Jamestown

This last week has been very memorable as we have stayed with Dad's cousin on the farm out of Jamestown. John and Pam are typical country folk who are VERY hospitable and we were so blessed by our time spent with them. We have listened to lots of stories about their antics when they were young and even got to see some footage of when Dad was only 3, out with his father and grandfather on the seeder - that is priceless material!

We went to church where Dad initially when as a youngster and where there is a beautiful stained glass window dedicated to Dad's Uncle Victor who died in WWII. There were some lovely folk at church who remember Dad's parents and had lots of stories to tell and things to share about life in Jamestown in the 1930's and 40's.

We took a drive to the farm - Glazenwood - where Dad grew up and even got to see the farm house, and take a walk through it reliving the memories of the old wood stove, the cellar and the sheds that Dad and his brothers helped build. We drove past Dad's Ma Ma's house where he lived for a few years while attending high school in Jamestown (and where he snuck out to the pictures one night, which Ma Ma wasn't very impressed about!) We visited some more locals and the local swimming pool as it was a hot day.

The kids have had a WONDERFUL time playing lego, riding bikes and the motorbike, rounding up sheep and then sending them back to the paddock, shooting off rockets as well as feeding the chooks, collecting the eggs and feeding the pet lamb -named Shawn the sheep!

We took a day trip to Peterborough and some visited the local Motorbike museum and antique gallery (Mum was shocked to find many things which they called antique were things that she used to use only 40 years ago!) and some of us went to Steamtown, which is the museum dedicated to the development of the train system through South Australia and particularly when some 100 trains used to come through Peterborough each day, to be directed north, south, east and west and to be serviced etc.

It was a very busy place and the Sound and Light show we went to one evening gave a fantastic historical overview of what these days of steam meant to the area and the way it built the town up to 7000 people, with thriving businesses and busy workers. And then how the demise of steam meant the closure of so many businesses and now a town with only 1700 people. It really was a wonderful era and the men worked so hard loving the sound of the whistle and the smell of the steam - Jerome loved all this of course.

Peterborough is the only place in Australia where the three gauges - standard, narrow and broad all exist together and are all on the large turntable at the train yards. It was here that many trains were unloaded and reloaded so that the train with its passengers and goods could continue on, with so many changes of gauge throughout the country - SA, Vic were broad, NSW standard and Qld, WA were narrow, I think, here was where much work was done in train travel and transport.

This has been a truly wonderful week and our time with family here in Jamestown has been special and very memorable. We have loved seeing the sights that were held dear by Dad when he was growing up, and we have greatly enjoyed hearing the stories and reminiscing that created his life in the early years before the family left for WA in 1955, when Dad was 17. We can learn so much from history and it has been so wonderful for us to get to know Dads family over here, they are such generous people, cooking wonderful meals and sharing their home with us all. The kids are all wanting to come back for another visit some time in the future, so who knows maybe we will!

On our last night we were blessed to see a most fantastic rainbow arched across the sky, it was long and high and most brilliantly coloured. It was a reminder to us that no matter what we face today, no matter what difficult situation we might be in, or what trying circumstance surrounds us, God is ALWAYS faithful to the promises of His Word, He is not shifting like our emotions or feelings, He is our Rock to which we can turn to in the midst of our trials and He will give us the strength to see us through. He is faithful.