Life at home

The last 4 weeks have seen a number of changes start to creep into our lives...many stemming from our recent travels...

One of the first changes made was to our 'spare rooms' at the back of the house. The room on the left, the most recent occupant of which was Max, has now been transformed into Andrew's Music Studio. This is where he goes whenever he feels the need to make some noise (very frequently)...you can see his recent purchases from Istanbul in the photos below.

The rather cramped music room, with famous cymbals now incorporated into the medley!

Close-up of the largest cymbal, bashed into shape by no less that seven burly Turkish men!

This is also where any unsuspecting young 'uns end up when they come over for a visit...Max was the first one to get a drumming lesson from Uncle Shanks (aka Uncle Duck), but we have also had other friends' children experience the joy of noise-making on a grand scale since then. So much so, that I am almost tempted to place a sign at the front of the house offering toddler's percussion classes at $30 a pop as a nice little earner on the side!

Our visitors last weekend were friends Ivan & Nur, with their very gorgeous children, Nicholas (pictured) and newborn baby Nathan. Nicholas enjoyed his drumming lesson with Shanks as much as he enjoyed chasing the chooks around the backyard! Coincedentally, we discovered that Ivan & Nur were married the day after us in 2004!

With something of a penchant for technology, as soon as he saw me whip out the camera, Nicholas was up and racing towards me!

Opposite the music room, the other spare room has been transformed into something of a quiet zone, where our Turkish rug now takes pride of place. We now use this room whenever we need a peaceful place to say prayers or re-connect with the feelings of reflectiveness and tranquility that we experienced so often on pilgrimage.

The end result of a process of great deliberation and some haggling in a carpet shop in Istanbul!

What else is new? Well, as expected, there were new additions to the farmyard while we were away. Eight chicks hatched shortly after we left, with four more arriving about a week ago. If that wasn't bad enough, Andrew also decided that six ducks weren't nearly enough and bought 4 more Welsh Harlequins last week to add to the menagerie, which recently led a passer-by to politely enquire whether they were being fattened up for Easter lunch!

One of the new chicks...

...and the four new ducks. There'll be plenty to spare for anyone who doesn't mind wielding the axe!

Andrew has been busy indoors, cleaning out the study (at last!) and outdoors, today putting a towbar on his ute (ready to hit Wongan Hills early in March for a clearing sale). He made a day-trip to York last week for another clearing sale where he bought a roll-cage for the tractor. I have been busy every day at school, getting to know my new kids and sorting out my classroom after we moved classes at the end of last year.

The newly-installed towbar!

On one of the first few days after we arrived back home, we spotted our friendly native quenda again, but since then haven't seen it. We are hoping this has nothing to do with recent sightings of cats around the yard or the small falcon that was happily perched on the garden shed eyeing off the chooks last week!

Quenda, quenda, where art thou?

Finally, Andrew has also been busy tending his garden. This meal below - a delicious frittata - was made entirely from garden produce as well as freshly-laid eggs from our spoiled chooks! Our shopping habits have also changed, once we finally braved our local Coles again that is! After our time in India witnessing the daily lives of hardship lived by countless millions, we are pleased to be able to say that our resolution at the time to re-consider what we spend our money on and to cut out unnecessary items has been adhered to (however, for our purposes, as a direct product of the cacao tree, chocolate has been placed in the "fruit and vegetable" category)!

The delicious frittata made from the fruits (well, the vegetables) of Andrew's labours in his garden!

All in all, we feel much more settled, focused and happier and have been discussing the possibilities of another international adventure with friends to South America in a couple of years time (Chile, Bolivia and Peru are high on the list of attractions)! This year I suppose will be largely focused on preparing for the big move to Wongan Hills and looking forward to having some visitors from the east soon (the spare rooms will be re-transformed into pleasant accommodation just as quickly)!

Adios!

Cacti, eagles and more gardens!

Yesterday some friends of ours came over in the afternoon with their two gorgeous little children and the poor things were the first to sit through the (slightly abridged) slide show of our travels! Luckily for us, they were quite keen to see our photos and we enjoyed reliving some special moments as the photos flashed up on the screen. So, here are some of the last photos from our pilgrimage (well, there are plenty more, but we need to bear in mind that there are heaps more photos and stories from India still to come)!

The formal garden terraces emanating from the Shrine of the Bab gradually give way to natural bushland, which serves as a wildlife corridor and also tends to make the transition into the built-up areas on Mt Carmel far more easy on the eye.

