Grateful for stopping and going.

This is Kieran, my friend's baby on his one month birthday.

Isn't the smell of a newborn baby something special?

Grateful for moments to breathe...

listen...

just be...

These were taken at Gymea baths in Sth Sydney on my way north, just before having dinner with a family friend. I think one of the best pizzas of my life - Crust on Gymea Bay Rd. Thanks for the pizza Sam.

Dropping into a friends and walking around the garden,

Being given some Rhubarb,

Sharing a cup of tea,

Helping fix a saxaphone... who would have thought.

A last minute call to go with my brother and friends out to Wandandian,

Watching them hurl themselves down a hill on mountain bikes,

Big kisses from his dogs,

Lots of laughs,

Hanging out with Kate, his amazing girlfriend,

The beauty of the bush, the way light streams through the trees.

Grateful for snow

I am grateful for legs that can take me places I cannot go in a car or a bus.

Places where only footsteps go.

I am grateful for moments of quiet beauty,
where my breath is almost taken away by God's amazing creation,
where I am reminded of how great He is,
and that He loves me.


I am grateful that I have the resources to go and enjoy this.
That I have a great job that is flexible.
That the sun shone...



I am grateful for moments to have fun, and play and laugh
I am grateful for family and friends to share my life with.

Easter Hike

Hello there,

Happy Easter!
I spent the holiday on a hike in the Blue Mountains with some friends from the camp I lead on in January. We went for two nights, and although it rained quite a bit, it was nice weather when we were walking and I had a really good time. On the last day we walked through an amazing rainforest beside a creek that had lots of beautiful waterfalls. You can see a couple of photos at the sites below. (Unfortunately I didn't take my camera and my friends haven't gotten photos to me yet.)

http://www.world-of-waterfalls.com/australia-bridal-veil-falls-govetts-leap.html
http://knol.google.com/k/david-iori/a-photographers-guide-to-evans-lookout/1kkkijplszxq9/2#

One of the special parts was on the Saturday night when we stood around in the drizzling rain and I told the others about how the ancient church celebrated (and some anglican and catholic churches still do) the night before easter sunday with a service of new light. They would gather in the darkness, representing that Jesus, the light of the world was gone, and light a new light, often with a flint. From that they would light the easter candle, which for the next year would represent Christ's life in the church. Then each member takes a candle and lights it from the easter candle and then renews their baptismal vows. We didn't have candles but it was very special to stand and each in our own words rededicate our lives to Christ.

A is for active

I saw another blog using the idea of the alphabet to head her posts, so I am going to try, that I will make my way through the alphabet of posts.

Active, because I had an active weekend. On Saturday morning B, D and I got up early in the misty rain and drove through fog to do Drawing Room Rocks walk. It wasn't really raining much at all, the wetest part is brushing past all the heathy plants once you get up on top of the hill. The mist clings to them, hits your leg and runs down. I had my goretex jacket and some gaiters so my top and my feet stayed nice and dry, my legs however were soaked.

I am quite proud that we surprised ourselves by how quickly we did the walk, only half an hour up and a bit less back. No stops required. We have to plan a harder walk next time.

At the top it was a complete white out, that is, we were in the middle of the cloud. It made sitting on the chair look quite interesting, we thought we could just insert our own background. When I get photos off D I'll share.

Sunday morning B, A and I went rockclimbing, down at Thompson's Point, near the university. It was raining the night before, but obviously not all night as it had dried out enough to climb. Thinking back, it was the first outdoor climb I had done since starting a coaching course at Hangdog Gym in Wollongong that I did for a month or more, and I could really tell the difference. B is going to do a mountaineering course in NZ in Jan so she was wanting to do some training hence the walk and the climb. The exciting thing about the climb is that there is a grade 15 climb which I had never succeeded in climbing, and yesterday, no problems. It was amazing how much difference a little bit of climbing made to what I could do. I was all ready to go on for something bigger but we ran out of time.