Sore Feet, light hearts - The beginning

We awoke at 4:15am, dressed ourselves and packed the van. All of the bags were packed the night before so we actually departed on time at 4:45am!
We arrived at the train station on time and joined the ticket machine queue. This would have had to have been the first time there was a queue at the ticket machine before 6am on a Sunday morning. Sydney Rail has a special family pricing where you pay for all adults (16 and over) and one child and the rest of the children travel free. The train left just as we arrived and we arrived at Sydney Central station right on time.
Then  our pilgrimmage really began. It is said that a pilgrimmage is supposed to include hardships we are to offer up for others. Our hardship was the long walking, big crowds and very long day. This first photo show the helpful signs posted along the route. There was no way to get confused or make wrong turns. The complete route was fenced with all pilgrims funnelled straight to Randwick Park.
The distance was about 6 km which is a long way for unfit people like us. But plod on we did. Many of the "official" pilgrims arrived there the night before and slept at the grounds. Randwick is a horse racetrack and has a capacity of around 300,000. The estimated number of people attending the final Mass at either Randwick or nearby Centennial Park was about 500,000 people! If you see any photos of the crowd we are a couple of orange dots.
Once we entered through the gate and found our designated area, the overnight sleepers had obviously forgotten what they were there for. These pilgrims were obviously without any group leaders or adult supervisors and so left their rubbish everywhere and stayed in their sleeping bags even when the Pope went past, thousands of people stepped over them and Mass was starting. Lana noticed people with tickets from other areas in our area and figured we could do better than stay here.
Eric was able to point out some other spots using his binoculars and you needed binoculars just to see the main altar or some of the big video screens. So we went wandering, pretending to find "our" group.
This plan worked very well. We ended up finding a much better location near a Papua New Guinea group and we fit right in.

Planning for the big WYD trip

We are getting ready for tomorrow's rather big day out when we attend the World Youth Day Mass.
1. Get the tickets - availability and opportunity we left in God's hands. We picked them up from the homestay co-ordinator yesterday. Check.
2. Transport - there was no room on the parish bus. But we have our own 12 seater family car (Ford Transit Van). We will travel from here to an outlying suburb to catch the train that is part of the Sydney Metropolitan system. The train system has put on lots of extra trains. There seem like more trains than a normal weekday, let alone a Sunday. So we leave really early, get to the station quite early and arrive in Sydney around 2 hours before the starting time, giving us lots of leeway and walking time to the venue. So, Check!
3. Appropriate clothing - see the photo for our "travel in large crowds" gear. Lana and I are wearing our hunting jackets we bought in the US and the boys have the bright orange hunting caps. The weather is predicted to be really nice, so we will be wearing layers. Check.
4. Group plans - each child has a travel partner so they stay together. Also, we have pinned on a little card to each child's clothes with their name and the mobile phone numbers for Lana and me. Now that we are prepared nothing will go wrong in that area. Children have been reminded that if they lose sight of us, they must stop. If someone asks if they are lost, the child is to show them their card. All rehearsed. Check.
5. Food and drink - Lana is making some sultana cake, sandwiches, dried fruit and plenty of water. We have two backpacks to carry the Martin supplies and the food and drink while keeping our hands free. Check.
6. Martin - Nappies, lots of wipes, drink containers and very portable stroller.
7. Boredom on long train ride - We have packed two books with short stories - Bobby Brewster and Little Pete. I'll read to them which should work. Check.
8. Camera and Video - charge the batteries, carry spare for the camera. Check.
So, I think we are ready. An early night and then we leave in the wee hours of the morning. We'll report back tomorrow!

Are WYD pilgrims winning the heart of Sydney?

Sydney's Daily Telegraph is reporting that strange things are happening in Sydney.  Joy is breaking out despite all of Sydney's best efforts.  It seems as though over 150,000 joyful Catholic pilgrims can make a difference to the normal hustle, bustle, gloom of typical Sydney folk.

Romeo Mike has a good post with some sample video of Sydney's streets.

And to shock even the most seasoned locals, the Sydney Morning Herald has some positive coverage with great quotes from pilgrims.
"We stayed last night at a Pymble school classroom and we froze, and I think it will be the same again tonight.
"But if Jesus carried the cross we can carry our luggage."

