We have just arrived in Italy this afternoon, travelling by train along the Meditteranean coastline from France - simply sensational views - the water on one side, mountains on the other… I have never seen anything like this back home… Last Sunday, we bushwalked with a couple we were staying with in southern France - we hit a gorgeous secluded beach (albeit with about 100 other people!), but it was great - the sun, sea, mountains surrounding us - it was the ultimate worship in God’s creation. Times like this have made our trip so worthwhile. Travelling also has its more trying moments… walking round with our 20kg packs for an hour trying to find our hotel in a new city (it’s happened more than once!)… the senses being bombarded with new sights, sounds, smells, languages - almost an overload… after 9 or 10 days without stopping and resting properly, I really needed a day of rest. All good things to learn.

The other major highlight has been seeing a band that I like (Anderson) play in Netherlands - a free gig for the start of a music festival… and they played songs from their new album which I have not heard before… and their lyrics with unmistakably Christian… we met them after, and of course, they are Christians (which I did not know before), and they were fantastic - they even offered for us to stay with them if we pass through again! A little taste of heaven… We have been reading a book called “Heaven” by Randy Alcock, and it has got me very excited about our eternal life with God in Heaven - something I have never been inspired about before. So this has been a blessing too, and have been devouring this truth combined with the joys we have had in our journey so far.

I have missed my friends, but don’t miss church a lot, particularly because we have been able to download sermons on the web. We don’t miss family because we talk often on Skype and emails - we feel close to home in that regard.

We have not had many other opportunities to share. Our eyes are open, and we pray for opportunities, so I am not concerned, or feel like I have a quota to fulfil - I’m glad it doesn’t work that way. In some ways, our time in Europe feels a bit self-centred, but trust God that this is His will and we are following His purpose for us - with the people we interact with, the things we do, the special time and memories Jo and I are sharing together in our marriage.

Sun 29 March - Melbourne > Launceston
1 flight
Bess & Al’s house

Wed 1 April - Launceston > Melbourne > Perth > Karratha
3 flights
Steve & Ann’s house

Thu 9 April - Karratha > Exmouth
car
army house

Mon 13 April - Exmouth > Karratha
car
Steve & Ann’s house

Wed 15 April - Karratha > Perth
1 flight
Billabong Backpackers Hostel
lunch with Sal & Julie (CPA)

Thur 16 April
train to Fremantle, walk around, Freo Prison tour, train back, walk to King’s Park, walk back, dinner at Indian veg bar

Fri 17 April - Perth > Phuket > Bangkok > Chiang Mai
3 flights
C.H. Hotel
Sarah pick us up from airport, Thai prince in town, roads blocked off, walkabout to find hotel, dinner at night bazaar

Sat 18 April
meet Sarah, walk to day market, walk back

Sun 19 April
go to Chiang Mai First Community Church
big night bazaar

Mon 20 April
daytrip to Longneck village, elephant show & rides, bamboo rafting, butterfly & orchid display

Wed 22 April - Chiang Mai > Phitsanalok > Phetchabun
2 buses
Burahpa Hotel
arrive at 8pm in Phetabun, not in the right place, could not stay at original accom

Thu 23 April - Phetchabun > Lom Sak > Khao Kho
1 bus & 1 car
Rai Chanram Resort
waiting in car park for ‘bus’ to Khao Kho, eventually got to Lom Sak, picked up by Compassion project

workers, visit Paku, go to King’s Palace in Khao Kho

Fri 24 April
go with Pastor and his family to Phu Hin National Park, see defunct Communist Party of Thailand HQs, waterfalls

Sat 25 April - Khao Kho > Phetchabun > Korat > Buriram
1 car & 2 buses
Tree Of Life Orphanage

Fri 8 May - Buriram > Bangkok > Phuket > Kata Beach
1 train, 1 flight & 1 mini-bus
Alpina Phuket Nalina Resort & Spa

Sat 9 May
pool day, get major sunburn

Sun 10 May
go into Phuket town, visit markets

Wed 13 May
daytrip boat tour to Koh Phi Phi

Thu 14 May - Kata Beach > Phuket > Bangkok
1 car & 1 flight
Suk 11 Hostel
take Skytrain to Pantip Plaza and central shopping centre

Fri 15 May
lunch with Rod, train to night bazaar, walk back to hostel

Sat 16 May - Bangkok > Frankfurt > Offenbach
1 flight
Hotel Garni Djaran
walk from wrong Offenback station, eventually catch taxi, Jo crash, watch Eurovision

Sun 17 May
train to city, feel jetlag, meet with Christof

Mon 18 May - Frankfurt > Amsterdam
1 train
Hotel Orfeo (3 nights)
meet Tom & Cathy, falafel and salad in pita for dinner

Tues 19 May
go to Haarlem, visit Corrie Ten Boom’s house, world famous fries, music store, piano bar, blues bar

Wed 20 May
buy laptop from Paradigit, hire bikes, ride around Amsterdam, walk around at night

Thurs 21 May
Inner Hotel (1 night)
say goodbye to Tom & Cathy, walk to our hostel, train to Utrecht, see Anderson & meet after gig ** **

