Sorry for the delay in this post! It's been pretty hectic with a lot going on (including just getting over the stomach bug). Anyway, where were we...ah yes, on the way to Bellingen! I can't even remember how long it took us to get there...maybe 6 hours or so? The boys did well in the car and before we knew it, we were there! Fr. Ruben knows a man who has a retreat center in Bellingen and who so generously allowed us all to stay there for about 10 days. It is a beautiful place, nestled with mountains around it, and fairly close to the coast.
The HUGE wrap around porch was perfect for the kids to run around on
It had a dining room, kitchen, lounge room, and six bedrooms in the section we were staying in and was even decorated for Christmas!
The next day we were joined by Zenith's sister and her lovely family and we spent the next couple days getting settled, relaxing, and getting ready for Christmas.
Christmas Eve after the "children were nestled all snug in their beds"
Merry Christmas!
Miriam, Dan, Jerome and Olivia
The Nonni with all their grandchildren
Best buddies...these two hit it off right away
Christmas Dinner
Christmas Pudding...the Australia Christmas Dessert! Compliments of Miriam and so yummy!
The day after Christmas, "Uncle Fr. Ruben" joined us and the Martello family was complete!
Family reunited for the first time in a long time
After Christmas, we made a trip out to Coffs Harbor to see the ocean
We were promptly chased away from the beach by rain and settled on a butterfly house
Everyone loves "Uncle Fr. Ruben!"
This picture pretty much sums up the difference between the US and Australia...we have drive through banks and fast food restaurants. Australia has drive through liquor stores.
Lunch on our way to try out the beach again later that week...Australia has lots of these little fish and chips cafe/restaurants.
Gorgeous very little known beach that we had all to ourselves!
Another outing included driving up the mountains we could see from the veranda at the house along these windy roads to Dorrigo National Park
Walking through the rainforest in Dorrigo
View from the boardwalk over the rainforest
With heavy hearts and a tearful goodbye, we left Zenith's parents to travel back to Sydney with Miriam and Dan a couple days before our flight out.
We met up with some friends, Josh and Amanda and their 3 beautiful children, at a park in Sydney and had a nice time catching up
"Aunty Mon" set up a beautiful picnic for us all and it was lovely to catch up with her as well
But alas, our time had come to an end and it was now time to part ways with Miriam and Dan. Sadly we said goodbye and miss them and those precious little children very much.
Our time in Australia is coming to a close now, so come, pack your bags and get ready for the last leg of the journey.
This one was a double decker!
The attendants gave the boys socks and doodle pads, which were a big hit!
Dominic slept for 7 hours straight on the way home! The boys did very well, and although I slept less this time, I was just happy the boys were doing ok.
After our 16 hour plane ride to Dallas, we changed planes and flew for the longest 3 1/2 hours of my life (slight exaggeration). Funny how 3 hours can feel longer than 16 hours when you mindset is a certain way! We arrived in Boston around 10pm with no issues...until we missed our bus. And it was the last bus of the night. Thankfully another bus going somewhere else took us to meet our bus at South Station where they both stopped before continuing to their final destinations.
We arrived at the station, where we left our car, at about 11:30 PM. Being the last bus of the night, the station itself was closed and as the bus pulled away, and we stood with the three boys and all our luggage on the sidewalk in the -2 degree F temperature, I knew we were not in a good situation. Our coats were in the car and as Zenith ran to get the car, I hugged the crying boys to me to try to keep them warm, all of us only in light sweaters. It dawned on me then that our van had been sitting in the parking lot for over two weeks in negative temperatures and the odds of it starting after all that time were slim. I prayed to all our guardian angels (as I found out later Zenith was) and as our fingers and ears started to burn and ache with the cold, lo and behold, there came Zenith, van still covered in snow, driving toward us. We piled into the freezing car, wrapping up in freezing coats which did nothing to warm us, and I revved the engine like crazy to try to get it warmed up as quickly as possible while Zenith ran around the car with no coat, no gloves or hat, cleaning off the snow and ice. Finally we were starting to thaw and we made our way home, arriving close to midnight and thanks entirely to the intercession of our guardian angels.
Bed has never felt so good! Dominic and I struggled the most with jet lag, taking about a month to get readjusted. Come to think of it, it's probably because of Dominic that I wasn't able to bounce back as quickly, with him having his nights a days mixed up. It was a long time before I was able to get a full night sleep and then we all came down with the flu and were out of commission for about a week and a half. Anyway, we are all currently well (fingers crossed!) and back into the swing of things.
What a trip it was! It's so difficult to have family so far away and we miss our Australian family and friends dearly.
It was one of the hardest things we've ever done, but we are very glad we did. We hope to be able to go back in the future, God willing and provided we are financially able. At least we know it is physically (and mentally!) possible with little ones. I would probably never do it during our winter again. The cold to hot back to cold was quite shocking for all of us, especially my little Dominic, who was pretty sick in Australia and then struggled when we got home as well.
Well, time to wrap this up. Thank you for traveling with us! We have a bit of news to share, which I'll save for another post, so stay tuned. :)
~Lindsay
