60th
AUS Trip Blog 2
Blue Mountains
One of my old high school mates,
Peter Robinson, met me as I exited Customs at Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport.
Peter is an Anglican Minister whose current job is to supply Chaplains to
Public Schools. Yes, that’s right, in Australia public schools are funded to provide voluntary scripture classes and
chaplains of all faiths. The state provides a part of their salaries, and
organizations like Peter’s hire the chaplains and raise the rest of the
funding. Use of the chaplain’s services
by students is voluntary, of course. Peter’s comment is that the program is
well regarded, for the chaplains provide support, counsel and spiritual guidance in a system
where most adult interaction is much more formal. Another interesting comment Peter made is that
in Australia the term secular, as in secular education, has been traditionally
defined and legally upheld to mean “no one faith is promoted over another”. It
does not mean that no religion is allowed at all, for that would be promoting a
non-religious view above all others.
After a quick breakfast of Wheat Bix
and espresso, provided by Peter’s older brother Martin, we climbed into the car
and headed up into the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains remind me of the
Western North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains, or the Smoky Mountains of
Virginia. It is a combination of light, a bit of haze and the thick canopy of
trees, in this case huge gum trees that provide the bluish color.
The Blue Mountains west of Sydney
This area has been a get-away from
Sydney from colonial days. We went past historic towns such as Lawson, Katoomba
and Wentworth Falls, where Peter keeps a small bungalow for his getaways. Our
destination was Medlow Bath, where my friends Glenn and Dianne Davies have
their weekend home.
"The Beacon" home of Glenn and Dianne Davies
We stopped in Wentworth Falls to
check on Peter’s place and to stretch our legs by hiking the Charles Darwin
trail to the top of the falls. Yes, Charles Darwin himself made this trek in
1836, noting how what was once a tiny rivulet had evolved, over eons, into a
mighty waterfall. Profound. I will skip recounting the interesting conversation
Peter and I had about the theories of evolution and creationism. If interested,
email me for a full account. Suffice it to say that our conclusions left room
for the evolutionary process, as observed by Darwin, to be a method that the
Creator may have used once creation was underway.
Glenn and Dianne met us at their
lovely home nestled up against the bush, ringed by gum trees and conifers of
various descriptions. Their lovely garden is full of native plantings – waratah,
wattle, banksia, mountain ash, and
various gums. After lunch we took a short bush walk behind their place. The
birds were colorful and abundant. We saw sulphur crested cockatoo, Australian magpies,
Crimson rosellas , possible a Corella.
It always amazes me how large the
Australian birds are, compared to the generally petite birds we have in the
states. A robin would be a tiny bird here.
Evening falls in the Blue Mountains
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