Monday25July2022CE further towards Narrabri..

Monday 25 July 2022CE further towards Narrabri..

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Time during the night hours to think about moving forward with creative love, that is a boss god, when it comes to creating and unconditional positive regard, reflecting on the wisdom coming from this god to do with ways and means.

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Wake, fill up with tank water, say "Goodbye" to Narelle, 

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at her place,

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take my spare tyre, and head to a men's get-together at a cafe down the road over breaky. 

Men's Breaky and discussion for men of very varied background. An amazing experiment to see how, and on what principle or connection or commitment is it possible for people with different mindsets to discuss topics that are dear to each of them. I'm on a sort of pilgrimage, and I asked them if they would be willing to turn anyvremembrance of me into a kind of "prayer", or conversatio  with the creator about me. They agreed to. I was so glad I'd spent another morning back in Coona, if it means that half a dozen men will keep me in their prayers. Actually made me appreciate prayer, and my prayer for others much more. Missed a photo of this bunch, rats.

Paul took me to a tyre specialty shop, where Warren said that the flat tyre that I had brought was thin and disintegrating and had been pierced 2ce and its strings would likely make a hole in a new tube too. He sent us to get new bearings (the only two in town, two more would have to be  ordered in. Then he put the bearings in, got me a thick new tyre, and tube and put goop in, put it all together, and said "Let's make it $20.00!" Thanks Warren! He's about to head to the top of Cape York Peninsular this Thursday (by car, and)  a different route to me. All the best mate. 

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New tyres, those from HOME Hardware didn't fit the length of my axle. I ended up tryi g the yelliw foam ones from the Crazy Prices store, then off to Paul and Lyn's to get my clothes and catch up a bit over a cuppa with an old friend (LiYean) who now lives in Coona with her husband of 2 years, whom I met at the Men's breaky this morning. Lyn on left, and LiYean on Right:

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Then Paul drove me out of town to where my trolley had been hidden.  i put the new wheels on 

 

and the spare might now be the best one I have, thanks to Warren. Then Paul

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who'd driven me out, kindly took the old intact tyres off my hands and drove off.

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I walked on, thinking of how to be a blessing to the people who pass me, and making up & singing songs that way…   

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i made about 13km today (72km to go to Narrabri). See how I go in the morning. 

A lot learned today. And a heart full of thankfulness as I fell asleep were I was.

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Sunday - towards Narrabri, a half-day of rest.

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24 July 2022C.E. (C.E.= Common Era. How would you see anything like a common era occuring?)

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Woke late, 'bout ten past eight; and then I tried

to get on road by half past 8, or 9.

Then, late by half an hour or so, I climbed

onto the tarmack, and that's where I find

two bush bikes that were going on a trip 

through Pilliga today. One sprung a leak.

Aband'ning trip, they'd trace back where they came 

from, and for sev'ral minutes there, we speak.

Then up the hill I walk, on right hand side

of Newell Highway, on the shoulder bit.

Sometimes I have to stand off, and just bide

my time, to let the traffic past, then git

on going to my destination then,

else all my time could be beside the road.

But that's not bad, it's often those times when

I smile and wave, to trav'lers as they go.

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Slow walking today. Thinking about things happening to friends and family, that have also happened in my life, and the poetry of the Ancient Near East book of Jōb, that I was meditating on yesterday, and today. Came up with a song, and this poem-ish reflection.

Hope to walk till I have less than 87km left, so I might be able to do it in 3 days, then camp for the rest of the day, as a break (along with Friday arvo and Saturday morning's breaks).

I wonder if I'll meet up with anyone today? Not likely, it's just highway through bush.

The trolley tipped 3 times, before I noticed that I had a flat back right hand tyre. I put my new spare on and kept going, but wondered if I should have got those 2 "solid rubber" wheels from Crazy Clints in Coona. Paul whom I had stayed with, offered to buy them for me, and bring them out on the morning.

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Got 1km past the Yaminbah Trail turn on the Right.

