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Interior
Trek, Central Australia, October 2004 An Account and an Invitation
to respond “A
country that is two-thirds desert cannot help but limit the scope of the greedy
ego, rupture innate narcissism, and expose us to mysteries that reside both
within and beyond the envelope of rationality.
A desert country inevitably gives rise to a desert mysticism : a desire
to live beyond the self, to befriend and know the Other, to learn how to live
authentically in relationship with the land and its indigenous people.” (David
Tacey Re-Enchantment,
248-9) A
morning flight to a hot Alice Springs and lunch at Campfire in the Heart a small
spirituality centre run by Sue and David Woods.
In his welcome David encouraged us to embrace the heat and love the
flies, suggestions which often came to me just as I was ready to complain.
I think it was similar for all of us as we went on our way, at times in,
for us, extreme heat, some choosing to wear a fly veil.
Their accommodation varied from the main house to a caravan to an
outbuilding. We called a maxi-cab
to take us to the Araluen Cultural Precinct and later enjoyed a swim in their
pool before a lovingly prepared dinner and music from one of our group on the
baby grand the Woods had been given while we pored over maps of our proposed
route. Day 2
began with the Eucharist in their simple prayer room looking onto the red dirt.
Soon Dave our driver (who was to become such a friend to us) arrived to collect
us for the trek. We set off not
knowing if it was ok for us to visit Santa Teresa Mission, a couple of hours
away… some mix-up in the paperwork and when we got there our contact people
were not to be found until towards evening.
One of the volunteers took us into their accommodation where we sat
around on the verandah for some hours, and at times lay on their beds such was
the heat that day that the locals were telling us to take it easy.
Dave produced the first of what at times seemed like miraculous meals.
We were a docile mob, just content to hang out reading and talking and
resting. A number of options were
offered and we decided to stay where we were, a couple of us had beds in the
courtyard and slept beautifully under the stars. Mass in
the Santa Teresa Church surrounded by the beautiful murals painted by the women,
telling the creation story set the scene for our meeting with Agnes Palmer, one
of the elders who shared generously with us some of her story and paintings and
later smoked us individually, cleansing our boundaries and attending to our
spirit babies which were variously, lying down, eyes closed and sitting too far
back in us. It was she said, what she knew to do to send us off on our journey
in the best possible way. We drove
through some extraordinary country, including lots of flowers in the desert, and
during the whole day did not pass another vehicle.
Towards dusk we arrived at Old Andado station, a very remote location,
no-one was home. The homestead was
open and we went into Mollie Clark’s home, a 1922 built basic cottage with
corrugated verandahs, with fly-wire rather than glass in the windows.
Her spirit was strong there, we were all touched by her resilience and
trust living alone out there, 84 years of age, and we hoped and prayed for her
return from medical treatment soon. Dave set
up camp including a bush bathroom as there was no water on the place at all.
The cask red wine and meal tasted so good as the warm wind blew and we
watched a thunderstorm nearby, the companionship of the group was real and
sustaining. We slept in 5 basic
twin rooms, formed out of a shipping/storage container (in East Timor they call
them dongas), there were 5 couples and Michael on the verandah and Dave in the
bus. Having completed our morning
things next day, a group of us set off half an hour ahead of the bus to walk and
be picked up on the way. Another day of driving and we crossed into South Australia. Strange
to say a swim in the Dalhousie thermal springs was refreshing despite the heat
of the day. The photo looks like an
adult baptism but we know we were standing around listening to another of
Dave’s stories about various groups he has taken out. The campground run by
the NPWS was distinctive, the distilled mineral salts giving it a moonscape
look. But it had a telephone and facilities run on spring-water and it was the
night we put up our tents for the first time…2 person, simple to erect, held
in place by our swags rather than pegs. [For those unfamiliar, a swag is like an
outsized canvas sleeping bag with a mattress layer underneath a regular sleeping
bag, inside which some of us used a sheet sleeping bag.] A feature of our tents
was that most of the roof was see through mosquito net, as was one of the
entrance door options; this allowed star gazing and ventilation and a great
sense of connection with our surroundings.
Very happy campers! Most
camping mornings we naturally awoke early, at Dalhousie Dave showed us the dingo
tracks under our food table, we’d seen them the night before but slept easily
reassured by him that only our shoes were of interest to them, so we kept them
in the tent with us. We valued his
indications and came to rely on and trust his assessment. The
Dalhousie ruins were beautifully fascinating and provided a poignant reflection
on impermanence. From here we
returned to the bitumen and explored Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon and Glen
Helen and Palm Valley/Hermannsburg before returning to Alice and Campfire in the
Heart, and home. We continued in
our tents and swags in campgrounds with facilities and did some of wonderful
walks into the canyons, valleys, gorges, waterholes so plentiful in this area.
There continued to be daily challenges especially for Dave when first the
air-conditioning, then the starter motor went, then the clutch in our
replacement vehicle, we drove for 4 days without one. We
are sharing all this, one of a number of layers of our trek, with you in its
fullness in the interests of laying out what we have enjoyed and wondering how
to take this forward, convinced there is something here for all of us.
There are a number of possibilities and we welcome dialogue and
expressions of interest and further suggestions… v
Establishing
a monastery in the desert, a place where meditators and interested others could
stay a while v
Leasing
a place, say a disused station building, maybe in the Flinders Ranges (someone
has today suggested Woomera has some spare buildings!) for a month or so
with someone in residence, Michael Kelly osb or another, and nominated
helpers and visitors stay for say a week at a time. v
Another
trek, maybe the same route or maybe begin the same way and stay remote, say down
to the Oodandatta track and across to the Flinders to make contact with the
Igawatta Aboriginal Centre, finishing down through the Clare Valley and home
from Adelaide. Each
of these options would aim to provide a desert experience, something different
to our daily busy, consumerist round. The
prayer/meditation/reflection/contemplation component is yet to be discerned as
is whose auspices this would be under. Maybe
the Monastery at Arcadia, maybe the ACMC. On
this trip we each found our own way prayer-wise each day, with some shared
Eucharists and some corporate reflection on some of the evenings, and of course
many and varied conversations and exchanges along the way. We
do not know where this will lead, we wait on the Spirit…We look forward to
hearing from you if you wish to respond, Michael
Kelly osb mkelly@benedictine.org.au
Ph.02
96531159 St
Benedict’s Monastery 121
Arcadia Rd, Arcadia. NSW.
2159 Judi
and Paul Taylor ACMC
National Coordinators ph.02
99044638 8
Montague Rd, Cremorne.2090 |