An Easter Gift for You

An Easter Gift for You

At Christmas time and at Easter many people turn their minds to think about Jesus.

Who was He, when did He live, what was His purpose in life, where is He now, what difference does it make to us?

The story of Jesus is not hard to find.  Many people have it in a book gathering dust on their bookshelves, but today it is as simple as typing a word in a Search page.  Some people read from this Book every day as they have Faith in the One it is talking about.  The book is the Bible or The Scriptures.

One of the chapters that tell the story of Jesus records that He was the One who created our world.  Jesus was sent as a baby on this earth and as He grew many people accepted Him as the Saviour of the world.  “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). However, others rejected Him and finally crucified Him on a cruel cross at a time we now call Easter and which we celebrate today. But after three days Jesus arose again and later ascended to Heaven.  Before He left He promised to come back.

So why does this matter to us, after all this all happened more than two thousand years ago.  Because while He lived here, Jesus promised His followers that if they placed their faith in Him and accept His righteousness and the forgiveness He freely offers, then Jesus would give them the gift of eternal life.  All you need to do is to accept the gift.

“God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. (John 3:16, CEV)

2013 #14 Heading across the Nullabor plain towards home

We left behind the West, Nullarbor, The Barossa Valley and headed out cross country toward Victoria.  We travelled via Mildura and headed down some dry and dusty roads in Victoria.  I think we have seen many places in the Victorian outback that most Victorians will never, ever see.  There was a lot of wheat and canola, all heading up, once we got to the cropping areas.  The dusty wind blew hard, but it was in our favour, at our back. Graeme was pleased with his fuel consumption (saving 15% fuel with a strong northerly tail wind).  We stayed in Ouyen and places most of us have never heard of.

In Ouyen I learnt that Mallee trees can have some very large root systems – usually below the ground where most of us never see them.  However, for the pioneers who tried to clear them off the land, they were very hard to move, indeed - especially with the tools they had at their disposal.   One root on view was 24 paces around the base.  Now this is hidden under the ground and you don’t see it.  However, when a fire comes through, or drought, the Mallee root has the ability to continually send up new smaller trees, so that is why Mallee is so persistent.  Usually they nourish about four new trees, about 9 feet high, but sometimes they will carry eight or ten new trees.

We rushed through the wind and dust, and it was much too windy to get some very good once-in-a-lifetime photos – the photographer’s lot – like the big fish that got away!  

We  covered a lot of territory.  This is the last post for 2013.

2013 #13 Esperance and Barossa Valley

We had a couple of days in Esperance.  We do love that place, and consider it to be the most beautiful place we know in Australia.  So hope you can all come and see it.  On Saturday early evening, we were returning from a trip to Cape Le Grand and Graeme was dozing as I drove.   There was a big dark cloud up above, which was dropping rain on Esperance, up ahead of us.  Suddenly there was an almighty bang.  A kangaroo had jumped out of the bush into the side of the truck.   Graeme looked up to see a Kanga just about in his lap!   “What was that”, he said.  “A kangaroo” I said.  “Oh, we are finished” he replied.  (laugh here).  And by the grace of God we had to search to find a small dent in the side of the truck.

We moved on to Fraser Range Station for the following night, and saw many lovely wild flowers as we drove on the outback roads.  There had been plenty of rain and floods out there. We pushed on towards the Nullarbor, staying at Mundrabilla Roadhouse. We drove flat out (with a strong cross wind) to get to the other side of the Nullarbor.  We kept losing time as we drove.  Nullarbor means “no-trees”.  The Nullarbor was part of an ancient sea bed which was pushed up, and so the soil is very thin and trees won’t grow there.   There were plenty of small green bushes though.  How different to when we went over, so recently, when everything was green.    As we drove, we noticed we were up to 150 metres above sea level.  Of course, the ocean of the Great Australian Bight was right below us and to our right, but most of the time you can’t see it.  You can’t even feel the sea breeze which would have been nice for the temperature was 40 degrees or more. There are a few places where you can drive in and actually view the ocean.  Sometimes it is the great cliffs and sometimes the coast is just a beautiful beach,  and far below the road you will find the playground of the whales.

