Advent 2023

 Advent, 2023

Dear Friends and Family,  
                 

The year has had its “ups” and “downs” for us. It began “down,” in January, when Mark’s mother, Lorna, fell in her apartment at Calvin Community in Des Moines, breaking a hip. She had surgery and we moved her into Calvin’s nursing unit for rehabilitation.

All seemed well, so we turned to an “up,” going ahead with a planned trip to Bolivia and Columbia in late January. Bolivia was challenging, but Columbia was surprisingly pleasant!
    

A huge “down” was that, as we kept in touch with her during our travels, it was becoming clear that Lorna’s recovery was not going as expected. Upon return, there were many trips between home and Des Moines, and much work to close the apartment. She had a second surgery, but the downward spiral had begun. A case of Covid was the proverbial straw on the camel. Lorna died on April 5 and we held her funeral in Des Moines on April 15. She and Mark’s dad, Marvin, are together again now, as was increasingly her wish toward the end.

Later in April, an “up” was that we were able to depart on a trip to northern Italy. The Alps were very beautiful and a welcome respite from the stress of the previous weeks.

In June, another “up” was that we were joined by both daughters and their families for five days in Estes Park, Colorado to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. Most of us enjoyed hiking and seeing wildlife in Rocky Mountain National Park. A “down” was that grandson Corbin was sick and that kept him out of action, with a couple trips to the ER, during our Colorado stay.

All “up”: Corbin recovered some days later, and is a normal, energetic third grader. His sister, Harper, is enjoying 5th grade, the last step before middle school next year. And brother Malcolm has begun kindergarten in Kansas. Their cousin, Clara, is also a kindergartner in Minnesota.

Another “down” was that Katherine & family’s pet of almost 14 years, their dog, Kaia, became ill while staying with us during their vacation in late July. We had her to the vet and cared for her as best we could, but she had to be put down shortly after their return.

But there were more “ups”: We were able to enjoy a trip to Australia in November, including snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef and visiting the “outback.” Also, we were all together again to celebrate Thanksgiving with Sarah and family in their newly constructed home in Overland Park, Kansas. And we look forward to having everyone together to celebrate Christmas with us in the Twin Cities.

Despite the “downs,” we have to say that the “ups” outweigh them. We pray that the year has brought many “ups” for you, as well, and that the hope of the Christ child brings joy to all for the year ahead.

Mark & Mary Johns

Wrapping Up Sydney

Our group walked two blocks to the tram (light rail) stop and rode three stops north to the Royal Botanic Garden. We met a young man of mixed European/aboriginal descent who identifies as a member of the local clan.

He walked us through a small part of this expansive park, mostly talking about how Europeans had changed the landscape and introduced non-native plants.

A "bottle tree" holds large quantities of water

He also talked about some of the culture of the indigenous people, and how misunderstandings of each group by the other led to problems and tragedies. He gave us a lot of information about initiation (puberty rites, especially for boys becoming men) and about orality as an information technology.

The talk was supposed to be 45 minutes, but he went on for about 90 minutes. Our guide was upset, but I was not. He was interesting, and we didn't have much else planned for the day.

These ancient fern/trees are nearly extinct

Our tour leader took most of the group to a place that creates opal jewelry, ostensibly to learn about opal mining in Australia. But we've been on enough of these trips to know that these sorts of things are 10% education and 90% sales pitch. So, we went our own way.

Government House -- as close as we got

We stayed in the Botanic Garden for a while, checking out the Conservatorium of Music (nothing to see there) and the Government House, the historic residence of the Governor of the State of New South Wales  (it was closed today).

We did better getting a different view of the Opera House and finding a bench on which to eat lunch and people watch. One hears a lot of Chinese spoken here, but there are tourists from everywhere.

Next we visited the Library of New South Wales. This is a huge public library which is obviously much used by students and others in the community. It's also a museum of sorts, with about a half dozen exhibits from the library's collections and from outside.

The Library and its exhibits are all entirely free, and they are very well done. There was a Shakespeare exhibit, marking the 400th anniversary of the publication of the First Folio (yes, the Library has a copy, as well as a lot of related stuff).

We also spent time in an exhibit of Australian photography, and walked briefly through exhibits of paintings and of indigenous art. We could have easily spent the entire day there, but we had more to see before our legs gave out.

We passed on the opportunity for a free tour of Parliament House, where the legislature of New South Wales meets. The building, while old and historical, is pretty ugly, and a lot of restoration work was underway. We also passed the Mint, largely because it hasn't actually been an actual mint for over 100 years.

Instead, we walked on to the Hyde Park Barracks, which was also free to tour with fancy little headset gizmos that didn't work very well. Nevertheless, it was an interesting exhibit.

The Barracks is one of Sydney's oldest building, constructed with convict labor in 1819 as a barracks for convicts. Sydney began as a prison colony, and prisoners had to be kept somewhere. Conditions here were not great. Apparently there were even more resident rats than convicts. Later, the building had other uses, such as a home for homeless girls and an asylum for the mentally ill.

Across the street from the Barracks is St. James Church. The oldest church in Australia, it was also built with convict labor. It started out to be a courthouse, but was converted mid-construction to be a church. It still functions as an Anglican congregation.

