Hey look, a ruined castle!

Our first preparation hike as a full team (the ones coming from Australia at least) happened on a warm and sunny Saturday. We hiked from Scenic World in Katoomba, down the Golden Stairs to the Ruined Castle, had lunch and then back again.

The Castle became far less castle like on closer inspection and there was nothing remotely golden about those stairs but we'll get to that later.

We all met up at 9am at Scenic World, some brighter and more bushy eyed than others depending on how much sleep we had the night before.

It was here that we met up with Graydon Colville, the International Director of GRN and Bruce and Nellie, two other team members going on the trip.

There were gorgeous views of the valley along the dirt roads on our way to the beginning of the trek, however, we were constantly distracted by the VERY loud cicadas. They grow them big out here! Bruce gave us a bit of a lesson about how they made noise by drumming on their hollow abdomen.

That's a mighty big abdomen

Here's where we started off.

Doesn't look that bad...

Creation and stuff

Going down the Golden Stairs wasn't too difficult but coming back up was a completely different story.

Back up that!?!

Oh...

We saw glimpses of where we needed to be, a pile of rocks named Ruined Castle. Aptly named? You decide.

That pile of rocks is where we're going?
How exactly are we getting there?

Once we got down the bottom of the stairs it was time for the easy part of the walk over flat terrain for 3.4km.

We're not lost, what a bonus

Ahh...the serenity

After a bit of a climb we made it to the top of the Ruined Castle! The view was incredible and we wanted to climb up and be kings and queens of the castle.
It was well worth the heart pounding fear that we went through to get there.

If you're a castle, then what am I?

Here's what we could see from the top.

Mt Solitary. 'Coz' I'm all alone, there's noone here beside me'

See that white cable line in the top left? Yeh, that was where we had to get back to.

We had lunch at the Ruined Castle and had a bit of a discussion about what will be in store for us in Nepal. GRN Nepal are in the process of planning the trip but there have been none yet that have gone according to plan! We also talked about our own cultural bias.

After lunch we walked back along the trail.

Caption and stuff

This is what awaited us on the way back. This was between us and the end. 800m of hell. Apparently not comparable to the Nepali climbs though. Not a fact that we wanted to hear.

It just kept going...

When we made it to the top it was such a sweet success.

This was a fairly easy hike compared to what we will be doing in Nepal. There will be some days of continuous trekking with our full packs on and other days where we'll just be hiking for an hour or so to different places. Despite all our best preparation, Nepal will still be a place that will challenge us mentally, physically and spiritually. Please continue to pray for us as we tackle all that needs to be done before we leave.

Introducing Timothy

Let's meet the last member of our team, Tim. He's super keen on fitness, has recently run a marathon and is preparing to compete in a triathlon. He loves to bake and loves to impress others with said baking skills.

Standing in front of a nondescript wall for a
selfie for this blog yet still loving life!

Name: Timothy Paul Bailey

Age: 31

Occupation: Draftsperson (Graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Industrial Design)

I am a closet 'Midnight Oil' fan.

How do you feel about public speaking? 

Depends how big the crowd is because I'm naturally a shy person. I was taught public speaking at high school and surprised myself how well I did. Throughout Uni I had to do a couple of presentations each year and they always seemed to go well, I guess that is because I was the expert of the topic/design being discussed. I suppose all that helped when I was asked to lead church a few years ago. Apart from presentations/meetings at work, Church leading is the only time I do "public speaking" at the moment.

If you could have only 3 electrical appliances in your house, what would they be and why?

Computer - It stores all my music, videos, pictures, etc. I can use it to play games or watch TV, browse the internet or design things using various software.

Dremel - Used to create the things I have designed on the computer. Plus it's heaps handy for various jobs around the house.

Convection Microwave Oven - Functions like an oven and microwave, perfect for all the baking I do and for whipping up quick meals when I don't feel like spending huge amounts of time after a long day at work.

Google tells me this is a 'Dremel'. Um...cool

I have a phobia of Ophidiophobia. 

OK, so I had to look that up, but it is a fear of snakes. I wouldn't say I have an irrational fear of anything, I haven't had a panic attack due to something or someone. Also, I don't go out of my way to avoid snakes, I enjoying riding my mountain bike through the bush which means I will/do/have run into snakes. But they do freak me out when I see them.

Why are you going on a short-term mission?
I've always been keen to go on a mission because of the great benefits knowing God and what he has done for us through sending his son brings to people. So when the idea of a short term mission arose, I considered it a good opportunity to experience what going on mission would be like.

What do you know about the country of Nepal, and its people?
Not a lot, probably the same as most people. I know it is the home of the highest mountain on earth. I also know Christianity isn't big there. 

Just walked down a quarter of Tasmania

How do you feel about mountainous hiking and camping?
I haven't been on a decent hike since leaving school. The most epic hike was when I went to Tasmania to walk the Overland Track. It took 8 days and we walked over 70kms. 

What’s the farthest you have been from home?
It was either Tassy (see above) or when I went to Queenstown to go Snowboarding.

How will you cope without internet access?
I don't think it will be a big deal, I use it mostly to browse for info. But I suppose I won't notice how much I use/need something until it's gone.



Our team is going on a bush walk this weekend. We'll be doing the 'Ruined Castle Walk' for a day to prepare us for days of trekking in Nepal, to help us to get to know one another and to test our capabilities. It is going ahead rain, hail or shine so pray that all goes well, that leeches decide not to hang out in the mountains that day and that we don't get lost. We'll update with photos and fitness levels in the next blog.