Welcome to the Spinifex Ministries Photo Album for 2008.
Remember: to see photos in full size, just click on them and then click "back" to return to this screen!
We began 2008 catching up with the mission and
our supporters throughout NSW and Vic. At one of our visits, Cath ended up
repairing a ruptured water tank - from the inside (she was the only one who
could fit!) 
Joshua, now 11 1/2 is growing rapidly, and
turning into a young man. In grade 7 and doing well.
When we got back to Vic (after leaving the van
there and just taking the truck to NSW), a good friend of ours (with Phil
helping) put air bag (helper) suspension on the front and rear suspensions to
ease the harshness of the truck's ride and also to prevent the front suspension
collapsing a third time.
We also had the rear of the cab air bagged as
well, and this has made the ride so much better, or should I say - bearable!
Thanks Terry!
After our promo was complete in NSW and
Vic, we headed back to the farm for a couple of days of shearing
before flying out to Perth to catch up with supporters there.
Josh spent a full day as rouse-about and we were impressed
with his endurance to keep up!
On our return from Perth and with the caravan aircon still not working properly, we couldn't head back up north until a new aircon
could be ordered, so, to Phil's utter and complete enjoyment, the
boys went to the Clipsal 500 - V8 Supercars!
After picking up the new awning for the caravan, Cath headed to the Adelaide
Airport to pick up our short term Governess - Jennifer (from Sydney). She was with us for two months as Cath
was needed full time on the job site as we had
2 big building jobs first up.
While Jennifer was away with us, three of her
brothers and one of her sisters made a scale lego model of the Spinifex Perentie
rig! With only the photos off the web to go by, they did a beaut job! (Check out
the stickers/logos on the rig!) 
Back out bush again after 3 months of promo,
our first visit was back at Coober Pedy Anglican. (Peter Palmer is now
the minister there with his wife Joy. We used to look after them at Wyndham).
Our main job here was to rip up the old concrete slab out the front of the
rectory and re-pour a new one (the water used to flow into the house instead of
away)!
After finishing up at Coober Pedy, it was back to AIM Alice Springs and it was like coming home. Our job here was purely practical (not pastoral, although Phil did preach one week) and it involved an almost complete interior house renovation! Walls, ceilings, kitchen and doors to be painted, the carpet ripped up and tiles laid, and a bathroom and laundry complete renovation as well! All in 4 weeks! Fortunately, we had help from Bob and Joy Wells who tirelessly painted for the entire 4 weeks!
Before...
During...
Check out the size differences between the
tiles. This happened regularly throughout each box! This made for interesting
laying!
After...
A Wednesday evening church service.
One weekend, we had took a drive out to
Chambers Pillar and ended up camping the night.
Check out the spinifex ring - it's the biggest
we've ever seen!
After we left AIM Alice, we dropped in to see the Hadfields (AIM) out at Epenarra Aboriginal Community, we then went on to AIM Tennant Creek and then finally on to Darwin to drop Jennifer off at the airport.
After a week of shopping and vehicle services,
we headed back to Katherine for the annual Katherine Christian Convention (KCC)
where the 'mother ship' (Spinifex rig) docked and set up camp awaiting the
arrival of the little ships (including the Wonder's 'bar fridge' from Gapuwiyak
(MAF))!
Joshua loves coming to KCC each year to catch
up with his friends, including his best friend Aaron from Ngukurr Aboriginal
Community.
From Katherine, we headed west to Kununurra to
Bethel Aboriginal Community to help True Vine Ministries. One morning we went
for a walk back up the hills behind Bethel.
Earlier on in the year, the Marshall boys made
the Spinifex/Perentie rig out of lego. Well this time they have made the Troopy
as well. Well done!
Moving on from Kununurra, we made our way to
Fitzroy Crossing to see the Smiths (AIM) of the Junjuwa People's Church. While
in town we had to catch up on some serious paperwork and vehicle maintenance.
One weekend we finished off the kitchen we started making for the Troopy.
After church on Sunday, we all headed down to
the Fitzroy River for lunch.
A friendly little visitor.
One Saturday evening, we went out with our
friend Tim on a boat ride up the Fitzroy River.
Time was up, and now we had to head for Looma
Aboriginal Community. While there, one of our jobs was to help Natasha Short
(Pastor's wife) in her new job. She had to organise an Iron man competition for
the community to get the locals, the government workers and the school kids
together.
A good ol' Kimberley sunset.
