21.07.19

We went from Tenant Creek to Mataranka. Mataranka is a very relaxing place with lots of tree and huge termite hills. Some of the termite hills are taller than I am! Yesterday we went to a swimming place which was called a thermal pool. It is actually a river, but it was dammed so that you can swim in it. It the evening, we went to this sort of restaurant (you go to a lot of those on road trips).

We met an Aboriginal lady and her name was Vivian. Mum and Dad talked to her, but then I continued talking to her when they had finished. We talked about Jesus. Well, Dad brought up Jesus. He always odes that. Vivian kept mentioning she went to church every Sunday, every Sunday. Dad thinks she was probably Catholic, because she made the cross sign. Orthodox people also make that sign, but there are no Orthodox Aboriginals in Australia. Dad laughed when he thought of the that. Vivian was soon pouring out her heart in what she was saying, I prayed for her, and told Jesus wants to come to us as we are. Vivian told she had a dream of falling off a cliff, as I understood this analogy with a cliff. It does not matter whether you have sinned a little or a lot, if you let go, you fall just as far. Since we can’t climb up, Jesus climbs down an takes us out. Because Jesus comes to us as we are, and if we accept his gift of forgiveness, when Jesus looks at us, he sees someone blameless. It I find I’m holding onto to something that God has already forgave, I remember that. I was always straining my ear to try and understand their accent, because I wasn’t used to it. But it did mean that I was paying even more attention to what she was saying. It was especially hard to understand what her husband was saying, because he was missing most of her feet. Mum and Dad said we needed to go, so we did.

We went to the swimming pool yesterday, as well as today. Both today and yesterday were very relaxing days, for the first half anyway. Nothing much happens in Mataranka. At the shred kitchen for the camping place, there is a rack with brochures, and they have thing you can do in Alice Springs Darwin, Coober Pedy, even in middle of nowhere farm. But there were on brochures for Mataranka. That doesn’t matter, we still have found some things to do. I like the camping kitchen, because you share it with others. That way you get to meet other people, and I am very social so I like that.

Today we had a very quiet morning (well you couldn’t quite say quiet.) Then we went to the market which was actually about to close. There was a book stand. I found an interesting Atlas, which was illustrated and had facts and landmarks which would be hard to research. The book was a little old, but geography doesn’t change much. I was going to buy it, but the Lady said that many people my age were so interested in technology and never spend enough time in books, so I could have it for free. If only she knew how interested I am in books. I don’t really mind though -it did come to my advantage. The books were actually old from the library, so they were trying to sell it so that they could help the library. Mum said to only let her give one away, but I didn’t think of buying the other book with the festivals around the world. I wish I did buy it, but what is done is done. and you shouldn’t look back on your mistakes, once they are forgiven and forgotten (in this case, it was not harmful, so I don’t need do either)

Then we went to this Aboriginal art gallery. I looked at them for a while, and I would have looked longer, but I was tired of standing. I like Aboriginal art, it is so detailed, intricate. Since there was also a cafe nearby, Mum ordered some scones. Dad got stuck behind because he happened to meet someone who waved at him. Then they talked for a while. Patrick stayed there, and we went to the art gallery. Patrick and Dad caught up later. The scones were very good. For some reason, Robyn decided that she didn’t like the cream, so she gave it to Mum instead.

 When we went swimming, I kept going under the water because it is actually a river, so the floor is very interesting. After a while I found a few bright green rocks. Someone said that someone lost their keys in the pool. I looked for a while, and some other people did too, but we couldn’t find them, and the person had given up. Even though there isn’t much of a current, there could have been enough to carry away the keys on the river.

We are staying in Mataranka for one more night, then tomorrow we are going to Darwin. We keep joking that the trip was too short, and I keep saying we need to quickly go to Tully for a detour. Colin Buchanan says it is a very good place in his songs, and we were listening to him a lot in the car. He makes them up faster then I can learn the words. Tully is 3 days drive form here, so it a bit to far for a detour. Besides, we did say we would get to Darwin on a certain day. That day being tomorrow. I’m trying to get my head around it, but it is quite hard to believe.