O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: "My God, how great Thou art!"
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Song on My Heart
Happy Mother's Day
This Mother's Day, I woke to see the campground covered in snow*. It looked magnificent. I woke Miranda, and we pulled jackets over our pyjamas and donned our shoes and I took a sleepy girl to the front door of our caravan. She was all foggy-headed and groggy, but I told her I had a surprise for her. I opened the door, and her face broke into an amazing smile, as she exclaimed, "wow!". We went out for a walk and an explore and it was truly stageringly beautiful to us tropical folk.
It wasn't a heavy snowfall, but it added to the glorious beauty of this special place. So taken with the prettiness around us, it was about 15 minutes before I lifted my eyes toward the peaks that surround us. Veiled in dense clouds, most were invisible and it added to a sense of insulation, of isolation in this place. We took some photos, then went to get Mat and Caelum. Oliver had stirred as well, and came out with the boys, and Catalina joined us a little while later. When we were all finally together, the clouds opened and snow began to fall, slowly at first, and then thicker and heavier. We had pulled on beanies and gloves, and the kids got stuck into the snow. It was two hours before we went inside for breakfast. I couldn't have hoped for a more wonderful start to Mother's Day.
Yesterday we left Jasper, which had been a wonderful stop for several days. In Jasper, we had had gone out to Lake Maligne which was a spectacular drive, followed by a beautiful walk around a lake of snow and ice - in a couple of weeks, they'll be taking tourists out onto the defrosted lake. While I want to see the 'summer version', the wintery (springy?) Canada is more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. We also 'enjoyed' a domestic day doing laundry (I got to go shopping for a special wedding gift for my friends Sascha & Micheal - sorry to be missing the wedding); we had a BBQ with some Novocastrians (the Aussie kind) and some Dutchies; we continued to explore the culinary differences between Australia and Canada (they are not always apparent until the product is opened/meal is served...). On one amazing day in Jasper, we took the Skytram up Mount Whistler and had lunch at a restaurant at the top before playing in thick mountain snow [and taking several thousand photographs], headed down the mountain and out to Miette Hot Springs, about an hours drive away - if you don't stop to take photos along the way! At the Hot Springs, we got out of the car and walked across snow covered car park and gardens to the building (much like a public swimming pool in Australia), paid our entry fee and went our separate ways to the boys and girl change rooms to get out of our long johns and woollies and into our swimsuits. So, practically naked we walked outside again to the pools - two with steam wafting off them. The first pool was a VERY warm 38C, and we soaked and swam and splashed for ages, talking to locals and fellow travelers, as we enjoyed the view of the snow-covered mountains around us. There was another hot pool that I didn't go into, but Miranda said it was hotter, and there were two cold pools - one 11C and one 14C - which insane people use to alternate the hot/cold experience, supposedly for all manner of physical benefit. I was the only Niejalke nutty enough to do it - in the 14C pool - and I only did it once, and not for long!
Leaving Jasper yesterday, we set off down the Columbia Icefields Parkway, which my Lonely Planets guide proclaimed as the world's most spectacular drive. I am not convinced it out-spectaculars The Great Ocean Road drive in Victoria (the Aussie one), but it was indeed spectacular. It is so hard to describe, and hard to capture the grandeur with a 35mm camera, so I'll leave it for those interested to investigate further - you'll find great pictures of the icefields and the glaciers on the net, but I also recommend the 14 hour flight from Sydney and hiring a car to do it yourself! We enjoyed a light hike around the Athabasca Falls. Horseshoe lake, Bow River and most other bodies of water we passed were either frozen over or mostly frozen. We stopped at the Peyto lake and Bow Summit lookout, but even though LP promised a "400 metre wooded trail", we were put off by the deep, deep snowdrifts and fit, spunky looking hikers in Serious Walking Paraphernalia. I did stop to take a photo of the Avalanche Warning sign though.