And tomorrow, we'll be in the midst of it all!

We're going to WYD!

We have received a bonus after hosting the pilgrims earlier this week. We have been given the opportunity for tickets to the final WYD Mass on Sunday.
We accepted and started planning.
Then Martin came down with a rash, fever, teething and being generally miserable. Yesterday he showed spots on his belly and back. Oh No! The symptoms matched either Chicken Pox or German Measles! That wouldn't do for a huge public gathering like the WYD mass. So today we went to the doctor.
He was a fellow parishioner and had also hosted some pilgrims. His experiences matched ours.
Anyway he was very experienced and old enough to have seen measles and german measles. He said the spots were not the right size and colour and it looks as though Martin is almost through whatever viral thing he has. So we are cleared for Mass!
We then chatted for about 10 minutes on our mutual enjoyable experiences with our pilgrims.
Here is Martin resting. Somehow babies are able to sleep in the weirdest positions.

Pilgrim Experiences

We are very happy we decided to volunteer to host the pilgrims. Initially we were concerned. "Would they be OK? Would they find it too chaotic here with the children? Do they speak English?" and so on. But we decided to just leave it in God's hands.
Do you know why our pilgrims stayed in the Wollongong Diocese? Because the name sounded funny. Through such whims, God works his magic.
Meanwhile, I thought we should give some more notes about our time with the pilgrims. The first photo is of one of our pilgrims (let's call him "A") on the WRONG side of the car. You can tell the photo isn't reversed as the text on his sweater isn't reversed.  Actually he is sitting on the correct side of the car, but you know how Americans are. :-)
One of the things A wanted to experience in Australia was driving on the correct side of the road - the Left side. So I was happy to oblige. On some of our quiet streets he had a test drive. At one point we did a 3 point turn and A instinctively returned to the right (incorrect) side of the road.
"Left, Left" I said.
"Yeah, I'll be turing left at the intersection" said A
"Left LANE!" I suggested.
"Oops." replied A and quickly changed lanes.
Sometimes the pilgrims just wanted to do simple things. Here is pilgrim C enjoying the trampoline with Peter.
You can tell by Peter's clothes that the weather was pretty cold. The week the pilgrims stayed with us was the coldest we have had all year. But this week has cleared up nicely and Sydney's weather is quite pleasant. Still, I wouldn't want to be camping outside overnight!
There is a chance we will be getting tickets to the actual WYD Mass on Sunday. This is pretty exciting news and we are making plans for a very long day. We are praying that it all works out with the simple prayer, "God, if you want us to go, you sort it out."
Cardinal Pell recently gave a press conference extolling Australians to have more children for all the benefits. However, I think he needs to get his bureaucracy in line as they still think a family is 2 adults and 2 children. Even the form Homestay families filled out only had room for eight people in a house.

Sisters Blogging Downunder for WYD

The Knights of Columbus, JPII Institute, and the Sisters of Life are hosting the Love and Life Site at Notre Dame University Broadway, Sydney, Australia. It is a very interesting insight to how a group of religious sisters are experiencing Sydney during the days leading up to World Youth Day.
This photo is from their site showing the sisters trying out Vegemite.
We are enjoying reading their insights and encounters with bemused Sydney-siders who have never or rarely seen any people in religious habits, or pilgrims full of excitement at joy at being here for "boring" religious stuff.

Farewell to our new friends

It is really weird. We have only known the pilgrims for a few days yet it seems as if we have welcomed long lost friends we never knew we had. This wasn't just a subjective feeling.
One of our friends from the village joined us for dinner on Thursday night - the second night the pilgrims stayed wth us.
When Lana dropped him off home he asked, "Did you know these guys before they came here?"
"No," Lana replied, "We only picked them up yesterday."
"Oh. It seemed like you have known them for a long time."
This photo is a shot of the whole group singing the US national anthem for us at the parish picnic today. The Bishop accompanying them is holding the flag in front. (Click on the photo for a closer view)
So in the morning Lana and the children will see them off from the parish church while I go back to work. They will be joining the many 1000's of pilgrims in Sydney for the week of activities and catechesis preparing for the WYD Mass on Sunday.
We have exchanged addresses and contact details and hope that we will get to meet them again.

