the town itself was quite an unusual proposition, a mix of koorie, tongan, vietnamese, italian, afghani and south-african inhabitants dwelling in the small town, no doubt drawn there by the fruit-picking and vineyard employment opportunities that present themselves at most throughout during the year... many have settled, though, and there is a constant presence of about 4,000 people in the town, swelling up to as many as 7,000 in peak fruit-picking season...
's a funny thing - most ppl muse about random thoughts when they're in the shower... but my brain was in full random-thinking mode while washing the car today... i guess it's also a shower, of sorts, though most of the water covering my body was sweat, not that much from the hose... but it was really tough going, trying to get rid of all the mallee soil (which was everywhere in the air) out of the carpets, and all the surfaces inside and outside the car... at least it's clean now... and no more country driving to get it all dirty!!!
anywayz - random thoughts... i remembered in robinvale, seeing some graffiti inside the public toilet block that was in the middle of the road that read "rob-in-jail"... but it's an accurate reflection of robinvale's claim to the title of one of the most notorious crime-filled towns in the whole nation... my digital camera went missing, probably there in robinvale... but it's weird, how, if this were in melbourne, everyone's reaction would be, "dave, how could u be so careless!!! maybe u left it in your bag, did you empty it out, did you check it?!? could you have left it in the restaurant?!?" - but since it's robinvale, so many ppl seem so convinced that it's been stolen!!! "dave, you shouldn't ever leave your bag unattended for two seconds, you know... how many times have i told u?!?"
unfortunately, that means no fotos of mungo... i drove up to mungo national park, a really wonderful place to visit if u ever get the chance!!! long dirt road, about 120km, so quite a tiring drive for 1hr10mins or so... watch the kangaroos and sheep and cattle that inevitably wander onto the path!!! but arrival in mungo, pushing aside how dirty the car had become, was breathtaking... you arrive at one end of the lake, which is now a flat, dry lake bed, and feast your eyes upon the beautiful "walls of china" that dominate the horizon 10km away across the lake... the amount of history in the museum is phenomenal, chronicling 50,000 years of aboriginal inhabitance of the region, and their coexistence with strange megafauna, now extinct... imagine life as it was then!!!
went the 10km across to the walls of china... the brilliant layered appearance of the walls is caused by the erosion and deposition of various hidden layers of rock laid down by the repeated filling and emptying of the lake over the millenia... layers of red ochre-ish soil overlie the white rock that rises up steeply, small knolls preserved by the roots of hardy trees that hold them against the wind's erosive forces... atop the walls are the peaks of rolling dunes that move ever so slowly, the exposed side of the dunes holding solidly against our footsteps, in contrast to the liquid behaviour of the sand whenever it is disturbed on the leeward side of the dunes... it's almost surreal, just watching the lava-like motion of the fine sand trickling down the side and parting into channels formed by the ripples on the surface...
relics of early settlement by non-indigenous australians were dotted around the park, with goat traps, small tin huts and wells doing little to deface the immense beauty of a relatively undisturbed corner of the universe...
;p i think it's a beautiful reminder of God's creation, and well worth the drive, and even the car wash after the drive!!! - the road can be dangerous though, some friends of ours became temporarily stranded after their tyre blew out causing the car to run off the road... but yah, would be awesome to revisit sometime in the future!!!
anywayz - i think i should stop rambling now... jus want to leave u with a passage from 2 peter, which teaches us how best to be children pleasing to our heavenly Father... it's a challenging passage, because, although it's full of encouragement, it reminds us of what is so often missing in our walk as children of God - that is effort (in the passage, "selfcontrol, perseverance"), but which is born of faith in Jesus... but how cool is it, that as we focus more and more on God, we are reminded of His goodness, and the amazing promises that He has made to us!!! ;p
God bless u all!!!
dave
2 Peter 1:1-11
To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, selfcontrol; and to selfcontrol, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 comments:
That was a beautiful description, a photo would not have done justice to the subject. Btw, Robinvale is where Han's parent live and work...interesting to find that it's a crime hot spot.
Yeah, you're very concise with your words when describing things! Not like me who waffles on and on. :-) (And you like adjectives, don't you?) =p But yeah, I can almost see it in my head now! :-)
Anonymous person sounds a tad cynical about Han...
Post a Comment