Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Back to the working week and everything is much quieter (thank goodness!) Today I took the ferry a couple of stops downstream and went for a walk in the Botanical Gardens. In both Sydney and Brisbane, I have found great peace walking among the trees. You don’t need to understand the types of trees or flowers – just enjoy them.

After a coffee in the gardens and a tea by the river, I headed back to the cathedral for lunchtime communion. This was a very different experience. There was peace and quiet (only five of us including the priest) and it was a chance to settle myself, which I needed.

From there I went back to the ferry for one stop to the Felons’ Brewery (it would be criminal not to!). The beer was OK and after lunch I went to buy some clapsticks. I had been looking for some since I left Sydney, having regretted not buying them when I bought my didgeridoo. I found some in an aboriginal not-for-profit shop and had a long talk with the assistant there about the importance of stories. She told me about her great-great-grandfather who had emigrated from Orkney and driven some cattle from Adelaide up through the Nullarbor, naming places as he went. I told her the history of the Isle of Man and the Vikings. It is times like that I will remember most when I get home – the people who stood out the most. I encouraged her to publish his diaries, suggesting the title “A thread in the tapestry”.