Country Girl in the Big City

I've never been a big fan of big cities, but Melbourne has won me over in no time at all! One of the reasons this country girl loves this city so much is because it's the best of both worlds. There's so much greenery downtown - beautiful trees and landscaping along the main city streets, and gardens of all sorts within a block of downtown. Best of all, the city's most prominent feature is the great Yarra river which zig zags though the entire downtown region. The heart of the city features a series of unique and beautiful bridges that connects one side of town with the other in a most creative fashion. At night, the bridges and trees and endless outdoor cafes are lit up like a magical village on a Christmas card. I can't believe how much I love a city!

Of course in my book (or, in this case, in my blog) the very best way to see a city - or a country - is on a bike! Yesterday, after Mike and I had registered for the conference and gotten a sneak peek into the global gathering ahead - but before the evening plenary, I snuck off on my rented bike for a couple of hours. I could not have been happier, biking along the riverbed, wandering through city neighborhoods, then suddenly country landscapes - not knowing what surprising sight was around the next corner. I felt so free and adventurous and thrilled. I did miss my usual bike partners (Michelle and Sarah) but I have to admit, I was pretty proud of my little self for exploring on my own. As Michelle and I always say, we are most at home on our bikes. And it was most amazing to feel that familiar sense of home - in the middle of a big city, way down here in Melbourne.

Kangaroo Moon

So of course we want to see kangaroos!! With koalas under our belt (and parrots literally on our heads) we continued our Australian kangaroo hunt. On our way home from Ocean Road, soon after a stunningly gorgeous sunset, our bus driver mentioned matter-of-factly that he had just seen a kangaroo by the side of the road and that now was the time to watch for them. Apparently, this is as casual as a deer spotting is for us. So everyone on the bus (21 tourists from almost as many countries) watched diligently for the next few minutes. All of a sudden everyone gasped!! I was so excited to see a kangaroo..... except that everyone was reacting to THE BIG HUGE ORANGE FULL MOON which was bursting over the eastern horizon!! Oh she was such a welcome sight! I had (of course) realized months ago that I was going to be in Australia for a full moon, and I had hoped that we would see it that night, on our sunset tour. It was such a treasured connection to all of my lunatics back home ~ and to my crazy moon energy which follows me wherever I go in the world. So... we never did see a kangaroo.... but that moonie kept us company our whole 3 hour drive back home to Melbourne. And who am I to be disappointed by the spectacular appearance of a full moon?

Hit the Great Ocean Road Jack

On Wednesday, December 2, we took a fantastic guided trip down the Great Ocean Road which is about an hour southwest of Melbourne. Although we spent a little more time than we anticipated on the road (going from site to site), we saw a lot in one day. It was a picture perfect day – sunny, warm (80 degrees) and clear. The Great Ocean Road was built by soldiers returning from World War I and is just an amazing scenic drive and engineering feat. The next stop south from the great ocean road is Antarctica. That’s how far south we are in the world….So a few of the highlights from the day’s explorations include incredible beaches and views, a walk through an old growth rainforest (this was an event to say a lot more about…300+ year old trees, an amazingly lush landscape, a deep spiritual presence), watching koalas in the wild, having wild parrots eat bird seed out of our hands, driving through beautiful coastal towns, and finally the sunset at the 12 Apostles – huge sandstone structures in the ocean. It was a long but wonderful day. This is also “vacation” season in Australia (it’s the start of their summer) so these coastal towns are just starting to become more populated. We heard it’s common for the folks in Melbourne to have a summer home on the coast. And you should see some of these homes! Wow! We stumbled out of our touring van around 11:30 at night and just crashed. We’ll share pictures of the whole adventure when we return…

Fallin for Melbourne

We don't know what time it is - or even what day it is - but it's definitely SUMMER here in Melbourne! We arrived earlier today, jet-lagged and disoriented, but it didn't take long for us to fall for this fabulous city in this amazing country! We spent this evening walking and eating our way through the city's riverside center - which is filled with people from all over the world! We can't wait to explore it more in the coming days. Tomorrow is our one and only adventure day before we begin the (7 day) work of the Parliament (www.parliamentofreligions.org). We'll spend tomorrow exploring a regional highlight: Great Ocean Road. We'll tell you all about it when we have computer access again. Thinking of all of you back home!!

The Flight Down Under

As you can all attest (or at least imagine) I am not good at sitting still for very long. And lately I’m not even good at sitting for a short time. So the idea of a 16 hour flight from LA to Melbourne has given me considerable anxiety for weeks. So it was an incredibly pleasant surprise that our overnight flight was remarkably enjoyable and peaceful. Thanks in part to my pain meds (conveniently left over from my last knee surgery) I spent the longest flight of my life with a sense of peace, contentment and comfort. It reminded me of those last few weeks of pregnancy… when I knew I was doing one of the most important things of my life – by doing absolutely nothing. Feeling that feeling again, I suddenly realized our great ADVENTure was beginning on the very first day of ADVENT – a time of waiting, a time of anticipation of new life and new experiences.

On a related note, Mike and I realized a few weeks ago that the day that we were going to 'lose' when we crossed the international date line was going to be Monday, November 30th – our anniversary! As it turned out, the time we spent at 40,000 feet up in the air, sailing over the Pacific Ocean, holding hands and sharing naps, on our way to an experience that was so meaningful to each of us, was as great a celebration of our 18 years of marriage than anything we could have imagined!

LA in a Day

When we booked our tickets to Melbourne (via Los Angeles), we decided to spend 24 hours in LA visiting friends and family – and what a great 24 hours it was! We kicked off the time with Lynne’s cousin, Roger Jr. and his wife Val. After getting picked up from the airport, we had a great meal at Father’s Office (great burgers and quite a selection of beers) and then crashed at their house in Culver City. We were able to sleep in and start preparing for the big flight. Later that morning we went out to breakfast with Roger, Val and their boy/girl twins Van and Harper. We went to Manhattan Beach to a place called Uncle Billy’s, a kickin’ pancake house that overlooks the ocean. Mind you, we were coming from temps in the high 30’s to this warm, sunny, beachy haven…it is hard to believe that folks in LA wake up to this every day… After a great breakfast, we were able to borrow Roger and Val’s van and drove up to Oak View to visit our friends Ched Myers and Elaine Enns. We got to see their new/reconstructed “green” house, caught up over some great food (Ched’s turkey soup is just awesome) and took a walk around Lake Casitas. As the sun started to set, we took off for LA to catch our late-night flight. It was a bit surreal to think that we were heading out on a plane again towards a place about 8,000 miles away that would take us 16 hours to reach…

Talk about Baggage

Gotta be honest, on the day of our departure my greatest challenge wasn’t luggage so much as emotional baggage. In my head I knew that I needed to focus on packing, but my heart was distracted by so many recent images of grief and loss…. Pam, Dawn, Greg…cousin Elaine…“We are Barths”… Pepere’s brother…. Jamie and Irene’s mother (in-law)… While I was eager to take a break from the recent string of funerals, I was very heavy hearted about leaving Crowes while John Crowe was still in the hospital… and very emotional about leaving the two (teenage) people whom I love most in the world. I cried and packed and cried and planned. By the time we hugged the kids goodbye, both Mike and I were reduced to tears. As hard as it was to leave, we knew that we had to forge ahead – to move toward the unknown and amazing adventure that has been beckoning to us for months.