May 31

We spent Sunday afternoon looking for a platypus that lives in the Meander river. We weren't successful but hopefully before we leave will see it. Instead we saw some more of the interesting statues that they have along the river bank.

In the evening there was an ecumenical service at the Anglican Church. It is an imposing structure that can be seen from almost everywhere in Deloraine. At night they even shine a light on it and that really makes it very impressive. The service was a traditional evening service from their prayer book. They had a passing of the peace part way through and when I went to shake one gentleman's hand he hung on and told me this story. He said do you recognize my accent and fortunately he didn't wait for an answer. He said it's Welsh and Australians can never guess it -- they say is it English or Scottish or Irish and he let me know he didn't like those guesses. When the person never guesses Wales he would say oh its OK I'm Canadian.

May 30

Another week has flown by in Tasmania. We are now at the Sunday after Pentecost and it is Trinity Sunday when we celebrate the three persona's of God. I looked for images of three here in Tasmania to raise up this concept. We went to Launceston this week to explore a bit and to buy a printer. We did get our first parking ticket and fortunately that did not come in three!! We went on Thursday to visit a State park called Liffey falls. The park is a rainforest with the Liffey river travelling through it. You walk about a half an hour to see the falls but while you are walking you come to three cascades. The first two are like small water falls, the third is like a very narrow water fall and then you come to the actual water fall -- The three cascades travel into a beautiful waterfalls. It was very impressive. I asked the couple who took us up there if this was a must see sight in Tasmania and they said no but the Cradle Mountain is. We have now planned to go up there in about 10 days to spend the night. On Saturday we went to a community called Burnie as they had been advertising a farmers market. While we were there it rained three times but the weather didn't stop our enjoyment of the farmers market or the fish and chips (that were delicious) we had for lunch. I am also beginning to get involved more in the community. I have joined a fitness class which is quite fun. I am also attending most of the activities that happen through the church. There is a woman's Bible study on Tuesday afternoons. It is called KYB which stands for Know Your Bible. There is also a Friday night Fellowship group that meets in peoples homes. I meet with the Worship Leader each week to choose scripture and then at worship all I do is the sermon and Blessing and Sending Forth. I also attended Deloraine Christian Leadership meeting which is similar to our Ministerial. I find this group interesting as it seems that each of the churches reach into the community offering their gifts. One group does youth group, another does care of seniors and another help those who struggle with poverty. In their work with these different parts of the population they encourage those they come in contact with to attend their own church on Sunday and their groups mid-week. I find their attitude quite uplifting. Their is no concern about stealing members only about reaching out in Christian Fellowship. This evening I will be participating in one of the Ecumenical Services the Christian Leadsrs have on the fifth sunday of a month. Life is good here in Tasmania. I hope life is just as good in Innisfail. Blessings to all of you.

May 23

Today is Pentecost Sunday. We celebrate the birth of the church. The disciples experienced the Holy Spirit like wind and fire coming into their lives. The spirit is aways hard to pin down and I am reminded to the old saying, "We can not control the wind but we can adjust the sails." My first week of ministry in Deloraine, Tasmania has been one of making many sail adjustments. We have moved to our home for the next six weeks. It is a lovely older home and it is heated by wood. Bruce has to get up every night and put another log on the fire and of course have wood and kindling ready to go in the morning. Electricity is very expensive so driers are not very common and we hang our wash to dry. The clothes need to go out very early in the morning when it is quite nippy out and I can see the steam rise from the clothes as I hang them up.


Another way we have had to adjust is with the language. In the Pentecost story the disciples are able to prophesy in the different languages of those present at the Pentecost festival. Here in Tasmania we are all speaking in English but sometimes I don't feel that we are all quite on the same page. I thought I would offer some of the language differences. If you are driving you don't yield but give way, there are no passing lanes on the highway they are overtaking lanes, a traffic circle is a roundabout, your car does not have a wind shield but a wind screen, here there is not a season called fall only autumn, students do not skip class they wag class, at the grocery store you don't push a grocery cart but a grocery trolley and when you go camping it is in a caravan not a trailer.

Life here is not all work and we took a day trip down to a small community called Penguin. From November to March the penguins are in the area as this is where they have their babies. Right now they have made the long trip to the Antarctic for the winter. We also stopped in another community called Latrope and here their was a very quirky store that sells almost everything and most of the wears were on mannequins dressed like court jesters!! On a pond on the edge of Deloraine we have discovered a flock of Back Swans. These are very beautiful birds just like their white cousins. There is a beautiful trail in town that follows the Meander river and is great place for a quiet walk.

Blessings to all the folks at Innisfail United Church.

May 16

The outside of the church and view from the parking lot

We arrived in Tasmania at 5:00 PM last night. It was a long day as we left Rarotonga at 4:00 AM. We flew to Auckland and had about 20 minutes to catch our flight to Melbourne -- we weren't in New Zealand very long! It was about an hour flight from Melbourne to Launceston. We were met by John, a member of the Deloraine Uniting congregation. We are staying at John's and his wife Margaret's home for two nights and then we will move to our next home. We had a delicious lamb supper, great conversation and then off to bed. We had travelled through four time zones and across the International dateline. When we woke Sunday morning we saw why they call this town City of the Mist and Bruce went out to take a picture. After breakfast it was time for me to go to church. John and I got there early to turn on the heat -- electric heaters along the side walls. This is a very warm and welcoming congregation. Just like in the United Church of Canada they also put on a great feast following the service. This afternoon we are resting and then going for a walk. We met the family whose house we will be living in for the next two months. We move in tomorrow and will have access to their car, bikes, and fishing gear!!

May 12

Bruce and I spent Monday on a glass bottom boat to see the fish and do some snorkeling. It was fascinating to see all the fish except for the Morie Eel was just plain scary. I learned to be careful where you step as there are some sharp objects under water. I kept very close to our guide. After the snorkeling they took us to an island for a BBQ of tuna -- my first time not to have tuna from a can. We then had a demonstration about coconuts and coconut trees. it appears that coconuts can be used for most anything. Rarotonga is 98% Christian so we heard grace (in Maori) before our meal. It was a great day. The picture is of Bruce and I on the beach where we had lunch.

May 9

They church where we attended today. They have a message on the back of their sign.

Here I am with the lei we received when we first arrived. It was a long trip and we were quite tired. I wrote a blog for today but I don't know how to copy it into here. Any of you bloggers got some advice.