Since I met Nine and Omid in December 2022 https://colindibdin.com/outback/ we have been having a weekly study circle, by Zoom and WhatsApp, based on the book “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit” https://www.bahai.org/beliefs/life-spirit. The book is about our spiritual identity and developing capacities to “walk a path of service” in our respective local communities. Giselle (Nine’s wife), Chandra (from Moama near Echuca) and Dewan (a friend in Sydney) joined our study circle.
Devotional meetings are occasions where any soul may enter, inhale the heavenly fragrances, experience the sweetness of prayer, meditate upon the Creative Word, be transported on the wings of the spirit, and commune with the one Beloved. Feelings of fellowship and common cause are generated, particularly in the spiritually heightened conversations that naturally occur at such times and through which the “city of the human heart” may be opened.
Loading C182T VH-MJB at Bankstown Flying SchoolMulti-Function Display and iPad with OzRunways, Passing Campbelltown en-route to CanberraPrimary Flight Display
Lake George, Canberra, Black Mountain (3 short clips)
Saturday 15 July: Wagga Wagga – Deniliquin
Wagga WaggaSteve calling a taxi to Wagga Airport
Wagga Airport and Township and enroute to Deniliquin (3 short clips)Wagga WaggaDeniliquinShort flight circling Deniliquin (video by Nine)Nine and SteveChandra (Moama near Echuca), Steve (Coffs Harbour), Colin (Sydney), Nine (generous host of a round of prayers for the progress of Deniliquin)Nine (true gentleman), Colin, Ross (friendly with all), Steve, Tim (local environmentalist)Ross, a local in the background, Tim, Colin, Deni Bowling Club Chef, Steve, Nine, another local
Sunday 16 July: Deniliquin – Parkes – Dubbo
Deniliquin Pre-FlightLeetonWest abeam Forbes, commencing descent into Parkes.CliveBeverleyParkes Radio Telescope
Lunch at the Paragon Cafe in Clarinda Street, Parkes, with Clive and Beverley, my school-friends from Parkes High School 1969 (same year as the first moon landing). I forgot to take a photo but Bev kindly found the very nice ones above.
Welcomed to Dubbo by dear cousin Fiona (Steve’s little sister)
Monday 17 July: Dubbo – Lightning Ridge
Boarding Dubbo – Nelly, Steve, Colin, ArishmaCommunication by Colin. “Departed Dubbo”Navigation by NellyAviation by ArishmaCabin service by cousin Steve. “Ladies and gentlemen on the right hand side you can see WalgettOverflying Walgett Township. Omid is down there. We’ll see him tomorrow.Macquarie RiverLightning Ridge Lunar LandscapeArrived Lightning RidgePeter and Delma’s homeWith Peter and Delma at the Bowling ClubNikki at the Arts and Crafts Centre
Omid, Arishma, Colin, Steve, Nelly. Hospitality by Walgett school teacher and friend Omid.Pizza at the RoadhouseOmid connects easily with all kinds of people.
Wednesday 19 July: Walgett – Coonamble – Dubbo
Barwon River, WalgettWalgettLined up for take-off, waiting for oil temperature to rise to the green arc.Airborne WalgettSteve has ensured the cabin is prepared for landing.CoonambleWith David at the Global Village Restaurant, Coonamble. David is enthusiastic and optimistic about the future of Coonamble.Coonamble – Prayers by the CreekThe weather has been ideal for visiting geographically isolated friends.Back at Dubbo. Refuelling.It was a joy having Arishma and Nelly accompany Steve and me to visit friends in Lightning Ridge, Walgett and Coonamble.Dinner with Steve, Auntie Allaine (pioneer to Tamworth and Dubbo) and Colvin (dedicated farmer)Breakfast with Fiona, Steve and dear Auntie Allaine before heading east.
Thursday 20 July: Dubbo – Tamworth – Armidale
Duri Gap, West of Tamworth, Flying below the hill tops.Tamworth: Wonderful home-cooked lunch and uplifting conversation with Saman, Magnus and LadanDeparted Tamworth and climbing above the plateau en-route to Armidale.Armidale – Colin and Steve enjoyed a delicious Persian meal with a beautiful Baha’i family: Naisan, Darya, Yasaman, Danesh and Laleh (photo and generous hospitality by Anneleis)
Approach and landing Coffs Harbour (video by Steve)Steve, back home in Coffs Harbour, an excellent travelling companion.Coffee and cake with Steve’s son, Jeremy, at the Shearwater Restaurant by Coffs Creek.
Departing Coffs Harbour for BankstownSawtellScott’s HeadSouth West RocksPort MacquarieCamden HavenFoster-TuncurryNewcastle
I would have loved to stop and visit my friends in some of these coastal towns but I was also eager to return home.
Having been raised in the Central West where my parents (Geoff and Dawn) and Steve’s parents (Uncle Colin and Auntie Allaine) were Baha’i homefront pioneers around 65 years ago, and now having spent a few precious hours with similarly high-minded, self-sacrificing, spiritually “intoxicated”, practical, hopeful souls around inland New South Wales, I can’t help but think of the words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha who travelled as soon as he could, after about 40 years of exile and imprisonment, to share with others the spiritually life-giving message of his Father.
The friends who arise to foster, with tact, love, unity and fortitude, a pattern of community life in clusters across the globe will undoubtedly draw inspiration from the Master’s heartfelt cry expressed in the Tablets of the Divine Plan: “O that I could travel, even though on foot and in the utmost poverty, to these regions, and, raising the call of ‘Yá Bahá’u’l-Abhá’ in cities, villages, mountains, deserts and oceans, promote the divine teachings! This, alas, I cannot do. How intensely I deplore it! Please God, ye may achieve it.”
Universal House of Justice, to the Bahá’ís of the World, 23 May 2016
Seal Rocks (Sugarloaf Point Lighthouse) on the coastal route around Williamtown Air Force Base.
