here's a little review of our first 6 days on the road...
From Belfast, to Edinburgh/Scotland, then into England....firstly the Northumbrian coast to Lindisfarne on the Holy Island; Durham; Leeds and Manchester...

We had our last good-byes in Belfast with a lovely dinner and hang out time at Pádraig´s house. 


There was Beckie, Miriam, Beth&Gail, Willow, Hugh, Jayme&Jim, Jayne, Courtnae, and Paul, Pádraig´s partner, who unfortunately could not stay for the whole evening... What a welcoming, lovely and hospitable home... thanks Pádraig!! We had a nice and restful sleep and next morning we were ready for the road...  we took a ferry from Larne's harbor to Scotland and headed across to Edinburgh. There we spent a lovely time with Hannah & Tom, Beny and Sami (from West Papua) and Wendy... we arrived right on time to watch a film from the TakeOneAction Film Festival, in which Hannah and Wendy were involved...
We watched a powerful film about the aboriginal people in Australia. Check more about it here, and watch the trailer here...

The cinema was packed with people and at the end of the film there was a panel discussion....we got the chance to ask questions to the "film makers", a teacher and a campaigner, who are definitely passionate about the cause of their friends... There were also Tom's friend Beni and Sami , from West Papua. It was a privilege to get to hear their stories and learn more about the reality in West Papua.

A much harder situation than the aboriginal people in Australia, but nonetheless, the same feeling of injustice and the same desire and longing for PEACE and FREEDOM... Check here if you want to support this cause or simply know more about West Papua (I'm sure you don't hear it on the news)...you can also read Beni's personal story... What a lovely man, with such a huge and humble heart... We all stayed over with Tom and Hannah, so we end up having a lovely breakfast and cuppa around their table, hearing these men's hearts about their people and their land...Thanks Beni, and Sami, and Tom and Hannah... Among many, these words stood out to me " The land doesn't belong to us, we belong to the land"... That's the way Papuans and Aboriginal people view it, that's why they suffer, not only for the people, but also for the land where people live...The world's 2nd largest tropical rainforest, being savaged and destroyed so big corporations can profit for it's natural resources... 

They left after breakfast, back to the Film Festival, and we went to spend some time at the flat of Wendy before heading on... another amazing and beautiful person...a short but so deep moment...We shared stories around a cuppa in her beautiful hospitable home... Her home on a weekly basis is a "pausing place" - meaning people come to spend an hour in silence every week - this has been going on in Edinburgh for a number of years now - such a good idea and really important in the middle of busy cities and busy lives to take time out to PAUSE! Wendy's home is a feast for the eyes....cups, pictures of hands, creative shopping bags and other amazing crafts adorn her walls...we love you Wendy- thanks for being in the world!
Definitely moved, inspired and refreshed, we got back on the road...

About 2 hours down the coast.....not so far, to Lindisfarne in the beautiful Holy Island... We had to be there at least at 4pm , because after that it would be impossible to drive to the Island... people there live according to the tides :-)... it definitely sets up a rhythm of its own...

It was sooooo relaxing... it was so natural to be inclined to contemplate ...We attended a worship meeting in the evening at the old church building next to the ruined Priory...Next day we were also drawn to a midday prayer in a nice monastic community house...
check here to find out more about it...their basement was turned into a cozy prayer room ... outside we met Ray Simpson, the founder guardian of this community who was really interested to hear about our dreams for the land at the Mount of Oaks... we exchanged contacts and we hope to be in touch somehow...

After we drove to Durham, where Emma spent 5 years in her studies. James, her brother, is now living there and teaches history. We had a nice time in the evening with him and his girlfriend Louise... They had to work next day, so we spent some time in the city during the day and then head on to Leeds...
There we stayed at Jon and Anita Dorsett with their beautiful girls Erin and Iona... They hosted us and some other friends came over : Tiffy and Brian, Sue, Nina and Ed. There was home made pizza, home made wine, good soup... a feast of friends...

next morning we had breakfast with Tiffy and Brian who don't live far from the Dorsett's... It was just perfect... the weather, the pace, the home grown tomatoes, the chats, the potatoes, the poems, the view from the top of the hill around the corner, the wild black berries ...

We were ready to go to our next stop, in Manchester, not so far...
There we stayed with Claire and Anthony and their funny boy Josiah, and Ben and Laura with their cute boy Ethan...
They all live together in the same community house... they are currently in a season of change.... and waiting to discern where the wind will blow them all next...
We had lots of visits coming to see emma, and many more babies...
It was a really nice time to rest of all the traveling and visiting... we hardly left the house for two days...and to be honest, it didn't bothered us at all...
we just needed a good break with wonderful people :-)...
we already have more stories to come, but I'll leave it to another post...
PEACE
barbara and emma