Freeman On Ford B&B Beechworth

... to get back that way! So today was a 350 mile drive and tomorrow is closer to 400 miles which leaves little time for much else.

Anyhoo – not to be discourage I struck out on the Grampian road and looked out for the brown signs. First stop was the silverband falls – a short walk to a very pleasant waterfall that unusually in my experience has no plunge pool – just a pile of wet rocks under which the ...

Can't believe how early we had to get up this morning - 3:30am NZ time (which is 1:30am Aus time) to get to the airport.
But it was all good. Watched the Twilight movie on the plane on the way home and now i cant wait to see New Moon!

Coming through customs in Australia was funny as i had to go in the high security line due to my Maouri souviner that i brough back with me that is classified as a weapon. I was just glad that Border Security wasnt there to film me haha.

... mission one night, looking to see some, no success again.. We stayed at a caravan park, we were 12 people and worked hard (at least most of the time, some of us..), longer hours than in metro area, more sales – I did 18 services which was the second best result of the week, made $1300! – and obviously had heaps of fun! It was a great team, we all got along really well and grew together to a little family.

Back in ...

... but we continued on trying to be happy with the fact that at least it looked as if I'd make the distance.

The remaining part of the ride included a creek crossing - Erin coached me but I screwed it up and got my feet wet regardless. It was kinda fun though, and I was just glad I hadn't fallen completely in the water! Wonderfully, the last part of the ride was on the old Beechworth railway, which is now a walking and cycling path. After all our dirt road riding ...

Okay, so I went to the church, and it was surprisingly good. The entire congregation was only about 10 people, which really gave it the atmosphere of being a house church. The 'sermon' was very interactive, the people were incredible sincere, not only about welcoming a visitor, but also in their pursuit of a Christ-like life, and we had a rousing discussion about the benefits of cars which run on vegetable oil. (I am thinking of buying a new car - or a new 'old' car, which will run ...

... organised churches (or perhaps only on a very rare occasion), yet I still feel an urge to go visiting churches on Sundays. It is not a religious obligation I feel, as I meet with God quite adequately in parks and forests and while having conversations with injured magpies, so perhaps it is only that I am longing for human company.
There must be somewhere else I can go to meet more sincere, more interested folks than the organised churches. Perhaps I should start hanging out in pubs...

... where we struck it lucky like so many of the gold miners back in the 1860's We arrived just before the Info Bureau closed and they told us there had been a cancellation at the Rose Cottage B&B so we hot-footed it around there, and were thrilled to see the beautiful cottage Garden and were shown into a room beautifully furnished with a huge brass bed, and numerous pieces of antique furniture and gold framed pictures on the wall. The cornices and ...

... 19th century buildings, a museum in itself. So, we could not miss the opportunity to enjoy what this town had to offer so instead of an overnight stayed, we spent there two full days. First, let's say the fact that the motel balcony had this wonderful view over the green hills and a free kookaburra show every morning (Kookaburra is a bird that has a very specific "laughing" song; it is as Australian as it gets since the bird has even ...

... line and they set us up on the next bus which came a couple hours later. It wasn't a huge problem but it did mean that we got to Canberra much later than we had hoped, meaning that we wouldn't have much time there at all. CANBERRA-- No matter what anyone may tell you, Canberra is awesome. No, it doesn't have the biggest party scene but it is full of art galleries, memorials, and museums. For those unaware, Canberra is the capital of Australia. Like ...

... board of directors. Wednesday, we saw the Australian film, "The Dish" -- hysterical. Thursday we went out for dinner with Lawrence & Louise. The restaurant was in the hills near the coffee shop we went to with Louise last weekend. We sat on the terrace and had a lovely time. Friday evening I sang at the Erev Shabbat service again. This weekend, Lynne & I are in the Snowy Mountains (remember The Man From Snowy River?). I was assured it would be fabulously beautiful and it is ...