Saturday 26 September
And so the trip began. The bus was jam-packed full to the roof.
We all loaded on, saying our goodbyes to our parents, and we were off. The first hour of the ride was peaceful, with many of us enjoying music and movies.
We stopped at Tammin Roadhouse, where we took many photos, and Goziem shared his opinion on the perfect chicken! After that, we received some awesome gift bags made by our fellow students. These included some conversation starter questions, and we enjoyed discussing all manner of things. We stopped at Southern Cross for lunch, and Maggie, Goz, and Caleb took full advantage of the nearby op-shop to buy some shirts.
After Southern Cross, a game of Paranoid had everyone spilling their most inner secrets majorly, and it got very awkward. We stopped for dinner in Kalgoorlie at Macca’s, except for Kayla and Tayla who needed salad, and Caleb and Goz who decided to eat massive tubs of fruit yoghurt!
The last stretch, everyone was pretty irritable, and emotions were running high, especially when we discovered Ethan D’s Adele playlist. However, Tali decided to redeem the situation by playing some 80s music, which everyone – particularly Anna, Caleb R and the Ethans – appreciated. The highlight of the entire bus trip was when half the bus started belting out ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’.
As the sun went down (which was such a magical moment for Maggie, who was watching ‘Inception’ at the climax with sun setting – she claims it was the best moment of her life) so did our moods, and many people started to fall asleep, or just lay in the bus aisle. However, when we finally saw the sign reading ‘Leonora’, everyone cheered. We all cheered again when Tristan saw the cow he’d been waiting for ages to see. When we arrived at the Rec centre, we unloaded with the efficiency of an assembly line, and after some very heated ball games and quick devotions, we went to bed, most of us already being living zombies.
Maggie and Kayla (with help from Anna)
Sunday 27 September
Today was the big day of getting ready for teaching the children of Leonora about Jesus.
Being the first morning of sleeping in Leonora, everyone started the day slow, but as we continued we managed to catch up on the time.
We left for a walk up the hill (Tanky Hill) and saw the small yet proud Mount Leonora in the distance. After that, we were on our way to church. The worship service got off to a great start with Daniel on the guitar and Victor manufacturing inventive ways of playing the drums (using pens and pencils because we didn’t have any drumsticks!)
After church, we spent the afternoon preparing for tomorrow – the first day of the children’s program. Everyone contributed their best efforts and the Rec Centre is now decorated like a medieval fair and the drama skits are ready to be performed.
We had a great dinner prepared by Kevin and Sam, who served up a brilliant meal of shepherd’s pie and a dessert of fruit crumble with a choice of custard or cream. We are all very excited to see the kids of Leonora tomorrow and hope for the best.
Ethan F
