North Sydney View

It's a big city! Almost 5 million people live in Sydney. Somewhere I read that there are over 500 suburbs, sections and districts in the greater Sydney area. I have been exploring these via the wonderful mass transit system. One day I had to go to the Diocese of Broken Bay for a meeting with the Information Technology Department. This diocese begins on the northern shore of the harbour; it was established about 20 years ago to make the Archdiocese of Sydney a little more manageable. On my way back to Randwick (which is an eastern suburb) I decided to stop and take a look for the north shore of the harbour. Click here to see another beautiful view of Sydney. http://www.pageset.com.au/Sydneypan.jpg



On this same trip I also had some time and wanted to ride the rail system (called "CityRail")from end to end. Since it was the middle of the day, the trains were not crowded and it was raining. I curled up on the second level of the car (they are bi-level similar to Toronto's) and took in the sights as we went from Hornsby in the north to Botany Bay in the south. It took over an hour on the system. It was also a great time to process what I had just experienced in the meeting with Bishop David Walker and his right hand man, David Penny. The train ride and the gentle swaying of the train cars helped me think through our meeting and its implications for my study of media and technology in evangelization and worship. It was a most profitable day and I saw some great sights too.

One final note. As you may have heard, Australia is experiencing a severe draught for several years now and the rain that I mentioned above is being cheered as a minor improvement. I can see the grass and plants drinking it up as we head for Fall. That's right, summer here is beginning to wind down, schools have started back up; primary and secondary schools a few weeks ago and the universities this week. Amazing this "down under!"