We spent many a thoughtful hour wandering on the Lower Terraces, with numerous stops to take in our lovely surroundings and to reflect on the future. Andrew spent a lot of time thinking about Wongan Hills and all the dreams and plans he will soon begin to set in motion there. The sound of softly flowing water from the fountains and the watercourse running down the centre staircase helped to block out the sounds of the city and give the terraces their heavenly feel.

Some of the gardens that surround the Shrine of Baha'u'llah and Mansion of Bahji. There is such a great emphasis placed on the beauty of the natural environment through the extensive gardens that surround almost all of the Baha'i Holy Places and it is these gardens that really help to create the reverent, sacred and meditative spirit that seems to encompass all of the places that we visited.

Gardens and ornamental decorations in front of the Mansion of Bahji - the last house that Baha'u'llah lived in and where He passed away in 1892. Baha'u'llah's Shrine is just to the west of this Mansion.

The International Archives Building with the Shrine of the Bab in the background. The Archives Building holds hundreds of original items from the time of Baha'u'llah, including thousands of original texts in His handwriting. This building was the first of the Baha'i Administrative buildings to be completed (in 1957) and is currently undergoing major restorative work to make it earthquake-resistant.

A view from beneath the main entrance to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah, which is a further ten minutes away straight down the path in front of this entrance.

Eagles abound! These majestic birds are an appropriate symbol with which to adorn the surroundings of the Shrine of the Bab.

More gardens! These ones are in front of the Haifa Pilgrim House, which was the main meeting place for all the pilgrims before the new Pilgrim Reception Centre was built nearby.

Cactus gardens, also in front of the Haifa Pilgrim House. I was never particularly taken with cacti but after seeing the gardens here I was somewhat won over, much to Andrew's delight, who is an avid cactiphile (I think I just invented a new word!)

More stories from Haifa

Seeing as we have now finished with the Turkish leg of our adventure (unless Andrew decides to add anything more!), I thought that I would continue on with some more pilgrimage stories and photos from Haifa...

Andrew sitting outside the Pilgrim Reception Centre soaking up some early morning sunlight!

The first thing that we had to do upon arrival in Haifa before our official pilgrimage programme was due to begin was to register at the Pilgrim Reception Centre located halfway up Mt Carmel, adjacent to the Shrine of the Bab. We began our first excited walk up the mountain at about 7:15am the next morning (Monday 8th January), so eager were we to be there at the opening time of 8:00am. Later on we found that we could manage the walk from our hotel to the Pilgrim Reception Centre within half an hour. Registration was simply a matter of collecting our name badges, a package of information containing our schedule for the next ten days and maps of Haifa and Akka. We then watched a brief audio-visual presentation which also gave us further information about the upcoming programme and some do's and dont's so that everyone could enjoy the experience as fully as possible.

The whole process of Baha'i pilgrimage is very orderly and carefully-planned, from the moment you make your request to come on pilgrimage, to the moment you set foot in Haifa about 3-5 years later! I had made my initial request for pilgrimage some time in 2000 and early in 2005 received an invitation letter saying that my name had come to the top of the waiting list. I was able to add Andrew's name to my request so that we could participate in everything together. With the letter we received a list of about 12 pilgrimage dates that we could select from, covering an eighteen-month span. We were lucky enough to receive our first preference, which thankfully allowed us the time to travel to India and Turkey beforehand.

Over 350 Baha'is from around the world arrive at the Baha'i World Centre every fortnight for their nine-day pilgrimage. This large group is further sub-divided into language groups - the predominant ones being English, Persian, French and Spanish. There are roughly ten of these smaller groups, with approximately 30-35 pilgrims in each one. It is in this smaller group that you make most of your visits to the holy places during pilgrimage. Each group has a pilgrimage guide who takes the group on their scheduled visits and explains some of the history and stories behind each place that is visited.

The Prison Barracks in Akka, where Baha'u'llah was held for 2 years. The cell on the right with the two windows close together facing towards the sea was Baha'u'llah's.

Apart from our scheduled visits to the Shrines of Baha'u'llah and the Bab and other sites such as the prison barracks in Akka, plenty of time was also allowed for individual visits to these places, as well as other places of interest such as the site for the future Baha'i House of Worship in Haifa. We also visited a number of houses that Baha'u'llah stayed in after He was released from the barracks in 1870 until His passing in 1892.

An obelisk marking the site for the future Baha'i House of Worship on Mt Carmel

On the second day of our pilgrimage, we were very warmly welcomed by the nine members of the Universal House of Justice - the democratically-elected international governing body of the Baha'i Faith. Each of these nine members shook hands with every single pilgrim, often stopping for some time to chat, just like old friends! This was a real highlight for me personally - these wonderful people, who occupy such a highly-respected and esteemed position in the Baha'i Faith, talked and mingled with all of us with such genuine warmth, affection and love, that one could not help but be inspired and touched by this seeming contrast of power and status combined with deep humility and sincerity.

