And life goes on...

On Friday night, we managed to cram 12 friends into our house to share with them some of the photos from our recent travels. Most of them were Baha'is from our local area and as we are currently observing the fasting month in the Baha'i calendar, everyone brought with them loads of delicious food so that we could all break the fast together. We started with a few photos of the Lotus Temple in New Delhi and then some of the Baha'i Holy Places we visited in Istanbul and Edirne, before we worked our way through a very-edited chronological tour of our pilgrimage. It was great to share with our friends some of the stories and feelings that we had experienced not so long ago, not to mention the sharing of so much mouth-watering food!

Here is a last set of photos from Haifa, before we get started on posting some very belated photos and stories from India. Incidentally, our friend Astrid, with whom we shared some very memorable moments in India, is down to the last few days of her stay...she left Indore yesterday, where she has been volunteering at a Baha'i-inspired Institute that trains and educates hundreds of women from rural areas and empowers them with the skills and knowledge needed to support themselves and their families. She heads now for the Ajanta caves (containing Buddhist sculptures dating from around 200 BC to AD 650) in northern Maharashtra, then flys to New Delhi where she will also visit the Baha'i House of Worship, before departing for the UK where she will meet up with her sister and dad and have a well-earned rest as well as a nice, hot shower (something she has been deprived of for the last 3 months)!

The Shrine of the Bab, approached from one of the gardens to the east

A view of the magnificent Universal House of Justice building from the steps beneath

A beautiful skylight in the entrance hall of the International Teaching Centre

An ornamental peacock adorning the cactus gardens adjacent to the Shrine of the Bab

View of the Shrine from the terrace directly above

And another view...

Ornamental planter on the terraces

And the Terraces once more...

Since having arrived back at home almost two months ago, we haven't had a chance to travel anywhere outside the city-limits together and we are both craving a change of scenery. This change of scenery is likely to come in the form of some visitors from the east...We are keenly anticipating the arrival of Rachel, Adrian and our little nephew Max, from Melbourne around mid-April. It has been about a year since we last saw them all - far too long - so we are hoping to have plenty of time just to catch up, re-aquaint Max with his long-distance aunt & uncle and make a trip to Wongan Hills (where we have a 140 acres of land and hopefully a caravan soon as well)!

What else is happening? Well, Lorraine is busy at school with her all-boy class and a pair of identical twins that give her plenty of cause for amusement by the end of the day (especially when they show definite signs of confused identity!). Andrew has just been back to Wongan Hills for another clearing sale and has started cleaning out the caravan in anticipation of towing it up on his next trip to Wongan. There are an additional eight chicks new to the backyard, a multi-coloured lot with a bantam mother. Another five chicks arrived yesterday - crosses between a Rhode Island Red & Isa Brown. If they turn out to be particularly good egg-layers, Shanks is planning on naming them Wongan Browns and starting his own breed of chook! Beside that, life is going on as normal...we are looking forward to the end of daylight-saving next weekend and following the action from the cricket World Cup (where we can enjoy barracking for the minnows against the heavyweights of world cricket...go Ireland and Bangladesh!).

Well, until we have more news, that's it for now!

Behind the scenes

A couple of weeks ago, we were treated to a behind the scenes view of the restoration and maintenance of the Baha'i Holy places in Israel. The talk, held at the Baha'i Centre of Learning in Perth, was given by Kamran Yazdani who is the Manager of the Restoration and Maintenance of Historic Buildings Department at the Baha'i World Centre, where he has been serving for 16 years. The audio-visual presentation he shared was one that he initially prepared for the 700 or so staff serving at the Baha'i World Centre in Haifa.



While we were on pilgrimage, we were told a bit about the restoration process at some of the Holy places, but we didn't fully appreciate the enormity of the work undertaken to restore and maintain these buildings. There are teams of dedicated staff serving at the Baha'i World Centre, each in their specialised fields. The gates shown above are an example of the many things fabricated in the various workshops, some items taking many months to complete. Being next to the coast, corrosion is a major problem and all steel work and fittings are being replaced with stainless steel wherever possible. Having done some blacksmithing, I appreciated the workmanship in pieces such as these gates - little did I know that they were forged from stainess steel which is much harder to work with than wrought iron and takes at least twice as long.

The prison cell of Baha'u'llah in Akka before restoration

The prison cell during restoration

The prison cell after completion of renovations

The building known as the Western Pilgrim House on Haparsim Street in Haifa

The Western Pilgrim House after completion of renovations

In the years between the two photos above, the old Western Pilgrim House had deteriorated to the point where restoration involved replacing the entire roof and floors and all the fittings.

All of the renovations undertaken of the Holy Places involve quite extensive research in order to be able to restore the buildings as closely as possible to the way they were during the time of Baha'u'llah. Often this involves painstakingly removing layers of paint, or newer layers of plaster or render in an attempt to find the original surface. Sometimes only fragments remained, which were then analysed to exactly reproduce the type of plaster or render that was originally used. On occasion, unknown features were revealed such as an original patterned stone floor or some ornate plaster work. Early photos are a precious resource as they often give clues as to how buildings and gardens originally looked. The garden in the courtyard of the House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha (a significant house occupied by Baha'u'llah's son and appointed successor, 'Abdu'l-Baha, for thirteen years), below, was rebuilt using one such photo.

