Gold Weekend at Beechworth and Youth Retreat

Hi everyone!

What a weekend (5

^th

-7

^th

April 2013) it was at Murmungee / Beechworth, Victoria with 21 people- Keepers of the Flame and their children - (

coming together and camping out in a country hall 15 kms from Beechworth, a town built on gold discovered in the early 1850’s.  Our purpose -to find GOLD and to make a ‘joyful noise unto the LORD’!

A Bit of History and Lots of Fun at the Burke Museum

We began with an informative and fun game at the Burke museum on the Friday afternoon, where we enacted the gold rush times.

Each of us was given a role of one of the many possible characters that would have lived and worked at this gold mining community of Beechworth.  This gave us and understanding of the local area; conditions miners lived in through the gold rush and a smart way to make money on the goldfields. This was so much fun for everyone. We achieved both and had a lot of fun at the same time as well as discovering new and interesting things….especially the Provender –a local café with the best  hot chocolate and coffee ever.

Must Have A Cuppa

Some of us even discovered a marvellously quaint tea house which seemed to come out of a fairy tale, it was sooo pretty with white and pink crockery and table linen! Friday evening, we shared a meal together and people set up their sleeping gear at the Murmungee Hall. Saturday morning began at 5am with morning decrees for some of us broadcasting from the hall followed by a huge breakfast of every food imaginable!

Here We Go...!

The whole company of  very eager prospectors, young and old, took a hike to an old mine shaft called ‘Heaven” at Silver Creek.

Lunch at Lake Sambel

The expedition was followed by a tasty barbecue lunch cooked on the shores of Lake Sambel.  One thing we discovered about Beechworth – it seemed to have the best coffee, the best sausages and burgers, the best bread, the best community, the best bbq facility, the best ......you get our drift.

Eureka!

We then went convoy style to ‘Woolshed’ to meet our knowledgeable guide and panning instructor, Alan, who gave us some history lessons and taught us gold panning skills. Michael and Genavieve really getting into it! This was really a hands on experience, where most of us were willing and eager to get ‘dirty’ so to speak and get into the water, dig up the dirt and pour it into our pans, hoping to find those gold nuggets!! Lots of gold specs were found by most, as well as getting cold feet.  Fortunately NO leeches!  Something we all learned, it’s not as easy as it sounds to find gold this way, but we had a whale of a time. After about a couple of hours, we headed back to camp where a delicious dinner was prepared and served by young and old and greatly appreciated by us all.

Saint Germain's Youth

Saturday means Saint Germain service, and this was held at the hall with 11 youth leading us in blue and violet decrees…wow, what a session!

So Long...Till Next Time!

Sunday morning was free time and general clean up with some shopping, four‑wheel driving, swimming and a tour of Beechworth Montessori. It was really a most memorable and unique community bonding experience, thoroughly unexpectedly enjoyable in many ways.   So grateful to everyone who made stellar effort to drive a long way away (some for over 600kms!) to come together and make this a truly wonderful weekend. Thanks everyone!

(by Michaela and Joy)

:-)

ALWAYS VICTORY!

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  Below are some snippets from people about their what was special experience for them:

• (Rhianna)

• (Celeste)

• (Tatiana)

• (Harrison)

• … (Jude)

• …Gabby

• …(Michael)

•   (David)

• ..(Angela )

• -(Kauri)

• . – (Tim)

• . … (Christine)

• (Joy)