Easter in the Bush

We spent Easter camping in the Mallee, near my sister's farm – a couple of hours drive from Adelaide.

During the weekend, we dug a small tomb in the side of a sandhill, and the kids covered the entrance with a rock and fashioned a few crosses. We camped in tents and swags, sat around an open fire and chatted – very easy to handle for a long weekend.

Easter Monday morning was beautiful and misty. We woke to the kids searching for eggs [don't mind mixing a few stories together! ha] and then when the adults were up, we read the account of Jesus' friends finding the tomb empty. I don't think they found any eggs…?

The mist was quite heavy, and though we were awake from a bit after day break, the sun took a few hours to chase it away. The soft, filtered light only gradually gave way to the sky and its sun. It was very serene.

Anyhow, the photo captures some of the beauty of that morning.

The Power of Community

A friend and I watched the swedish movie 'As it is in Heaven' last night.

What a great picture of the redemption of people through community – in fact, what other way can it ever come? The community of the relationship that Jesus has with the Father and the Spirit presses for expression everywhere... truth is spoken all the time. 

Look at how, in the community of the choir, emotional intimacy brings judgement but not condemnation. The courage of people to remain in community is huge... 

I hope you watch it... and discuss it for hours...

Travel Tips We've Found

Cross Packing
My Husband and I always pack a change of clothing in each other’s luggage plus a copy of our passports. If one person’s luggage is lost you have at least one change of clothing in the other’s bag. — Hilda

Cell phones and Post Offices
My cell phone is attached to me! I use the camera to take pictures of parking places, street names, meeting areas, hotels, daily pictures of what travel partners are wearing for emergencies, and many other uses. Also, use the town’s “major” post office as a meeting place since they only have one. – Dani

Hotel Postcard
In a country where I do not speak the language, ask at the hotel front desk for a picture postcard of the hotel, and ask the staff to write “Please take me to this hotel” in their language on the back. If I get completely lost, I can hand the card to a taxi driver and he’ll know what to do! – Captain Mike

Beer in a Bottle
We agree whole-heartedly with the person that said “one of the safest liquids to drink is beer.” But don’t drink it if it comes in a frosted mug! We learned not to do this in Egypt! It’s basically ice cubes in disguise! We lost hours of our vacation to a very unpleasant “condition.”— Bruce

For Healthy Gums, Too
Take one of those tiny boxes of floss that you normally use to clean your teeth with you. It can be used for repairing your moscuito net, to hang up some cloths to dry, temp shoe laces, sewing thread, etc. It is very light and does not take in much space!!! – Monique

Knot Your Clothes
I tie a knot in panties, bras, or socks that have been worn. That way I always know what is clean in my suitcase. — Janine

Why there? Why NOT there...

Just thought I'd let you all know where we're going... So much to see, so little time... 

Sydney – Australia,  Auckland – New Zealand, Honolulu – Hawaii, Savannah – Georgia USA, Baltimore – Maryland USA, Newark – New Jersey USA, Copenhagen – Denmark, Bergen – Norway, Reykjavik – Iceland, Rothenburg – Germany, Strasbourg – France, Innsbruck – Austria, Zurich – Switzerland, Cape Town – South Africa, Beira – Mozambique, Chennai [or Mumbai] – India, Chiang Mai – Thailand, Beijing – China, Adelaide – Australia [then it's all over except for the cheering!]. Anyone for a slide-night?

Some are friends from home, and some are friends we met on previous travels. 

As you can see it is a huge undertaking, and one that is made possible by my courageous business partner Rhys. For some strange reason he thought that letting us do this trip for 6 months was a good idea... perhaps he knows something I don't!

Anyhow, we've been planning fairly solidly since about July last year, and now, with 14 weeks to go till the first of our our aeroplane meals, our thoughts flip between 'we must be crazy' and 'this is going to be amazing!'

This techno junket is a pretty cool bit of kit – and one that will let us tell our stories, show you pics and videos, and let you respond also.

Till next time...