The Welly Trav-Ellers

19/03/2019:

On the way down to Eilat at the southern tip of Israel we stopped at Ein Gedi, an oasis in the desert where David hid out from Saul in caves. You wouldn’t even know it’s there as the trees & waterfall are hidden from the desert road.

Later our driver David stopped on the side of the road so we could get out and see Lots wife. She was told not to turn back when Sodom & Gomorrah were being destroyed … but she was an idiot and did turn back and was instantly turned into a pillar of salt. When I get the photos working properly look & see her head scarf and cloak … and she’s facing in the right direction. … so cool !

We get an opportunity to shop at certain sites and watch videos and demonstrations of the local trade. We’ve been pretty restrained as the suitcases are so full with heavy clothes for the snow in New York but at the Eilat Stone Factory a ring called my name. Not particularly expensive but it has a gorgeous piece of bluey green Eilat stone that only comes from Eilat and I couldnt say no… The jeweller was on site and resized it for me in under 10 mins free of charge while I watched him work.

Almost at our hotel that night, David drove us right to the border checkpoint with Egypt so we could see it and then took us 5 mins back down the road in Israel to the hotel. From our room we could see the Egypt mountains to the right, an oil port in Saudi Arabia across the Red Sea and Jordan to the left! I got 4 countries in one panorama photo including Israel ! You don’t realise the proximity until you are here in person. The iron dome protects this resort area as it does across Israel. However, regardless, we have felt so incredibly safe in Israel all the time. Just peaceful everywhere we’ve been.

Lot’s wife – silly girl !

18/03/2019:

Back in Jerusalem we went to the City of David and the Garden tomb and Golgotha ( the skull) one of the two suspected crucifixion sites ) and yep there was a face in the rock like a skull.

The wailing wall in the old city was another highlight for me. We were lucky enough to be there on a Monday which is one of the Bar Mitzvah days. Lots of celebrations, dancing, noise, balloons, saxophones etc. The crevices of the wall are jammed full of notes with peoples prayers and every few days they remove them and bury them in Jerusalem. They are not destroyed. Our prayers are now either still in wall or on the way to be buried. I was fascinated with all different Jewish traditional prayer clothing and I clambered up on a bench on the women’s side and peered over at the blokes….I felt a bit odd, like I was invading private moments but they didn’t seem to mind that everyone was staring at them taking photos – they just were concentrating on their prayers.

Wailing wall – note the prayers all stuffed in the wall

Reading the Good Book – Wailing Wall

The last week has been so busy this is my first opportunity to update the blog. We are now on the long bus ride through the desert back to Tel Aviv from Israel’s southern most town of Eilat .. a resort town on the edge of the Red Sea. Beautiful spot and with all the gorgeous food I’ve been eating I could rival Moses & part the Red Sea by just lying back in the water ! ( Les Mils membership to be reactivated as soon as I get back !) The tour ends tonight and then Mum & I are on our own in Jerusalem staying at an air bnb for the next 5 nights inside the old city walls…and I wont be able to have dessert for breakfast anymore !

17/3/2019:

The caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea scrolls were found were the first stop of the day. Stunning landscape and how they got up to those caves I don’t know. No wonder they remained undiscovered for several thousand years. We saw the real Dead Sea scrolls on display a few days later at the Shrine of the Book.

Masada was next and a highlight for me. King Herod sure had an amazing architect to build his holiday house in the desert and the builders must have had nerves of steel hanging off the cliffs to build it……..whoops there goes Jacob… one less for dinner tonight Martha !!   The cable car ride up was the easy way but we were very grateful for it when we saw the sheer scale of the Masada slopes. The view at the top was unrivaled and at the summit I wasn’t expecting it to be so big, but it’s huge. An entire little town up there! And when it was used by the Jewish rebels to hide from the Romans,  only 2 women and 5 children were found alive. The rest had a pact and had been killed or committed suicide rather than be captured as slaves.  I reckon the last guy standing who had been picked to fall on his sword when everyone else was dead had done ‘a boy look’ & missed the 7 people that survived to tell the tale!

The Dead Sea swim later in the day turned out to be a very tricky affair as the water has receded so much that to get in you had to hold onto a guide rope and walk over very slippery rocks. The winds were strong so waves were throwing people off balance and in the end Mum sat it out ( she did it 20 years ago with Dad when the sea level was higher and it was a sandy walk in). I managed to get in and out but it was a mission and I had to help one of our group who slipped over and got the very salty water in his eyes. Ouch, not good ! I will not be providing photos of me in my togs as proof that I did it due to previously mentioned food consumption & lack of gym time ! But if you enlarge the photo I’ll eventually add to this post, that’s me in the distance on the left with a cap on and water shoes next to Brad from our group in a white T-shirt.

