Martin got a job today. I am not sure exactly what the title is but basically he working as a research assistant, looking at desert foods. It is all about finding ways to produce food in sustainable ways which is one of Martin’s big passions. We are very excited. And John is going really well with his business too which Martin helped him build the track for. They have had a group every week as well as a journalist come and write a story about them. So that is exciting too. Everyone around here is working really hard except me. I am just learning to be.

Yesterday the sky went purple and the black cockatoos coasted along the mountain range contrasting with the shining red. I was on a bike under it all feeling very much my write size in the world. What a blessing!!

I went on a women’s retreat for the weekend. It was totally not me I have to say (and not only because I was the youngest there by at least 15 years) but I was asked if I would go and help with the cooking etc so I did. It was nice though to sleep on a river (who said rivers had to have water above the surface?) under the full moon and wake up to the tress.

I’m still unemployed and one of the problems with been unemployed is that it is hard to feel very purposeful. I get to the end of each day and I wonder if I have contributed anything even slightly useful to the world. So you start digging. For example, today I cut up two very big pumpkins so that Sue could make pumpkin soup for the women’s retreat and I was like wow what a productive day I had. I have always believed that we are more than what we do. That our identity comes from something beyond what we do but in practice I am finding it hard to live that out.

However, yesterday I did something truly useful. I attended a protest against uranium mining. 23km out of Alice Springs a mining company called Cameco, begun exploring further for uranium. They have done this without consultation with the indigenous people of the land (despite saying that they had) and without the environmental impact statement been completed (not that I think that would be anything but crap, there is nothing environmental about mining). We did invite representatives to come and talk to us further about it and perhaps explain how but they refused (what a suprise). It is not good for the environment, it is not good for the indigenous people and it is not good for Alice Springs (we don’t even need the jobs).

Anyway, it was good to feel like I did one thing in my day that would have an impact. Well I hope so. It would be truly a tragedy if this mine went ahead.

As many of the people who read this blog know for the last year I have been a nominator at my church. It was a fairly gruelling process in many ways but I learned a lot and worked with a great team. Before I left Sydney we made a nomination. I was very pleased about the nomination, we all were, and I was also totally certain he would say yes. I felt that God was in it and I prayed many prayers of thanks before there was a response.

Then we received a response and the answer was no. I was devastated, I was furious, I was disappointed. I couldn’t believe how much work we’d put in and it came to nothing. I was angry at God. I felt he had lead me to believe that something was going to happen and then it hadn’t.

The next day I was reading the Palm Sunday story, even though it wasn’t Palm Sunday that was the reading in the lectionary I was following. I told Jane who reminded me that on that day, in that reading the people felt sure of what God was doing. They believed that their Messiah had come, that he was going to overthrow their enemies and bring them to victory. A week later he was dead, crucified and they, like me, were devastated, furious, disappointed. But there is hope, there is resurrection, with God the worst thing is never the last thing. And I pushed on. My last service at church, a church I had loved and served for two years was Palm Sunday and my final job was to share the sad news of this rejection with them but I told them the story I now tell you and while it was not the victourous ending I had hoped for myself I knew that God was there.

The team continued without me but the only other lead had said no as well and they were getting pretty down. But then I got a call from one of the women who was on my nominating team. She wanted to let me know that man we had nominated had rung to say that he and his wife had changed their minds and would love to take the position if it was still available. The team assured him that it was. This news came out of nowhere but it was just the news I needed at a time of so much uncertainty in my life. Martin was at an interview and I was trying to pray but I was anxious and unsure and not feeling good about it all. When I got off the phone I went and sat under our billion old mountain range and I said to God I trust you. I don’t know if Martin will get this job or the next one. I don’t know when I will fnd a job or what it will be. I don’t know when I will find a church and some friends but I trust you.

Once of the good things about Alice is there is always lots of things happening. This weekend was the writer’s festival and I attended a couple of events. It was good to get out and do some stuff in the local community. And much of the conversations been had and the readings been read were about local issues so that was good. Some things were great and others weren’t but that’s okay, that’s part of the deal.

One of my favourite things was a book launch of anthology of short stories and poems by students from Batchelor, an indigenous tertiary education institute. It was a surprise event, the best things usually are. We were just having a coffee at the cafe between the big events and they came on. A well known author said some things about it and then the student’s read some of their stuff. Most of them were really good. Not always totally polished but they seemed less self-conscious than some of the other author’s and they really wanted to be there. One of the things that annoyed me about another presentation was a really disorganised facilitator. It made me feel disrespected as an audience member. These guys on the other hand were very organised and had practiced a lot. This made me feel valued.

I also attended a workshop to get some tips for my book. As I am currently unemployed it seems like a good time to get it happening. The guy started the workshop by telling us that he writes to get published. Only then does he feel like he’s achieved something and only then does he get money. It kind of put me off as that is such a different place to where I am coming from. But I guess I got some tips and it is good I suppose to hear from people coming from a different place.

I should also say that I heard Kate Grenville. I think she was the most famous person here and she was very great.

The first week has been pretty full really. Mostly, we have been trying to settle into out little cabin and make it home. Our house isn’t ready yet so we have to stay there for a month or so. At first I didn’t think it was going to work but it is and I actually quite like it, it is quite homely really. I love waking up every morning and listening to the birds and sitting on my front door step and looking up at the mountains on the blue skies. I love going to bed at night and it is so dark and there are so many stars.