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Past the little sign that  said N85, meaning 85km to Narrabri. Then a family friend, like a sister, Narelle, who normally lives in Coonabarabran, but whom I thought was out of town during the past week, so hadn't contacted her, was home, and came to where I was, to bring some minestrone soup for dinner and have a chat. She took the tyre that had gone flat, back to my new friend Paul who was going to source some solid rubber tyres for the back of the trolley as well, and bring them out in the morning, this would let him check the size. Before I had any soup I rang Paul to see what time he was coming out. He said "As soon as the shops were opened." With that Narelle said she had a spare bed and I could shower & sleep at her place tonight. And Paul & Lyn asked us both over for a roast pork dinner. We hid the trolley and headed into Coona. I showered before dinner, and we had a lovely time with Paul & Lyn this evening. And I'm about to sleep in Narelle's spare bed, and Paul has asked me to a men's breakfast get-together in the morning before the shops open. How lovely. Thank you to creative love, & all who worked along with possibilities to make a wonderful evening.

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Saturday, 23 July 2022am, from Coonabarabran on which Highway?

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Plan, the night before, is to join Paul with an online get-together which he does with some mates every (or every 2nd?) Saturday morning, from 7:30-9am. Then Paul will drive me to the intersection of the two Highways, where I walked to yesterday, and I'll go on from there. I trust that if one way is preferable for the bigger scheme of things, then creative love will give me a prompt in that direction, or else just plain be with me either way. Good to recall.

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Met Lyn last night, and here we are after breaky:

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Plan

Then after an online meeting with a bunch of his mates, and another hour or two of research, with the help of Paul & Lyn, Paul drove me out to the turn off towards Narrabri (about 11am), 

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I've decided, after looking at maps of Eastern Australia, and ringing pubs and servos nearby, to head for Narrabri, thence i hope to go to Bellata, Moree, Mungindi, St. George… as things stand…(they might change). Now I've cancelled a pencilled in booking at Burren Junction Hotel, and I'm off.

At 11:30am I come accross this sign:

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We'll see if I can make more than 10 km today.

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Around noon, Noel, a nearly 90yr old from Coona met me at the rest station just out of town.we talked for 20 min.  He told me of an old chap whose wife had died, whose next partner had got dimenture, and who at times felt extremely lonely. He had to go, in that little blue car of his. 

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But i got some wisdom from him on the way, (He must have said "It's a wonderful land we live in." 3 or 4 times, and If I wake in the morning, it's a plus. tIt seemed like he took these things as a lovely gift, and was determined to be grateful for them)- and he helped me fix up me spare tyre which was about to fall off. Thanks Noel.

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1:10pm a couple travelling to Airlie Beach stop at a loo stop after me. The lady talks and asks what I'm doing this walk for. We might see each other up there somewhere. Then we are both off..

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on the road again.

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Stopped on the edge of the piliga forrest about 2:20pm, to put my feet up. Funny how it slows you down to put you feet up,

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& look up a tree for 40 min a day.

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Let the pressure out of some blisters then head off by about 3pm. Hoping to stop around 5pm, and set up tent.

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Friday 22July2022 into Coona, & beyond?

 

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Decided last night (with the help  of Paul Downes) to go through Gunnedah then up Fossickers Way, since there's likely to be considerably less truck traffic, & I thought there were areas with not much shoulder to the road on bits from Narrabri to Goondiwindi.

Glen (an amazing Manager) whom I met, and shared a meal with last night) offered to drop me out to the spot where Paul had dropped me last night. I really appreciated (going out there in the car) hearing (not yet his views on life, but at least) his troubles with looking at religion as a whole, and also seeing where people have used it as a cover for the normal power mongering of humanity. All the divergent claims, counterclaims, and violence, is confusing and seems to put it into the too hard basket.

Interesting observations from someone who is used to looking at things from a big-picture kind of view. I can already feel myself being drawn back to consider these things more during the day's walk. Thanks for your candid thoughts, Glen.

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(forgot to get a pic of Glen, rats!) Thanks Glen. So, by 8:20am I was back on the Highway walking into Coona. Hope to drop into the Info Centre for a local area map, especially the road to Gunnedah, in case I lose phone connection or power.

