Flying high.....

It was freezing this morning! Half the problem though was, that we woke up to clear blue skies...amazing for Tassie in winter! So, we got to appreciate the sunshine (for a few hours at least). On our way out to todays activities, Eric took us on a tour of the historic part of Hobart town, which the kids all thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed (ok, I have to be honest.... it was really me who thoroughly appreciated and enjoyed it!)


The first stop today was at a little town called Huonville, on the Huon River, where we visited another school.  This time it was a Traditional Boat Building School, where people can come and do courses on the art of building wooden boats. The guys doing the tours explained the different processes involved in joining timbers together and how to make them water tight (Mr Wong, you would have loved it! All the different sorts of timbers, tools and techniques!) We were allowed to wander through the workshop and check out the different boats in progress of being built or repaired. This tied in really nicely with what we've been learning about the maritime history of Tasmania, thanks to Eric's informative commentaries.

Lunch was bakery pies and sausage rolls.....what a choice....and all sooooo yummy according to everyone.  It didn't take long to polish them all off, which was just as well, as a weather alert for all of Tasmania had been issued for early afternoon, predicting heavy rain and high winds. This would seriously affect our scheduled afternoon activities (air walk and hang gliding). So seriously in fact, that they would be cancelled! We wasted no time in getting to our destination.

'Games' while waiting in the bus.....

Of course by the time we arrived, the rain had started (it wasn't too bad) but the wind had yet to pick up. Both the Air Walk and the Hang Gliding activities were given the big thumbs up. It was really pleasing to see a number of students tackle their fear of heights and adventure head on; everyone completed both activities admirably! Not so sure about the 'fear' of leeches, of Tasmanian Funnel Web spiders and of getting lost and (completely) eaten by Tassie devils (bones and all, oh wait, perhaps not the skull?) Thanks go to Tim, our Air Walk guide who had the students enthralled by his tales of (mis)adventure in an engaging and informative style.

God is so good..... He waited until we'd finished the activities before fulfilling the predicted weather forecast.  Needless to say, our trip home was made all the more interesting, with the bus being buffeted by the high winds.  Eric capably kept us on the road and heading in the right direction to get us home in perfect time for another yummy camp meal of kebabs, baked potatoes (and toppings) with salad, topped off with chocolate self-saucing pudding and ice-cream (in abundance!). The camp staff at Blue Lagoon Christian Camp Centre surely know how to look after their guests, and they are so generous with their time and resources. I was so proud of our kids.....how many times did I hear them say 'thank you' to any of the kitchen staff they saw throughout the course of the evening? Oh wait....I've lost track.....

Tonight was the last night in the series of devotions "Proof of Jesus".  The kids have really been grappling with so many BIG questions and issues over the last four nights, and it has been humbling to see how they have accepted each other despite their differences, and encouraged each other in their discoveries. I am sure these times will form many strong memories for these guys to take through life. Tonight we were looking at how we need to 'trust' in the evidence there is for Jesus. Mr G tested our ability to trust in asking us to participate in a number of trust building activities which was challenging for some, but a lot of fun for everyone!

Once again, the games room was a perfect place to 'hang out', 'chill out' and maybe even 'make out' before 'lights out'........