Crossing the Nullarbor I would quickly duck into the roadhouse and get a very fast shower to keep me cool as we travelled. Despite the strong cross-winds of the trip, we were very glad to find a place where we could stop for the night (Penong). This was the first place we came to that had water!  We cooked up vegies and fruit to save having to hand everything in at “Check Point Charlie” as we cross into South Australia. We only spotted one Eagle on the Nullarbor, standing over his kangaroo road kill.    He did not move as we hurried past.  Last time we saw a  lot of Eagles. Graeme is still recovering from trying to do so many kilometres in the fierce heat.

Thankfully, we arrived safely in the beautiful Barossa Valley.   What a joy to see such a lovely place - a virtual Garden of Eden.  In fact we found a place here called Eden and it was the place where the ancient Lutheran farmers settled in the early 1800’s. We also met some Muslim business men from the Middle East who were sourcing some lambs or sheep for the Middle East.  We met them inside an ancient tree where a family once lived with two children.  Later the family had 14 more children, when they got a proper home.  The tree was 34 paces around the base, so it was pretty big.

2013 #12 Sterling Ranges Again

The weather has remained windy, wet and cold.   Here at the Stirling Range Retreat, it is their wettest September in 108 years.  The creek is flowing for the first time in years and they are pleased and amazed.  They are amazed how the frogs can somehow lie hidden in the dry creek bed for so many years and when the rains get the creek running, the frogs all come back again.  Where do they hide in the meantime?  The rains also mean that we have a great crop of orchids and flowers, though things change as the months move on.  The beauty of the crops and landscape of the colours has changed now from green and gold to brown as they are heading up.  We certainly saw it at its best.

We moved from Perth further south to Bunbury and on to Busselton.  Then we went inland to escape the ferocious 100 km per hour winds.  The floods were rising in Busselton, which is at sea level and sometimes below sea level.  There was a lot of water logging on the land and the rivers rising to the top.  The winds finally made us leave and head inland.   The same thing happened to just about everybody else who was on the road.  We all headed inland, but there was no getting away from the fallen trees and the wind.  We saw about 50 trees which had blown down, cutting off roads, uprooted, all over the place. The trees fell at their own leisure, giving no warning they were coming.  Travelling on the road you had no idea if one would fall on the car.   We watched a huge semi-trailer travelling at top speed suddenly find a large tree down on the road.  Without time to stop, he just sounded his horn and took to the other side of the road where he thought he would slip through.  Fortunately, no other traffic coming and it was okay.

We stopped at Collie and saw the huge open cut colliery which supplies one third of WA’s power.  We stayed inland at Kojonup where there was a wonderful Information Office.  They not only had a flower show on but also a huge permanent display of history, Aboriginal history and art.  We did several of the drives, looking for orchids and found quite a lot.  At one stage we found ourselves way out in the never-never on a sheep property which has a second business.  Fifty per cent of their income comes from selling Tulips of all things.  They have turned it into a very successful business and they were lovely people. They had a beautiful show of Tulips and market them all around the place by catalogue.  As we left the farm and headed back to town, we were only on small dirt roads and tracks.  Now that was quite fun until we came across a road completely covered with swiftly flowing flood water and had to drive back the way we had come.  All part of our great adventure!  

We headed to Albany to buy supplies for our trip back to the Stirling Range Retreat.  While at Albany we went to visit some of their natural attractions where the ocean roars up between cliffs and shoots sea water way up in the air. A second one is a natural arch and the water also swishes up under the bridge with a deafening roar.  The day was wet and blustery.  We did not dare stay out there too long as the car was getting covered with sea water from the spray and it was teaming with rain.  Some days they had the car park chained off as it was so dangerous.  But it was fun.