Everything Aussie

Yesterday the Diocese of Wollongong hosted an "Everything Aussie" day to welcome all the pilgrims that have stayed in the diocese in preparation for next week's activities for World Youth Day. We travelled to the event in Wollongong via Macquarie Pass - a very winding path through the mountains, with many hairpin bends and road edges bordering on long drops to the ground. This is an interesting YouTube video of a motorbike enjoying the seemingly never ending bends. We were sufficiently supplied with a variety of buckets if anyone started feeling car sick.
After this rather "scenic" drive, we wondered where we could park. The road next to the park was closed, so I went up to the fellows directing (and blocking) traffic and said we had pilgrims that needed to be dropped off. "OK, but you must continue on." "No worries," we replied.
We then stopped at a point we could drop everyone off while I continued looking for a spot when Lana saw a number of empty spots just nearby.
"Why not park there?" she asked.
I looked around, thought, "Why Not?" and entered in the exit and parked. Right between the beach and the park.
Our pilgrims then had the tough choice - go to the park or THE BEACH! (It wasn't really that difficult - the beach was on the list of THINGS TO DO). The seagulls were very co-operative once they realised we had some food scraps to throw their way. They hovered just above us while we were taking photos. Click on this photo of the greedy birds for a full detail shot.
All of the pilgrims visiting our parish fulfilled their task: A foot in the both sides of the Pacific - the American edge and the Australian edge.
I was once more wearing my Vegemite jumper. This jumper had been made for Lana's sister quite a long time ago and she was generous enough to give it to us when she realised I was brave (or silly) enough to wear it more often.
Quite a number of pilgrims stopped me and said, "Mr Vegemite! Can we take a picture? Can we get in a picture with you?"
"Sure," I answered as Lana and Ariel scurried away to temporarily deny knowledge of me. (Actually Lana claims she was moved out of the way as "persons of no consequence" not having obvious Vegemite flavoured clothing.) I dutifully asked if they had tried Vegemite and gave them tips on how to enjoy it more.
The "Everything Aussie" day was very busy with a small petting zoo, a Koala for petting, a kangaroo with joey, sheep shearing, rides, local foods and lots of other attractions.  And Free Fairy Floss!  Just right to get the children hyped up ready for Vigil Mass. Our feet were very sore by day's end.

Thank You

We received an email from one of our readers yesterday:
I seriously hope you dont mind me emailing you out of the blue. I came across your blog by chance earlier and it struck a cord, making me laugh as well as seeing the similarities!
We are also a home ed family living in the South East of England and have 2 nearly 3 kids.
I guess I just wanted to say hello and that your blog brightened a day that has been a bit of of wash-up so thankyou!!
Best Wishes
Anna
Do we mind? Not at all. The comments we receive and emails are a great encouragement to sharing our history on the Internet. We have dual reasons for maintaining Bruggietales. The first to to have a history of our family life as we grow and develop. This is like our online journal so we can remind our grandchildren of what their parents and grandparents were like (such as incidents like this).
The other reason is to share the enjoyment that a large homeschooling family can have as they grow in knowledge of each other and have so many shared experiences.
So thank you to all our readers for enriching Bruggietales with your comments and questions. We appreciate all of your interest and virtual friendship.

(This photo was taken yesterday at the Everything Aussie Day)

That's Mr Vegemite to you!

All Australians hosting guests must demonstrate Australia's culinary delights. At breakfast time this involves Vegemite on hot buttered toast.
It is very important not to let them spread Vegemite themselves. The tendency is to spread it on the thickness of peanut butter. This is a big mistake! Lana has described the correct amount as Vegemite as "Scaring it on".
A light scrape on hot buttered toast is great.
Variants include Vegemite with sugar sprinkled lightly on top.
Or the more adventurous may try Vegemite with Peanut Butter on top. This variation was invented by the boys. They seemed to enjoy this strange combination so I tried it too. It was quite tasty!
Do not listen to friends with dangerous senses of humour. One of our Georgian friends - who shall remain anonymous - returned from Australia and presented an Australian session at the Homeschooling International Night. Her statement was "Australian's eat Vegemite like Peanut Butter!" This is true - as in we eat it as often as Peanut Butter, but not as thick.
She then let the participants paste Vegemite on nice and thick and take a big bite. She then laughed at their discomfort. When we arrived and showed them how to eat Vegemite properly our new Georgian friend approached the local "Australian Expert" and complained bitterly.
Pretty funny really.