The end point of yesterday's drive was the Lake Louise village and campground. Lake Louise is a place I remember hearing about, and seeing pictures of, my whole life. My mother was named for the lake, which was where her parents honeymooned, I believe (the family home was/is still called Calgary), and Miranda and I are also named for the Lake. It's incredible to be here. (The lake itself was named for a princess, the daughter of Queen Victoria, and the wife of The Marques of Lorne, the Governor General of Canada - all long dead now). The village is tiny; so much smaller than we'd expected, and very pretty. Today, we are preparing a picnic lunch which we will take out to the lake, which we believe is still frozen over. The Lake Louise Gondola is closed for another couple of weeks, apparently, which adds to the desire to return to Lake Louise on our return journey to Vancouver from Winnipeg in June. Peak tourist season, sure, but there's a reason everyone travels here in summer!
Phew! Okay, hopefully this post appeases the blog-watchers for another few days! We are healthy, happy, and absolutely loving our trip. God's awesome grace has surrounded us, and we feel renewed, uplifted and so very blessed.
* Actually, just the organic stuff. The bitumen roads and campsites were still bare.
It wasn't a heavy snowfall, but it added to the glorious beauty of this special place. So taken with the prettiness around us, it was about 15 minutes before I lifted my eyes toward the peaks that surround us. Veiled in dense clouds, most were invisible and it added to a sense of insulation, of isolation in this place. We took some photos, then went to get Mat and Caelum. Oliver had stirred as well, and came out with the boys, and Catalina joined us a little while later. When we were all finally together, the clouds opened and snow began to fall, slowly at first, and then thicker and heavier. We had pulled on beanies and gloves, and the kids got stuck into the snow. It was two hours before we went inside for breakfast. I couldn't have hoped for a more wonderful start to Mother's Day.
Yesterday we left Jasper, which had been a wonderful stop for several days. In Jasper, we had had gone out to Lake Maligne which was a spectacular drive, followed by a beautiful walk around a lake of snow and ice - in a couple of weeks, they'll be taking tourists out onto the defrosted lake. While I want to see the 'summer version', the wintery (springy?) Canada is more beautiful than I could ever have imagined. We also 'enjoyed' a domestic day doing laundry (I got to go shopping for a special wedding gift for my friends Sascha & Micheal - sorry to be missing the wedding); we had a BBQ with some Novocastrians (the Aussie kind) and some Dutchies; we continued to explore the culinary differences between Australia and Canada (they are not always apparent until the product is opened/meal is served...). On one amazing day in Jasper, we took the Skytram up Mount Whistler and had lunch at a restaurant at the top before playing in thick mountain snow [and taking several thousand photographs], headed down the mountain and out to Miette Hot Springs, about an hours drive away - if you don't stop to take photos along the way! At the Hot Springs, we got out of the car and walked across snow covered car park and gardens to the building (much like a public swimming pool in Australia), paid our entry fee and went our separate ways to the boys and girl change rooms to get out of our long johns and woollies and into our swimsuits. So, practically naked we walked outside again to the pools - two with steam wafting off them. The first pool was a VERY warm 38C, and we soaked and swam and splashed for ages, talking to locals and fellow travelers, as we enjoyed the view of the snow-covered mountains around us. There was another hot pool that I didn't go into, but Miranda said it was hotter, and there were two cold pools - one 11C and one 14C - which insane people use to alternate the hot/cold experience, supposedly for all manner of physical benefit. I was the only Niejalke nutty enough to do it - in the 14C pool - and I only did it once, and not for long!
Leaving Jasper yesterday, we set off down the Columbia Icefields Parkway, which my Lonely Planets guide proclaimed as the world's most spectacular drive. I am not convinced it out-spectaculars The Great Ocean Road drive in Victoria (the Aussie one), but it was indeed spectacular. It is so hard to describe, and hard to capture the grandeur with a 35mm camera, so I'll leave it for those interested to investigate further - you'll find great pictures of the icefields and the glaciers on the net, but I also recommend the 14 hour flight from Sydney and hiring a car to do it yourself! We enjoyed a light hike around the Athabasca Falls. Horseshoe lake, Bow River and most other bodies of water we passed were either frozen over or mostly frozen. We stopped at the Peyto lake and Bow Summit lookout, but even though LP promised a "400 metre wooded trail", we were put off by the deep, deep snowdrifts and fit, spunky looking hikers in Serious Walking Paraphernalia. I did stop to take a photo of the Avalanche Warning sign though.