In both Bunbury and Albany we caught up with Cheri Peters.  She was visiting from USA and teaching how to help people with all kinds of addictions.  We learnt slightly different things at both training sessions because at Albany we had quite a few addicted people in attendance and they were desperate for help.  At the second conference we learnt more about the Recovery side of addiction.  She wasn’t just addressing the hard drugs and alcohol, but also things like shop lifting, sexual addictions, and shopaholics.  She certainly has a great way with people and has learnt such a lot through her own experiences.

Back in the Stirling Ranges I have had the opportunity to update the book on Numbats with all the new information we have learnt. Have to make some decisions on how to present it. While it can be used at the retreat now, we might work on it some more, with art work or photography when we arrive home.

The first day or so here, the place was muddy and children were running around in bare feet because shoes and socks had become so sodden, as they climbed mountains and tried to entertain themselves in the rain, however, it soon dried up.

Today, Wednesday dawned practically windless and sunny.     It is so quiet and calm that we feel as if we have been sitting in a hurricane for three months. We are so used to the roar of the wind, rain and ocean – we can’t believe the peace and calm of a pleasant day.  Tomorrow will even be quite warm.     We are going to hit the road though, and head East to Hopetoun then to Esperance before crossing the country to SA.  We heard you are having some boisterous weather in some parts at present and we will probably run into it again within a day, ourselves.

Lizard

Ostrich at Kojonup 

Southern Cross wildflower at Bluff Knoll

Fringed Mantis Spider Orchid

Red Beak orchid focus stack from 4 photos at The Stirling Ranges

Butterfly spider orchid

Crab-lipped orchid

Dragon orchid

Zebra orchid with mosquito

2013 #11 Perth and Surrounds

We travelled down the Western coastal road to Perth.  Yes, now you can go just about all the way.  The country was a picture and there were many sand dunes of pure white.  The flowering trees were out everywhere, wattles, Tryptamine and others.  The Grass trees stand like eternal Aboriginal sentinels guarding the land.   They grow for miles and miles in a picture of grasses and flowers.   At one stage, while photographing a colourful flower, I momentarily got a fright when I stood up to see what I thought was an Aboriginal standing right behind me, arms held high with a weapon.    However, it was just a Grass Tree.    

We called into Cervantes and the Pinnacles once again and purchased a book and some gifts. We contacted the author of the book on orchids and he phoned us to have a chat, which was very nice of him, so information and ideas were swapped.  

Even when we arrived in Perth it seems to all be sand dunes.  They are tearing down the native bushland and replacing it with huge concrete housing and malls, everywhere.  Poor nature is being knocked off, block by block.  As habitats disappear, so do our native creatures that depend on the flora and fauna of the land.

We had an excellent time at church at Livingstone – an exciting church to be part of – very forward thinking, bursting at the seams with a good spread of all ages. Some people remembered us from our last visit, four weeks ago.

We visited Perth Zoo yesterday.  We spend an hour or so with the single female Numbat which was on display.  It is WA’s faunal emblem, but after they announced this, they couldn’t find many. They were almost extinct.  There is a large program of breeding being undertaken by the Zoo.  I met the Numbat breeders and scientists and had a good talk about Numbats.  The Zoo also had a great DVD on the Numbat.   This new information will be added to the book I recently wrote for the proprietors of the Stirling Range Retreat who are great conservationists.

We quickly dashed over to Kings Park, while the weather held out for us and strolled around the floral displays of native plants.  We ran into the “Adorable Florables”.  They dress as flowers and run shows on the native flowers.  I managed to have my photo taken with them.   They are from a Perth Theatre company.

A farmer who moved in behind us this afternoon said that a few weeks ago they had no water in their dams or tanks and now they are all overflowing.  He said this is the first time they have been like that for many years.  So God has been good sending the rain to bless all the farmers and the countryside, clothing it with majesty and beauty.

