January 20, 2014

Yes, It’s Good to be Back Home Again!

We are home at Indralaya after five weeks of traveling down under. It was a wonderful trip. We spent about half of the time in and around Sydney, with stops around the country in Alice Springs, Melbourne, and Tasmania. It was a fine mix of new sights, family, friends old and new, as well as time for ourselves.

Many thanks to those who helped care for camp while we were gone, especially John, Cindy, Kathy, Nancy, Darrell, Maddy, Lilly, Thea, Frank, Kari & Crystal.

the famous Sydney Opera House

Uluru

Sue, Uncle Frank, Leonie, Minor

While in Alice Springs, we stayed with Sue Gregory Birmingham, a therapeutic touch practitioner and TS member who works with the aboriginal people in the area, including Uncle Frank, with whom we spent a day on the land learning stories of the caterpillar dreaming.

Leonie & Emlyn along Lake St. Clair

We were in Tasmania for 12 days, where we felt fortunate to spend the Christmas holiday with Emlyn Walter-Cruickshank and his family. Then it was back to Sydney in time for the New Year festivities and a two week stay at the Manor, a legendary theosophical center that Leonie’s family has had connections with since its origins in the 1920’s.

the red roofed Manor, with downtown Sydney in the distance

The Van Gelders visit the Manor, circa 1965

(from l to r, Michael, Melanie, Harry, Leonie, Arthur, Mary & Ian)

We arrived back in Seattle on the 14th and drove back up to Orcas the next day. On Friday, the 2014 program catalog went to the post office and it began showing up in mail boxes the next day. We will be delivering the catalog to the Canadian postal service on Wednesday. Online registration for all of our upcoming programs and work parties will be available beginning at noon, PST, on Sunday, January 26.

teepee and solarium

fruit trees & fir trees, grass & sky