The Universal House of Justice building is modelled on the timeless classic Greek architectural style of the Parthenon

On one of the last days of our pilgrimage, we were taken on a tour of the Baha'i administrative buildings that grace Mt Carmel in an arc just to the left of the Shrine of the Bab. Again it was wonderful to be inside these majestic, timeless buildings that are now thoroughly embedded into the mountainous landscape around them. It was interesting to hear that the Universal House of Justice building, the centrepiece of the arc buildings, was actually modelled on the Parthenon - a classic design built to withstand the elements, as well as architectural trends over the centuries! Each of the Baha'i administrative buildings extends for a number of storeys below the surface, so what you see is really just the tip of the iceberg so to speak! All of the Baha'i buildings in Haifa and Akka have been entirely funded by voluntary contributions from Baha'is throughout the world.

The Centre for the Study of the Texts.
Andrew used to call this building, somewhat irreverently, "the doughnut building", but later re-christened it "the polo-mint building"!

One of the other major highlights of pilgrimage, apart from just being surrounding by so much beauty, history and tranquility, was meeting other Baha'is from around the world. There were over 30 nationalities represented amongst the 300 pilgrims, including Baha'is from New Zealand, Sweden, Canada, Brazil, Malaysia, Spain, Gabon, Romania, Cameroon, France, USA, El Salvador, Seychelles, South Africa, Vanuatu, Ireland, Shetland Islands, Peru, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Chile, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Russia, Argentina, Puerto Rico, Thailand and New Caledonia, as well as dozens of Aussies! Being amongst people from almost every corner of the planet, united in one purpose, sharing the same beliefs and ideals, we really felt like we were part of a global family. It was something special to be able to cross barriers of language, culture, race, age and circumstance so easily...for us it was a chance to witness the unity and diversity of the Baha'i Faith in action!

The members of our small pilgrim group - Group C. There were Baha'is from Canada, USA, Sweden, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, Zimbabwe and Australia in our group. Our pilgrim guide, the lady in the light blue jumper on the right, was Ursula Grossman, with Finnish-German heritage.

Cymbals, kangaroos and yurtles!

OK...last post about Turkey I think. In the last blog I got a bit confused between the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque...which should be quite difficult to do when you actually compare them! Oops! Here are some photos so you can play spot-the-difference!

The Blue Mosque (it's blue on the inside!)

Hagia Sophia in the daytime

Another shop filled with delicious treats - this time we only stopped to look!

The main mosque in Edirne

We have no idea what this shop was selling, but we are sure that it had nothing to do with kangaroos or anything even remotely Aussie!

Anyone for tripe (Ted??)!! The YTL in the photo refers to the Turkish currency (Yeni Turkish Lira), however, we ended up making up our own name for the money - yurtle! This was just a private joke between us until the day I asked our Turkish-carpet-selling friend "How many yurtles is that?" and he looked at me very oddly indeed! Luckily he probably just thought we were crazy foreigners!

Andrew couldn't resist the opportunity of a street-side fruit purchase in Edirne!

Our final Istanbul adventure involved a half-hour taxi ride to a desolate part of Istanbul on the quest of the famed Bosphorus cymbals. We were given a tour of the tiny little factory where these cymbals are produced. In this picture, a circle of men all have a go at bashing the cymbals in order to achieve the required shape...when they have finished adding their touch, they pass it on to the next chap to have a go! Each cymbal is then finished off by one of three master cymbal makers. Maybe Andrew will post a blog with all the photos we took at the factory and give the complete rundown on how these amazing instruments are made from start to finish (in our dreams maybe!!!).

Perusing the wide selection available, Andrew ended up buying a ride, crash and pair of high-hats at about half the price he would have paid for them in Australia (or on E-Bay for that matter!).

Bazaars, buses and baklava

OK...I'm afraid I just can't hold on any longer...I'm not trying to overshadow Andrew's impending narrative, I'm just trying to put off doing some school-work! More photos and stories from Turkey...

Wandering the cobbled streets of Sultanahmet at night-time was always a lovely experience...well, apart from being harangued by a multitude of carpet-shop owners and waiters doing their utmost to get passer-bys to come into their respective establishments!

