Star Date: March 2004
Victoria and New South Wales
Hello Dear Family & Friends!
“No worries!”
“Give Thanks and
Smile From the Inside Out!!”
(Words that came to me during a morning meditation time)
“
Most things in life come down to simplicity. Our life has become very simple and rich. Remembering to give thanks and to smile are important. Just the thought of twisting
around and smiling from the inside out makes me smile. Someone has a sense of humor.
And why not? Life is too short not to spend a good part of it smiling!
The week before we left Tasmania they had a record rainfall. Luckily we were high and dry but many roads washed out and rivers flooded. One guy was stranded as the water flowed across the road in front of his car. Instead of worrying about it he just threw his fishing
line in and caught two enormous trout –over two feet long each. He made the front page
of the state newspaper! When life gives you lemons – go fishing!
We were sitting next to a bridge, built by the convicts in 1885, in the quaint historic town of Ross. We noticed a little creature swimming for the shore. Joseph grabbed a stick and rescued it. It was a baby rabbit. Half dead and looking like a drowned rat, we gave it “CPR”, wrapped it in a towel and put it in the van until morning. It was fluffy and recovered by then and off it hopped. In Ross we also met Kevin who lived there for 74 years, and his old dog, Bob. Kevin’s great grandfather had been brought over as a horse thief, worked off his indenture service, and made a new life. Many people in Tasmania are direct descendants of convicts and real down to earth people, proud of their heritage.
The weather cleared and we had warm sunshine for our last week. We drove back through the beautiful Hellyer Gorge and camped across from the wayside, in a forest full of kookaburras. While hiking at dusk we saw two different little platypuses busily catching dinner in the river. Another of Australia’s amazing unique animals. A billboard in Tassie said “Now Is The Time.” Just thought I’d throw that in, in case you had a question to answer!
February 5th found us making our way across the Tasman Sea back up to Melbourne. We spent a few days with my 2nd cousins, Vance & Dorothy in Epping, watching ‘footie’ matches against the New Zealand (‘haka’ chanting), All Blacks and listening to Vance’s stories about life in S. E. Asia 50 years ago. We ventured into the heart of the city and loved absorbing the multicultural mood of the fruit and veggie markets such as Victoria Market, China town, and the many parks and ethnic districts. After living in Hawaii, with its rich cultural fusion, we found Tasmania a little too much “white”. Bring on the rainbows!
The east coast from Melbourne to Sydney was one little quiet cove after another. Joseph sure is good at tucking the Blue Dragon back in a little private nook for the evening, most always with a good view. Caravan parks are just too crowded and noisy, and every little town has a public toilet and often a shower. We followed the Grand Ridge Road through a large 2nd growth forest for a ways and collected apples and blackberries on the many deserted farms we passed on the way back down. At Deport Bay we came across a group of kangaroos. One mother had only a foot and the tip of a tail sticking out of her pouch, instead of the usual Joey’s head. It was really funny looking so we went back the next morning in search of the upside down baby. Sure enough. There it was, only two feet sticking out this time. Either it wasn’t a good fit or it was time for mom to kick the baby out on its own! We love the constant show that the animals and birds provide! We circled through the truly Blue Mountains on our way into Sydney.
