A Trip on the Freeway

Today I took a trip in my rental car down to Garden Grove, CA to see the famous Crystal Cathedral. It was only 31 miles from Brentwood, but in Los Angeles one measures distance in time not miles. Doug estimated that it would take about 45 minutes to get there. Beth was more realistic and told me to take some CD's or food to occupy my time. There are less calories in CD's so I took them. Sure enough, it took me 1 hr and 47 minutes to get there on a Saturday afternoon. There were times when the 8 lane "freeway" was at a stand still. I learned that this is normal. My rental car has GPS and "Karen" was telling me what to do all along the way. Good thing, I was totally lost and would still be driving were it up to me alone. It struck me that the only thing "free" about the freeway was that there are no charges to drive there. The cost to nerves and frustration and start and stop driving stress is high. I was glad to finally be home and grateful that I don't have to deal with this every day.


The Crystal Cathedral was worth the trip and traffic. it is a huge glass building with steel tube inner supports. There was no service on Saturday afternoon so I could walk about and take pictures, some of which are here.

Snuggling on the couch

Today while Daddy Doug went off to audition for a movie part (he’s an actor) and Mommy Beth got a much needed nap do to “Nocturnal Nathan’s ” sleeping patterns, I got to play with the newest member of our family for a few hours. After Beth fed him, the transfer was made and Nate nodded off in my arms and then settled in for a long sleep. I reclined on the couch with Nate on my chest as “The View” flashed at me from the TV across the room. I finally squiggled my way close enough to the TV remote to switch to the “I Love Lucy” reruns. We stretched out there together on the sofa until about 1pm when Doug returned from the Hollywood audition and Beth awoke from her nap. After Beth fed Nathan (again!), they got ready while I washed and changed Nathan so we could all go out.

Our destination was Family Theater Productions and Fr. Willy Raymond, the National Director. Fr. Willy has been very helpful in getting Doug connected out here in Movieland. I met him a few years back when he visited longtime friends in Fairport. He invited me to stop by anytime to see the operation.

Today I took him up on it!

You may remember Fr. Peyton of radio fame. Many years ago he was a featured speaker on the Mutual Broadcasting System radio network. His famous saying “The family that prays together, stays together” is etched in my memory from years ago. Fr. Peyton was one of the early pioneers in using media and technology to Evangelize. His great success 50 years ago has evolved into the Family Theater Productions of the present. Fr. Willy Raymond, CSC, is his successor.
You can check out their great work by clicking on this link---> www.worldatprayer.org.

Sleep debt being replenished

We spent a very long night in our motel last night, in fact, we only awakened when Beth called on Maureen's cell phone to say that she and Doug were taking Nate out for a stroll after they were up all night with him. He has yet to get his days and nights switched to "normal" and consequently his parents are getting very little quality sleep time.

Part of me still thinks it is Thursday but we have crossed the International Date Line. Duh. We are all going out to supper in Manhattan Beach with some long time friends of Marty, Maureen and Beth's.

It will be a short night out for us all.

And here he is!

Introducing Nathan Douglas DeBeech born on Easter Sunday, April 8, 2007 at 6:02pm!

In the air over the Pacific!

I write these words while flying at 32,000 feet over the Pacific Ocean. It is now 4:48pm Sydney (& body time). The plane left the ground in Sydney at 1:49pm – right on time. We are flying at 594 miles per hour toward Los Angeles for the almost 14 hour flight.
Amazingly enough, we will arrive at 10:07am Tuesday morning! This International Dateline stuff is fascinating! It has been a fine day which started with breakfast and tearful good byes at The Centre.
All the staff bid their farewells as Marty, Maureen and I drove away in a taxi loaded with my 15 weeks of luggage (2 bags, 2 carry on’s) and their five weeks (4 bags, 4 carry on’s). I should explain. I only had to look presentable and be comfortable; they had to have fun clothes, and formal dinning attire as well as business wear.

Our passage through Customs and Security was unremarkable and surprisingly smooth. We spent our final Australian Dollars in the Duty Free Shops and ate our way through the food court. Luncheon conversation revolved around how good it was to travel together for the last two weeks and that we will all be re-committing to Weight Watchers upon return to Monroe County. But Maureen pointed out that they will have a five week jump on me! Good, I’ll need the inspiration!