We arrived in Istanbul late in the evening on Tuesday 2nd January. We went straight from the airport to our hotel and once we had dumped our bags in our room we took off again straight into the cold night air to find ourselves some dinner. We managed to locate a place fairly close by - a tiny little cafe with about three tables and a huge gas heater taking up most of the room inside! Here we tasted the first of what was to become our staple diet in Istanbul - chicken and vegetable kebabs. Istanbul was much, much colder than New Delhi. After the first night, we hurriedly dug out our gloves, scarves and beanies before we ventured outdoors again. The next day we decided to just explore the part of the city we were staying in...a thoroughly beautiful area called Sultanahmet, which is home to the major tourist attractions of Istanbul as well as most of the tourist accommodation. This part of Istanbul really felt like an old, exotic city: the cobbled streets, mosques and churches, dazzling shopfronts and the sounds of traditional music wafting into the night air late in the evenings really set the scene for what was a most enjoyable, though all-too-brief visit.

Crossing a large courtyard on the way from Sultanahmet to Fatih

On the third day, we decided to spend the morning walking to another part of the city called Fatih, where Baha'u'llah had spent four months in 1863, after being forced to leave Baghdad. We found some of the places that He had visited and spent some time just wandering around and taking in the sights. We came back to Fatih the next day, when we had an opportunity to visit one of the houses that Baha'u'llah actually stayed in during His time in this city. There we happened to meet a Baha'i family from Queensland who had just returned from their pilgrimage in Haifa and were stopping in Turkey en route to Australia - doing much the same as we were. We discovered from them that the weather had been terrible during their time in Haifa - apart from the first day of blue sky and sunshine, it poured down torrentially for the following nine days! This got us a little bit worried about the conditions awaiting us in Israel, but we ended up having all the luck with ten days of perfect weather!

Sitting outside a mosque in Fatih, we posed for a photo (I think we only took about three photos of ourselves together during our entire trip!).

On the way back from Fatih we stopped to look in the window of yet another sweet shop, but suprisingly we didn't go in (maybe because we hadn't actually finished the box of sweets that we had purchased earlier that morning!).

Yum...dozens of varieties of melt-in-your-mouth pastries and baklava! We resisted for once, but made up for it in Haifa where we bought a half-kilo box which we promptly polished off in about 2 days!

It was also on the way back from Fatih that we decided to venture into the Grand Bazaar to escape the biting cold of the elements outside. The place was huge and very different from our experience of market-shopping in India. We went in pursuit of cushion covers of a particular size and shape, but would you believe, couldn't find any - though we had many offers from shop owners who said they could whip some up to our particular specifications in a matter of hours!

Beautiful mosaic glass lamps at the Grand Bazaar

The next day, Saturday, we decided to go to Edirne and back - a one-way journey by bus would be about two and a half hours. We caught a taxi to the bus station and our eyes boggled at the sight of literally hundreds and hundreds of individual bus companies all offering trips to various parts of Turkey. Luckily, we knew which bus companies we had to find and we managed to buy our tickets fairly quickly and board our bus about half an hour later. The buses were a huge surprise. Brand new, sleek and comfortable and staffed with two attendants who handed out beverages and food throughout the journey - it was more like a plane trip than a bus ride, but far more comfortable! It was here that I got my first taste of 'simit' - a bagel-like bread that is sold on every street corner and tastes every bit as good as it looks! The highway from Istanbul to Edirne was as good as the vehicles that traversed it. We sped onwards at over 100km an hour and were at our destination in no time at all...what a remarkable change from travelling in India!

Some of the residential areas of Istanbul that really made us appreciate what we have at home

One of the saddest things that we observed as we travelled, were scenes such as the one above. As soon as we had left the heart of the city, for kilometres into the distance all we could see were masses and masses of tall apartment buildings, squashed in so tightly together that there was no room for trees, parks or even a blade of grass. Istanbul is home to over 20 million people and the only affordable housing for the majority of people are such multi-storey apartments. It made us think of how very lucky we are in Australia. Even with the cost of housing going through the roof, homes still have gardens and trees and even those who live in small apartments still have tree-lined streets and parks around the corner. These people had nothing natural at all left in their environment. We asked the owner of the carpet shop where we purchased our rug about this: where do children play and run? The young lad who was also working in the shop told us that when he was growing up, he used to play soccer in the streets with his friends, but now, there was too much traffic even for this.

The Salim Mosque in Edirne

We reached Edirne and walked to the Salim Mosque shown above. Near this mosque was another house that Baha'u'llah had stayed in during His five year stay in this city. The caretaker of the house met us at the mosque and we walked to the house which was a few minutes away. Here we were shown around the house, which had been beautifully restored, and we were also shown the site of another house that Baha'u'llah had stayed in. All that remained were the foundations - but work is starting this year to rebuild the house in its original form. We then wandered around Edirne for a couple of hours before returning on the bus to Istanbul once again.