An early photo of the House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha in Akka

The House of 'Abdu'llah Pasha after restoration and with newly replicated garden

Many hundreds of people are diligently serving at the Baha'i World Centre working on these projects. Some, such as a dedicated team of painters, serve for a few months each year, while others are there from between eighteen months to many years. So a very big thank you to all those who give their time restoring and maintaining these Holy Places.

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.

Walking in a wonderland

I spent a large part of yesterday looking through some of the photos from our trip and working out which were my favourites so that when we show friends and family our holiday snaps they don't have to sit through thousands and thousands of photos (with Astrid & Christian's photos added to our collection, we have over 3000!). So here are some more from Haifa and later on I will post some photos from Turkey and also India.

Even though we arrived in Haifa in the middle of winter, the weather, although cold, was stunning - clear blue skys and sunshine for ten days straight...perfect weather for appreciating the beauty and tranquillity of the Baha'i gardens, Terraces and Shrines. We chose to walk around as much as possible, (many people opt for taxis or sheruts - a mini-van that operates much like a bus), as the half-hour walk up and down the mountain each day gave us a perfect opportunity to prepare ourselves for the days events, to reflect and to talk about the things that we had experienced together.

Window overlooking a garden inside the Universal House of Justice Building

Stairs leading to Terraces above the Shrine of the Bab

One of the rooms inside the Visitor Information Centre near the Shrine

Gateway and stairs near the uppermost Terrace

Gardens and view of Haifa from the uppermost Terraces

Entrance plaza to Shrine of the Bab and Terraces on Hagefen Street, looking down Ben Gurion Avenue

Pathway on the lower Terraces

Shrine of the Bab lit at night on the ninth day of our pilgrimage

Fountain on the lower terraces

Scenes from Haifa

Hello again folks! Shanks said that he would write the next blog, so while we wait for him to do this (don't hold your breath anyone), I thought I would share a few more photos from Haifa...Enjoy!

Massive marble columns of the Universal House of Justice building, with the Shrine of the Bab in the distance

Gardens near the Shrine of Baha'u'llah in Bahji

The Garden of Ridvan (Paradise) in Akka

The entrance to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah in Bahji

The Shrine of the Bab seen from the first of the terraces behind

One of the many beautiful fountains to be found on the upper terraces

Gardens near the entrance plaza to the Shrine of Baha'u'llah

Fountains immediately below the Shrine of the Bab, lit at night

Gateway near one of the upper terraces

Ten days of sunshine

Here is a very brief summary of some of the things that occurred during our time in Haifa on pilgrimage. Lots more to follow!

We arrived in Haifa at 9:09pm on Sunday 7th January, after an hour-long train journey from the airport in Tel Aviv. Our excitement went through the roof as we saw the distant glimmer of the Baha'i Shrines and terraces on Mt Carmel. We managed to navigate ourselves to our hotel fairly easily and then almost immediately after putting our luggage in our room we headed straight back out into the cool night air towards Ben Gurion Avenue. This is Haifa's main street which leads up to the very foot of Mt Carmel and was in fact realigned in order to provide a seamless transition from road to garden terraces. As you look from Ben Gurion Avenue towards the mountain, the Baha'i gardens and terraces rise magnificently all the way to the top of the mount. We walked to the gate at the bottom of the steps and gazed at an image that has been the subject of millions of photos and is proudly considered by Israelis to be the "Eight Wonder of the World"!

The sight we gazed on upon arrival in Haifa

The association of the Baha'i Faith in the Holy Land, specifically Mt Carmel, goes back to the time of Baha'u'llah, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, who in 1891 pointed out a site on the mountain which should house the precious remains of the Bab, (pronounced 'barb' and meaning 'gate'), who, although a Prophet in His own right, and in a similar fashion to John the Baptist proclaiming the coming of Christ, prepared the way for Baha'u'llah and foretold His coming. Progressively over the years, land was purchased for the purpose of building a Shrine where the remains of the Bab now lie interred.

The view from the uppermost terraces across the Bay of Haifa towards Bahji

The primary purpose of Baha'i pilgrimage is to visit and pray inside the Shrines of the Bab and Baha'u'llah (in Bahji, across the Bay of Haifa). Imagine what it would be like if we knew the exact sites where the precious remains of Christ, or the Buddha, or Moses lay - how many thousands of people would be making similar pilgrimages across the globe to visit these sacred places! So, for Baha'is, going on pilgrimage is an inestimable privelege that is often a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Many other things occur during pilgrimage - visiting many of the houses and areas associated with the lives of the Bab and Baha'u'llah, as well as visiting the administrative buildings on Mt Carmel which now serve the needs of the Baha'i Faith throughout the world.

Standing at the gates, a security guard suddenly appeared and apparently recognised me (I had no idea who he was!) and we struck up a conversation (later on someone else told me his name!). He was a lad from Perth and is currently at the Baha'i World Centre volunteering there for a couple of years. With our hearts satisified, we turned and headed back to the hotel in great anticipation of the journey still to come.

Standing outside the gates to the lower terraces!