Journey to the 12 Apostles

Christoph and I drove to the 12 apostles, this famously beautiful natural landmark in Southern Australia. Another roadtrip for Bouncing for Breast Cancer. This trip is personally significant in that it relates to everything that touches my life at present.

You see, the day we left for Australia was a day full of excitement as well as uncertainty of what the future holds.

As I made the final check of the house before heading to the airport, I went into my office and thought to myself - "How am I going to manage building the foundation of B4B from Australia?" Just then, I looked up at a calender on the wall. It had a photo of a beautiful sunset on the horizon of the ocean and a beach with these giant rock formations. The quote read, "If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" - Psalms 139:9, 10.

WOW, that really resonated with me! Funny, how relevant it is to my life as if it knew I'd be heading to the far side of the sea. Then I looked at the image on the month of July. It was familiar, yet I'd never been there in person. Then it came to me. It was a photo taken along the famous Great Ocean Road in Australia, not far from Melbourne. I quickly tore the page from the calender, locked up the house and entered the cab.

That photo/quote has been with me daily ever since. I knew it was someplace I had to go personally. I had to experience it - the glory of its wonder. Its creation.

Here's an excerpt from my diary the day we drove to visit the 12 Apostles...

"I awoke this morning and looked at the photo from my calender that I tore out the day we left for Australia. The jagged edges. The masking tape that affixes it to the wall by my desk in front of me.

I carefully pealed away the tape and folded it up again. It would accompany me on my journey to real thing. The final leg.

But the journey hasn't begun today. Nor did it begin when I received the calender as a gift in December 2005. No, it began 37 years ago. The day I was born. I was led to this moment. I was born for this moment. And I am reborn each moment I connect with that knowing. That same knowing that there is a purpose to my experience during my trip to the 12 Apostles. There is some learning I will discover, some new distinction I will gain, that will be included in my book, in my charity...in my life.

If I were to connect the dots that led me to the present, I can see all of the little episodes clearly - A conversation with Tessa (Jamie Oliver's Agent) about my book in July 05, my studies last year, Michaelangelo's statue of David, Divine timing and the season for things, Dr. Masuro's work with the messages of water, my back issues (things to slow me down), and the learning during B4B and my sister's recovery from Breast Cancer. Somehow, and how they are all interlinked."

Throughout our drive to the Southern Coast, I scribbled illegibly, page after page in my journal, I knew I was onto something. I could taste the sweet anticipation of postive expectancy. Questions and answers flowed as I travelled through time until we finally reached our destination.

It was truly magnficent. I wanted my first glimpse of the 12 Apostles to be from the helicopter ride (A first for that too!). The tour headed west along the coastline to take in some other great rock formations and coves, saving the best for last. As we made the turn eastward, I could see these great rocks from the distance. It was like coming home. I had looked at the photo from my calender each day for the past month, yet nothing was like seeing it in person.

The years that have shaped them, sculpted them, made them magnificent. The winds of time, the crashing waves, the heat of the sun on each grain of sand.

What a truly fulfilling experience. Better still, we found this great location to bounce. I absorbed this moment to share with my sister, Kathleen and her kids. Even though, we'd met our goal to help her financially, she is always near to my thoughts and heart. Everywhere I go, she travels in my heart and I am to support her in everyway she needs.

The next day, my awakening moment was the golden nugget I was waiting for.

The journey is not the destination; not the answers. It's the questions, the transcending our ourselves.

And it all made sense. The purpose for going there was not just to see it with my own eyes and to bounce, but to experience the questioning and distinctions I gained whilst writing my journal throughout the 7 hour drive there.

I dedicate this learning to my sister Kathleen. To question, is healthy. The quality of our questions always reflects the quality of our lives.

I love you, sis.

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