Shanks purchasing some carob in Edirne

We arrived back in Istanbul at around 8:00pm. We came back to the hotel briefly and were just about to head out the door to find some dinner when the family who ran the hotel we were staying at persuaded us to join them for dinner instead. We had already spent a few hours talking to Bulent and his wife and their gorgeous, cheeky daughter Yasmin. We ate a simple meal of fried fish, salad and bread and then talked away long and late into the night about so many things, including food, schooling, Islam and carpets! We kept them amused by teaching them various Aussie phrases ("G'day mate" being the standard one), but we also had a chance to try to understand more about life in Istanbul from their perspective. There, like here, it has become almost impossible to afford a house and, again, like Australia, many people are leaving the rural areas to come to the cities for work - no-one wants to work on the land anymore. We also asked them about their impressions of the many Australians who come to Istanbul en route to Gallipoli (known as Gelibolu in Turkey). Luckily the reputation of Aussies here appears to be pretty good, which may explain the warm reception we received! Once again, spending time with this family was one of the highlights of our time in Istanbul...connecting with people from a different culture and religion, discovering so many commonalities in the lives that we lead and being treated with so much hospitality and warmth - this for us is really what travel is all about and where its influence has the most positive effect.

The very special family who ran the hotel we stayed at in Istanbul

We were very sad to be leaving Istanbul just five days after having arrived, but also tremendously excited about the last leg of our journey. In the end, we were so busy at the airport trying to change our tickets for the return leg that we ended up having to run to our gate just before they shut the doors, and slightly embarassed about being the last passengers on to the plane, we plonked ourselves in our seats and spent the rest of the flight looking out the window at scenes such as the one below, thankful for our time in Istanbul and awaiting the next leg of our adventure with mounting anticipation.

Snow covered mountains in southern Turkey as we flew towards our final destination

Kebabs, carpets and cobbled streets

It's me again...Lorraine. Yes, I'm sorry, but I'm back. I could have pretended to be Andrew, but I'm afraid you would all have seen through the thin facade...for starters, I'd be about 20 years too early. Never mind, at least you have something to look at now! I was sifting through our photos from Turkey today, trying to decide which ones to get printed...so here are a few memorable scenes from our time in Istanbul...

The Hagia Sophia in the heart of the old part of the city, Sultanahmet - formerly an Eastern Orthodox church, converted to a mosque in 1453 by the Turks, then a museum in 1935. It had an almost ethereal presence at night time, when it was brightly lit and encircled by birds in the misty night skies. Every mosque we saw in Istanbul and Edirne was very similar to this one - with a central dome and between two to six towering miniarets dominating the skyline.

After having come from vegetarian heaven in India, Turkey was a bit of a let-down for Shanks. He thought he would be scoffing down falafels by the dozen...alas, no-one in Turkey knew what a falafel was...or a vegetarian for that matter! For the first couple of days, Shanks survived on cheese pide (really just a glorified toasted cheesie), but later on he had his appetite satisfied with vegetable kebabs. I, on the other hand, was in a carnivore's paradise...the meal above was DELICIOUS and we just had to come back again!

The Grand Bazaar was a mind-boggling collection of ceramics, carpets, textiles, mosaic glass lamps and tea glasses...all very colourful and very beautiful. It all lost its gloss a little bit though when one of the shop owners was rude to us as we browsed the scarves displayed at his shop. Although we were in the hunt for gifts for friends and were willing to part with our money, we had a very hard time trying to raise the attention of any of the shopkeepers (very unusual in Istanbul!) so in the end we decided to leave empty-handed.

Did you think we could be in any country for any length of time without sampling the sweet menu? This gorgeous place had a mouth-watering range of sweet treats and I think we ended up coming here 3 times in 5 days!! The hazelnut tarts on the left were real winners!

Each morning started with a typical Turkish breakfast consisting of a huge basket of fresh bread, white cheese, cucumber, capsicum, a boiled egg and various spreads. The first hotel we stayed at also had lovely views over the Marmara Sea.

I think these are felted wool hats...I have no idea what they are called!

We were completely mesmerised by the intricate ceramic plates, tiles and vases on display in dozens of shopfronts and were almost ready to buy something but thought better of it at the last moment...

Instead we decided to spend our money on a Turkish carpet! We sat in this shop for over an hour while we were shown dozens and dozens of different carpets and kilims: silk ones, wool ones, big ones, little ones, cheap ones and very expensive ones. We downed a couple of glasses of hot apple tea before finally coming to a decision and making our purchase.

Another beautiful shopfront with the wool hat things and other stuff. I am very descriptive aren't I? It may have something to do with the fact that it is now 4:00am and I am getting slightly delirious.

Good Night!