And just down the block is St. Mary's Cathedral, seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Australia. It is much larger and grander than St. James because the original burned down in the mid-1800s and the present structure wasn't completed until 1882, when Australia was much more civilized and prosperous.

Of all the cathedrals in the world that we have seen, this was one of them. It's not very grand. And like many cathedrals, the crypt is more interesting than the nave.

By mid-afternoon we had been on our feet for nearly six hours and had covered more than five miles of browsing and sauntering in museums (which is far more tiring than just plain walking), so we retreated to our hotel room until time for our farewell dinner.

We rode the tram a couple stops, then walked several blocks to Barangaroo, right along Darling Harbour, an area where we hadn't been before. We enjoyed an excellent meal at a Greek restaurant and celebrated the conclusion of the trip. Tomorrow morning we leave for the airport and the long trip home.

Sydney

Sydney is a beautiful city. It doesn't have the same charm as Melbourne. But there is beauty here, to be sure, and lots that is interesting.

Our bus tour of the city this morning took us around some of that. First stop was "Mrs. Macquarie's Seat." The wife of one of the first governors of New South Wales -- back when it was a penal colony -- used to take a short walk from her home, down to a point overlooking the harbor, where she would sit and watch the ships going in and out.

Also in this area, known as "The Domain," because it was the private domain of the governor (but now in the public domain), is an Olympic-sized swimming pool overlooking the main base of the Royal Australian Navy. There are swimming pools everywhere, and it's very unusual to find an Aussie who can't swim. Lap swimming is a very popular form of exercise. 

Also here is the quintessential view of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. We drove on from there through the Rose Bay neighborhood, where multi-million dollar homes have great views of the harbor.

Next stop was Bondi Beach, one of Sydney's many excellent beaches, and certainly the most famous. So many tourists get pulled out to sea by rip tides here that there is even a TV series about Bondi Beach lifeguards.

There were also lots of really ripped Australian guys lifting weights and acting macho, hoping to be noticed by female tourists (we presume).

On this beautiful Sunday morning there were various runs taking place on the beach. We happened to arrive in time for the "Nippers 1k Run." Nippers are kids. There were several age groups running, and all ran barefoot on the sand beach.

Or course, a bit race event demands food, and the local "life saving club" had a tent where they were making and selling "Sausage Sizzles." This is something like a Polish sausage, grilled and served in a hot dog bun (or sometimes just in bread), and often with bacon and grilled onions.

The bus took us on to an area known as "The Gap," which is the entrance to Sydney Harbor. Steep cliffs here have been the scene of many suicides, so fencing and CCTV cameras are everywhere.

We walked through Gap Park down to Watson's Bay, an area famous for fish and chips take-aways. This is where we had an included lunch. The fish was quite good. The chips were just French fries, and there wasn't even anything good to put on them or dip them in.

Part of Sydney's public transportation system is a large fleet of ferryboats. Our tour leader gave us "Opal Cards" with about $15 AUS on each, and we rode the ferry over to Circle Quay where the famous Sydney Opera House is located.

OAT had arranged for us a private tour of the Opera House, just for our group. Even though this year marks the 50th anniversary of the first performances here, it still looks very modern, inside and out.

We weren't allow in all of the five performance spaces, and in others we were not allowed to take photos. But it's a beautiful building inside, as well as outside.

Something we hadn't realized is that the white exterior of the shells are covered with ceramic tiles made in Sweden.

We also hadn't recalled the drama surrounding the construction. Commissioned in 1955, it was supposed to take 3 years to build and cost $20 million AUS. It wound up taking 16 years and costing six times as much.

Politics played a big role. The government that commissioned the project was voted out. A conservative government changed the design parameters and stopped paying the Danish architect. Drama ensued.

But the result is a truly iconic building that is even more remarkable when seen up close.

After our tour, we walked back to the Circle Quay transportation station. We wanted to walk across the Harbor Bridge, but one can't get onto it from here. We had to take the tram two stops south, then get on a train going back north to the first station on the north side of the bridge. Thankfully, our Opal Card works on all public transport.

The walk across the bridge turned out not to be as daunting as it, at first, appeared. It's only a little less than 3/4 of a mile, not as steep as it looks, and the views are stunning. The only challenge was the wind, which was blowing at 25 mph and gusting higher. We had to hang onto our hats.

At the end of the bridge, we only got a little bit lost finding our way east to Macquarie Street. It's not easy when street curve and twist, and some don't go through more than a couple blocks before one has to shift to a different street.

We finally made it the Botanical Gardens and Macquarie Street. We didn't go into the Gardens because we'll be back here tomorrow with the whole group. But we walked toward the hotel on Macquarie, passing  the State Library, the New South Wales state Parliament, and the "Rum Hospital" (a medical facility built in the 1800s from proceeds from a tax on rum). 

Walking on, we passed the Hyde Park Barracks, which housed criminals shipped to Australia from Britain, and strolled through Hyde Park itself, which is prettier than its namesake in London.

We got lost one more time walking from Hyde Park to the hotel, but it only took us a couple blocks out of the way. When we finally made it back to the room, our devices indicated that we had walked more than seven miles for the day. We were ready for showers and wine.