More Windy Weather for WYD

This is what all well dressed priests from Kansas wear when the wind is cold and the weather is chilly. Camoflage Hat, Jacket and gloves over the standard "Man in Black" uniform.  Our nickname for him is Father Cabela.  (See here for our past experience with this most amazing store.)

Today we went to Fitzroy Falls after Mass. Often we forget we are in the mountains as the land rises very gradually when travelling South from Sydney. Then it seems as if you turn a corner and there are these 80 metre high (260 feet) waterfalls!

Cameras were going off all around us. The walk included little information signs about the various flora we passed to which the host families were able to add their own information.
After the walk we had a sausage sizzle. This is where we cook a sausage on the grill, and put it on a buttered bun with tomato sauce (ketchup) and fried onions. These sausages actually contain meat (unlike hotdogs) and have flavour. As a treat we even supplied the yellow American mustard!

We then had free time to have a look around. We were able to stop at a "Men's outfitters" store and showed the lads some authentic high quality Akubra hats. The lads look quite authentic in their Aussie hats so we practiced some "Gedday"s and "Mate"s.  By the time they leave they may be more skillful in "Aussie-speak".

One of the host families runs a private winery and was able to show us around the vineyard and wine press and demonstrate how the grapes were converted from the vine to wine to bottle.

Finally we made it home to a fine meal and a small chocolate and lolly (candy) taste test.  We'll provide more results of the test tomorrow.

American Wildlife Hunters

Our World Youth Day pilgrims have arrived to a very chilly winter's day. They left Kansas in 100F heat, arrived in Sydney to a reasonable weather and then came to the highlands to a chilly 48 and dropping.
Naturally our duty is to show our visitors as much Australian culture as is possible in a short time. After the initial Gedday's and "How are ya"s we took a scenic route to the monastery for an opening Mass. On the way we spotted a Wombat! Well, it may have been dead and technically roadkill - but it was Australian wildlife!
So here are the three big game hunters posing behind their prize. Well, it wasn't technically their prize, but I'm sure their stories may well tell otherwise.
Shortly afterwards we were travelling along the driveway of the Monastery and spotted the Catholic Kangaroos! Quick stop and our intrepid hunters attempted to adopt the style of Steve Irwin. They approached very very carefully so as not to frighten the kangaroos. If you click the photo you will see a larger detail picture. The Kangaroos are on the right, looking curiously at these strange people coming closer. Naturally, once the distance was too short, the kangaroos turned their backs and bounced away.

Cyclone Martin

Sometimes an active one year old is a little like a cyclone (hurricane).  We always seem to be following a trail of destruction and displacement.

Martin isn't so much destructive as very displacing.  "The Relocator" is an appropriate title.

Lana stores her active DMC floss stash in a set of cheap plastic drawers. She cleverly placed these with the front handles facing the wall.

Today Martin discovered that if you pushed in the drawer from the back you can reach a small hand in.  A small hand about the size of Martin's.

He carefully reached in and pulled out skeins of cotton, one at a time, and then carefully slid off the two little paper bands and put both cotton and band on the floor.  And then he reached in and pulled out another one.  These labels describe the colour and number of each skein, essential for completing a cross stitch.

The children heard a cry from the bedroom a short while later, "Ohhh!  Martin!"

There was the pile of cottons and associated labels all randomised.  

Notice how so many colours are really similar?  Luckily Lana has a sample of each colour in a special case in the cupboard.  Lana, Ariel and Eric then spent half an hour sorting the 40 colours, matching the bands and then putting the bands back on the skeins.

Now the plastic drawers are shoved against the wall and something heavy is shoved in behind them.

It could have been worse.  The bands weren't destroyed and the cotton skeins weren't unravelled - or trailed up the hall behind him as he showed his discovery.  We are thankful for small mercies.

