Winter

We arrived in Sydney on Saturday 2nd July after a pretty good flight from Europe.


View of Sydney from the plane

It was almost 18 months since we left our homeland, and we can’t tell you how nice it is to be home. We stayed with Kev’s parents for two weeks. It took about one week to get over jetlag – falling asleep at about 3am each morning. We spent a lot of time catching up with the ever-growing Wagner family – it was nice to meet the new little editions. I also went up to the Gold Coast for a few days to see my darling aunty and uncle (Carmel and Jack) and cousin Tessie and her hubby and six kids. They are all mildly mad, so we had lots of fun.

Then, back in Sydney, we stayed with the MacDonald’s for some quality time. They are also wild and crazy, so it was super fun. They live three doors down from Jacinta (my bridesmaid) so it was a treat to see her and the kids too. I also got to see Dougie and Sandra and their little boy Joseph, who is my godson whom I had never met.


Hele and Sarsy


Hele and Cinti

After two weeks in Sydney, we flew down to Melbourne. We went from extreme heat in Rome, to cool in Sydney, to dang-cold in Melbourne. I am determined not to get sick - I have been fighting off the signs of a cold since we arrived in Australia, but it has not quite developed.

It is strange to be home after all this time, but in a way it seems as though we have never been away. We hadn’t seen most people for a year and a half, but were very blessed to have had visits from my brother Paul, and mum and dad during our time away. We have finally seen our new nephew Timmy (Alex and Steph’s second child) and can’t keep up with our extremely chatty and energetic godson Mikey.

Last weekend we went away with some good friends. We stayed a couple of nights in a lovely cabin in Red Hill. We didn’t do a lot....mostly caught up on old times, ate, drank (in sensible quantities of course) and played charades.


Dave, Maree, Donna, Mary, Hele, Kev, Pete, Nick



Enjoying a walk



What a handsome boy!


A candid photo - enjoying the grounds

It was a lovely spot, and it was so nice to breathe the fresh country air – it was kind of like the opposite to Rome! On Sunday we drove back to Melbourne with Dave and Maree, via the coast road. We stopped in Mornington for morning tea. I hadn’t been there in years and years. Twas such a wonderful weekend!!!

End of the year

Kev and I survived our first year as directors of the ESM. Towards the end of June, we started to prepare for the end of the year. We had a special dinner to thank all the people who had helped with the formation of the students - teachers, companions, etc. These generous people were honoured with various performances by the students that showed how much of an impact they had had on the students - basically, the students impersonated them...it was hilarious and was received in good humour.

Like last year, we also had Cardinal Rylko over for dinner. He likes to meet the students before they leave the school, to encourage them in their mission to evangelise when they return home. He is in charge of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and is the person who requested that the Emmanuel Community run a School of Mission in Rome.


Cardinal Rylko with the ESM

On the last day of school, the students gave Kev and me a surprise after lunch. A couple of them impersonated the two of us at the pearly gates, trying to convince St Peter to let us into heaven. Then they showed us a video that they had made to prove how much they had listened to everything we had taught them over the year - it was a video of them doing everything we asked them NOT to do. Once again, it was great. They presented us with a chain of cut-outs of their hand-prints with a message from each of them. It was supposed to look a bit childish, as many of them referred to us as 'mum and dad' througout the year.

That night, we had our end-of-year party on the terrace. It went until about 3:00am. Then Kev and I had to finish off some work, and headed home at about 4:00am. We decided not to go to sleep, knowing that the first group of students would leave at 6:00am. We made use of the time by packing for our trip home. Then we went back to the School and said goodbye to the students. It was very very sad.

We went to 7:30am Mass, and had to try very hard to stay awake. Then we went home and waited for our taxi which took us to the airport. We flew out of Rome at midday on July 1st.

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It has been an amazing year. There have been some major struggles, but these were out-weighed by the blessings which poured down on us over the year. Our students were an incredible group of people, and we will really really miss them. We already do....