The end point of yesterday's drive was the Lake Louise village and campground. Lake Louise is a place I remember hearing about, and seeing pictures of, my whole life. My mother was named for the lake, which was where her parents honeymooned, I believe (the family home was/is still called Calgary), and Miranda and I are also named for the Lake. It's incredible to be here. (The lake itself was named for a princess, the daughter of Queen Victoria, and the wife of The Marques of Lorne, the Governor General of Canada - all long dead now). The village is tiny; so much smaller than we'd expected, and very pretty. Today, we are preparing a picnic lunch which we will take out to the lake, which we believe is still frozen over. The Lake Louise Gondola is closed for another couple of weeks, apparently, which adds to the desire to return to Lake Louise on our return journey to Vancouver from Winnipeg in June. Peak tourist season, sure, but there's a reason everyone travels here in summer!
Phew! Okay, hopefully this post appeases the blog-watchers for another few days! We are healthy, happy, and absolutely loving our trip. God's awesome grace has surrounded us, and we feel renewed, uplifted and so very blessed.
* Actually, just the organic stuff. The bitumen roads and campsites were still bare.
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Just in Jasper
Well, hi all - most exuberant greetings to the whingers who demand more bloggy goodness. Well, more frequent, anyway.
We arrived in Jasper late last night. Late, because we HAVE to stop every few kilometres to ooh and ahh over the mountain... the river... the clouds... the rocks... THE SNOW!!! Yesterday we experienced our first snow fall, and it was so amazingly beautiful. It had been drizzling rain a lot of the day, but in the afternoon larger fluffier precipitation began to precipitate. Mat didn't believe me that it was snow initially (ha! mocker), but we pulled into a rest area as it started to fall more heavily (I don't think it ever got very heavy, though - not that I know what heavy snow looks like yet). It all melted as it hit the roadside stop, but as we danced and looked skyward with our mouths wide open (to catch snow), it was like being in a wonderland. It looked so very different to what I had imagined (I didn't see a single pretty symmetrical flake falling), with light clumps of frosty ice drifting so slowly toward us. Looking up, it was like a salt shaker sprinkling us. Caelum thought it was Christmas and said Santa Claus would be coming. Very sweet; Australian Christmas is obviously all about Jesus, and Canadian Christmas is all Snow'n'Santa! :) The kids are with Mat at the moment, down exploring near the river (we're at a campsite called Wapiti if you want to look us up). Wapiti is an alternate word (First Nations) for elk. Haven't seen one yet...
Nor have we seen moose, thought the Moose River/Lake are incredibly beautiful. Stopped there a while yesterday to look at (and touch in the case of Mad Miranda) the ice and slush. We saw two deer as we were driving; that and crows are the only wildlife we've seen thus far! Oh, okay - all those ducks and the goose that slapped me at Lake Burnaby.
Spent a night in Kamloops and a night in Clearwater - both lovely, but Dutch Lake was incredible. We would loved to have stayed there for a month.... Had a lovely time there in spite of the ongoing drizzly rain.
OK, the family has returned - I'm logging off. Sorry I didn't take the time to upload a million photos - I promise, we're all smiling, all wearing jackets, and standing in front of stunning mountains, rivers, lakes and forests.
Lots of love.
We arrived in Jasper late last night. Late, because we HAVE to stop every few kilometres to ooh and ahh over the mountain... the river... the clouds... the rocks... THE SNOW!!! Yesterday we experienced our first snow fall, and it was so amazingly beautiful. It had been drizzling rain a lot of the day, but in the afternoon larger fluffier precipitation began to precipitate. Mat didn't believe me that it was snow initially (ha! mocker), but we pulled into a rest area as it started to fall more heavily (I don't think it ever got very heavy, though - not that I know what heavy snow looks like yet). It all melted as it hit the roadside stop, but as we danced and looked skyward with our mouths wide open (to catch snow), it was like being in a wonderland. It looked so very different to what I had imagined (I didn't see a single pretty symmetrical flake falling), with light clumps of frosty ice drifting so slowly toward us. Looking up, it was like a salt shaker sprinkling us. Caelum thought it was Christmas and said Santa Claus would be coming. Very sweet; Australian Christmas is obviously all about Jesus, and Canadian Christmas is all Snow'n'Santa! :) The kids are with Mat at the moment, down exploring near the river (we're at a campsite called Wapiti if you want to look us up). Wapiti is an alternate word (First Nations) for elk. Haven't seen one yet...