Fri 22 May - Amsterdam > Brussels > Lille > Armentieres > Fromelles
3 trains & 1 bus
Mayor Hubert & Therese Huchette
walk into town and back with Lambis

Sat 23 May
walk around with Lambis through Fromelles, see V.C. cemetery, Australia War Memorial, battle lines, Jean drive us to other memorials, dinner with Hubert’s brother’s family, tour of his endive farm, go bowling with Francis & his friends, late night

Sun 24 May - Fromelles > Lille > Namur > Thionville > Yutz
1 car, 2 trains
Bene Puccio’s house
late dinner with Bene’s family and Nico

Mon 25 May
35 degrees, stay home, swim in pool, eat frog’s legs and BBQ

Tues 26 May
train to Metz, see cathedral, train and walk home

Wed 27 May - Yutz > Thionville > Luxembourg > Ettelbruck > Vianden
2 trains & 1 bus
Auberge de Jugende (Vianden Youth Hostel)
train to Lux, do a walking tour - very beautiful, train & bus to Vianden, walk up huge hill through town to hostel, dinner, Jo crash, watch UEFA Champions final at pub (FC Barca 2 def Man U 0)

Thu 28 May - Vianden > Ettelbruck > Luxembourg > Metz > Paris > Maisons Lafitte
1 bus & 5 trains
Thomas Caby’s house

Fri 29 May
home day

Sat 30 May
train to Paris, go to Notre Dame, along the river to Louvre, Jardin des Tuileries, Concorde, Eiffel Tower,

wander around, train to Arc de Triomphe, drink in cafe (AU$9 250ml bottle of OJ), brisk walk back, train to pub with Thomas’ friends for drinks, dinner in Latin Quarter, expensive and fun night out!

Sun 31 May
train to Montmarte, walk to Sacre Coure, walk into town, buy nutella crepe & real choc, sit in Jardin des Halles, go to St Eustace Church, walk to Musee D’Orsay, Concorde, sit in Jardin des Tuileries, train home

Mon 1 June - Paris > Montpillier > Barcelona
5 trains
Catalonia Rubens Hotel

Tues 2 June
sleep in, walk into city, La Rambla, market, Montjuik, watch sunset, eat paella & gelati, fun day

As we have been here for over a week, we have a good idea about the pace of things round the place. Bearing in mind the kids are still on summer holidays, so things are pretty fluid and no times are fixed!

8am wake up, freshen up and brekky - kids have last night leftovers, guests have corn flakes or toast and ‘coffee’ (ask Jo!)
9.30am is time for English lesson, learning new words, looking at a Bible verse, playing Bingo with the new words learnt (”BINGO!!!”), some cleaning
11am hang out and play with the kids, Uno is a fave!
12pm lunch - a yummy thai dish of noodles or rice
Afternoon - chill out, read, Internet, play outside with kids, shopping, mow the lawn (huge backyard!), more Uno, go to market to buy fresh produce for dinner
6pm - dinner… actually Thai feast is a more accurate description - rice is staple, and then bring on 4 or 5 awesome Thai dishes - noodles, vegies, pad thai, pad kapow, curries… add chilli to everything for an authentic experience (”SAPICY!”)… and then when you are full, there is dessert - always fruit - banana, mangos, watermelon… and sometimes some other sweet local treats…
7pm - help clean up, play with the kids - usually more Uno, ticklefest with Taan (she doesn’t know the word ’stop’, but I think she’s getting better!), the kids watch some weird funny Thai soap, sometimes we watch a DVD, Internet
10.30pm - read, take a shower to cool down, and call it a day

There are always variations each day, like 2.5 hr church service on Sunday mornings.

P.S. I rode my first motorbike the other day - loved it!

We have had a very full week…

Wed morning: We left Chiang Mai after night-after-night action at the night bazaars - full on! 10 hrs and 2 buses later arrived in Phetchabun at 8pm - long day! Discovered that the hotel we had booked was in Phetchabun province but not in Phetchabun city… wrong district! We were 60km away and could not get there at that time of night. We had to be at our hotel for 8.30am pick up the next morning to visit our sponsor child…

Thurs: up at 5.30am to make sure we got the first bus to Khao Kao… we got dropped off by tuk-tuk to somewhere like a car park, not the bus station… not very sure what was going on. Quite stressful, the car we were meant to take was just waiting and not going anywhere… After a few phone calls, arranged to take a bus to somewhere else to be picked up… clear as mud? Yeah, that’s how we felt! Eventually got to Lom Sak (already 10.45am!) and picked up by Compassion staff for our visit. Got driven to our child’s village - visited the church, and then to her family’s house for a very special lunch together. We exchanged gifts. Went in the back of a ute (about 10 of us) to one of the King’s palaces in the hills - beautiful! Then back to our hotel and crashed.

Friday: Went with the pastor’s family to Pho Hin National Park (translates: rock mountain) - beautiful views, very different to Aust… also saw the now defunct Communist Party of Thailand HQs within the park… a lot of history. Went to a waterfall, and back to hotel.

