29 November 2020 Our Aussie Dinner of Thanks

It has been an incredibly busy week with complicated preparations for some of the missionaries now leaving to return home.  The many different governmental and airline regulations due to Covid requirements change almost daily it seems, and we have to have all the documentation and apps downloaded that our released missionaries will need.  We also had mission transfers and new arrivals this week which requires orientation.  I generally give my presentation last since once the phones are set up, they do not really listen to anything else!  I had several Humanitarian Projects to review this week in addition to helping our senior legal coordinator with a project.  Don is in his office by 6:30 everyday and continues to handle a myriad of legal issues.

The mission office couples had our own little Thanksgiving dinner inviting the other senior couples to come.  Nina Anderson-the master gardener as I call her-and I spearheaded the day.  We labeled it a dinner of thanks so our Australian and Samoa friends wouldn't feel excluded in any way.  They still called it their first American Thanksgiving.  President and Sister Runia also came and said it was the first Turkey Day they have had in the two years they have been serving.   

It was fun to prepare and share a few hours together.  Just a small group, but wonderful friends which are each other's family while we are here.  We added in the holiday "crackers" because . . . Why not?  Since it is summer, there was not a lot of Autumn leaves, pumpkins and gourds.  So we just got some greenery-eucalyptus leaves naturally- and some apples and pears for our centerpieces.  A little ribbon with the jewel tone cloths and gold runners and we were there.  

Nina and Mel Anderson, Elise and Ron Christensen, Mike and Theresa Thomas and our mission president and wife, Tammy and Scott Runia all pictured. Interestingly, all of them are from the Wasatch Front area in Utah.  Wherever we go, we are asked where we live in the US. And we always have to give a geography lesson about where Lewiston, Idaho is located.  No, it is not in Cache Valley, Utah near Preston. (That's Lewiston, Utah).  No, northern Idaho is not Rexburg either.  Yes, the Snake River flows north and we do cross it every week to attend our church meetings in Washington. 

 

Here are Arouma and Gose Mata'utia originally from Samoa but having immigrated many years ago, they have lived in New Zealand and now call Brisbane, Queensland home.  Their granddaughter is also serving in our mission and they have other nieces and nephews here too. Missing from the pictures are Ann and John Parton, our Australian missionaries that live here and continue to help all of us learn the nuances of truly speaking like a native.  John writes and records his own music which we enjoyed hearing.  I will never hear 'Waltzing Matilda' again without thinking of him and his language quiz explaining all the different Aussie terms.  We missed having the Browns and Hargreaves with us as they are serving much further away and did not feel like they could make it this year.  

We all left early Saturday to go our different ways for our Sunday speaking assignments.  Don and I drove to Cowra where the Christensens have served for most of their mission.  The four-hour drive took us back over the Blue Mountains to the central west area of New South Wales.  A small town, we enjoyed having the Christensens show us around. They have made so many great friends in the community.  They have joined the community choir, worked at the Anglican Food Hall every week, been part of the daily Tai Chi exercise groups and Elise even found herself spinning, carding, and dyeing her own wool with  craft group that met weekly. The women of the spinning group have even given her a spinning wheel of her own to bring home!  Their service has been truly immense in this small town. They have been able to help out many with their tireless devotion. 

 

                                                  

We started looking around Cowra by seeing the Australia's World Peace Bell.  It's a replica of the one in front of the United Nations in New York and is the only one in the world found in such a small town as they are generally awarded to capital cities. Yet, Cowra's dedication to bring peace to the world and increase international understanding was recognized with this honor.

We drove up Billy Goat Hill to view the city and look over the valley. Then we drove to the Japanese Gardens and strolled past the ponds, manicured gardens, and little streams. Though it was a 100 degree day, we walked through the 12 acre park and loved the beauty evident all around us.

 

The gardens were established to continue the relationship first developed between Japan and the Cowra Shire following World War II.  Design features of the garden follow some of the earliest Japanese strolling gardens.  There is a tea house and the Edo Cottage where traditional Japanese ceremonies are held regularly though not on the day of our visit. 

