Sydney to Gold Coast pt. 2

One reason we were all excited about going to Sydney was to go to Hillsong Church. We’ve all heard their music for several years now (you have too whether you know it or not, read the credits after the songs at church) so we wanted to see it for ourselves. Not only their music, but a bunch of our friends at Church 180 in Newcastle love Hillsong. So Sunday morning we headed out to their main campus just outside the city. A train and 2 bus rides later we arrived for the 10:00 service. The service was awesome. So awesome that after talking to people after the service, we decided to stick around for the afternoon and go to the 6:00 service too.

After the morning service we met a guy who is studying music at Hillsong and he called us later and had us over to his apartment for a few hours. It was an awesome blessing to go sit on a couch with cable and wireless talking to a fellow surfer and snowboarder who loves Jesus. I have learned so much what it means for a Church to love and welcome people. It’s great to talk to new people after church but it’s a whole new level to invite them to lunch or to hang out and get to know them. We have been loved by churches so well and it is an awesome thing to feel and be a part of.

The 6:00 service was geared more towards the youth with louder music and a different message from a different pastor. I’m learning that is a common thing (I thought Memphis people were the only ones) that I never knew about 3 months ago. The 6:00 service was INCREDIBLE! We all walked away with full journal pages and big smiles on our faces.

On the bus back from Hillsong we met Ashley and Caitlin. They are studying abroad from UGA and were going back into the city as well. We enjoyed talking to fellow southerners experiencing the same culture shock. We ate dinner with them back in Sydney.

Monday morning we headed up to Circular Quay to see the Opera house and the bridge and all that Sydney Harbor has to offer. Taylor and Caleb went to see Alice in the Wonderland at the Imax and I walked around the harbor and the Rocks to see Sydney.

Click on these images to get the full picture.

Monday night we got on a plane headed for the Gold Coast. Flying in Australia is SO nice! I had a bottle of water in my bag just to see what would happen and it passed with no questions, we kept our shoes on, didn’t have to take my belt off, it was quick and people were nice to us like they actually enjoyed their jobs or something. Virgin Blue Airlines earned my full approval.

So after a full, fun-filled weekend in Sydney, here we are in the Gold Coast.

Seeing that work hasn't been a part of our trip so far, I'm changing the title of the blog. This was the tagline of our hostel in Sydney. I thought it fit us too well.