Reflections on Summer

I have to say, there is no doubt in my mind that this summer 06/07 was the BEST summer of my life. Sydney always comes alive in summer and it is so exciting. All the amazing festivals and parties. The beach days, the long lunches in restaurants by the water, the bbqs and picnics…..ohhh it is just divine! Every summer is fun but this one was IT!

We went to Byron for a week over new years which really stands out in my mind as one of the biggest highlights of the summer. There were over 20 of my great friends in 2 houses right near wategoes beach and it was just the most fabulous party and reunion of old friends.

I also managed a week away with my 2 best buds from school, Katie and Kathmo. We went to Fraser Island in a completely unsuitable vehicle and completely unprepared so it turned into quite the ummmm, adventure.

For some reason I thought fraser island was sort of a big touristy island with lots of bars and restaurants. He he he, I suuuuure was wrong. Within about 130 seconds of being on the island we had the car bogged and a bus load of tourists helping us get out.

Within an hour of being on the island we had totally bogged the car (for the 3rd time) on a sand track and were digging it out with twigs while march flies bit our bums!

We were in good spirits though and we got rescued again by a jeep full of men and decided we had to stay on the hard sand beaches and set up camp. We had such an amazing week of catching up in our quiet campsite, eating lots of great food and going on little adventures.

Our trip was finished up with a crazy day at the gold coast good vibration festival. It had been a while since we’d all danced together and we had a bloody great time. There was a bushfire raging right beside fence and smoke covered the entire festival and made us all really dirty and smelly but we danced on and on and on. God I love those girls! So fun!

I also got more involved with the charity ‘Just Enough Faith’ over the summer and ended up being on the board that runs the charity (there are 5 of us). It is such an honor to do this work and I feel more fulfilled and happy and purposeful than ever before in my life.

We look after homeless people in Sydney and make sure they have a healthy meal every night. However, our objective is much more than just giving them a meal. It’s about giving them hope and helping them regain respect. It’s about helping them get back on their feet. We have loads of other services. Everything from meditation classes and job training to warm blankets and clothes for winter

I am so excited about what we might be able to do this year with the charity. We want to expand our services and help more people this year. We are about to open a free dental clinic for them and we have plans to also open a free legal centre as well.

check us out at www.justenoughfaith.org

I have also just started a program called ‘knitting for the needy’. We are organizing groups of knitters in nursing homes and elderly hostels to knit scarves beanies and blankets for the homeless for winter. It gives the oldies something they can contribute to society and gives them a sense of purpose. It’s a lovely program. I hope to get it Australia wide over the coming years.

Matty has become totally addicted to surfing and is getting really good. Every time he comes out of the water his eyes are sparkly and he has a spring in his step. I believe they call it the stoke!
I went out a lot on my body board and caught some good waves. I’ll have to learn surfing early next summer.

If it’s as fun as snowboarding it’s worth the learning curve just to feel the rush.