The Wild Reed: Australian Sojourn

Friday, June 14, 2024

Australian Sojourn – April-May 2024

Part 6: Last Days in Australia

Well, I’ve been back now from Australia for almost three weeks. High time to conclude my “Australian Sojourn – April-May 2024” series of posts with this last installment. (To start at the beginning of this series, click here.)

Returning from my time on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, I spent a day-and-a-half with members of the McGowan family in the Northern Rivers Region of New South Wales.

Above and below: At Brooms Head with friends Bernie and Mim – Monday, May 20, 2024.

Above and below: Due to a delay with the train that was to take me from the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales to Port Macquarie, I had an unexpected few hours in Grafton on Tuesday, May 21. I made the most of this time by taking in the sights and vibe of this river town with my friends Mike and Collette.

Above: Back in Guruk (Port Macquarie) with my brother Tim – Wednesday, May 22, 2024.

Above and below: Guruk landscapes.

Above: The rock platform at the south end of Port Macquarie’s Town Beach which is a very special place for me – Friday, May 24, 2024.

Above: Mum and my cousin (Mum’s niece) Sharon and Sharon’s spouse Ross – Port Macquarie, Thursday, May 23, 2024.

Above: Mum and Sharon with the beautiful bouquet of flowers that Sharon and Ross gifted to Mum.

Above: May’s full Flower Moon over Port Macquarie’s Lighthouse Beach – Thursday, May 23, 2024.

Above: With Mum and her friend and neighbor Glynis – Port Macquarie, Friday, May 24, 2024.

Above: Mum, taking in the sights at Town Beach on my last day in Guruk – Friday, May 24, 2024.

Above: An Australian Sojourn 2024 self-portrait – Guruk, May 24, 2024.

Above, right, and below: On my last night in Australia (Saturday, May 25), my friend Garth introduced me to the annual Vivid Sydney spectacle. And this was after a delicious home-barbecued meal with his lovely family. . . . Thanks, Garth!

Australia Sojourn – April-May 2024
• Farewell Minnesota Spring
• Hello Australia Autumn!
• Bundanoon, Batemans Bay, Braidwood and Goulburn
• Hanging Rock
• Family Time in Melbourne, Guruk, and Gunnedah
• Happy Birthday, Bernie!

See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Last Days in Australia (2023)
• Last Daysin Australia (2019)
• In Northern Rivers Country
• Yamba
• Rising Waters
• “Flooded-In But Loving Life”
• In Maclean, an End to the “Siege”
• Yaegl Country
• Angourie
• Guruk (2023)
• Guruk (2019)
• Flower Moon Rising (2019)
• A Walk Along Lighthouse Beach (2019)
• Guruk Seascapes, from Dawn to Dusk
• On Sacred Ground
• Port Macquarie (2016)
• Town Beach (2010)
• Lighthouse Beach
• Flynns Beach (2006)

Images: Michael J. Bayly and friends.

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Australian Sojourn – April-May 2024

Part 5: Happy Birthday, Bernie!

Above: My friend Bernie McGowan with her youngest daughter Collette (left) and daughter-in-law Kristy – Saturday, May 18, 2024.

My 2024 Australian sojourn continues! . . .

I returned to Guruk this evening from the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales and the Sunshine Coast of Queensland where I was part of a number of events to celebrate my dear friend Bernie’s 70th birthday.

As I’ve mentioned previously at The Wild Reed, I first got to know Bernie, her spouse Mike, and their family in Goulburn, where Mike had been the principal of the primary school at which I taught from 1988-1993. Before relocating to the U.S. in 1994, I taught two of the McGowan children – Jeremiah (in 1989) and Tess (in 1992). I’ve stayed friends with all the members of the McGowan family ever since our shared time in Goulburn, and I always try to catch up with as many of them as I can each time I visit Australia from the U.S.

Above: A photo taken by my Dad showing myself and Mum with Mike and Bernie McGowan and their eldest son Jeremiah – April 1993.

Mike and Bernie’s second eldest son Raph visited and lived with me in the Twin Cities for a good part of 2004. He visited me again in the U.S. in 2011.

Back in Australia in 2014, Raph cycled over 1900 kilometers in memory of his sister Tess and to raise awareness and funds for melanoma research and prevention. (For more about this inspiring achievement, click here, here, and here.)

In the years since his epic bike ride, Raph has worked tirelessly to create and market the bakslap, a “lotion applicator that makes it easier to protect yourself from the sun when enjoying the outdoors.”

When on the Sunshine Coast to celebrate Bernie’s birthday, I stayed with Raph and his partner Millie (right).

Part of Bernie’s birthday celebration involved a (strenuously) fun time at Treetop Challenge, “Australia’s highest and most thrilling adventure park.” Here we engaged in high ropes maneuvers and glided along ziplines of varying lengths and heights. And, yes, I discovered muscles I didn’t know I had!

Above (from left): Mim, Kristy, Jeremiah (partly obscured) Bartley, Helen, me, Raph, Millie, Bernie, Sonny, Frankie, Collette, and Mike – Saturday, May 18, 2024. As you can see, we all had special socks for our treetop challenge adventure! And in celebration of Bernie’s birthday, our socks were as colourful as her regular hair and attire.

After I texted my friend Deandre back in Minneapolis about our Treetop Challenge adventure, he responded, “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

I said that going into it, I wasn’t sure either; but that I pushed myself through it by channelling my inner Black Panther! 😄

Later that night we all gathered first at The Boat Shed restaurant, overlooking the beautiful Maroochy River, and then at Jeremiah and Kristy’s home to officially celebrate (with lots of wings and bling) Bernie’s 70th birthday.