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2009-2010

December 2009 and January 20010

We are almost at the end of third month of 2010 and think it’s little late to talk about what we did last December! However an ultimatum from Bhavna that she will not pen down any of our future events, it is high time to edit and publish about our December Trips.

December in Sydney means Fun, long weekends, vacations, Christmas, New Year Fireworks.  We were feeling spiritual and spent our time with Krishna in Gokul Ashram and Buddha at Nan Tien Temple in Southern part of Sydney!! Need not mention about visiting churches and listening to Christmas choir in Sydney City

Gokul Farm – Hunter Valley

Gokul Farm – Click for more pics

So let’s start with our first trip up in North to Gokul Farm in the heart of Hunter Valley. It is Krishna Temple from world renowned ISKCON group, however you need not be follower of Krishna visit to Gokul farm. You would love to visit Gokul Farm if you love to be close to nature, lush green trees; the tranquility that prevails in the open spaces surrounded with hills; a place where you see clouds kissing the hill tops; and the scent of the woods or the enthusiastic chanting of Hare Krishna; Krishna Krishna Hare Hare. Still looking for a reason? Then I shall tell you that energetic satsang and prayers  are followed by delicious, healthy and vegetarian feast prepared in temple kitchen. If you are into vegetarian food, then do check out following recipes from ISKCON cook  Kurama Dasa.

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Hunter Valley is famous for its Wineries, and we had plans for to visit at least one Winery and taste some free wine. However the day we visited Gokul farm, rain Gods were making merry, weather was wet and wild and the day was a total wash out.  There is something about Hunter valley … Free food and Free wines, not sure if somebody offers free Bed and Breakfast too!!

Ours was a short stint at the Gokul farm; however it was a wonderful experience to see some native Australians enchanting Hare Krishna with so much energy and dedication. We all started with lot of hesitation but the aura of the place soon took us over and we found ourselves getting louder and louder with our enchanting. I hope our voices reached Lord Krishna and that our prayers were heard. We also did spend some time listening to Bhagwat Gita which detailed out the greatness of Lord Krishna from his early childhood years from the Australian priest who was really good with the verses and new the subject very well.

Christmas Eve  and Boxing day

Chirstmas tree made out of used Bottles ... click to check out more pics

Christmas Eve was just a stroll in city capturing various Christmas trees made of waste coke bottles or expensive Swaroski Crystal. Then there was this famous and huge Christmas tree at Martin Place along with musical Christmas Carols by Salvation Army… What else can you ask for perfect Christmas eve.

Boxing day in Sydney and I think in most of the Western countries is famous for sales and stuff available at throw away price. Stores open early even before the sunlight. We got up early and went out around 6 am happily thinking we were among the early birds, however we highly underestimated Sydney crowd… we were greeted by long queues and amazing crowd, had never seen so many people in Sydney before, it was

Meyer store on Boxing day ... Click to check out mad shopping rush

amazing!! Most saught after sale is that of Swaroski… Swaroski stuff is never on sale, but only Boxing day … we reached there around 6:45 to find a kilo meter long queue … first person in queue was standing since 4 am in morning with no clue when will the store open …. we spent almost 2-3 hours to buy that perfect Swaroski necklace. We thought it was worth the effort, till we saw the same necklace available online for the same discounted price, even days after Boxing Day.

New Year

Mid Night Fireworks .. click to see more

Our appartment is at Blues point reservoir, which is one of the vantage point to watch Harbor Bridge fire works for New Year Eve celebration,  so there

was no point going out anywhere and we

View from the Top of Blues Point Tower...

along with couple of our friends decided to park ourself at Blues Point Tower and got good shots of

Beautiful and enlightened Harbor Bridge and Fireworks from our Terrace at 26th Floor!!

Nan Tien Temple – Unanderra

Buddha .... Click to see more

Okay! Lastly we went down South and started our New year paying homage to Buddha at Nan Tien Temple. We took train from Central to Unanderra, Nan Tien temple situated on Berkely Road is just 15-20 min walk from Unanderra train station. On the way to the Nan Tien temple we also visited the Wollongong City Memorial Gardens which is also a Crematorium. This is a very colourful place with rose flowers blossoming and blooming all over  in different shades, shapes, colours and sizes.

Nan Tien is the largest Buddhist temple in the Southern Hemisphere. Temple

Lotus Pond

complex has a Main Shrine, Pagoda, Great Compassion hall, Museum, auditorim, Conference room, Reception, Pilgrim lodge, dinning hall and a

Dew drop inn which is a tea house. The shrine also has a lotus pond which is really a treat for all your senses. Also in the pond you will be thrilled to see colourful fishes  and ducks in all shape, sizes and colours.

Temple

Pagoda Kissing the clouds ...

The main shrine has five Buddha statues depicting Confidence, Longevity, Wisdom, Inner Beauty and Peace. There are around 10,000 smaller Buddha statues dotting the walls of main shrine encouraging each one of us to follow the path of Buddhism.

The soothing music on the pathway and in the various parts of the shrine soon takes you over and you become one with the surroundings without much effort and realization. The Great Compassion hall and Pagoda are dedicated to the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva and Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva respectively. The Museum showcases art work and a range of beautiful Buddhist souvenirs. There is a souvenir shop adjoining the Museum which offers a variety of momentos, gifts, books etc to choose from for your near and dear ones.

The Dining hall serves delicious and healthy vegetarian meals; snacks dessert and light meals are also available in the tea house. The Auditorium is utilized for cultural and Buddhist performances whereas the conference room is used

Duck Meditating on Buddha's head

for meetings, meditation etc. There are guided tours available and the information for the same can be collected from the reception. The day we visited, there were no guided tours available, so we helped ourself with a handout with a temple map to guide our way through the temple.

Way Back

Though we had plans of exploring Wollongong on our  return journey but again the rain Gods washed out our plans and we took a train back to the city central and from there we took a connecting train to our final destination for the day from where our journey began.