We are picking up a car at LAX and going to Beth and Doug’s home in Brentwood where M & M will observe the changes in new born Nathan Douglas since they last saw him two weeks ago. I look forward to seeing Nate for the first time. Since we well seasoned child care providers are in town, Doug and Beth are going to go out together for the first time since Nate made the scene ex utero. I can’t wait.

So Long Sydney!

Today is the last full day here in Sydney. I feel a little sad as I realize that the time has gone by so fast. As the old saying goes, it seems like just a few days ago that I arrived at 14 Frances St in Randwick. In fact it was 103 days ago! It's a bitter sweet departure as I say goodbye to the folks whom I have met here and whose lives have so enriched mine.

Marty and Maureen and I leave tomorrow in the morning on Tuesday to catch the 1:45pm flight to Los Angeles. Now here comes the good part: through the miracle of travel and technology, we will arrive at 10:07am on the same day - May 8! I guess I am finally getting back the day I lost (Wednesday, Jan. 24) while coming here!

We will visit newborn Nathan Douglas DeBeech in LAX before M & M fly back to Rochester and I begin the drive home via Albuquerque, Texas and New Orleans. I will try to keep this blog updated as I travel across the southwest. I have been taking many pictures of my travels, a very small portion of which are posted here. My desktop folder reports that I have 7.39GB of pictures to share when I get back - that's a lot!

Thanks for your faithful readership. I will be in "e-touch" via this blog when possible.

The Last Week in Sydney

This week has gone by very fast. There has been time for things that I always wanted to do, but never got to, you know how that works. The composition of our house here has changed too. Dan is gone back to Croghen, NY. Peter is back to work in Chicago. Dana went off to Cairns and Figi before he leaves for Oakland the day after I leave. Michael, a new resident, arrived while we were in New Zealand. He is a priest from Melbourne and has a car, so that makes it easier to get around. I must say, however, that I have found no difficulty with the local transit system - there are trains and buses galore.


Today I am meeting Marty and Maureen at their hotel and we are going off to a place called Manly Beach before they move into The Centre for a few days. Manly is one of the northern beaches on the other side of the harbor. I have not seen it as yet.

Back to base in Sydney

We left Auckland on Monday. Marty and Maureen took a cab to the airport about 11am and I hung around until later in the afternoon since my plane didn't leave until 6:00pm. I spent the time checking out the rail system in Auckland. It is pretty impressive for a small city and improvements are being made to make the city even more tourist friendly.


I was back at The Centre and in my room by 9:30pm. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I realized that this was the beginning of my last week as a resident of The Centre and the City of Sydney. The time has gone by very fast.

Next week I am off to see my newest "grand" Nathan and his parents, Beth and Doug, in Los Angeles and then begin the slow drive home across the Southwest. My plan is to stop and see some of the mega churches of the Southwest and Texas on the way to New Orleans, before heading northward to Fairport.

"The Overlander" north to Auckland

We arrive in Wellington late in the afternoon in time to return the rental car. We're pretty pooped from the activity of the past few days and decide to walk around the CND for a short while before having supper. It is a beautiful, but windy city and we wicch we had more time to get to know it better. Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, has only 108,000 people, but then the entire country has only 3.8 million people. I am coming from City of Sydney with 5.2 million people in it.


Saturday started with a 5 AM wake up call so we could catch our 6:15 cab to the train station for our 7:20 departure on The Overlander for the trip back to Auckland. The train ride was quite comfortable and we were seated in the Observation car so our views were grand.

One of the highlights of the ride was a very famous spiral. The spiral represents a terrific response to an engineering challenge faced by the railroad builders over 100 years ago. Coming north from Wellington, the terrain was almost constantly uphill but it rose quite gradually.