Spice Alley

Today was another travel day. OAT is at the mercy of the airline (QANTAS -- acronym for Queensland And Northern Territory Air Service, which is why there's no u after the q). The flight from Cairns to Sydney is mid-day, so we had a leisurely morning.

We did a brisk walk along the beach to welcome the day. It had rained overnight, so it was muggy and getting hot already at 6 a.m. There was not a breath of wind.

The heat got us pretty sweaty, so we showered and dressed for the day. Then we went to breakfast. We took our time packing because we didn't have to check out until 10 a.m. The bus ride to the airport, the airport wait, and the flight were all uneventful.

A sign at the Cairns airport. We aren't sure what electric ants are, or what the numbers mean.

New South Wales, where Sydney is located, is on daylight savings time. Queensland, in the tropics, where Cairns is located, does not make the time adjustment. So the 2.5 hour flight appeared to take 3.5 hours due to the time change.

We checked in at the Rydges World Center, an older hotel but nicely renovated. The location is excellent, near the town hall and the main rail station, one block over from the tram line, and within walking distance of the Biological Gardens and the Opera House.

But we stayed only a half hour, then boarded another van to go to dinner. On the way, our tour leader presented Mary with a surprise birthday card, signed by the other members of the group. They all sang "Happy Birthday" and it was terrible. Not many solid singers in this group.

We were taken to a place called "Spice Alley." It's a sort of food court outdoors, literally in an alley. All of the vendors feature Asian food -- Japanese, Thai, Malaysian, Vietnamese, etc. We were each given a Spice Alley gift card worth $28.50 Australian -- a rather odd amount -- that could be spent at any of the stalls.

A Singaporean roti and curry dish with prawns got the bulk of our gift cards. Mary got a Chinese mango and sweet rice dessert, but she got the last one. Since desserts seemed to all be sold out, I finished off my card with spring rolls.

For some strange reason to do with their liquor license, we couldn't buy beer with the gift card, even though it was being sold there.

A van dropped us back at the hotel, but we took some time to explore the shopping mall downstairs, underneath the hotel. The place was packed with people on Saturday night, so we didn't stay long.

Daintree Rainforest

Today we drove north, along the scenic Captain Cook Highway, into the rainforest. But since it was about a three hour trip, we made several stops along the way.

Along the highway were sugar cane fields, and a narrow gage railway followed the highway bringing the "cane trains" that transport the cane to market. Or, at this time of year, carry away the old stalks so that the new crop can be planted.

The first stop was in Mossman, a village of a couple thousand people. We pulled over at a park and public restroom, across the street from an historic stone church. Standing guard over all was a very large raintree, identified by its stringy, downturned leaves.

Also across the highway from the park was a self-service banana stand. Australia has its own species of bananas and does not allow imports. The fruit is both larger and more firm than the bananas we get in the U.S. In a small town like this, farmers simply bring a trailer full of bananas to town and put it out on the honor system $2 AUS per kilo (about 60 cents per pound, U.S.), put your money in the box.

There is no bridge across the Daintree River. We had to go by ferry.

The next stop was in the middle of nowhere, at a place called Daintree Ice Cream Company. Although owned by local Australians, who make the ice cream in some exotic fruit flavors, they had hired two young college-aged girls from Barcelona, Spain to run the shop.

Our tour leader purchased the daily special for each of us (but of course, we were ultimately paying for it as part of the cost of the trip). The special is one scoop each of four flavors. Today it was coconut, strawberry, black sapote, and wattleseed. Those last two, one isn't likely to find outside of Australia, but they were the best two in the cup.

Two katydids, well camouflaged

We finally arrived at the Daintree Rainforest Foundation. This is a privately owned farm of about 165 acres that, in 1988, was incorporated by law into the Wet Tropics World Heritage area.

Can you find the spider?

Although it had been a commercial farm producing tropical fruits introduced from other parts of the world, the controversial law made it illegal to cultivate, harvest, or sell the fruit.

Old fruit trees can no longer be harvested

Thus, the previous owner sold out, and the current owners moved in, hoping to operate as an educational non-profit, which they have done for more than 29 years.

Some trees grow very slowly -- 1 meter every 10 years

We took a two hour walk through the rainforest, which DNA analysis of the many unique plants and trees confirms as the oldest continuous rainforest on the planet.

Almost everything in this forest will either stab you or poison you!

Two interesting facts: The removal of the indigenous residents upset the environment, because after being here for 40 or 50 thousand years, humans and their behaviors became part of the ecosystem. Also, the most damage to the rainforest today is the presence of feral pigs, introduced by Europeans, and now number almost as many as the total human population of Australia.

After our educational walk, we drove a short distance to a "tea room" for lunch. Our meal was served with a variety of fruits, and the proprietor gave a talk, as we were eating, about each of the fruits, where it had come from, and why it is currently in season.

On the way back to Palm Cove we made two stops at scenic overlooks. One farther north, and another very near to Palm Cove.

In the evening, we had our third (!) included meal of the day, then walked along the seashore promenade for a bit before calling it a day.