Nor have we seen moose, thought the Moose River/Lake are incredibly beautiful. Stopped there a while yesterday to look at (and touch in the case of Mad Miranda) the ice and slush. We saw two deer as we were driving; that and crows are the only wildlife we've seen thus far! Oh, okay - all those ducks and the goose that slapped me at Lake Burnaby.
Spent a night in Kamloops and a night in Clearwater - both lovely, but Dutch Lake was incredible. We would loved to have stayed there for a month.... Had a lovely time there in spite of the ongoing drizzly rain.
OK, the family has returned - I'm logging off. Sorry I didn't take the time to upload a million photos - I promise, we're all smiling, all wearing jackets, and standing in front of stunning mountains, rivers, lakes and forests.
Lots of love.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
One Week in Vancouver
We are such tourists. :) We've been loving checking out all the pretty stuff, and spent the day in Vancouver yesterday, checking out a steam clock, the world's narrowest commercial building, Granville Island, the Royal Mounted Police's very own souvenir shop (didn't buy anything), the Sky Train, Stanley Park... actually, we saw a whole bunch more besides, because we took one of those hop-on, hop-off bus tours. Which may be quite daggy, but was really enjoyable. The drivers knew a lot about Vancouver - a little too much about the cost of buildings, which seems irrelevant in many ways - and they were entertaining as they drove us around. We started out in great weather, but we were playing and walking in Stanley Park when we got caught in rain. Which was not ideal (ie it was COLD!). But we survived the rain, and had a fantastic day looking and laughing and enjoying being together. [I was going to include links to all these things, but our free wifi here at the caravan park isn't so flash].
I haven't figured out how to send photos from my new iPhone to the blog or Facebook (Mat stuck a few up on his Facebook this afternoon though). Mostly because I haven't looked for a solution. My apologies. May I just say that Vancouver is every bit as beautiful as it is in pictures? There are blossoms on the trees; there are tulips and other flowers everywhere in public spaces; the people we speak to are friendly and outgoing and interesting; the caravan is comfortable albeit small and we're managing money better now that we have a local account and so on.
Still no news on a job, and we've delayed our departure from Van until at least Friday. Oh, and today I planned to drag the family to Grouse Mountain, Capilano and Whistler. Instead, we are in the van park with 3 snotty and semi-miserable kids. Sigh. Good thing we've got time to take things slow! I've just had a very nice afternoon nap, and we'll try to get to these places tomorrow.
So, that's been a wonderful first week in Vancouver. The plan now is to head up through the Rockies from Friday, and spend about 4 weeks making our way up, around over and down to Calgary.
I haven't figured out how to send photos from my new iPhone to the blog or Facebook (Mat stuck a few up on his Facebook this afternoon though). Mostly because I haven't looked for a solution. My apologies. May I just say that Vancouver is every bit as beautiful as it is in pictures? There are blossoms on the trees; there are tulips and other flowers everywhere in public spaces; the people we speak to are friendly and outgoing and interesting; the caravan is comfortable albeit small and we're managing money better now that we have a local account and so on.
Still no news on a job, and we've delayed our departure from Van until at least Friday. Oh, and today I planned to drag the family to Grouse Mountain, Capilano and Whistler. Instead, we are in the van park with 3 snotty and semi-miserable kids. Sigh. Good thing we've got time to take things slow! I've just had a very nice afternoon nap, and we'll try to get to these places tomorrow.
So, that's been a wonderful first week in Vancouver. The plan now is to head up through the Rockies from Friday, and spend about 4 weeks making our way up, around over and down to Calgary.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Arrived We Have
It's Saturday afternoon and we've been in Vancouver for 3 nights now. "We're" getting used to driving on the right hand side (I'm actually only navigating, but hey - it's a job). The language differences aren't too terrible (although we're getting picked up on our accents all the time), but the currency! OK, we have loonies and toonies ($1 and $2 coins), quarters, dimes, nickels (all a lot lighter than Aussie coins, and they feel like play money). The shops are similar-but-not-the-same, as are the products on the shelves (Special K is NOT Special K... over here, it's like flattened rice bubbles). On Wednesday and Thursday it was quite overcast and cool, as it is today (it's actually been drizzling all day today), but Friday was clear and sunny and WE SAW THE ROCKIES! Our first view of these really pretty mountains, with snow and lakes or glaciers - every bit as beautiful as in pictures.
