terry.a.lindsey@charter.net

Australia Week 2

Just a little recap for any new readers to my blog. I have been traveling for 4 weeks and writing about my adventures with my beautiful wife. Our first week was in Hawaii. The second week was spent in Sydney, Australia. You can go back to read my earlier notes. Now, this is our 2nd week in Australia where we spent the whole week with relatives in and around Brisbane. Though I have never met these relatives from my wife’s side, I feel a very close connection to their whole family through a book I read before this trip. The true story of a heart breaking loss of a child and the community strength of the whole Northern Territory plus all of Australia is written in this book called the “The Lost Boy” by Robert Wainwright. I will not try to cover the story here but encourage you to read this book to learn more about the heart of Australia.

Before I get into my 2nd week, I think it should help you Americans to know some common words not easily understood. Here is a brief list.

1. Piddle means to urinate so replace with “muck around”.
2. Tire is heard as “tar”.
3. Bible is heard as “barber”.
4. Pearl is heard as “pill”.
5. Meat is heard as “mick”.
So do not piddle in a person’s shed as they may hit you with a tar or a barber and say what a pill mick head you shella.

Also, concession is not snacks instead it means benefits for old age pensioners.

We landed in Brisbane and immediately felt at home. We met children and grand children as if they were our own. We took family photos overlooking Brisbane and Mt Coot-tha then traveled to their home in Caloundra. Currimundi is a suberb of Caloundra as I understand where we saw beautiful beaches with nice walks along the beach for shops and restaraunts. What a beautiful drive along the Sunshine Coast! We met my wife’s aunt and heard stories of old. New stories were added to our memory bank. The next two days we had more walks along the beaches, walked in a protected rain forrest, sampled local cheeses, viewed McCarthy’s Lookout to see the Blackall Range and the Glass House Mountains, and Gerrard’s Lookout. What a great time to be with family seeing sights we would not have seen otherwise!

Brisbane Skyline from Mt. Coot-tha view point

Very Old Gum tree in rain forest preservation site

McCarthur's Lookout — McCarthur’s Lookout

The next day we spent all day at Steve Irwin’s zoo. Most people know Steve in the USA for his daring stunts with crocodiles but visiting the Australia Zoo home of the Crocodile Hunter was awesome. I wish I could show my grandchildren the passion for his dreams. It is a first class exhibition of God’s unique creatures. I encourage the reader to research yourself.

Koala is not a bear in case you were wandering. They consume about 10 pounds of eucalyptus leaves per day. Very toxic to us but they have a unique digestive system to break down the toxins. They are not in a drug induced state but preserving all energy to digest their food.

Back at our home away from home in Caloundra, we continued to share our family stories with more children and grand children. We swam, ate some awesome meals, fished for crabs and actually caught a few for the barbie.

The weekend was spent more of the same and Church included. This brings me to another observation about the Auzzies. Their Christian faith journey is strong. We witnessed our family’s personal health struggles and their refusal to believe in man’s prognosis over faith in God and His miracles.

KawanaLife Church banner. May God's grace continue to strengthen this faith filled church. — KawanaLife Church banner. May God’s grace continue to strengthen this faith filled church.

The next day we headed back to Sydney for a cruise down to Melbourne, Tasmania, then back to Wollongong and Sydney.

The memories we made with our Brisbane family will last a lifetime and hopefully will be past on to the next generations in these words and pictures.

Ausralia Week 1

The magic continues as we go to new adventures in the large island called Australia. In fact, Australia has about 8000 small islands around her coastline making it a great attraction for any beach lover. The most noticable attraction I found fascinating was not the beaches but the people. They are all friendly with a great sence of humor and all seemed to speak a similar dialect. We spent one week in Sydney, one week in Brisbane, back to Sydney to cruise south to Melbourne, Tasmania before heading back to Sydney with a stop at Wollongong. What a trip! I started writing this blog while we travel through calm seas to Wollongong. I put this trip in chronicle order by weeks. This is the first week.

We met two Australian couples on our Hawaiian journey that are now forever connected with us as friends. It is amazing how God works to connect his people. Just a breif encounter to offer a group picture turned into a wonderful friendship. We exchanged emails and planned a meeting in Sydney. A few days later, we found ourselves planning a week end together outside Sydney to the blue mountains to the west and south to Gymea. Before I get ahead of myself, let me share the beautiful sites of Sydney.

Sydney Harbor Bridge about 440 feet high. We climbed it!

Sydney Opera House. We watched "My Fair Lady". Awesome! — Sydney Opera House. We watched “My Fair Lady”. Awesome!

