3 weeks have gone since our last update. It has definitely been a busy 3 weeks with lots of work, training and fun.
Over the 3 weeks with regards to work, we have been doing a lot of shadowing, learning how each instructor conducts each session, evaluating what they do well so we can develop our own skills in the best ways possible. We have been recommended to make the most of these times as it won't be long before we have our own groups and are running sessions by ourselves. Some of these sessions such as 'bush cooking', 'pool canoeing', fishing etc. don't need any specific training or assessments, and so after seeing them run once or twice, Katie and I have been leading them ourselves! In addition to these sessions there are activities that need a relative amount of training and several assessments for us to be able to run by ourselves. Initiatives (SK and KK), and Low Ropes (SK) are two of which Katie and I have now passed respectively. Other activity sessions such as Archery need extra assessments so we are half way through some of those. Then comes the more skilled activities such as leading abseiling, climbing, and bush hiking which demand a more extensive training programme before we can lead these ourselves. These however are definitely some of the more enjoyable.
With regards to training in these we have had 2 days hiking followed by a 3 day hike in December. We have yet to complete any training in rock climbing but have now had 2 sessions of abseil training which has been great. Last weekend we had 2 full days of abseil training, during the first day we went over different set ups as well as learning how to self belay and different rescue techniques. The most complex skill we learned was how to demonstrate an emergency prussik system halfway down our abseil. We had to demonstrate on our second day that without instruction we could self belay down a 12m vertical cliff stop half way down and switch our system over to allow us to ascend rather than descend. We then had to demonstrate that we could prussik (climb back up the rope using several ropes and knots) back to the top of the cliff. One of the best aspects about our abseil training was where we got to do it. The first day was in and around the centre and the second day was at a location called Stanwell Tops, an area of the National Park about 20mins from the centre. While we were debriefing and filling in our abseil booklets we were lucky enough to see a tiger snake slither by about 2 metres from where we sat, very exciting.
Christian Discovery (CD) has continued to be an exciting part of working here. One specific small group that Katie took with 15 10 year olds after a CD was particularly exciting. The beginning of the week looked difficult with none of them really being interested in it all, to many of them being excited about God and wanting to take bibles home with them to read! One girl even said to the group "I think it would be a great idea if we all trusted in God when we get home"! Amazing. They all agreed, and started to voice personal things like everyone to be praying for.
A few weeks back we got to do something really special and went to see one of my best friends from secondary school in York - Luke Woodroffe. He was down from Cairns with some friends doing some white water kayaking, so we met up for dinner in a place out west of Sydney called Penrith. We are hoping to stay with him in June between when we finish work and fly home.
The weather is slowly getting hotter as we approach Christmas and summertime in Australia. At the moment goes from hot, humid and still with no rain, to cool and windy with rain in hours so you never really know what the day will be like. For me this is the perfect weather because you get regular breaks from the hot sticky days. As well as the weather the sea is slowly warming up but is still pretty chilly when sat waiting for the right wave. Katie and I had a great afternoon recently at a beach in the National Park called Garie, which is also a popular surf spot. I caught a couple of good waves on my new board but still have a lot of improving to do. Speaking of water sports a few of the staff get together on Thursdays to have a sails and ales evening after work with a race and a couple of beers, a fantastic idea! We have raced in some chilled out North Easterly winds and some epic fun Southerly winds - both make for some challenging race conditions. I am trying to get out sailing regularly so that I can return to the UK a much better and experienced sailor.
We are getting on well with the staff here and spending time with them is great, we had an awesome dinner in Wollongong with Scotty B (a guy on Katie's team) and his wife yesterday which was really nice. Wollongong is about an hour from our house so we took an afternoon to drive along the coast road through the National Park stopping at some amazing views and some great little beaches, one of which was called Scarborough. We are really looking forward to our time off over Christmas and New Year, but still don't really know what we will get up to or where we might go.
Thank you all for your prayers - we appreciate them greatly. Katie will be re-doing her timed 400m bronze medallion swim this next weekend which she is quite nervous about, and would appreciate prayer for time and motivation to get out and practice her strokes before the weekend. We have been discussing our future a little bit over the last couple of days which is an answer to our prayers that God would begin to guide us in our next step. We would also like prayer for finding time to be with God both praying, listening and reading the bible.
We really miss everyone at home in the UK, Norway and in Seattle and pray you are all doing well.