As a volcanic country, New Zealand is very mountainous. In the center of the country is a large high plateau several hundred feet above sea level. It is to this plateau that The Overlander made its gradual climb north to Auckland. Unfortunately for the railroad there was no long gradual way back down. As a result the engineers of 1901, with the use only of human labor, dynamite, and horse drawn wagons constructed a way for the train tracks to make their way down 195 feet of elevation in the space of 4 kilometers. To prevent that descent from being like a rollercoaster hill they wound their way around a hillside and created 2 tunnels, 3 bridges and 1 horseshoe curve to get the train gradually down to the level where it could continue its trip northward to Auckland.
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The twelve hour trip through the center of the North Island wnet by relatively fast. We discracted by the beautiful scenery and didn't mind the time. We arrived at the new Britomart Transportation Center in downtown Auckland right on time. We had scouted out where there station was in relations to our hotel so we walked to the same hotel we left on Tuesday to spend our last 2 nights.

Geothermic Intrigue at Rotorua

We started the day off with a "duck" ride around the town and out into 2 of the many lakes around Rotorua. A "duck" as you may know is an amphibious truck built by GMC in the USA during WWII. It is capable of driving on a road or floating in water - propelled by the same motor and transmission. It was a fun tour and we were grateful that our "duck" ran out of fuel (Driver confessed that he didn't check the tank closely enough) while on land, not in the middle of one of the lakes.

The source of the smell in the area proved to be very interesting indeed. Seems it is a result of the geothermal activitiy in the area that Rotorua is built upon and when the wind condidtions are right, the place smells like rotten eggs. We came to appreciate the distinct aroma and flavor of the Rotorua region the more we got to know the geological history.

Next as we began our journey south to our next overnight stop we came across a
national park built around another of the "hot spots." That resulted in usspending an informative couple of hours walking through a geyser field.

We then headed off to Lake Taupo. This town reminded of Canandaigua 25 years ago. The town sits right at the shore of the lake and is filled with motels and restaurants which line the shore. We had a fine meal in one of these establishments that night.

After a good night's sleep in a great motel apartment (their fond of these in NZ and now so are we), we began the 6 hour trip south to Wellington, the Capital City of New Zealand.

The SkyTower and Stinky Rotorua

We started the day by checking out of our hotel in Auckland but before moving the car from the underground “car park”, we crossed the street to explored the SkyTower. This is the tallest tower in the Southern Hemisphere. At 328 meters it gives a magnificent view of the city, the famous Auckland Harbour Bridge and interestingly the volcanic island in the harbour. This island was formed by a volcanic eruption of Mt. Rangitoto just 600 years ago.

As we stood in the SkyDeck over 1000 feet in the air, the natural topography, which has been there for thousands of years, spread below us. Across the harbour was this “geological youngster” formed so relatively recently.

After a nice lunch in the Sky Lounge we headed south to Rotorua. We were advised to hold our noses as this town is the site of famous mineral springs and geyser activity.


What a surprise! The place REEKS of rotten eggs!!!

As the lady who checked us into our hotel told us the natural geothermal activity in the area creates a distinct flavor for the region. The smell of sulfur in the air is almost sickening at times – depending on the wind direction.

The hot springs which lie under the entire region permit some unique opportunities. For one, every motel on a very long street had a pool heated to 40 degrees celsius (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit)

Another interesting feature was in our bedroom closet and bathroom. Water from the hot springs below was fed through pipes in our room as towel warmers.

Up the Coromandel Peninsula - to ride a train!

The sun is shining in Auckland when we arise and we are off to ride the Driving Creek Railway, it is a narrow gage mountain railway. To get to the location we have to drive almost three hours up the Coromandel Penisula. For part of the way we are driving at water's edge (on the left hand side of the road!) around sharp curves and very narrow road as we wind northward beside the Firth of Thames (a very large inlet from the ocean). The train trip includes 2 spirals, 3 short tunnels, 5 reversing points and several viaducts on its way to the top of the mountain. And the "Driving Creek Railway" lived up to our expectations, making the harrowing car ride fade in the distance.

The small railway was built by one man, Barry Brickel, who operates a pottery shop
on the side of the mountain. It originally was built as a means to bring clay from a clay pit up the mountain down to the workshop. As people came to the pottery shop, interest developed in the unique narrow gage railway.

