We pulled in to a lovely little spot a bit inland from the 70+ kmph winds smashing the coast. Tuarts Reserve has room for maybe half a dozen self contained vans... no toilets or water, just a nice setting.
Met a great couple there from the Hunter Valley - will definitely stay in touch with Dallas and Tania.
The only real sound here was the hum of bees in the hollows of the trees around us.
 |
| We drove south for a day trip to Lancelin. Good weather for kite surfers and sail boarders. Although a fair level of skill required! |
 |
| Hot chips Friday. We watched one kite surfer get dragged half a kilometre along the shore as he tried to regain his feet and get the kite up again. He was eventually rescued by someone on a jet ski. |
 |
| The sandhills behind us are a sledding playground. Not a really pleasant day to do it this day, with the sand blasting every part of your body. |
 |
| The wind-driven sand is gradually swallowing some of the bush farther inland. |
After two days here we drove inland for a couple of hours to Australia's only entirely monastic town.
 |
| Just shy of New Nortia we saw this... not sure wth is going on here with the bath, shower and toilet in a field by the road! |
In its heyday, New Norcia must have been something! The size of the church, monastery, flour mill, three schools (white girls, white boys and aboriginal children) and abbey etc. is amazing.
That night was, we think, the windiest night we have ever experienced camping. The van was really buffeted and fly screens were blown in, chairs blown around. Beautiful temperature though before a scorcher the next day.
Given the forecast temperatures in the high 30s, we did the (walking) town/monastic tour the morning after rather than in the heat of the afternoon before heading down to stay in the Swan Valley Sunday afternoon.
 |
| The girls' school |
 |
| Girls' chapel |
 |
| The boys' school. Not as grand as the girls'. |
 |
| The abbey. Still a dozen monks remain. |
 |
| The church, still celebrating services each weekend. |
 |
| The girls' school. |
 |
| The school that was built to teach the aboriginal children. Typically these students were part of the stolen generation, coming from a far away as The Kimberley. |
The monk who started this place was a bit ahead of his time, paying native people to work, refusing to try to make them become Christian and allowing them to practise their own spirituality.
Can't say the same for subsequent leadership.
I've decided I like the Benedictine monks - expected to work, be self sufficient and not ask the community for money or charity!
On to the Swan Valley.
No comments:
Post a Comment