Dead Sea scrolls caves at Qumran

Cable Car up to Masada

View from the top of Masada

14 – 16 March 2019:

Apologies in advance for the lengthy blogs. Most of you know I’m a detail person but believe me when I say that these are just a summary of our very full days & if I dont write it down here I will not remember it in a few weeks when looking back at photos!  Photos for the below to be posted soon

The Magdala site was an amazing example of the precious discoveries being made in Israel all the time. It is the oldest excavated synagogue in Galilee and one of seven from the first century in all of Israel. A coin minted in Tiberias in 29 CE was found inside the synagogue, proving that the synagogue was from the first century and the time of Christ’s ministry. Since the Bible tells us that Jesus taught throughout the Galilee, & knew Mary of Magdala, it is more than probable that he taught here.

Tel Dan was the next stop, a pagan city (golden calf worship was the in thing !) and near the source of the Jordan river. Beautiful bush walk not unlike NZ  – some tricky parts across slippery wet stones was worse when we took a wrong turn with one of the guides and lost the rest of the group – didn’t phase Mum at all…she was more nimble than me clambering back over the rocks! What fascinated me was a gate to the city that has been dated back 4000 years – just incredible history.

The temple of Pan was next and was where Saint Peter declared that Jesus was the son of God. They call it the gate to hell due to all the pagan worship and human sacrifice. Just horrendous – and it had that feel – I swear I could see a face in the rock – can you? (photos to be uploaded soon!)

The next stop was a bit unexpected – I knew we were going in the direction of Mt Hermon but didn’t realise we were heading up to the Golan Heights – there is a whole community up there and although the food has been incredible so far, we had the best falafel and stuffed vine leaves I have ever tasted at the Peace Cafe (I’m going to write to them for the recipe!) On the way back we could just see in the distance the UN compound and the border checkpoint into Syria. Our guide Ilan is like a walking encyclopedia and our driver David maneuvers that bus like it’s a mini cooper! They keep us very informed and we are always safe on the roads.

That night just before bed we heard that rockets had been fired into Tel Aviv from Gaza, one was taken out by the iron dome and the other fell in uninhabited land, so all Tel Aviv residents were safe.  To date Israel has not retaliated, that we know of. We were far away from  Tel Aviv but it was a sharp reminder that we are not only travelling through old history but also history in the making.  I’m checking the NZ govt safe travel website regularly ….we are still green to go for the remainder of the trip.

Friday 15th

Next morning  we woke to find New Zealand was not so safe as we all had thought and it was front page news with the horrendous murders in Christchurch. A tragic senseless act. Our tour group members have all been very concerned & respectful towards us, the only Kiwis on the tour. And it’s hard to be away from home when our country is hurting so badly but we are praying that God will bless all those affected.

The next day we travelled to Shiloh where the Ark of the Covenant (which contained the 10 commandments) once resided in the Tabernacle for 369 years until the first temple was built in Jerusalem. (Steph…I’ve looked but I still dont know where it is!) and where Hannah prayed for a baby….and later had Samuel the Prophet. All these bible stories are coming to life,  there is great technology to show and tell…a wonderful hologram presentation on the building of the tabernacle. The discoveries by archaeologists in all these sites we are seeing shows far too many co-incidences for the bible to just be a fictitious piece of writing. It’s historical – the Jewish people were incredible historians and this is why they still practice their ways the same way that they did 2000 years ago.

Then it was off to Bethlehem, driving through Jerusalem to get there. The checkpoints in and out of the city with armed guards was an experience &  so strange to see shepherd with sheep, in small patches of open land in between built up areas…the old ways and the new. Back to Jerusalem and up to Mt Scopa for our first view of the old city of Jerusalem with the Temple Mount & the Dome of the Rock in clear view. Cant believe we are really here.

