Days 7 & 8, (9 & 10)

Day 7 We had a pleasant walk from Shannon to the Arthurs Lake Pump-house campsite, passing little old farm-cottages. A very skinny fellow road traveller got into ths picture Arno's left knee got sorer, especially over the 750 m downhill to the lake, where we had lunch and got some water. An old bloke, Mike, gave us some of his specially sourced water (which he said was better than the untreated water from Arthurs Lake taps). We had our hour of quiet for our second hour of walking today, then launched into hearing and retelling our seventh string of stories from Mark, looking at Yeshua's concept of clean and unclean, and finishing with his pantomine to a deaf/mute man, and his enabling this man to hear and speak plainly. We moved on slowly, had tea at a lovely little campsite, on a bed of moss, but needed to get some more water, mike came to our aid again and gave us his 3 litre juice container. Dave and i travelled the extra 6-8km & made it back to our campsite with very sore feet. Day 8 the next morning we got up bright and early, 6:30am, but still couldn't be on the road before 8. Took it easy, it was overcast and cool all day lovely for walking. We had our hour of solitude first thing, then later listened to and retold Mark 8. It started drizzling mid morning and kept on till mid afternoon. Had lunch beside Ted &Ed's place: Were finally picked up by Wendy from Poatina, at the top of the plateau before the road descended through clouds to Poatina, where she drove us round for a quick overview of this quaint little town. Booked in to the backpackers' hostel, here is a view from the dining room balcony; Then we bought supplies for the next few days and then hot showers, before tea and joing in on a Faith & the Arts evening one artist's story and one artist's work, with supper. Day 9 We woke, I joined in with a Fusion Village prayer on the hill before the welcome sign @7-8am. Beautiful, and open to the creator. We talked before breaky and decided to stay here for another night, (Arno's knee was still sore, Paul's ankles were swollen) and if possible accept an offer for tea in the park Sat night and see the showcase from the Faith & the Arts camp after tea at the challet. Another very special rest day. & we joined in on a Fusion community morning tea and prayertime and focus-time on Jesus' step-dad, Joseph. ...so, the walk was finished for this stint, at Mount Blackwood. That is where I hope to take it up again from. Today as part of our retreat, we listened to and retold Mark 9 in the hostel lounge. Very special. Our last day of pilgrimage is; Day 10 We all joined in the morning prayer-time, then back to bed till ten. We hope to share it over meals and with Mark 10, before Hannah arrives to join us for tea in the park and to see what we can of the showcase concert. Looking forward to it.

Days 4, 5 & 6

Day 4 Whoowee. Still in Bothwell, with blisters. It was sprinking this morning, and we wondered about meeting with some other Jesus followers here, the shop owner who was so helpful to us said he had nothing to do with churches and didn't know anything about them. We joined in with the Uniting, then walked the 20 odd kilometres with an hour of quiet then an hour of listening to and telling Mark 4. When we arrived at hermitage we boiled river water most of the night, at about 11 when it was too cold we jumped into the tent. Snores. Day 5 We left our campsite near the river and walked from Hermitage through to Shannon that night. We told/listened to (the last storylet in Mark 4 &) all of Mark 5; four impossible situations Jesus encountered on the road, and his quiet, unassuming though powerful responses We had a bit of help when Arno's knee got sore, a fellow Ian Richardson, bless him, driving by stopped and picked up Arno and took him 6k further on with our three bags. That made for an easy six kilometres of walking for David and me. Then we all walked up the steep bit from Watamana. David and i covered the last six kilometres without bags while they got a lift with Rory. Arno looked after and set up our gear at Shannon. Beds, shower, good coffee. Day 6 Spent a day of rest at some friends' house at Shannon. We spent quiet time reading, sleeping, eating, and talking together and we went through Mark 6. (Well the last storylet in chapter 5 and all of 6) Helen got a text through asking how the coffee machine was going, to which I responded: I've been made two cups so far; lovely coffee where we are. This place we've resorted to; luxuriated us. Adieu. Thats from PLW. Rory who we saw the new year in with at Hobart, came through like an angel of God with some medication for one of us, and also, catch this: strapping tape (for a sore knee), 6 frozen pies, 3 hamburgers with the lot, and... Bananas - rich in potassium, prevent cramps. Cherries - natural anti-inflammatory. Epsom salts for a relaxing bath, magnesium for muscles & joints. Salad for Vitamin C. Saying "Haven't got time to stop. ... Enjoy." How good is that! Went for a walk b4 tea, and got some coverage for the mobile, and this blog. So, I rang that dear woman, back in NSW hanging out at a friends house with a couple of our kids and their friends. God, make Katrina please your conduit which brings your life with its ease from life-giving springs Amen

Day 3

We left our guest-house, to those we shared the room with overnight: and walked the 15 to 17km to Bothwell. A few blisters gathered today. Had lunch in the Castle Hotel, spied out some tent-sites by the river, hired a key from the servo to use a washing machine, and bought some food supplies. We'll leave a box of our gear at the Bothwell "Superstore", to collect on the way back. Up at the council caravan park washing machine (and town toilets) we met Joseph, who's been bicycling for 3 yrs. He said he was a homeless person who uses cycling as his mode of transport, and we heard of many adventures and funny stories. I think he is heading to Signet for a folk festival. Joseph offered to pay the difference for us to camp in town at the caravan park for the night, so we accepted his offer, pitched our tent, and finally got back to the pub for a drink at 9:30pm, to find it and all tne shops, shut. Back to the tent and we boiled the billy on our newly adjusted "hexamine stove". The rain started and we covered our bags (with our newly acquired tarp, for the purpose), and jumped into the tent. Tomorrow, depends a bit on the rain, if it's raining, we might stay and go to church to meet some local Jesus followers, or else we might take off early North-NW.

Days One And Two Of The Second Stint...

Well we set off yesterday as it says in the last post. Stopped for lunch at the Gretna pub. (which, for next time, could take guests if they were given notice), walked between 8 and 14 kilometres, each read a storylet (or two) from Mark 1, and then told them to the group, in order. About 5:30pm set up camp beside the road for the night. Talked about last year, and dropped off before 9pm, 3 in a two-person tent. This morning we set off about 7, had an hour of quiet walking, then started reading Mark 2 and telling it back to each other. We dropped in to a few farmhouses to top up our water-bottles, and were given nice cold tank-water, had a swim in a dam around lunch-time, and were then allowed to stay in a homely house on the way to Bothwell. We've been about 10-17km today, and have about 17km to do tomorrow to reach Bothwell. Tomorrow, Mark 3 for the three of us.