Travel Tips for WYD

Last night Lana and I were remembering our travels to and from the US. We figured it would be a good idea to give some travel tips for people travelling to Australia.
1. Remember Australia is a LONG way away. By the time you land in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane you will probably have been travelling about 24 hours.
2. Australia is on the other side of the world. Opposite Season and opposite time. 8am in Sydney today is 6pm Atlanta yesterday. Summer in the US is Winter in Australia.
3. Drink plenty of water. Avoid too much fizzy (pop/soda) and alcohol. This will avoid headaches from drying out.
4. Sleep however you can on the plane. I know that you will be excited, and uncomfortable in "cattle class" (economy), but try to get some power naps.
5. Pack sensibly. You probably won't use half the stuff you bring.
6. Australia has different power. We use 240v and different power sockets. Your equipment won't work without an adaptor, and an adaptor alone won't help if the item cannot handle the 240v. Most computers, iPods and other stuff have adaptors that handle both power levels - check your power brick and adaptor.
7. The mobile/cell phone network here is NOT the same as yours. If your mobile carrier allows International roaming, you will be slugged a heavy price. You are better off getting an International Phone card in Australia, or using the Internet.
8. There is hardly any Free Wireless Internet coverage in Australia, and it is not extensive.The public access at airports and McDonalds is expensive.  There is quite a bit of "free public" wireless coverage from an abundance of unsecured wireless routers, but that isn't really the same thing.
9. When you land in Australia early in the morning, DO NOT go to sleep until night time. This means another 12 hours up and awake, but it is the only way to minimise jet lag. If you sleep on arrival - during the day - you will probably be zonked out for the first 3 or 4 days of your trip as you adjust.
10. Be patient. There will be hundreds of thousands of people landing within a short space of time. Being self important and impatient will actually DECREASE your assistance from local people. A friendly request will get a great response.
11. Australians drive on the correct side of the road - the LEFT SIDE. So be sure to look BOTH ways before crossing the road. Your habit will be to look one way as you step off the curb. This will ensure that the car will hit you on your blind side.

Anyone else have more tips?
(This photo is of us in Atlanta airport when we started our travel home in September 2005.)

The Americans are Coming! The Americans are Coming!

We are hosting some of the World Youth Day (WYD) Pilgrims as they participate in activities in our diocese prior to attending the WYD week. There is great excitement in the parish as everyone is getting ready to welcome our brothers and sisters in the Faith from around the world. The pilgrims staying in our parish are all from a group from central USA.
You may wonder why we have placed this photo with this post. Hopefully some of our pilgrims will realise that it is Winter in Australia. The weather forecast here is for overnight temperatures to drop to -4C (25F) overnight and highs of 11C (52F). I suspect that boarding an airplane in Mid Summer and landing in Mid Winter will be a surprise, even though the Sydney Winter is comparatively mild.  T-shirts and shorts may not be enough, no matter how much Steve Irwin documentaries show the contrary! We posted on Winter weather last year too. (This photo is from the same time last year)
Luckily we have a supply of warm clothing for while they are here. We may also need to make a trip to Vinnies Op Shop (Thrift Stores) to get a warm jacket or two.

Different Strokes

Our seven children have the same Mum and Dad, yet they are all very different.
On Saturday I returned from shopping and all the children rushed out to see what I had bought. Clare quickly picked out a pack of 100's and 1000's. These are coloured sugar sprinkles which when spread on buttered bread make "Fairy Bread".
"Yes!" Clare cried out, "This is JUST what we need!"
Meanwhile Rose had discovered the corn. "Corn!" she cried, rushing inside with the pack to show Lana, "Yummy!"
This is a picture of her with TWO cobs of corn and no chips as she prefers the corn - as we have shown before.
Ariel and Eric accompanied me shopping and were able to "influence" my purchasing decisions. This time we bought quite a lot of chocolate and lollies to share with the American pilgrims that will be staying with us in 10 days time preparing for World Youth Day. So Ariel got her preference of sweet things.
James and Peter were happy I bought fruit.
And Lana was really happy she didn't go shopping! So wins all round.