We are heading further south tomorrow to Busselton.  So the weather will probably get even more severe than it is at present. 

2013 #10 Geraldton and Eneabba

We enjoyed a week in windy Geraldton.  Though the temps are about 21 or 22, it is still cold due to the ceaseless wind. We decided to put the awning up so we could get some sleep.  We took off in a tiny little mosquito-like aircraft with just us and the pilot and headed out to the Abrolhos Islands, 70 km from Geraldton.  It is the home of the cray-fishing industry and is held in high regard by many.  There are 120 odd coral atolls in the group.  We stood on the highest point – 50’ above sea level.  So if foul weather hits the islands, the results are not always good.  The most beautiful thing we saw was the varying, gorgeous colours of the sea all around each atoll.  We got some interesting photos, but not easy from the plane.  The huge ocean waves rolled in, in all their glory, thwarted only by the coral cays which lie on top of, or just under the water.  We were given the history of the shipwrecks (which we had already studied up on), and the places where historical events had happened.  Well, they make great stories, but looked at in another way, the results of the Batavia wreck was that most of the people who escaped the ship and sea were murdered and dealt with treacherously.  In fact it is the greatest mass murder case in Australian history. That was 1629 AD.

We had two landings on the coral cay airstrips.  We settled on East Wallaby island and walked 1 km with all our heavy camera gear.  We had to be ready for just about anything out there. The highlight was to photograph two Osprey (Raptors) on their nest. Their wing span can be as large as 2 metres.  I whistled and sang to them.  Hopefully, this kept them calm enough to let us reasonably close, but not close enough for them to attack us.  In the perfectly clear waters I spotted a squid.  He swam so gracefully with all his legs together behind him. He was about 16” in length. Out on the Abrolhos they have several pearl farms. They have a school from time to time when there are enough children.  The island we were on is just for day trippers, like ourselves. There was one other airline company out there with about six guests, so we all got chatted together.   We could have snorkelled on the reef, but the cold weather deterred us.  Lots of fish out there and big blue Groper. Had we snorkelled we’d have a far more exciting tale to tell!

I did have one funny experience. We drove to a town nearby, called Greenough.  It was built in the early to mid-1800’s. The Museum I went into had been someone’s home - a woman with 13 children lived there. Her husband was usually away on business, so she ran a business and raised, and had, the children. It was a spooky place.  The lower floor was bad enough to spook me, then I climbed a very creaky and uneven spiral staircase with very narrow steps.  I reluctantly crept into a “bedroom” wondering what I would find.  As I pushed the door open, a great flurry of fur came flying towards me.  I screamed at the top of my voice.  The cat got a bigger fright than I did.  So he came out almost flying in mid-air at me.  It was a funny situation.  The caretaker said, “thanks for finding the cat”???  Graeme was downstairs with the cat sitting obediently at his feet by the time I escaped. I did not even dare to go into the underground bedroom.

Greenough is the place where the trees grow parallel to the ground, due to prevailing winds.  Age of trees 800 years old.  They started growing about 1230 AD. So the story goes….  We also drove out to Ellendale where a beautiful river winds its way past a lovely gorge on one side. Many folk were enjoying the lovely spot for camping, but the ominous notice was there for all to read.  “Once this river reaches a certain temperature, it is full of Amoebic Meningitis. So don’t put your head into this water”.  I also met a young woman at church who is doing research on the river, but unable to speak about the results at this stage.

Passing through many of the Wildflower towns we arrived at Eneabba. We did a “tag along” 4WD expedition to the wildflowers.  A stay at this place will enrich you in so many way with regard to our environment and flora.  There is only 5% of Australia which still has remnant natural bush and wild flowers and this is one of those places.  Soon it will all be gone forever.  Farming has taken precedence over all else.  The Brand Highway is outside The Western Flora Caravan Park where we are staying.   Nearby on the main Highway are kilometres of tall, beautiful red and green Kangaroo Paw plants.  When you drive fast, you miss it all, even though it is there for all to see.

