Holiday, finally!
We have decided that we will spend this year end in Melbourne. Lani's been eager to spend time with her niece Joan and her family who moved there in August - the husband being an Iglesia Ni Cristo minister, they were deployed in Melbourne by the Church Administration. They are her first real relatives in Australia, so she's really excited to be with them. And in addition, Joan just gave birth to their 2nd child (daughter) in early December we we're welcoming a new bub.
The original plan was to spend the last week of December and first week of January there. However, the in-laws arrived in mid-Dec and we'll be staying with them for the next three month. And since their Family Week fell on Dec 23-29, we decided to just be there during their holiday week. It was perfect for us, coz then we'd be able to get back to Sydney on the 29th to attend the district CFO Day and spend New Years with friends here.
Here's how the holiday went:
Dec 22, Sunday
- Performed in our Yearend Thanksgiving in the morning.
- At lunch, Ethan attended the choir lunch gathering, while Lani, Erin, and I went to the Carungay's house for bro Jon's birthday
- Back at home late afternoon, we started packing up for our trip
- 10pm, left Sydney for our drive down to Melbourne
Dec 23, Monday
- Arrived at the Garcia's residence at around 10am, after 5 stops for charging, toilet, and food.
- We stopped mostly at Evie Charging Stations, namely Sutton Forest, Gundagai, Wodonga, Yea, and Dandenong North.
- Spent the afternoon with the Garcias, then we all headed to Costco for shopping and food
- Arrived at our Rowville Internation Hotel accommodation at 4pm
- Bit of rest before we headed out again to attend the 8pm worship service at Hastings (Dandenong Ext). Lucky to see bro Romy, bro Jojo, and bro RJ and families.
Dec 24, Tuesday
- 9am rise to go back to the Garcia's house
- Then departed shortly to Chadstone Shopping Centre to visit Legoland.
- Lunch was at New Shanghai resto at the Social Quarter of Chadstone
- Then walked around a bit in the mall
- Headed back to hotel at 5pm
- Then went out to Stud Park to charge the car (slow charger)
Dec 25, Wednesday
- 7am start for a 3+hour drive to the Twelve Apostoles.
- Met the Garcias and walked to the lookout for some photos
- We then drove 15mins to Port Campbell where the Valdez family had a picnic spread waiting
- Relaxed day laying down under a big tree by the beach with plenty of food. The perfect holiday
- Left Port Campbell at 2pm to drive back to Melton to the Valdez's residence for early dinner
- Charging stop at Evie Weir View while Ethan and Erin eat at Mcdo, before doing the 1.5hr drive back to the hotel.
Dec 26, Thursday
- Early start again to head to Cherry Hills Orchard for some cherry picking
- We had a 9am booking which was perfect - not many people yet, and sun is just about to come out
- Done by 12pm, so we went back to Ringwood for Costco hotdogs and pizza
- Headed back to the Garcia's place for more pizza and chatter
- Then at 5pm, we all drove to Studley Park Boathouse for dinner (food was bleh, by the way. But the venue was great for pictorials)
- Back at the hotel by 8pm; then Lani and I decided to go and to our laundry in the nearby shop
Dec 27, Friday
- Stayed in the hotel in the morning to catch up on work.
- The Jarazas came to the hotel
- Then we all headed to Waya Japanese resto at Glen Waverley for lunch with the Jaraza and Garcias.
- After that, we all drive to the city to get Lune croissant, but we ended up being late - they already ran out for the day.
- Walked around and photo ops at the graffiti wall
- Then cakes and desserts at Brunetti Classico
- Back at the Hotel by 7pm, then out again to attend worship service at local of Knox
- Went for a full charge at Stud Park for our trip back to Sydney in the morning
Dec 28, Saturday
- Packed up and checked out of the hotel at 10am
- Headed to the Garcias for our goodbyes, before leaving at 11am for our 980km drive home
- Charging, toilet and food stops at Avenel, Wodonga, Yass, and Suttons Forest, and we were back home by 10pm.
0 Comments