An "American Thanksgiving"
The friars all pitched in for an American Thanksgiving at Mount St. Francis Friary in Kellyville, NSW, Australia. In the spirit of St. Francis, each friar pitched in to make the day special. Fr. Robert decorated the table (1, 2) and provided the gravy; I put together a cheese platter (3) and a spinach and strawberry daquiri salad (3) (the salad is really yummy!!!); Fr. Gerard made lumpias (Filipino egg rolls) but placed them on a hard plastic plate that melted in the warm oven (sadly they had to be discarded—our chooks [Aussie for chickens] loved them); Br. Jerry fixed the bird (5) and the stuffing; Br. Louis made the many side dishes, including a pasta casserole, mashed potatoes, and vegetables (6); a parishioner provided 6 pumpkin pies from Costco, the only place in town selling such American fare! (They don't have pumpkin pie here and imagine it to be an American Christmas thing. As with all things American and Christmas, it is becoming more common and popular Down Under. This final photo of the event (7) is of the friars posing with the feast (l to r): Br. Jerry Payne, Br. Louis Schmid, me, Fr. Robert Melnick and Fr. Gerard Lofranco.
On Friday I drove off on my own. I had a meeting with the architects of our school project in the morning that ran long. Thus I didn't get on the road until around 2 pm. By then, the traffic had already picked up. It took me 2 hours to get to Royal National Park! I was itching to hike (or "bush walk," as they say here).
Earlier in the week the weather was really gross: humid and just warm enough to make it feel uncomfortable. It was worse in our un-air-conditioned church! We had a big storm the night before and the front must have pushed through. Thankfully (pun intended) Thursday and Friday were clear and cool. Highs in the lower 70's…just perfect for me!
I went on the Royal Coastal Walk (8). I had strarted on the trail once before but had to turn back, if you recall (see blog from Nov. 13). So I hadn't gotten very far on this interesting walk through the bush and along the cliffs and ocean. The walk goes up over these cliffs (9-10). But not all of it is along the ocean. And check out the path (11-12)! Not sure if you can see, but not all of it is smooth (foreground, 12). Many times there were rocks and bolders to climbover. Kids would love this walk!
Some of the path is almost scary to go through. I imagine this is what Hanzel and Gretel walked through! I prayed there were no bugs or spiders ready to drop! Here's a little lizard that stopped for a photo. He seemed quite happy to accomodate and made me feel a bit better (13). (He sends his regards to his American cousins on their American Feast Day!)
At one point you can look back on the trail and see the cliff you stood on (14). But there are still more cliffs ahead (15)! And the path winds up and down hills. Steep ups and downs. This is a little valley where a stream trickles out to the sea (16-17).
Atop one of the cliffs I found this small arch carved by wind and sea (18). There is also beauty in the tiny things here: like a still life laid out by God (19). I love the different colors in the pebbles, especially the pinks that unite this composition. And notice the tiny pine tree just starting to grow in the lower right of the shot. These flowers were only about 2 inches in diameter, if that (20). Not sure if you can see this, but they are a very pale greenish white color. Here is some more work of wind and sea (21).
As I shared, it had rained earlier so everything was very green. It is springtime and we are soon coming to summer. Here you can see the brilliant coloring of the new foilage (22-24).
And here is as far as I got (25-34). I had walked about 1.5 hours out from my car. The sun was starting to go down and clouds were rolling in. Next time, I'll bring a friend and we might go farther. Definitely worth another trip! Photos 25-27 give you an idea of the scale of this expanse. I love the way the clouds cast shadows on the plains. Very pretty.
If you look carefully at photo 32 you can see the mist rolling in through the rocks of the cliff. It gave everything a really eerie and beautiful look. The last photo (34) was taken earlier when the sun was out and I was farther away from the landscape. Photo 33 shows you the cloudy end of the day started. I actually felt chilled by the time I returned to the car.