The 11th Reason

We have written before about the eleventh reason to have another child: Because they are funny. Martin has been the cause of our amusement yesterday.
We went to vigil Mass (Mass at 6:00pm on Saturday) which is normally a bit of a challenge as the children are more fidgety in the evenings. This time Martin was very impressed with the sign of peace which is shaking the hand of a neighbouring person in the congregation and saying "Peace be with you". Not long after this we have the Consecration and then we process to receive communion.
The local parish church is quite small so all those going to communion must be in single file. And Martin offered his hand to every one to either shake their hand or give him a high five! He found it very entertaining!
When Eric tried to quiten Martin down, he told him "Shhhh."
So Martin responded by loudly going "Ssssssss!", defeating the purpose.
The other thing he has decided to do is to look at one of us and put his hands on his head. We then copy. He then dances up and down on one spot with various assorted grunts and enthusiastic squeals.

We then copy that too. Then he stops, grins and laughs and it all begins again. The first photo is part of his dance with one hand on his head.
The second photo here is him saying "Ha Ha Ha" to us, very proud of his efforts.

It is amazing how much Martin can communicate through the one sound with varying inflections.

I can't even write down the word he uses. Normally this would be represented in a novel by the characters saying "?"  This one "?" sound can mean hello, I don't understand, good morning and so on.

Country Computer Repairs

One of our older Windows PCs broke down again recently. The local place we normally use to get PCs fixed is no longer in business, so Lana asked at the local butcher if they knew what was happening.
Well, one of the fellows that was assisting happens to run a computer repair business on the side and was able to help. So Lana dropped in the computer yesterday - at the butcher shop!
The owner of the shop expressed surprise when Lana opened the door and Eric walked in carrying the PC case. Then one of the butchers called out to the fellow, "The computer is here!"
"Oh, Good," he said coming in from the back of the store.
So there you go. When you're in the country, and petrol prices are running at around $1.80 per litre ($7.35US per gallon) you do all sorts of things to cut the driving and fuel costs. Like dropping of your computer at the Butcher shop for the computer man to pick up. Obvious really.

What else have we been doing - Finishing

It has been some time since we displayed any of the cratfy things Lana has done. In fact, we haven't shown anything cross stitch on the blog for about 18 months! After popular request, we thought that we might catch up.
Ariel completed the first pattern: "Mother's Bliss" from Mirabilia Designs. It was Ariel's first large design and she did a very good job. All these designs aren't very hard or complicated - they are just large and you need to spend a lot of time to finish them.

These were all framed last September and between Mum, Ariel and Lana we had 13 pictures framed. The framer we use is in Port Macquarie, about 8 hours drive away. When we plan a trip up North, we work out which patterns to frame, carefully pack them in a mailing tube and send them off. Then on the return journey we pop in the shop and collect them all.

We suggested to Ariel that if she finished her Lady before we posted them we would pay for it with the rest.

Lana stitched the other two BM (Before Martin).

The first one on blue is "Stargazer" by Mirabilia pattern #88. She is stitched on 32ct "Bell Bottom Blue"from Stitches and Spice an Australian online hand dyed shop. I think this material is much better than the orange used for the official picture on the Mirabilia Site.
There are a lot of beads on the design. I was on the lounge the other night looking up at the picture and making a number of "interesting" comments regarding the sheer amount of beads! It looks as if she has been shot by a stream of bubbles and is clutching her chest in pain. Lana didn't agree with me. I could tell this as she just gave me THAT condescending look.

The last is "Angel of Hope" from Lavender and Lace Designs, stitched on the purple material "Jacaranda Haze" also from Stitches and Spice. Lana used beads instead of the gold thread petite on the dress and the larger ones around her.

What Lana's been up to - Biscornu

A "Biscornu" is what is pictured here.  The word is a French adjective which is now a noun in English to describe for an odd shaped pin cushion. 

The Green one was done as an experiment, then Lana made the red one on 25 count material "two over two" (two strands of thread over two material threads) and the little blue one is one over one on the same material. 

You can see that one over one is 1/4 the size of the two over two. Clare's and Rose's fingers provide some scale.
Lana has always wanted to do this to show the size comparison, and finally found the right pattern.
The pattern can be found at Aurelle blog (It's in French but you should find your way around easy enough). The samples shown here are based on the "Biscornu No 8." pattern.