Sat: Another 9 hour bus trip to Buriram to go to the Tree of Life orphanage. Bus trips are exhausting! Arrived safely and greeted by about 17 awesome kids, and two other volunteers from USA & Canada. No real schedule as the kids are on summer holiday til the middle of may. Still very much the hot season, but we have had rain in the evenings. We go to the market each day to purchase the freshest ingredients for awesome authentic Thai meals - heaven! I am also the only driver in the house at the moment, so I am enjoying trucking round loads of people Thai style… which is basically anything goes on the road, and the bigger your vehicle, the more right of way you have!!

We are both well and healthy and happy. Jo has been cleaning heaps and making the place great! I have been playing with the kids, helping teach English, and bought new strings for the guitars!

We thank you for your messages and prayers.
Evandjo

**P.S. Check photos on Facebook**

We are having a full on time here… 10 hours on the bus today - exhausting! Met Jo’s sponsor girl on Thurs - great experience - was a huge effort to get there though - will tell you the story later… and arrived at the orphanage a few hours ago. A few helpers and 17 awesome kids - they rawk!! It’s the hot season here - hot, humid… and now having their first downpour in ages - cool lightning show!

This meal deserves a blog all on its own. Only one word for it: DELICIOUS! If you ever get to taste it, go for it!
Sticky sweet rice with fresh tasty mango, covered with sweet coconut sauce and some sort of soya bean seeds. Might sound a little unusual but once you’ve tried it you will never look back! I will make it for anyone who wants it when we return… or I guess you could go to a real Thai place…

anyway just had to share my new experience of the beautiful thing called….
Mango stick rice.

Yum!

Mango mango mango,

Jo

p.s. am I even close to being too passionate about Thai food? Didn’t think so. No way!

We have made it safely to Chiang Mai last night - 3 plane trips in a day is a bit full-on (Perth > Phuket > Bangkok > Chiang Mai), but we’re ok. Arrived at the airport around 8.15pm local time and met by Jo’s friend Sarah Alway, who has been here for almost a year - lovely to be greeted by a friendly face. Got a taxi to our hotel… almost - but the streets were packed with cars, police and blockades as the Thai prince was in town… our taxi couldn’t get through, so we jumped out and walked - ended up at the wrong hotel (with a grand piano playing in the foyer, I knew it was too good to be true!)and after carrying our 17kg packs and dripping with sweat for about 30mins, we finally found the right one! All part of the experience. Near the corner of our hotel, police were everywhere with no cars around. We suspect the prince was staying right nearby!

Dropped off our stuff and went to the night market for some late night Pad Thai and sticky rice with mango - yum!! Lunch today was AU$2 all up - so good!

Anyway, just touching base, letting you know we are safe, a bit tired, but very happy. We are having a blast, taking in every sight, sound and smell we can devour.

Lots of Thai love!
Ev+Jo

I have finished a 2 week spell in Karratha and surrounds inWestern Australia… this was not a place I would have chosen to come, apart from visiting Jo’s folks… and what an amazing time we had. I had no idea how incredible and vast our country is… Aboriginal rock art thousands of years old, greenery on the harsh red dirt backdrop, incredible sunsets, sunrises, and the ocean… The beaches here are great!

Top 5 WA beaches as experienced by moi:

1) Torquoise Bay
2) Coral Bay
3) Point Samson
4) Hearson’s Cove
5) Wickham Beach

The water is so warm, the sun and warmth so welcome! I don’t know I could live here but I would definitely want to return.

We made many great memories with the in-laws (thanks Steve & Ann!). Highlights include Exmouth, our Les Mis sessions, the boat viewing and snorkelling in Coral Bay (a whole new experience for me - I had no idea what was down there… loved it!) Viewing sunrise from Vlaming Head Lighthouse, and then the sunrise with JoJo 12 hours later, the most beautiful Torquoise Bay - I hope we go there again one day!

What a blast… and I became a proud uncle to my first nephew - congrats Bess+Al!!

We are in Karratha, Western Australia… Hot, dry, red dust… an amazing land.

I have realised that I take great pleasure in colours, different combinations of colours… each new sunset, a bushland retreat, an artwork… I wish I could create a colour combination swab (if there is such a thing) of all the colours my eyes see in a snap shot.  Last night we went to a lookout over Karratha - the deep reds and browns, the light greens, dark greens, the setting sun, the blue ocean in the distance - how do you capture that?  A photo will never do it justice.  It is merely a memory.

God is creator.  His creation is amazing.  Flying over WA, I thought I could see every colour that is the land of Australia.  I love red.  I love green.  I love blue.  I love God.

Back in uni, I had a 3D subject - not my forte!  I remember creating an ocean, a helicoptor, a lego man!  Needless to say, I spent hours and hours with not a lot to show.  It took an hour to render one still image of the ocean.  Yet God renders the whole universe in real-time every nano-second!  What an amazing being who can create, and who makes us in His image to also create.  Ev’s Legoman vs God’s world… there is no comparison!  I am not worthy…  He is!

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

The Beta Band - Assessment

Thanks Matt!