Saturday 16th

The old city of Jerusalem on speed !  Unbelievable that none of our group got lost in the maze of the old city. Vibrant, colourful, loud, old and very slippery as it was raining. (Rain is a blessing in Israel so we didn’t complain) We went to all the main sites starting at the Mount of Olives and walking down to Garden of Gethsemane where 8 of the olive trees have been dated back more than 2000 years old. The Via Dolorosa (the way of the cross) &  Church of the Holy Sepulcher are the main draw cards obviously. The church was so jam packed with tourists that we couldn’t get to see all the holy places inside and it took 15 minutes to try and get out the door. Luckily Mum & I are back in Jerusalem next week on our own and will get there at 7am before the rush.  Going into the dungeon at the house of Caiaphas gave me a bit of claustrophobia and I was glad when we were back up above ground.

Mum is a bit over filled pita bread for lunch (& falafel is a standing joke on the bus) but it’s quick and does the job for a big group. The breakfasts and dinners at the hotels we have stayed in are phenomenal – fresh fruit and salads as far as the eye can see and although I’m not a dessert person….you cant help being enticed each night with the mini plates of every pudding known to man! I am not losing weight with all this walking as the buffets keep calling …in fact, I can hear the dinner one now ! (The elevators in the hotel will be working properly now that Shabbat (Sabbath) is over…although there is a dedicated Shabbat elevator that stops on every floor so you don’t have to push the button at all !)

Tomorrow we are off to Masada – something I have been looking forward to and then we will be floating in the dead sea !  Hope you are all ok and keeping safe back home.

Wow! The last few days have been almost unreal. Israel is amazing. Unlike anything I’ve ever imagined and yet it also feels totally comfortable. We have been on a gruelling schedule. Up at 6am to get ready, have breakfast & on the road by 8am.

We have packed in so much already, it’s incredible. Eg… Caesarea By Sea where Herod had his palace, Mt Carmel, Megiddo, the valley of Armageddon ( so peaceful now but one day it won’t be & boy is it a perfect battle ground for the final showdown!) , Mt of Precipice where the Jews tried to throw Jesus off the cliff… incredible 360 degree view including overlooking Nazareth, Tabgha, Capernaum, Mt of Beatitudes ( where Jesus fed the 5000 –  It has a natural ampitheatre and a voice would carry so makes perfect sense ), sailed on the Sea of Galilee which is so calm there is hardly a ripple & watched a few of our group have full immersion baptisms in the Jordan river.  This is not a full definitive list.. and so many sites pointed out along the way.

Being a Christian tour, all these sites we are seeing have biblical significance  and the stories make even more sense when you can see where things happened. The land we’ve seen so far is so very green with rolling hills and valleys…definitely a land of milk & honey… it could be New Zealand, the agriculture is booming and it’s warm which is a nice change from snowy New York !

Our current hotel in Tiberius is right on the Sea of Galilee waterfront ( the lowest fresh water lake in the world at 290 metres below sea level ) and the view is out of this world. The sunrise yesterday was stunning. There is this beautiful haze across the water and we look out over the lake to the Golan Heights … hard to believe just over those hills, beyond this peaceful setting is Syria.

We feel so very safe & the Israeli people are lovely. The group we are with are friendly chatty people & it’s so nice to be on a small bus with just 28 others including the driver, the tour guide & the 2 American hosts from the Zola Levit tv show that Mum watches. Apparently the second tour later this year in October is already booked with 60+ people & could double so we’ve come at the right time in early spring.

I’ve been unable to load photographs on the website so trying to sort that out. You will get them eventually .. possibly sideways ! 😀

Right it’s almost 2.30am so better try get back to sleep. Another huge day tomorrow including a trip to Magdala.. the town of my namesake and patron Saint Mary Magdalene… my understanding has always been that she was a very rich business woman in the fish mongering business and helped finance Jesus’s ministry (keen to find out tomorrow if I’m right!)  and is not to be confused with the story of the prostitute.. totally different person.

We are both having a blast … and Mum is keeping up with everything & everybody!

10 March 2019:

Quiet morning and then we were on our way just after lunch to JFK airport. We got there early and had time for a leisurely cuppa and then met our tour group at 3pm. We are travelling with the Christian Zola Levitt group. Mum watches the show all the time. They all seem like lovely people. We appear to be a bit of a novelty as apart from 2 people from South Africa all the rest are Americans.

The Israeli security for the flight on El Al airlines meant each person or family group was personally interviewed. We had been warned to give no more info than necessary. So I was expecting more of a grilling but the trickiest question was “why have you travelled all the way from NZ to go to Israel?”. The interviewer seemed quite happy when I said “anywhere is a long way to travel when you live at the bottom of the world !” Some of our group were taken at the gate back to go through their bags. Apparently all quite normal. The flight was 9 hours and pretty standard except no wine on the menu ! Gin helped :). Was amazing to see the Jewish men getting up and putting on their prayer shawls in the middle of the night and praying facing Jerusalem.

