Those old Pinnaroo days

This week, I looked in the local weekly newspaper (about 5 pages) called The Border Times, to find that a youth group from Aldinga Bay Baptist Church (that's in Adelaide) were coming down to have a camp in Pinnaroo. I used to love church camps, there was that special feeling about them. Anyway, the ad in the paper stated "BBQ - all Youth Welcome".

Two people knew I were coming, all the others were very surprised to see ol' Sammy Smedley turn up! "What are you doing here!!?"

I need to get a t-shirt that states answers to 3 frequently asked questions I keep getting asked:
- I live in Bendigo now, no, NOT Ballarat.. OR Adelaide
- I'm doing Education, yes, this is my 3rd year
- No I won't be a teacher next year, my course goes for four years.
(and just for the record, it's Sammy, not Jess)

So we had a BBQ at the church. I sat with a few people from Aldinga, and we had fun paying out Victoria for their lack of Stobie Poles and Fritz. I haven't sat with so many people who pronounce words such as plant and answer correctly for a very long time.

I also met a girl from Millicent (near Mt Gambier). She was good to talk to.

After tea, we headed out to one of the ladies houses for a bonfire. Ah, I miss the Pinnaroo life so much, where we had bonfires and just talked. It's these kinds of things that you just can't do in the city (imagine a bonfire in my backyard!). I guess I'm just different in the sense that I like these kinds of things, rather than doing city-like things like going to the movies.

This was the second bonfire I've had since I came home. Dad fixed the seats on my car (yay!), and we had one in his back yard.

I went to church this morning - the one I still am officially a member at. I expected to be singing some good old hymns, and I was actually pretty excited about this (someone last night said I get excited easily). But because the youth took the service, it was pretty contemporary (moreso than my current church in Bendigo even!) for Pinnaroo.

I cried in this church service. It takes a lot for me to cry. The reason? I don't want to go back to Bendigo! I like Pinnaroo suddenly. But then in and out of my thinking, I began to think about Bendigo, just a few situations. I know where I'm called to be and I can't run from that. Dang.

(the picture above is of me and my dad at a mallee fowls nest in the scrub. My sister and our dog Basil is in the bottom corner)