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A phone call with a neighbour fr9m back at home. A visit to the info centre where Brandon gave me a Cappucino

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and I saw some bones of Australian Megafauna, Dipodo… from only, was it 20,000 yrs ago, right here!

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Some amazing aboriginal myths regarding night sky landscapes… & there ancestors or "uncles", or spiritual forces looking down on them from the heavens as stars (link).

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Did some shopping for clothing I left behind (in Orange? mistakenly), and trail mix, etc.

At a second hand shop run by the SDA's (ADRA), I bought some golfing shorts for $3, that should dry quickly after being washed in the shower at nights. Met a lady there who served me named Barbara ..

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then I remembered that there was an SDA man who had prayed for me as I left Flinders Street Station in Melbourne on Saturday or Sunday  night 2nd April. So I asked if she was a praying woman. She said she was. I asked her to pray for me on this walk. 

I missed my pie etc. Time was running out. Nearly lunch time (11am) and I'm still in town. I'd better get back to where I stayed last night, where my trolley was. On the way Paul (my host) rang, and suggested I stay for another night, and he was now in a position to take me out to the fork in the Newel Highway where the Oxley diverged to the right, then drive me 20km up either fork, to get a feel for what the choice might mean. I said I often didn't get that option, so sure. That would be a lovely gift. So when I got back we had a cuppa, and off we went.

We stopped to have a pie for lunch at Coona's diwn town bakery. Good friends spotted me and said "G'day!". They were going home after a few days of holiday, with their kids. How lovely to be recognized and known in an uncommon place. Thanks Henry & Jo for that lovely gift. We talked for three minutes, coffees were served, and we all went our ways. May they and their family be such a gift to many others!

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The serendipities of life with creative love!

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Paul & I went for that drive up each Highway. Even harder to decide now. I've asked for wisdom in this decision. I'll just have to use it now, as I find out how to.

A couple of solid phone calls. Paul Downes with an old mate. Me with my lovely lady.

Paul & I pursued some pet hobbies that we happen to share, of carefully looking for meaning in ancient documents written in ancient languages for other ancient audiences (scriptures passed on in a cultural lineage) and trusting creative love to lead us somehow. Lots of fun. 

I was reminded of a dichotomous key. With a branch at the distinction between 

• a focus on mechanism & technology, or 

• a focus on time spent in mentoring relationships.

Then I set out to at least walk the 3.5km to the fork in the Highways, which would give me a feel for the Newel Highway, and its traffic; and maybe help me in learning to use wisdom in decision making. 

So I did. And Paul who often was booked with work at this time of day, for an hour or two, but happens not to be today, said he could pick me up - again. 

Getting close:

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Here I am.

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I wandered up the Oxley while Paul came to get me… and wandered up the Oxley Highway to this point:

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.and looking back towards Coona:

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.when we get back to Paul & Lyn's house:

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Thanks Pau Downes!

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Pictures to pursue, from that 10 min of talking with Glen this morning:

The difficulty of getting responsible research done in the situation of looking for a needle in a hay-stack.. e.g.Making sense of, or tweaking Internet searches for various topics: e.g. 

1. Benefits to humanity of sport playing, or of say swimming.

2. Data for making a choice as to whether to join in competitively, or just socially, in Swimming, Tennis, Soccer, AFL, or Rugby.

Problems coming from the Western Mindset of focussing on the power of the word; - using and running with, or a priori not using, or running with, our  inherited, or pre-made categories, or titles, or clumpings made with words.

e.g. 

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Thurs 21July2022 Binnaway towards Coonabarrabran.

Thurs 21July2022 from Binnaway towards Coonabarrabran.

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Hope to wake at 6:30am, breaky at 7pm, leave by 7:30 or 8am at latest, to get to Coona in time for dinner with friends of friends.

In fact, had an orientation meditation come to me when I woke, so didn't leave my bed till 7am, then breaky, and after that Nick added a spare wheel to the trolley, and helped me fix some attachment points for occy straps for the "lid". He said "Don't worry about taking your trolley, I'll get it to where you are going to in Coona, sometime in the day. How good is that! I'm likely to make better time too.