We landed in Tel Aviv and basically walked straight to the bus. A quick stamp in the passport, no arrival / declaration cards and no one checked bags for anything !

Tired from the flight we still had time to kill until the hotel check in so off we went on tour to the first site. The house of Simon the Tanner where Saint Peter apparently stayed before the conversion of Cornelius, the first gentile. Beautiful views across to Tel Aviv. Just stunning. Then hotel, dinner & bed!

9 March 2019:

Packing (again!) day! How is that you’ve got rid of a few things ( gifts for folks in the States etc) and you still can’t close your suitcase ? Ok maybe 2 new pairs of sketchers & a replacement  Empire State Building cup ( my old one was smashed in the 2016 Kaikora earthquake) might’ve made the difference.  Today was a quiet day just resting, walking around the local area of the East Village including a ‘must do’ visit to a  very busy Trader Joes store and getting ready for the trip to Israel the next day. Church that night across the road ( & I mean about 15 metres directly opposite ) was a quiet affair with just 5 people, 1 more than last week!

8 March 2019

Today was a “do your own thing” day!

Mum pottered around the apartment and took herself off for a walk around the East Village area, sat like a local in a cafe having a cup of tea and even found the Katz deli made famous in the movie “When Harry Met Sally” .

Meanwhile, I met Fiona & her son Ross at Grand Central and after a quick cuppa, Ross left us to catch up. We also went to Katz deli which was much bigger than I imagined and heaving with people. Found the table Meg Ryan & Billy Crystal sat at (looked like every other table there & possibly not the original!) then we went for the obligatory photos outside the brownstone steps of Carrie Bradshaw’s house in Perry Street where Big would drive past and pick her up in her fancy outfits! ( I felt we probably brought the tone of the neighbourhood down in our jeans and warm Michelin man look!) Then we spent the remainder of the afternoon in a lovely little bar in the West Village.  A quick final photo outside the “Friends” apartment building was very appropriate ( pen friends since we were 8 or 9 years old! ) and we said our goodbyes.. hopefully it won’t be another 9 years before we see each other again! Thanks Fiona for coming all that way just for a drink .. in New York of all places ! Xx

7 March 2019:

After a lazy morning we headed out at midday to go and see Lady Liberty. We opted for the free Staten Island ferry and while you don’t get right up close, it was still plenty close enough to see the statue and surrounding Ellis Island   The tip of Manhattan skyline in the distance made for good photos. A quick wait for the next ferry back and we headed over to Brooklyn and walked back to Manhattan over the Brooklyn Bridge. Fantastic !

That evening Nova stayed tucked up warm at the apartment and I went to China town to meet my friend Fiona for dinner who had just flown in that afternoon from Scotland to see me 😀

Dove of Peace 9/11 Memorial

Ash Wednesday St Patrick’s

Freedom Tower

St Patrick’s

6 March 2019:

Up early today and headed straight for the 911 Memorial site and museum downtown. The building itself is impressive and the dove of peace design at the entrance is a magnificent sight. Queues weren’t too bad and we had several hours there. Extremely moving experience and so respectfully done. Couldn’t help thinking all those people got up that morning and just were going to work. God Bless them all. RIP.

Being Ash Wednesday we decided Saint Patrick’s would be good for mass. Although, so did half of New York. The queues of people streamed in and never stopped. Mass attendees in the middle but if you just wanted communion you went down one side and ashes only down the other side. The people never stopped coming. We think many a tourist, not necessarily Catholic, just ended up in one queue or the other and probably wondered what they were in for ! By the looks the queues were going all day. The ashes were pretty heavy handed too..no missing those walking down the street and the whole afternoon & evening around New York we saw people branded with ashes!

Lunch at the Rockefeller centre and a quick trip to Central Park via the Breakfast At Tiffany’s window rounded off the afternoon.

That night we met our Air BnB hosts for a drink at their local. Lovely friendly people, so genuine. They have made our stay in NYC very comfortable. They are welcome to Welly anytime 😀

Then it was off to the Empire State Building to see New York at night from the 86th floor. What a view! 360 degrees of sparkling lights for as far as the eye could see! Just wonderful ( but about minus 3 degrees so it was a short visit !)