Our last night with the Blackhams and Stokers before they returned home to the United States was another dinner out together with office couples, service missionaries, and President and Sister Runia. These wonderful couples welcomed us and have served for nearly 2 years each here in the Australia Sydney Mission. All four have left big shoes to fill. They will be missed not only by us but all the young missionaries that have loved them also and come to rely on them for help and information as needed.
Our 4th of July was a small celebration with traditional foods but also was the day of Ron Christensen birth. So a double celebration with some of our Australian missionaries Anne and John Parton also joining us. John wondered if he should bring "witchetty grubs" to throw on the barbie! Thankfully, the large, worms were absent. I asked him if he'd ever eaten some himself and his answer, "I've seen them eaten." Yes, he was content with hamburgers and brawts (or sausos, sausages as they say here) and I was happy not to see them roasted on the grill.
Then more birthdays gave us another excuse for an afternoon lunch last Friday. Theresa Thomas and Gose Mata'utia both were born on the same day, so we enjoyed more time together to socialize and of course, eat. Spending time and working alongside the other senior missionaries is a real blessing in our lives. All willing to leave family, grandchildren, and other interests to serve in any way they can. I love being with them and learning from their amazing examples.
With Covid19 pandemic restrictions easing somewhat here, we headed back to Darling Harbour where we planned to take in the Sydney Aquarium. and Wildlife museums. The day was a little rainy and foggy, but if we wait for perfect days, we may not see anything! Unfortunately, though we arrived early at the aquarium, the personnel said they were sold out for the day since the numbers allowed are still very limited. We will have to get tickets online earlier in the week if we want to visit on a Saturday. So we decided to walk the pedestrian Pyrmont Bridge across Darling Harbour to look at the National Maritime Museum. The ships outside the museum are all available to tour however, with due to current health safety concerns the ships were not totally open. The HMAS Onslow submarine was closed and the we could only go on the deck of the HMAS Vampire, one of the Daring class of destroyers and one of the last big gun ships. We will return when we can see everything!
Walking across Pyrmont Bridge
This is a replica of the Endeavour, James Cook's ship that he sailed to chart New Zealand and the coast of Australia on his world wide travels. It is not only an accurate representation of sailing from 1768-1771, but is also a fully functioning ship which takes regular voyages along the Australian coast.
Another ship in the harbour is the 1874 square rigger or Tall Ship, James Craig. Originally built in England, it carried cargo all around the world until about 1922. This ship is a true restoration and still sails to sea with passengers on various trips. Again, we couldn't go aboard this one either. We are going to have a lot of things to return to if and when this pandemic lightens up.
We continued our walk through the park area and the Chinese Garden of Friendship on our way to the famous Paddy's Market. A market for over 150 years in Sydney, it houses hundreds of stalls selling everything from clothing, to gadgets, to souvenirs, to food and produce. In order to enter, we had to have our temperatures taken to prove we were healthy and wear a paper bracelet indicating that we were okay to be inside. At least everyone else had to pass the same requirements too, so we felt somewhat at ease with the other shoppers.
Over 500 stalls at this location, we wandered up and down every aisle but only looked not finding anything we actually had to have right now. One Chinese lady wanted to give Don a massage and another kept asking me to look at her items. I had visions of our visit to China where we thought we were bringing an aggressive female vendor home with us. We just kept on walking though.
A foggy day at Darling Harbour but still beautiful
The replica of Endeavour and the Cape Bowling Green lighthouse. The lighthouse was once a working lighthouse on a headland in Ayr, Queensland. It was moved several times until it was placed here in Sydney.
Time for a late lunch at a familiar location. We also had to fill out a questionnaire and have our temperatures taken in order to be able to eat here. The questionnaires are being required at many restaurants, pubs, and other venues in order to contact patrons in the event of a community outbreak.
Currently, we are told we may be returning to regular church meetings next week. However, Victoria has shut down again due to a resurgence of the virus. Melbourne looks like a ghost town from the pictures on the news. Not nearly as many cases as the U.S., but no one is taking this lightly. The state boundaries with Victoria are closed and no one from Victoria is able to travel to the other states though New South Wales citizens can now travel to Queensland and the Gold Coast. But with the increase of cases growing, we are wondering if it is just a matter of time before we are shut down again. What an interesting time to live. For Don and I, we are able to continue our missionary work at the office and with online meetings. How grateful we are to communicate with our family though we worry about them all. Many are in states where the cases are substantially increasing too like Texas and Arizona. Sam arrived in his first mission area in Arizona and reports 110 degree weather plus doing most of his service right now by social media close not unlike our young missionaries here.
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