I have also been trying to find a job. I have managed to update my resume and send it to a few places and so hopefully something will come up. For those of you to whom I winged and moaned to about this endlessly I also got a Cert IV. In the end they gave me full credit for my degree and experience. Still annoys me that I spent all that time making a portfoilio and had to pay $350 for something that they ended up saying you already know all this stuff but it certainly was much less time and money than if I had to actually do it. I hope I find a job soon. I am starting to feel a little lacking of purpose and meaning in my life. As nice as it is to not do much I get to the end of most days feeling a little nit toey.

I have also been trying to get involved in the different things and meet some people. On Friday we went adn heard some live music at the Laneway. It is the coolest venue. On the roof of a laneway cafe so you can listen to music and look up at teh stars. On Sunday I went to the Catholic church, still trying to work out if I’ll give it another go but that’s a whole other post. Also watched Martin play soccer with the other “soccer wives” (it wasn’t as bad as I have made it sound, it was actually fun). Last night I went to Campfire and tonight I have been invited to a woman’s group. Everyone is really welcoming really but it takes awhile for people to feel like friends so I am missing everyone heaps.

While Martin and I were Byron Bay we went and saw this movie. I didn’t like it all. It was made by the people who did “Love Actually” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral” both of which I thought were quite funny, clever and human. This on the other hand was just filled with cheap jokes mostly crude and/or sexist by what I would call fairly cruel people.

Now that I have caught up on all the blogs I am ready to blog myself. I am sitting here on mum and Keith’s balcony sipping a glass of wine and eating some nibbles. The sun is setting over the 800 million year mountain range and it, like the whitegums, is glowing and the birds are making their last calls before retreating for the evening. It is all quite exquisite. I just wish all my friends were here as I missing you all heaps.

It’s been quite a busy time since arriving here on Wednesday night (I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to blog) lots to organise I tell you but before I get to that I want to blog the rest of our holiday after my last post in Caloundra.

Next stop after Caloundra was Gayndah with a stop off at Maroochydore for my last beach swim. It was a beautiful day on a beautiful beach and it was very hard for me to leave and begin the 3000km journey away from the coast. Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard for Martin who is really much more of an inland man so he pushed me on. My uncle Richard lives in Gaynadah and we were keen to visit him and check out his town. It was a great town and Richard was a marvelous host taking us around to see the sights. He works on an orchard so he gave us a bit of a tour and explained how the fruit gets from the trees to our shops. It was all very interesting really especially for Martin the agronomist.

From Gayndah we drove to a place called Carnarvon Gorge. I hadn’t heard of Carnarvon before mum recommended it to us but it was a bit of a highlight for me. Great camping and we did a walk in the Gorge the following day which was spectacular. We saw the biggest, clearest aboriginal rock paintings I had ever seen. The walk itself was great, crossing the river numerous time under the red gorges. After Carnarvon we were back on the road to Barcaldine. The town where the Labor Party started apparently. There we stayed at the oldest pub in town. Built in the 1880’s as far as I recall.

The next day was the much anticipated visit to Longreach and Winton. We loved the QANTAS museum at Longreach and the tour of the plane although we were unable to do the wing walk tour which was disappointing as they were full that day. It didn’t quite cure Martin’s fear of flying but it was certainly an interesting beginning, I juts have to try and actually remember it. We loved Winton too. It was so cute. And a very funny place for us. We had a milkshake in town but they were very big milkshakes and we were having trouble finishing them so I said to Martin let’s have a competition to see who can finish first. We started drinking them fast. I burped as I was feeling so sick which made us both laugh especially Martin who then vomited up half of his milkshake. This amused us even more but not the poor man sitting two table down from us who had come to enjoy a quiet coffee and brownie but instead had to put up with our disgustingness. Thankfully we were outside so were able to just throw water over it but it was quite embarrassing asking for it. We did do some touristy stuff there too. We visited the dinosaur museum. Apparently about 100km’s out of Winton there are some dinosaur footprints that represent the only recorded dinosaur stampede. It is these footprints that apparently Steven Spielberg used as inspiration for the stampede in Jurassic Park. We would have loved to have gone but we couldn’t due to time. The museum though was interesting enough. Made me realise how much of what I know about dinosaurs is based on the American dinosaurs rather than the Australian dinosaurs. That night we slept in Kynuna. Population 10 but more stars than you ever did see. Also the home of the Billabong where apparently Waltzing Matilda is set and that we visited the next day. Interesting but not exactly stunning. From the Billabong we drove to Cammoweal on the border of Queensland and the NT where we camped on a waterhole and enjoyed a beautiful sunset and even more stars. We drove through Mt Isa but I have written about that.

Finally, we entered in the NT the next day. It was exciting to be getting nearer to what will now be our home, not to mention we were tiring of being on the road, so we decided to just drive the 900km left to Alice. We did manage to stop off at Tennant Creek for lunch though and Devil’s Marble’s for a bit of a walk. Devil’s Marbles was extraordinary. Massive, round, red rocks formed by millions of years of slow erosion. I was struck as I had been many times along this trip of all that exists out there that I hadn’t heard of before.

So the sun has now gone and it is dark. A fire has been lit and Keith has just told me that this must be longest post in history so I think I will leave the Alice stuff for my next post.

We have been out of range for the last couple of days so there hasn’t been any internet and now I am paying through the roof for it so this isn’t going to a long one. Just wanted to say we are still here. Have manged to make it through most of Queensland now and we are in Mt Isa, pretty horrible place really but we had some good chinese believe it or not. We are having a marvelous time (laughing a lot) and visited some interesting places but I will write a longer post when we get to Alice. Not long now….