Manly Beach. Our favorit as great beach with lots of shops. — Manly Beach. Our favorite as great beach with lots of shops.

We saw “My Fair Lady” at the iconic Sydney Opera House and toured Bondi beach on our first full day. Our second day was a climb up to the equally iconic Harbor Bridge which took about 3 hours but the narrative and scenic view was well worth the climb. Our 3rd day was spent on a ferry to Manly beach. Great place to shop! We finished with more shopping around the Rocks and a nice meal in the sky tower restaurant. The next day we walked more around the Rocks and in Hyde Park, spent a great time at an Asian Noodle Festival finishing our 4th day hanging out. The adventures continue with our new friends.

The Blue Mountains are called blue because of the vast eucalyptus trees that are very toxic and when together in mass, cause the blue affect from a distance. It is amazing how these trees are the Koula staple diet. They will eat 5 kilos or about 10 pounds of its leaves daily. Their digestive system is so complicated and takes most of their energy to break down the toxins. No wander they sleep 20 out of a 24 hour day! Our new friends picked us up on the 5th day in Sydney and drove us to the Hydro Majestic Hotel founded in 1904. It is an Icon of Australia located atop an escarpment in the blue mountains. It was built by a retailing magnate named Mark Foy as a lavish hydropathic establishment for the wealthy and influential of the period. He believed in the miracles of water to cure along with the pure air of the mountains. Interesting to note that the hotel was opened on the 4th of July, 1904. The extravagant sanatorium lost its fashion shortly after construction but the Hydro Majestic Hotel remains a beautiful site to see.

Blue Mountains as seen from the Hydro Majestic Hotel.

Three Sister Mountains as seen from the Incline Railway.

We then went to ride a very steep railroad incline originally for cole mining now for site seeing of the three sister mountains, falls and bush walks. We met up with the second couple later that evening for a wonderful blessed meal.

On our 6th day, we had breakfast and walk around the beach near Gymea and a lovely drive out towards Wollongong to see more beaches and cliffs. People actually hang glide off these cliffs! We had a great picnic along the Hacking river. Did you know that a Kookabura is a very tricky bird? He flew down and took one of our freshly cooked sausages. Cheeky bird!

We left our friends with sadness that we were departing but gladness that we now have new friends forever. May God grant them peace and joy. Thanks for such a great time!

Wonderful couple and may they stay blessed. So look foward to new adventures together. No we did not hang glide off this cliff but a popular place to do so for the daring at heart! — Wonderful couples and may they stay blessed. So look foward to new adventures together. No, we did not hang glide off this cliff but a popular place to do so for the daring at heart!

Hello goodbye

Aloha is a great Hawaiian word meaning both hello and goodbye. Appropriate for me as I journey beyond its shores.

Aloha from Oahu(biggest city is Honolulu), Maui(lots of winding roads up to dormant volcano), Kauai(home of Juassic Park and South Pacific), Big Island (Hawaii)(Hilo average rain per year over 200 inches, access to Kilauea Volcano and Kono dry side average 20 Inches.), Molokai(not visited), and Lanai(not visited). This is the Hawaiian islands. Great Britian called them the Sandwich Islands but gave them back to the local inhabitants ruled by the great king Kamehameha. My history may not be great so here is an excerpt from Google.

“In ancient Hawaii, legends told of a day when a great king would unite all the Hawaiian islands. The sign of his birth, kahuna (priests) claimed, would be a comet.
And so it goes that Kamehameha was born in 1758, the year Halley’s Comet made an appearance over Hawaiian skies. Kamehameha was born in Paiea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Translated, Kamehameha means “the lonely one” (More history if want to research is available.) copy right 1997-2011 “Aloha from Hawaii”

Further research will possibly reveal that the good ole USA decided the islands were valuable enough to take over so they did. I guess the American Indians have a kindred connection. History is full of triumph over the weak. “Follow the money.”

As I travel from the Hawaiian islands to new adventures in Australia, I write this message. This is what I have learned about Hawaii from a tourist perspective.

First and last stop was Honolulu on Oahu. First day was not much as traveling but day 7 was all about the lives lost at Pearl Harbor. May we never forget. Later that night we walked along Waikiki beach with Diamond Head, extinct valcono in the background. Destruction of the past often leads to beauty in the present.

Our 2nd and 4th days took us to the island of Maui where we did a whole lot of driving up to another dormant volcano called Haleakala over 10,000 feet elevation. From there, we drove through a very nice town called Makawo and connected with the road to Hana. That road is very narrow and treacherous so we turned back after seeing a few water falls. It reminded us of the song lyrics, “don’t go chasing water falls”. We drove back along the coast to Paia and saw giant Green Hawaiian Turtles resting on the beach so all well worth the journey. The next day we just drove around to Lahaina for shopping.

