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First look |
It’s always an emotional moment for me when I first catch sight of my homeland from the airplane window. An ache for all the time spent away from my family and friends and culture, and a simultaneous catch of breath to be welcomed back again to my sunburnt country. This time it was a bit of the southern coast of Sydney, then Botany Bay and very quickly the airport, no sunburning, but still my country.
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Botany Bay, the first place Captain Cook landed and considered as a place to set up the new British colony. They ended up in the beautiful Sydney Harbour 10 miles north. |
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Off and running! After a brief nesting in Baringa (church office and social hall and guest house) and welcome from my Baringa house-mate Margaret Ward, it was off by train to see Donna Heldon, hubby Jason Martin and their 7 month old twins, Anna and Erik. On a hot day at the end of a hot summer – 39 Celcius, 102 F.
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Donna, Anna, Erik, Ros, Jason. Never did get all 5 looking in the same direction at the same time. Kudos to Owen for keeping on trying! |
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And to complete the Heldon day, a Valentine’s Day dinner at Murray and Lori Heldon’s, complete with a heart-shaped red-topped Pavlova. After dinner, Todd and I met to plan out the Lay-Lead Service for Sunday, since he was going to Perth in Western Australia to minister to a General Church group there for an extended weekend. As I wrote earlier, he had originally wanted me to lead the service, but the General Church leadership objected to the choice of a female lay-leader. But they agreed to an outdoor service with a balanced worship leading team: a male lay leader doing the liturgics (opening the service, prayer, readings) and me giving a children’s talk and leading a discussion about “Correspondences in Nature.”
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Dylan, Zachary, Rev Todd, Jenn, Jessica, Jeffrey, Lori, Lily, Kristen, Liam, Sam, Murray. Sorry for any misspellings. Not literally all Heldons since the Beiswengers and I were included.
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My path the next day took me to my favourite running track when I’m in Hurstville: through Quarry Park and preserve. After that wonderful exercise in the bush, and a load of wash hung out to dry quickly in the sun, a friend from St George Girls’ High School picked me up for lunch at Doll’s Point on Botany Bay. Our plans for a formal afternoon tea with other St Georgians in our class had fallen through, so Diana and I went out anyway!
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Our view from the cafe on Botany Bay |
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It was too hot to sit outside, but this would have been our view of the bay. |
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By the time we got back from lunch, the laundry was dry and I caught up on those housekeeping details that are sometimes hard to keep track of when on holiday. I’m learning to make time for myself as I go along so I won’t need a week to recover when I get back!
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Great pics