Narrow gage railroads are the type of rail track usually seen in mines and logging sites in days of old. The rails are about 15 inches apart and they permit very sharp turns and steep grades. Barry, a 71 year old bachelor, kept adding sections to the railway zigzagging its way further up the mountain. It now snakes its way 2 and 1/2 miles up the mountain to a location with a spectacular view. There Barry built the "Eyeful Tower" to permit a view spanning 30 miles.

We returned to Auckland for a great Thai dinner then back to the hotel.

Off to Auckland

The flight was smooth and the people friendly. My brother and sister in law, Marty & Maureen are waiting for me at the airport. We pick up our rental car and are off to explore and find our way to downtown Auckland - and all this while driving on the left hand side of the road. It sure does feel strange. On our agenda is to head to the hotel and crash. Marty and Mo were in Los Angeles visiting the latest addition to our family - Nathan Douglas DeBeech at 7 PM Saturday night. By the time we are "heads on pillows" in the hotel it was about 27 hours that they have been traveling. For me it was only a 5 hour trip from Sydney. The New Zealanders are very friendly and polite. We are staying at the New President Hotel on Victoria Street directly across from one of Auckland's landmarks, the SkyTower.

We can sit in our room and watch the glass elevators go up to outside of the tower to the 3 observation decks at the top. It was a quick glance out the window and we all crashed for the night.

Back from Retreat and off to New Zealand!

I returned this afternoon from a wonderful retreat in the Australian Capital District. The ACT as they say it here. It was a fine week of warm sunny Autumn weather with plenty of reflection, walking and just enjoying the beauty of the City of Canberra, the seat of the Government of Australia. We stayed at “The Gathering Place” – a former Bridgitine Sisters Convent. Sr. Lorraine Gatehouse and team mate Meryl Bolland provided us with wonderful hospitality while we entered more deeply into their spirituality while nourishing ours. It was a growth filled experience.

I had the opportunity to walk the many tails of nearby Mt. Ainslie as well as the beautiful Lake Burley Griffin around which the City of Canberra is built. In all we spent 8 days exploring the interior life while exploring the exterior beauty of Canberra.

Monday I fly to Auckland, New Zealand. I will be meeting my brother Marty and his wife, Maureen for a week’s vacation before we all fly back here to Sydney, they for a business conference and I for my final week at The Centre. I will not be accessing the blog sight until I get back so look for more commentary and pictures starting May 1.

Back from Retreat and off to New Zealand!

I returned this afternoon from a wonderful retreat in the Australian Capital District. The ACT as they say it here. It was a fine week of warm sunny Autumn weather with plenty of reflection, walking and just enjoying the beauty of the City of Canberra, the seat of the Government of Australia. We stayed at “The Gathering Place” – a former Bridgitine Sisters Convent. Sr. Lorraine Gatehouse and team mate Meryl Bladder provided us with wonderful hospitality while we entered more deeply into their spirituality. I had the opportunity to walk the many tails of nearby Mt. Ainslie as well as the beautiful Lake Burley Griffin around which the City of Canberra is built. In all we spent 8 days exploring the interior life while exploring the exterior beauty of Canberra.

Monday I fly to Auckland, New Zealand. I will be meeting my brother Marty and his wife, Maureen for a week’s vacation before we all fly back here to Sydney, they for a business conference and I for my final week at The Centre. I will not be accessing the blog sight until I get back so look for more commentary and pictures starting May 1.

Off to Retreat

Easter Saturday

Today Dan and I head south from Sydney to a retreat house called the Gathering Place near Canberra the national’s capital. The trip will take about 4 hours on the train; we leave from Sydney’s Central Station at noon. We’ll be on retreat for the week after which we will get a hotel and do some touring in the ACT – that’s the Australian Capital District – before we return to The Centre on Sunday the 22nd. I won’t be able to access the internet while on retreat so this blog will not be added to until after we return. If you are reading this while we are at the retreat house, do remember us in prayer as we will you.

A Meeting of minds

Easter Thursday
The highlight of today was an appointment with David Walker, Bishop of the Diocese of Broken Bay. Recall that Bishop Walker is the founder of the The Centre’s Sabbatical program for priests around the world. While faced with many responsibilities of a major metropolitan diocese of over 200,000 Catholics just north of Sydney, he still maintains a keen interest in the Sabbatical program. Today Dan and I had the opportunity to sit for an hour with him in his office just a few miles north of Sydney Harbour.

