Like many other Sydneysiders, I spent the weekend out of town. It was a pleasant change to see no papers or news at all, so I saw no mention of the APEC conference. Didn't even turn on the TV in my motel room.
This weekend was booked last year,well before there was any mention of the fuss and disruption done to our city by this conference. A public holiday was declared by the government for the Sydney metropolitan area.
I attended a conference on the Friday and Saturday organised by New Creation Teaching Ministry. This one was titled "Spirit of God, Spirit of Glory." I thoroughly enjoyed it and was both challenged and encouraged by the speakers. It was held in the old Anglican church, St Stephens, in the Southern Highlands town of Mittagong.
It was fairly wet and quite cold, 6° at 6:00pm on saturday evening, but the church has a marvellous new heating system and the temperature was great. Which was more than the pews were. My back is stil complaining aftr the conference sessions. Too short on the bench part and I don't have long legs, and too upright in the back rest. And very hard, no cushioning at all. I wriggled and squirmed and ended up shoving my Bible as a back rest between me and the pew.
My friend and I had booked rooms in one of the local motels. Clean and basic, but all we needed was a bed and bathroom. Meals were provided by the conference and we ate breakfast at a good local café instead of paying for packet cereal and juice at the motel. After the conference on Saturday night, we sat in my room with some port and chocolate and talked.
We played truant from church on Sunday and went sightseeing in Bowral. The tulip festival is only a couple of weeks off and we looked at the park and the Don Bradman oval.
Then we drove to Berrima, home of a maximum security prison built in the nineteenth century. The town is now very touristy, but we stayed away from that area and went walking around some of the beautiful old houses. I bought some alpaca yarn to make a hat. We sat and talked and then explored the Historical Society's museum which was very good. Cheap too, $3 entry and we were there well over an hour. Too many country museums are not well set out or documented. This was a good one. Too many have lots and lots of identical pieces, all on show. I wondered if this was so no donor could be offended. This museum is different. The lady on the door explained that in many exhibits they had actually cut down on the display so it could be seen well.
The surviors of the Emden were interned there in the disused gaol in World War I. They made dug out canoes to sail on the river, did exquisite wood carving, beautiful drawings, built huts and made thriving vegetable gardens. When repatriation was offered at the end of the war, some remained, having married into the community. I had had no idea of the extent of all this and it was fascinating to see some of the craft and to read how they filled in the time.
We called at Berkelouw's Books on the way back and had lunch at our favourite café again.
All in all a good weekend. Good teaching and fellowship and a great day Sunday with some indepth discussions and lighthearted conversation with my friend. One of the best weekends I've had for a very long time.
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