The real genesis of the Japanese relationship to the people of Cowra began during World War II.  We were able to visit the grounds of the POW camp where ruins are still visible.  Like the US, Australia housed their Japanese citizens in this area as an internment camp first. But later, it became a camp for Italian POWs captured in North Africa.  Then, Japanese and Indonesian prisoners were included.  

The map shows the areas where the prisoners were held.  Now only the foundations and floors of the hospital, mess, showers and toilet buildings are still visible.  What we learned was the Japanese planned and devised an escape referred to as the "Breakout."  A thousand prisoners staged a mass escape preferring to die rather than be segregated and separated by ranks.  Over 200 Japanese prisoners and 5 Australian soldiers lost their lives.  

The 234 Japanese soldiers that died in the Breakout were then interred in a cemetery at Cowra.  When Japan was making diplomatic arrangements to have all the soldier's remains returned to their homeland, they were impressed with the care and reverence the people of the Cowra Shire had given to their countrymen.  All Japanese Nationals who died in Australia during the war were also brought to Cowra to be buried.  The countries then agreed to maintain the cemetery with Japan donating to its care. This is the only Japanese Cemetery outside of Japan.   

                                                 

Entrance to Japanese War Cemetery

Next to the Japanese Cemetery is the Australian War Cemetery which contains the graves of servicemen who died at the nearby Cowra Military Training Camp and the Australians killed during the mass escape. 

Australia War Cemetery

Middle graves are those Australians who died during the Breakout

I loved seeing the aboriginal paintings on the bridge pylons by the Lachlan River.  They were designed and painted by a local aboriginal artist and depict scenes of local animals, landscapes, and the Wiradjuri people whose lands the English settled on after their arrival in the late 1700's.  

 

Cowra had a lovely small art gallery we visited and found people would stop us on the street to ask where we were from.  A wonderful little town to visit after such a hectic week. We even stayed at the Breakout Motel! 

 

22 November 2020 Flying Foxes or Just Big Bats!

A beautiful late spring day so we took a little walk in Parramatta to see the colony of flying foxes - gray-headed bats which live in the park.  They sleep and spend time together in the trees during the day and then at dusk, take off to find food.  But  they also will move about to get drinks and try interacting with each other.  As warm as it was, we wondered why they weren't found hidden more in shady branches.  But we learned that they take off to the river to drink and then use the rest of the water dripping on their bodies to cool themselves. 

These are the largest bats found in Australia. Their size is impressive as they are about 9-11 inches and can have a wing-span up to about 3 feet.  I laughed at their noisy sleeping and vocal screeching sounds. According to information provided, the colony is about 15,000!  The trees are loaded with the gray-headed, orange necked critters.  I still didn't want to get too close or stand under the trees though. 

Nearby is the Parramatta Female Factory historic site.  This was one of thirteen female factories where convict women and children were sent.  The factories were multi-purpose as they housed those convicted of crimes committed after arrival in New South Wales and also served as a hospital, lunatic asylum, and workhouse.  This factory at Parramatta later served as an institution for the mentally ill, then a Roman Catholic orphanage, and finally a Girls Industrial school.   

The grounds were not especially well-cared for.  One building now seemed to house some arts centers.  A man came out, saw me taking pictures and told me I was recording evil.  That was a bit shocking, but I have to admit, it is a rather strange, even haunting place with boarded up empty buildings.

There is still a psychiatric center and hospital which has the Factory as part of its grounds.  

Finally, another Christmas nativity to add to my collection. This is decidedly a true Australian keepsake.  Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus are all represented by cuddly koalas. The two kookaburras stand in as shepherds watching over a herd of echindas.  The wise men are a kangaroo, a platypus, and a wombat all decked out in traditional akura bush hats.  And of course, they arrive on an emu instead of a camel though camels are found in Australia too.  The stable has a tin roof with the star represented by the South Cross constellation.  I get a lot of enjoyment just looking at it every day on the file outside my legal cubicle.  

