Australia2

We spent our first night on the road in Busselton, a town on the western coast. Our beachfront hotel had videos for rent and VCR's in the rooms. We were guided to watch the film "Rabbit Proof Fence", a true, engaging and harrowing tale about three mixed race aboriginal girls who were abducted from their families in 1931 and sent to a missionary school in an effort to assimilate them into white Australian culture. They escaped from the school north of Perth, and two of them walked an amazing 1,500 miles back home. They used a rabbit proof fence as a guide, as well as their innate skills and ability to read nature and harmonize with the natural world. The movie had a very deep meaning for us, relaxing in a hotel room not so very far from the events in the film.

In the town of Pemberton, we took a tram through truly amazing hardwood forests. Karri, Jarrah and Marri trees grew luxuriously in groves that contain the largest hardwood trees in the world. We saw frequent signs for fox bait, and it was explained to us that the foxes had been brought to Australia to deal with the rabbit problem. The rabbits were also an introduced species, and from a handful that were released for hunting in 1859, hundreds of millions now thrive even in the face of poisons, shooting and trapping, released diseases and predators, and the rather unsuccessful and lengthy rabbit-proof fences. The bunny's fast breeding has led to an alarming decrease in native animals due to habitat destruction and food shortages. The poor foxes, unfortunately, have been decimating the many gentle marsupial species of the country and are being poisoned indiscriminately. The poison supposedly does not affect indigenous species. We had our questions about this.

A few days later we were advised to stomp on the numerous, gigantic cane toads that were underfoot. We declined the suggestion if only to avoid toad guts on our shoes. They represent another environmental disaster, and with the rabbits, foxes and quite a few other invasive non-native flora and fauna that have been introduced to Australia, are considered "pests". We were witnessing firsthand human-induced disruption of native ecosystems. Considering the ubiquitous English house sparrows and starlings that have overtaken America, it somehow seems the British thing to do.

In the Margaret River area of Southwestern Australia we visited several phenomenal caves, deep within the earth, that almost defied belief. After discovering the first one I immediately knew I wanted to explore each one that was open to the public. The energy of the earth spoke to me so strongly. I felt the devas and the fairies all around us. Lake Cave, Mammoth Cave, Jewel Cave, and Ngilgi Cave each filled us with awe and wonder.

The caves are accessible through angled and steep stairs, and narrow, low paths that wind through their majestic caverns. They are overflowing with nature’s most fantastic handiwork. The word "awesome" took on a new meaning in these subterranean chambers. We performed a Water Ritual in Lake Cave where we did not collect water but added a few drops of our sacred healing water to the underground lake. We then gifted Mammoth Cave with an offering of the sacred water. We spent four beautiful days in this lush area famous for its vineyards, joyously exploring all that nature had to offer.

AUSTRALIA: AWESOME CAVES

We stayed in Augusta our last night in southern Australia. We found a quaint B&B with a tiny room and made ourselves at home. The area was inundated with people for a local festival, and none of the hotels had rooms. The hotel employees looked after tourists quite well, so when they couldn't help us they made a few calls and directed us to this comfortable private residence that could accommodate us. The next morning, we woke to what was surely a pack of cats howling outside our window. Quite oddly, it seemed that they were all up in a tree! Upon investigation we were startled to realize that the creatures that we heard howling so dramatically were actually crows. This was no American crow call, of that we were certain. Before we left the country, we actually found a CD recording of Australian birdsong and bought it with anticipation. We can now hear those crazy crows in our living room, if we desire. Many of Australia's birds had songs that were music to the soul, and most often they were exquisitely unique. The island has evolved some heavenly winged singers.

We especially loved seeing and hearing the huge flocks of parrots overhead, though we were saddened to witness a grey parrot with a red head and chest in a small cage looking up at his identical brothers and sisters flying free. We prayed that he manage to slip out the cage door and join his flock of free roaming brethren. He was confined to a restaurant patio prison, and his only stimulation was the proximity of his family above him.

We stopped to see the Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, situated on the most southwestern tip of the country. The ocean breezes were magnificently clean and refreshing at the Cape, and this location is actually where the Southern and Indian Oceans meet. We saw movement off in the waves below us, as we stood high on a ridge with a sweeping view of the coast. There were dolphins literally surfing in the breakers, frolicking with joy, diving and bounding across the shoreline. Daniel had never seen them in the wild before, and he was just thrilled with his first encounter.

When we made our way back to Perth we traveled north to an area known as the Pinnacles. Extremely bright yellow sand surrounded by otherworldly, mostly vertical rock formations. We drove a sandy trail that snaked through the sharp monolithic stones, thankful for our four-wheel-drive vehicle. The area felt very ancient and sacred, and the trip to the Pinnacles brought up a lot of emotion in both of us. Many intense feelings from the past that seemed quite unexpected came up in me, and Daniel, and when the emotional rampage finally cleared I had time to consider that the whole episode had been a great opportunity for healing. It was a bit draining to be immersed in old pain, and feelings of deep, deep helplessness, yet when it released and transformed, I was grateful for the experience. The wise and venerable stones held space for us energetically, and our connection with them was quite mystical.