Notes on photos:  Observe the tiny flower in Allan Tinker’s fingers. When magnified 40 times you can see the transition of all the colours in the flower.

Also note the heart of a Geraldton Wax flower magnified, all the tiny grubs and critters who are living in there. These two photographs were snapped off Allan’s projector screen.

2013 #9 Geraldton

We have moved a little further.  Now we are in the “Northern” part of the state rather than the Great Southern, so a few things are different.

We are only 200 ks north of Perth, so we are not in the tropics by any means.  The weather remains cool and wet.  Fortunately we get a sunny day once in a while, especially when we need it to take photos, so it is working out okay for us.  We are not seeing anything like the warm days such as most of you are experiencing.

We were blessed by having a lovely day to photograph the Wreath flowers.   These are so special and these are the first ones we have seen.  We had to drive a long way to see them, but they were out in all their glory.  They covered a space of about 150 metres long by about 3 metres wide.  They grow in the gravel that has been moved around by a grader.  The road is a new one, newly tarred, at least, so plenty of fresh gravel.  We  hope you enjoy our pictures.  We were thrilled to see them and it seems there are not many around this year.

The Pink Everlastings Daisies, so famous in the West, did not get rain in June, so there are very few of them around.   However, on a drive from Northampton to Geraldton we spotted two or three lots of them.   How blessed we were, as they are not mentioned on the Tourist advisory sheets, put out weekly.  We were able to advise the Tourist office in Geraldton where the Pink Everlastings were.  Now everybody else may go and enjoy them too.

At Mullewa we drove to Coal Seam National Park and it was delightful.  On one side of the river is a long reddish gorge wall, towering above the plain.    There is a wide, shallow (at the moment) river, which can get quite deep, but on the other side is a beautiful meadow of flowers.  I was in flower heaven.     The meadow was covered mostly with common yellow weeds with black centres and the Yellow and gold Everlastings were interspersed with the weeds, but they all blended into one very pretty meadow.  It was a large meadow, flowers as far as we could see.   Walking by the river was beautiful.  Bright green flowered meadows also lay on the other side of the river in front of the gorge wall.  Driving the truck, I wanted to cross the Causeway and take a look on the other side, but Graeme was not keen to do this.  Recent rains have upset the roads and some were closed. Some people were finding fossils in the rocks.

We went to the Mullewa flower show.  It was quite good and nicely put together for a small, but very active community.  Mullewa consists of muddied red brick ancient buildings – a really dry and normally dusty town.  There are some private homes as well and many Aboriginal folk there. I remember preaching in Mullewa to the Aboriginal folk when I was 20. 

At Mullewa we bumped into the Grey Nomads who are streaming in from the North, perhaps trying to escape the coming heat. They have not seen the lush crops that we have seen for the past few weeks.  They can’t even believe they could exist.  They have not seen anything like we have seen coming up from the South.  We drove up from the South through hundreds of kilometres of lush crops - green and gold Canola and Wheat. The beauty was breathtaking. We feel the wet, cool and windy conditions we experienced were well worth the beauty the weather brought with it.

We drove through some of Western Australia’s oldest country towns, built with stones, held together with cement.  There were many Heritage buildings at York and Northam. There were other similar towns.   Due to the rain we couldn’t stop very long, but we did get a few photos.   Love to go back and check those places over, especially around the Avon Valley.

We drove from Mullewa into Geraldton.  Joy - being in civilization again! We renewed our supplies, the days became warmer but interspersed with rain.   We now have a lot of photos to share.  We had a wonderful time at church with the folk in Geraldton.

Multi-headed Queen of Sheba Thelymitra variegata

How we do close-up photos of Wreath Flowers

Perenjori Wreath Flowers close-up

Imitating art