                                                  

We join with our family and friends in listing the many things we are grateful for not just this week but always. And chief among them is the opportunity to be serving here as volunteer missionaries to help in any way that we can.  We celebrate this season of thanks and have hearts full of gratitude for our children, grandchildren, siblings, friends and colleagues, our health, a faith that has directed our lives, and for our eternal marriage of 45 years.  

15 November 2020 A Summertime Christmas

Celebrating Christmas in summer heat is something we are just starting to recognize is actually going to happen.  The weather is certainly becoming warmer with temperatures near 38 degrees Celsius tomorrow (100 Fahrenheit).  The days are long and beautiful but that also means those blue-tongued lizards living under the bushes are going to be out a lot more.  Don swept all the spider webs off the wrought iron pillars around our home yesterday.  Literally, the webs are everywhere.  Several people told us to have large walking sticks to knock down the webs as we are taking walks.  We have learned that was good advice. As I walked into a web on a morning walk, I had several strands of silk stick to my sleeves and face.  Fortunately, the spider that came with it was dead though my scream might have changed that circumstance.  Even the car has spiders living in the driver-side mirror.  We've sprayed it but that web reappears as if by magic.  This is not boding well for me in the summer months ahead.

But we decided we could at least have a tiny tree for our only Christmas that we will spend here in Australia.  I found a number of ornaments of indigenous animals to use as decorations: a kangaroo (of course!), a baby joey in a boot, a koala, a surfing platypus, a wombat, a cockatoo, a tazmanian devil (which were just reintroduced), a bilby, a fairy penguin, and an emu.  A couple other birds and the distinctive red "ute" that Santa has been known to drive finishes off our tree.  One other decoration is the koala Santa being pulled by one white "boomer."   

We went back into the city yesterday and saw all the Merry Christmas Sydney banners lining most of the main thoroughfares.  Several of these decorated trees were in strategic places.  This one is in front of the Customs House which is now a museum and performance space.   It is funny to us to see summer pajamas on sale next to the Christmas decor.  I don't think even in the southern U.S. at this time of year I've ever seen so much beach wear with swimsuits, flip-flops (still referred to as thongs here) and all the other vestiges of summer ever present.  This is going to be a fun year to experience a different kind of holiday season.  

Like last week, we wandered through some other areas and found some more interesting sites and public art.  The statue of  this little boy stands as a reminder that even children seeking asylum are kept in detention as part of Australian government policy.  The plaque said "Their suffering is our shame."  Interesting that countries worldwide wrestle with similar issues and apparently do not have any better answers for those fleeing violence and persecution.  A silent protest, the final sentence states, "Here at this site we remember them and together call out for change."  I think of the many refugee families I knew and loved in Germany and feel my heart asking what can I do now to continue helping those in need?

This Pioneer Women's Memorial is to honor those women who helped in the colonization of the country.  It was erected as part of the Bicentennial celebrations in 1988.

More sites on our wanderings by bus and on foot.  Emus and kangaroos depicted on the George St. side of the old General Post Office Building.  

 King Edward VII, oldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was nearly 60 before he was crowned king.  This equestrian statue is to honor him and shows him in full military uniform.  It's found outside the Conservatory of Music and by the Royal Botanic Gardens.  WE got a quick glimpse of a fountain in the park as we went by on  the bus.

Here is the Central Railway Station. Built as the third terminal station in Sydney, it has served the area since 1906. It was built over a cemetery; all the remains were reinterred at different cemeteries throughout the city.  

Another interesting place to visit is the Central Park Mall at One Central Park.  The foilage on the outside of the building are considered the tallest vertical gardens in the world as the flowers, vines and plants climb 50 metres all without soil.  The nutrients and water are all dispersed mechanically.  It has two towers with residential apartments and the shopping area is found on the first 6 floors.