Thank you, creative love, and Nick and Inica.

Off at 8:20am. On the edge of Binnaway, beside the Castlereagh, looking back:

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Looking forward

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Phonecalls: sparkie back home,  call with a neighbour till we lose reception (or his battery runs out). Thanks Sim  and Steve.

Morning break for half an hour with my feet up. 

Back on the road, a reminder that people younger than I, have died on this road, at this spot. 

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We really are pilgrims travelling on this walk through time (that we often call "life").

It's 12:30pm, and I've still got 13km to arrive at the Newell Highway. And my feet'll need an hour break from about 2:10 - 3:10pm. But then, maybe I should push through the 13km to the Newell, then have my break? I might only make it, today, to the Newell Highway?

We'll see.

An hour or two now that might give a chance to work on reading, hearing, understanding, meditating on that monumental 1st Century story of the life,  mission, & message of Yeshua Bar Nazaret. How good! Wow. This is certainly not more of the status quo. And it is certainly a different way to view life from Western Materialism. And it is immaterialism, so maybe a Western way of describing it might be  - an Eastern acknowledgement of Energy, Matter, Mechanism, trumped by Relationships of unconditional positive regard)

Rebecca (McFluffy) passed me on the way to Coona to do the shopping, and stopped in a safe place up the road, then she walked back  to see of I needed a hand or a lift. I thanked her very much for the offer, explained that it was a kind of a pilgrimage for me, and I had to walk it. Got talking, and then took a pic of Rebecca and her car

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her mum Hilary (Goodlife) came out to join us for another pic all together.

We had a good catchup about life and directions and choosing to be open and offering friendship. They are from Binnaway.

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How brave to offer a lift to a "hobo" wandering along the road, how thoughtful & kind.

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A break soon…

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Down the road we cross the Castlereagh again

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The remains of the old bridge:

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.on the right is "Saturn" from the vurtual universe model. 

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A good time for a lunch-break and to put the feet up..

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.break till 3:15pm.

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Amazing time on the phone talking with 2 fellows in Coona, 1 who was cooking for me tonight has just got COVID today, so he won't be joining us (maybe up near Bogabilla or Moree he said). The other who is taking me in for the night. He offered to pick me up, if i cam't make the extra 6km to their place on the Northern end of town. How helpful. He even suggested I call at 4:30pm to let him know where I'm at.

A ute just drove up from behind me, stopped, and a lady playing classic 70's music loudly, said she'd passed me in the morning, I was getting close to the intersection with the highway, & here's a water-bottle of fresh water for me:

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Then she did a U'y & waved goodbye. I didn't think to take a pic and get my phone out till the ute was almost out of site.

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Crossed a creek and came, just befoe 5pm to the Newel Highway. 

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Turned the corner to the right, up the first hill on the Newel towards Coona.

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I'm trying to make it up this hill before Paul picks me up to take me to his place for the night. 

..made it to the top, by 5:08pm. I reckon Paul will arrive very soon. But I'll see how far I can get. 

Closer to sunset..

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.just past the average speed safety cameras Paul arrived in his ute. The Boral sign in the background:

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And to Woolies and to his place for the night.

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On waking…

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Where am I?

In your love!

I am breathing.. and living..

bequeathing.. and giving..

IN YOUR LOVE.

I remember the picture of mist in the morning,

light white, and swirling, adorning;

as folk travelled through,

it would swirl and renew

and continue, with hardly a yarning.

A likeness for me, of your love that I see,

swirling and passing through people,

as they pass, get along,

there emerges a song,

the world's their cathedral, with steeple.

The mist of your love swirls down from above,

and waters supporters .. all life.

I remember that dove,

with a flutter, not shove,

it came and brought peace, absorbed strife.

Please help me, oh water-fall flowing in torrents,

which sources the mist of our world,

to love what you love, and abhor what's abhorrent

so your hopes and dreams are uncurled!

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as song (recorded on the road)

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