August 20

The last five days have been quite eventful. On Monday I did my first funeral in Deloraine. the deceased was a 38 year old woman who suffered from a degenerative muscular disease as well as being intellectually impaired. She was a very loving person and it was amazing to see the impact her life had on others. I discovered that funerals are done a bit differently here. All flowers go to the graveside and they aren't brought into the church but left outside the church until the trip to the graveyard. When we got to the graveside there wasn't the usual lowering apparatus but they laid the coffin on two bars and placed straps underneath. When it was time to lower the coffin, the pall bearers used the straps to lower it into the ground. They don't use a rough box or vault just straight into the ground. It reminded me of when my dad told me when he was a boy they used the leather straps from the horses harness. The newest harness was always used. The lunch was back at the church and it was similar any small community where everyone brought food and there was an incredible amount of it.
On Tuesday morning we went to the community of Strahan (pronounced strawn). We were a bit nervous as we had to drive through a pass and it had snowed during the night but by the time we went through the pass the road was dry and there was only a bit of snow in the ditches. This part of Tasmania has lots of mining so when you go through communities they have pictures and machinery on display. We stopped at a place called Henty Sand Dunes. I have never seen anything like them. These dunes must be at least a kilometer wide and it was hill after hill. There was a sign cautioning about getting lost and it was easy to see how that could happen. We had lots of fun in the time we spent there! We arrived in Strahan and checked into the bungalow we had rented. It was very spacious (three times bigger than where we are staying now). We then headed out to Ocean Beach. The ocean here was incredibly rough. It was like looking into a washing machine. On Wednesday we went on an all day river and bay cruise. The first part of the cruise was to go to the bay entrance. On the way we went past several fish farms-- a thriving industry here for Atlantic salmon and trout. When we got to the ocean you go though a passage called Hell's Gate. Here we were in the wild water we had see from Ocean Beach and that was quite a ride. We then headed up the river. It was 40km to the beginning of the bay. We stopped at Sarah's Island. This was a prison for convicts from 1820 to 1833. The tour guide was an actor and you felt like you were right back in the 1800's and could imagine all the things that went on. Convict history is quite amazing. On this island the convicts built ships, one very two weeks!!. They build one and several escaped all the weay to South America. It was called the ship that never was as was never registered. The convicts managed to hide its existance during the building process. We continued out trip with an awesome lunch buffet which of course included smoked salmon. Further up the Gordan River we stopped for a walk in the rain forest. We learned about the huon pine. This tree is now protected but many ships were built from it. We then returned to Strahan. The cruise covered 120 kilometers. As Wednesday was Bruce's birthday we decided to go out to the best restaurant we could find. We went to one that was right on the bay and had a meal. Bruce had wallaby and it was very tasty. I had a yummy pavlova for dessert. On Thursday we went to Queenstown. This is a copper mining community. The buildings are very old and I am sure they haven't changed much from 100 years ago. While we were here I unfortunately crushed my finger between the car door and a pole. You can see the car and pole in the picture. I can now say I have experienced Tasmania's health Ccare system.I had great treatment. I went into emergency and the nurse looked after me right away cleaning the cut and deciding it would need stitching. The doctors office are in the same building so I walked over to the clinic and waited for the doctor. There were the same complaints you here everywhere about waiting to see the doctor. The doctor I had was very kind and I received 4 stitches, a tetanus shot and antibiotics. The medication seems to be making me feel a tired but its better than travelling with an infected finger. Weheaded home and had beautiful weather. The forest is so thick it is easy to see how escaped convicts never got very far until they built a boat. We were invited out for supper and we had a great visit with Lexie and Les. To make us feel at home they had a Canadian flag on the table and tea was served in a cup with a Alberta Rose on it and Bruce's cup had a RCMP rider and horse. Today is Friday and we started to pack up. We took four bags of 'stuff' to the Op shop, a second hand store, and we will have some more on Monday. I am now getting ready to go to the Live In Presbytery meeting. The theme is hospitality and I will be able to share all the hospitality I have received in Tasmania. Blessings to IUC.