I'd whinge about the rush and hassle of getting to Sydney, the sick boy IN Sydney, the drama at Sydney Airport leaving and the 14 hours flight (it was L O N G) - but I can't be bothered now. It's done; over and no great enduring harm done. We're HERE! It feels really odd - like stepping into a book we've read and talked about together for years and years. At the moment, it doesn't feel real.
We're in a 33' caravan (which feel like more to tow, less when you're inside it!) and staying at a van park in Burnaby at the moment. I have bought an iphone but am still figuring out how to use it. Everything is working out as it should be - and the 20 month old boy playing with the CD drawer on the laptop wants me to get off the computer.
Lots of love from Canadia, where we're remembering ANZAC day. Lest We Forget.
I'd whinge about the rush and hassle of getting to Sydney, the sick boy IN Sydney, the drama at Sydney Airport leaving and the 14 hours flight (it was L O N G) - but I can't be bothered now. It's done; over and no great enduring harm done. We're HERE! It feels really odd - like stepping into a book we've read and talked about together for years and years. At the moment, it doesn't feel real.
We're in a 33' caravan (which feel like more to tow, less when you're inside it!) and staying at a van park in Burnaby at the moment. I have bought an iphone but am still figuring out how to use it. Everything is working out as it should be - and the 20 month old boy playing with the CD drawer on the laptop wants me to get off the computer.
Lots of love from Canadia, where we're remembering ANZAC day. Lest We Forget.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Why?
Why do people leave and go to far-flung places?
I had a bunch of girlfriends over for morning tea today; kind of a farewell-just-in-case-we-don't-come-back thing. I love my friends. A hundred came today, with approximately 5,000 children. It was cheerful and noisy and crowded and loving. I am going to miss these beautiful people.
I might even miss my house. If we move overseas and dispose of the boxes not earmarked to leave our shores, I might pine for some of those belongings.
Yet my heart is stirring for a New Thing. A look? Just a holiday? I don't think so. I think the New Thing is to be a Grand Adventure... a new way of looking, a new way of living.
But, oh, I am an Australian. This has been my home. My country. And today, I am enjoying the bittersweet joy of loving and being loved in this place. Of knowing that the comfortable and familiar is not all - but it is comfortable and familiar.
I had a bunch of girlfriends over for morning tea today; kind of a farewell-just-in-case-we-don't-come-back thing. I love my friends. A hundred came today, with approximately 5,000 children. It was cheerful and noisy and crowded and loving. I am going to miss these beautiful people.
I might even miss my house. If we move overseas and dispose of the boxes not earmarked to leave our shores, I might pine for some of those belongings.
Yet my heart is stirring for a New Thing. A look? Just a holiday? I don't think so. I think the New Thing is to be a Grand Adventure... a new way of looking, a new way of living.
But, oh, I am an Australian. This has been my home. My country. And today, I am enjoying the bittersweet joy of loving and being loved in this place. Of knowing that the comfortable and familiar is not all - but it is comfortable and familiar.
The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!
A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.
Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die-
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.
Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold-
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.
An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land-
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand-
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.
Dorothea Mackellar
Sunday, April 11, 2010
How To Get There
View Canadian Dream - Our Road Trip in a larger map
I've been fiddling with a Google Map, and in theory, you should be able to click on this map and see where we're planning to be.
At the moment, we're expecting to spend a week in Vancouver (Capilano) before we head off into the Rockies and beyond.
We're traveling in a hired SUV and 30' caravan (camper) from All Drive Canada, and we'll be taking our time... probably traveling a couple of hours every second day.
So, from Vancouver to Whistler, Jasper, Banff and Calgary before heading across the Trans Canadian Highway to Winnipeg - stopping in Moose Jaw to do coffee with a new friend of a friend. Seriously - Moose Jaw. :)
We're expecting to be in Winnipeg about May 22 and will spend a couple of weeks there with a good friend of Mat's and his family before we head back to Vancouver. I will try to get the map updated this week. I'll add it to my to-do list. ;)
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