On our 3rd day we went to the Big Island as they call it but is where they get the name Hawaii as I understand. We started at Hilo (rainy side) which is the gateway to vaconoes national park. Kilauea has erupted every day since 1983. Very large and spectacular! We traveled that night to see the eruption ending with the lava flow into the sea where fire is tamed by water. The 4th day we started at Kailua-Kona (dry side) where we stopped and played on the beach. Very relaxing day!

We then went to Kauai on the 5th and 6th days. That night we attended a Luau which tells the story of the Hawaiian heritage in song and dance while we ate. Very descriptive story picture with the Hula dancing! On the 6th day, the view of the island by helicopter is the only way to take in the full majestic beauty. I kept looking for dinasoars. Wander why!

That ended our magical Hawaiian adventure on day 7,
Now we are off to explore the land down under.
T

Love of what

Have you ever wondered what makes a person function in this dog eat dog world? I believe that we all have a passion for something. Perhaps it is football, politics, work, play, TV, money, etc. I believe also that when our passions overcome our eternal love then we have gone too far. When we become more passionate to some material thing than our fundamental reasons for existence, we have gone too far. Like most of us I had a decision to make earlier this week. Should I watch the presidential debate or should I turn to the local football game? As it turned out both were losers in my opinion. My local team lost again! However, I felt the presidential debate was more important to watch. It was disappointing to see one candidate so prepared with canned responses the person looked as if I were seeing a robot where the other looked as if I were seeing an alien. Neither impressed me so on with the next debate. It occurred to me that they say what we want to hear not what we need. Did I get upset with football or politics this week? No. It is all material things that should not influence our ultimate purposes in life. When we are on our death bed, will we be asking our family who won the game? I don’t think so. We will be hoping for just one more day with our love ones. The time will come for all of us so I say make the most efficient use of your time while you have the time.

I am so excited that I will be off the grid so to speak for a month. Glad to get a break from the politics. Sometimes a change is as good as a vacation. I will take the vacation any day. I will not be publishing any sermon excerpts for the whole month of October. I may publish a few general posts about what I learn during the month but no sermons. You glad?

Anyway, back to my message of love of what? If we are passionate about something, that is okay but when we become obsessed by it that is not okay. We need to stop and do a sanity check on ourselves. After all, we cannot take it with us. Right? (Read 1 Timothy 6:6-17) We came into this world with nothing but our soul in an earthly body and we leave this world with nothing but our soul to be clothed with our heavenly body. Now, some may believe that we cease to exist so we should love what we have now and to hell with anyone else. I for one believe that is farthest from the truth. I believe we should put our love way above any earthly desires. The scripture says love of money is the root of all evil. I believe the love of money or any thing else that separates us from the heavenly master is the root of all evil. I believe grave yards are full of rich people that used money or what it could buy at the expense of others without any regard to eternity. (Read Luke 16) However, I also believe that there are rich people that used money or what it could buy to further the cause of man or woman kind. There is a huge difference. One used money for themselves on this earth whereas the other used money as an instrument of change for others while on this earth. Where do we place our treasures? It is our choice what we love. Choose wisely my friends. Listen to my brief audio below for more on this topic.

Who is your master

I have heard it said that we should keep our friends close and our enemies even closer. I have also heard that if you want to find a hypocrite, visit a church. Wow, is that too much? Did I loose you? If not, please read more. Politics in my opinion is full of hypocrisy. They say whatever the crowd present at the time wants to hear. I believe that there is a balancing act between our integrity and our ultimate purpose in life. What is our purpose in life? Well, I will not get into the details on that in this brief message but advise you to find out for yourself. Perhaps, as you read this, you may get a since of direction to find your purpose. Maybe just maybe your purpose is to be an example for others so that they can find their purpose. So I ask you, “who is your master”? Are we controlled by worldly wealth and what it can buy in this world? Are we controlled by a higher calling and use worldly wealth as a tool to make friends that along with you are welcomed into the eternal homes? One master is very temporary where one master is forever. Choose and choose wisely. Read Luke 16:9 and then back up to the beginning of this chapter for more understanding with the parable of the household manager. While you have the good book open, read about how Paul provided instructions to young Timothy prior to Paul’s demise at the hands of the Romans. (Read 1 Timothy 2:1-7 then listen to my brief audio below.) Paul started an admitted big sinner but ended his life serving the Master. Who is your Master?