From Looma we went to Derby where Phil was to relieve at the Derby People's Church for a couple of weeks.
Even when you tarp the bikes, the red dirt
always gets in!
Check out Joshua's new hat. He grew out of his
last one.
After our time at Derby, we had some time off
with friends and did the Gibb River Road. Here are just a few photos of the
trip. Enjoy.
It was then time to pack the Troopy for a quick trip down to Geraldton to speak at the Geraldton Church Of Christ Mission Weekend. On the return trip, we dropped into Kalbarri Anglican to see Matt and Rachael Brain and found that they had an Archdeaconry conference (of the Midwest Dioceses) and we were asked to stay for it. It was great being able to catch up with many friends we hadn't seen for a while.
On leaving Kalbarri, we started our trip back to Derby. On the way, we hit 2 roos, blew the rear diff and smashed the windscreen all in 1 day! After 5500km, we made it back to Derby - after stopping every 100km to top up the diff oil for the last 2000ish km!
Moving on from the Derby People's Church, we made our way to Fitzroy Crossing to spend a few days with Phil and Gail Smith of Junjuwa People's Church. After finding that we couldn't get the diff fixed there, we drove to Katherine and then on to Darwin to have the diff rebuilt, nearly 3500km after it blew! That's life in the outback.
From Darwin, we took 5 weeks holiday (using up some of the
time owing us). On our way back we attended the Westminster Presbyterian Church
Synod in Brisbane (as Phil is a WPC minister) and then had a week of meetings in
Sydney with AIM (Australian Indigenous Ministries) before heading back to Darwin
and out to Ngukurr Aboriginal Community in South East Arnhem Land.
In Ngukurr we spent time with Peter Berthon of CMS and
finished securing the CMS house from being broken into. The kids even break in
via the sky lights and the whirly birds!
During the wet season, one of the coolest places to play is under the CMS house
and the kids love to stick objects into the fans of the air con - so cages had
to be made to protect them.
After Ngukurr, it was time to head to Elliot to do some
maintenance on the AIM house. From there, we headed off to Camooweal to spend
time with the Wrights. Before we left, we took one last photo of the 2 Troopies
together. Our Troopy and theirs were their wedding vehicles.
But the rough roads have taken a toll on theirs and it had to be updated.
On leaving Camooweal in mid November, we were hoping for some cooler weather - anything below 45 would be nice! But not without one last night of a min of 30 degrees. We went to bed at 9.30pm and outside it was still 36! We were waken up to thunder and by 9am it was raining. We headed off to Tennant Creek to see the church mob there and when we arrived at 10am it was 23 degrees! From then on till get got to Alice 2 days later, we saw a years worth of rain for the region!
We arrived in Alice Springs Sunday night to part of the town
being cut off with flooding and the Todd River in full flow! (It is a usually
dry river bed). In the last 5 years we have only seen it flow 3 times and twice
was in 1 week.
By Tuesday they were ready to sandbag the town!
We went out Wednesday morning to see how high the water came and what did I see
- a silver brim (fish) trying to swim across the road! Where this fish came from
- I have no idea, but it would have come a long, long way! For those who have
never been to the centre before, it is a desert and the rivers are dry and only
run once in a blue moon, and most of the water holes dry up during the dry.
We were in Alice Springs at the AIM church doing some much needed maintenance that we didn't get around to last year when we looked after the church. One of the storms brought down trees on the church property, so much time was spent cleaning up and trimming trees. It was also great to catch up with the church mob again.
After we left Alice, it was time to head for Perth. This was the first time we have done this trip with the Troopy tagging along and so it was an especially long way driving alone (Josh doesn't talk much in the car - MP3 and Nintendo DS etc).
We had just passed Norseman when we got a phone call on Phil's birthday that Cath's grandma had just died. This was just days before we planned on being in Perth to see her. Phil was asked to take the funeral, so after a quick detour to Esperance to see supporters, we headed to Perth.
Phil was also privileged to officiate over his first wedding!
And to make matters even better, he could come as himself - it was a country
wedding! So hay bales, stock whips, RM Williams gear and Akubras, the whole
show. All Phil had to do different was wear a tie and that was a RM Williams one too!
Most of December was taken up with preaching, meetings, study, catching up with family, moving storage units and buying or picking up donated furniture for our move to Alice mid 09.
Well that's it! It is really hard to know what photos to put in and what to leave out. I hope that you have enjoyed a quick trip through 2008 with Spinifex Ministries.
