from our bags and get some coffee and a veggie wrap. While we are doing this Larry looks up and grabs the camera and gets me and we go out onto the concourse and enjoy a most beautiful rainbow which runs from one side of the sky to the other and is even double at times. This is how our last trip ended – with a magnificent rainbow. We choose to believe it is God’s seal of blessing on our trip and is a very special moment.
We finish changing our luggage from ‘train to plane’ ready and by then it is time to check in. There is no one in line and we go right to the counter. The man is very nice and in just a couple minutes we are done. We roam around the airport shops killing time (and purchasing a stuffed Kookabura for our stuffed animal collection and we are pleased that it also make the laughing sound!) and then board our plane which is half empty. People are stretched out all over the place and it is generally a happy affair! Couldn’t ask for better.
As we take off we can see the flooded city streets – that is the only sad part. The clean up is going well but it is definitely a nasty job and people are getting sick from the bacteria and fecal material in the receding flood waters…. What a nasty experience that would be – I know just from the water we sometimes get in our buildings at camp that it is nasty – I can’t imagine whole streets. The Grafton river receding was smelly enough and that was just open mud…..
We expect to arrive in LA at seven am and then straight to Nashville. We’ll be home by 4 tomorrow… but it will still be today…. And another trip will be over… and a very good one at that.
This trip will be remembered as one of the smoothest trips we have ever been on. It was very physical and we feel strong. It was uneventful, scenic but not spectacular, it isn’t our highest mileage, the weather wasn’t the best…. But it was a grand experience. God showed His amazing provision, we enjoyed each others friendship, we were part of a human drama in the flooding, witness to the most historic game of Cricket in Aussie history, met some great people, got more than eight hours sleep most nights, and rode in the bush and high desert on isolated dirt roads and high temperatures and lived to tell about it. We watched fears melt away from our hearts, joy spring up in its place, faith stand back up and laughter finds its rightful place. The kookaburra will be in our hearts for ever and we pray that our lives bring joy and laughter to the world around us the way the kookaburra brought it to us.
We have arrived home safely – tired but happy. Once home we rest in the comfort of our bed in a temperature controlled home with indoor plumbing. Cooper is happy to see us and in a very short time we have settled back into our lives with this surreal memory of a most incredible adventure – one that tested us, taught us, brought us joy and strength.
We see a hawk on the tree and are glad to be home. We approach the New Frontiers office with the awareness that when we open that door we will be picking back up the calling of our lives – we look at each other as if to say, “are you ready?”. We walk up the stairs to the office and there on the porch is a very shiny penny shouting to us that our trip and the lessons of it were and are very, very real.
We love you all and are thankful for those who help make these trips possible for us. We also thank the sponsors who helped us raise money for NF through this ride! This year Ride With Us raised _______________________!
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