It was a refreshing and stimulating conversation in which we shared about how we saw the Church in Australia wrestling with many of the same things that we deal with in the US. Bishop David is a most wise and gentle leader. He is renowned for his leadership in spirituality and education. His diocese reflects his collaborative leadership style and the passion for empowerment of the Baptised that is dear to my heart. It was a meeting of minds and a sharing of hearts that uplifted my spirit very much. I hope the Bishop David will be able to visit our neighborhood sometime in the future. He would be at home in our midst and is truly a blessing for the church in Australia.

A day at the Royal Randwick Racecourse

Easter Wednesday
Today we decided that since we were just up the hill from the Royal Randwick Racecourse and it was Easter Carnival (sponsored by a local Brewery called “Twoheys”) that to be patriotic and keep with the social mores of the community, we ought to make a visit to the races. It was quite the day. For the price of admission ($15) and whatever liquid refreshments one wished to indulge in, the Racecourse (at least the “non member” public section) was all ours to enjoy. None of us were particularly interested in betting on the horses, but we did want to check out what the carloads and bus loads of people were doing down there everyday for the past week. I wrote earlier that this is the place where Aussies get dressed up. Today’s experience confirmed this impression to the max. There were all manner of suits, dresses and haberdashery on display. In fact, unbeknownst to us, it was ladies day and this brought out all kinds of fashions and hat contests. It was something to behold.
The races began at 11:45am and continued until 5pm. I placed one $2 bet (and lost), but Joe, who had never been to a race track before, got bit by the bug and wound up winning consistently with his wild hunches. At the end of the day he had won 4 of the 8 races and walked out with over a $100. We big spenders made our way back home in time to be taken out to dinner by one of the women on the staff who has taken a shine to us and wanted to send us off with full stomachs.

The Sydney Tower Experience

Easter Tuesday
One of the things that we have been looking forward to was going to the tallest structure in Sydney (maybe all Australia?) – the Sydney Tower. Sr. Judee and Bishop David take all the sabbatical people there for dinner in the revolving restaurant at the top of the tower. Today was our turn. The restaurant revolves once every 70 minutes and we got there just as the sun was setting in the west. By the time we had made one revolution, it was well into night time and we looked down on beautiful
Sydney with its many harbours, suburbs and sections. The food was quite good, even the roasted Kangaroo Rump, but the spectacular view commanded our full attention!
It was a great way to celebrate the Easter season!

Easter Carnival at the Royal Randwick Racecourse

Easter Monday
Today all of Australia is “on holiday”; it’s part of the four day long weekend. This weekend also is the start of a two week school holiday. Many people travel with their kids on family vacations. It’s the weekend when most traffic accidents occur in Australia. The warnings were very similar to our Labor Day travel announcements. This is also the time when Australians dress up for the high social event called “The Royal Randwick Racecourse Easter Carnival” The race course is just down the street from The Centre and today I decided to take a walk down the hill to see what was happening.
As the pictures here show, while it is hard to find an Aussie dressed up for business, church or the opera, they dress “to the nines” for the Easter Carnival.

There are several horse races at the Raceway this week; it is the high society event of the season. The Royal Randwick Raceway is also the location of next year’s (July 08) World Youth Day final mass at which Pope Benedict XVI will preside.

Since I got to The Centre I have been wanting to walk around Centennial Park. This large beautiful space of trees, ponds, paths and people was teaming families out enjoying the sun. It’s been a wet weekend here and today’s break in that weather was enthusiastically embraced by the Sydneysiders who enjoyed time in the park and the raceway. Easter is celebrated differently here. You see Easter Banners and sales in the stores, but it is about the Easter Bunny and chocolate and getting ready for Winter. We do have our challenges, living in a secular culture. I guess as followers of the Risen One we must live our lives in such a way as make his resurrected presence shine through us. I like celebrating the Lord’s Resurrection when nature is unfolding into Spring with its new life and hope.