Welcome back to “Walking the Path with Ros” – a ministry and travel blog! This year, unlike last year, I didn’t plan any other international travels besides my usual time in Australia visiting family and friends, and supporting Swedenborgian congregations in the New Church in Australia (NCIA) that don’t have a resident minister. Soon after my arrival in mid December, my family in Woonona, on the South Coast of New South Wales (NSW) south of Sydney, went to the First Annual Pup Cup (dog show) at a local beach. It was definitely a first for me! There was a local choir performance and activities for kids, as well.
The Advent/Christmas season was already in full swing when I arrived. After all these years living in the Northern Hemisphere, it now seems odd to me to have winter-themed traditions and decorations in summer, though it didn’t seem at all incongruous to me growing up in Sydney. Pictured is the Roseville New Church chancel, decorated for the annual Carols by Candlelight service. Being summertime, and actually right on the summer solstice, it didn’t get dark until well after the evening service was over, but the candles were lit anyway in the evening dusk.
The captions on the gallery above (Images of a Sydney Christmas) are not showing, so here’s an explanation top to bottom, left to right: A Sydney tradition, fully decorating your car; Sydney’s official Christmas Tree, in Martin Place; a look-alike Christmas Tree at Manly Beach; Christmas morning with Evie; tents on the beach on Christmas Eve, getting ready for a tent city on Christmas Day; flowering gum (eucalyptus) tree in Christmas colours; Evie and my gingerbread house, a careful copy of the one in Aunt Mim’s children’s book; the Hurstville New Church on Christmas Day.
Almost as soon as I put my bags down in Jon and Angela’s unit (Aussie for apartment or townhouse) I was off on my daily centering walks on the beach, one of my favourite spiritual practices, only one and a half blocks away. This is Bulli Beach, with its saltwater rock pool, a concrete structure often found on the headlands of NSW beaches. They are safer to swim in than the ocean with its sharks, deadly rip currents, and sometimes dangerous surf! Evie had broken her leg a few months before when she was dumped by a wave in rough surf.
Not long after arriving and celebrating my birthday and Christmas, I went up to Sydney to house-sit for some friends in Hurstville. While there, I went on what felt like a “pilgrimage” to Sydney Harbour. It’s a must-do for anyone spending time in Sydney, and has deep connections to childhood and joy for me. First I met Rev. Howard and Debra Thompson, soon to be leaving the Roseville New Church, for lunch at their favourite restaurant, tucked away in an alley behind a busy Central Business District (or CBD, another Aussie term) street. Then found my way through the historic Rocks section of Sydney to Circular Quay, the hub for activity on the Harbour’s waterfront. I ended up entering the quay at a place I’d never been to, Campbell’s Cove, nested next to one of the huge pylons of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It has quite a history as the first centre of commerce in Sydney, within a decade of the arrival of the First Fleet. Then on to one of my favourites from childhood: a ferry ride across the Harbour to Manly and Manly Beach.
Manly Beach is the most popular of the Northern Beaches, known for its award-winning Life Saving Club, and the stately Norfolk Pines lining the walkway around the beach. I found something new to me here as well: a walk around the rocky cliff to the Cabbage Tree Bay Aquatic Reserve, and then calm Shelly Beach. Snorkelers were abundant, looking at the mini-reef and the many varieties of fish and other marine life.
The rock pool at the Aquatic Reserve, with snorkelers on the far side; below that is Shelly beach, looking across to Manly Beach whose name refers to the female indigenous warriors who defended their land at the arrival of White people; and “Team Manly” doing some surf life saving training at Manly Beach.
As I was still house-sitting on New Year’s Eve, I had some friends over from the Hurstville church to celebrate. Sydney’s fireworks show on New Year’s Eve is amazing, and one of the first to bring in the new year around the world. We watched it on TV, which captured some of the splendour, and helped us avoid the crowds bringing in 2026.
Whoa! Beautiful commentary, beautiful photos, dear Ros! Laughing that you spell “centre” (Oz English) as “center” … only to be expected … a really comprehensive story about your journey “downunder” in the land of “Tim Tams”, “lamingtons”, “pavlova”, and, of course, Vegemite!
Thanks Jen. My accent is mixed Aussie/American, and apparently also my spelling haha!