This morning we left early and drove from our hotel to the Mount of Olives to see the beautiful view across the city of Jerusalem. It was stunning to say the least, and although it was hot, even before 9am, we didn’t let that worry us as we heard Erez share some history of this city and how the layout and actual location of the city wall and particular buildings have moved over the years. So much of the area directly below the Mt of Olives is a cemetery, all outside the city wall, of course, for purity. The sellers were around us trying to get us to buy pictures of Jerusalem and other things, and heckled us as we chose not to buy. Continue reading JERUSALEM – Tuesday August 12 →

After a 1½ hr drive leaving our kibbutz hotel, crossing the Jezreel Valley, we arrived at the Tel Megiddo. What an amazing site! This Tel has between 26 to 30 layers from different eras. Without doubt though, the highlight was our exit through the water tunnel. Being on a high mountain, the people had to source water from down below. There was a spring a fair way away, from which they needed to access the water, so in the middle of the mountain, they dug down deep to just below the level of the spring, and then a tunnel with Continue reading LEAVING GALILEE – Megiddo, Mt Carmel, Caesarea, Jerusalem – Monday August 11 →

Today was a very full day, but we were pleased to be driving to higher ground where the temperature was a little cooler and the breeze was wonderful.

Our first stop was Tel Dan. [Tel = a mound of ruins over several eras]. Dan was one of the tribes of Israel in the northern kingdom, and this find has brought many great sites to the surface from the Old Testament. There is a major spring here which is one of the main water sources for Israel, and our initial walk through the bush was certainly a beautiful one as we wove our way beside this beautiful, fast-flowing stream. Continue reading DRIVING NORTH OF GALILEE – Sunday August 10 →

Another early start saw us travelling a little south west to visit Nazareth, now a majority Muslim town of about 80,000. In Jesus’ time there may have been about 200 people. Walking up a fairly steep hill, we visited a site traditionally thought of as the house where Mary grew up and was visited by the angel Gabriel telling her she would give birth to the Messiah. It was wonderful to hear again Luke 1:26-38, that very familiar story read every Christmas. Continue reading NAZARETH – Saturday August 9 →

Leaving the hotel by 7:50am we travelled a short distance to board a boat for an hour on the Sea of Galilee. It was a magnificent morning with beautiful breezes off the lake which made the already hot day quite bearable. We all revelled in being on this sea which we have read so much about in the Gospels. The crew was fantastic, and even hoisted an Aussie flag and played the national anthem over the speakers. Erez shared with us some of the geography of the lake and pointed out the various towns we would visit during the day, all of which are very close to each other. The only big town on the lake these days is Tiberius, and all the other ancient towns are now only memorial sites where visitors and tourists gather. Continue reading EXPLORING THE SEA OF GALILEE →

As we left the southern end of the Dead Sea this morning it was only a short drive to Ein Gedi, a magnificent spring in the desert where David hid from King Saul when he was being pursued by him. The story of King Saul and his 3,000 men searching for David is well worth the read – check it out in 1 Samuel 24. There are some quite comical moments as David sneaks up on King Saul relieving himself in a cave. We walked a beautiful pathway to the first waterfall, passing hyrex [rock badgers] and ibex.  Continue reading DEAD SEA to SEA of GALILEE →

This morning we woke to a significantly warm day [read VERY hot]!! We began in the bus at 8:30am to take the short trip to Masada, an ancient mountain fortress where the Jews held out for the battle against the Romans in a siege which didn’t end well. The Jews rebelled against Roman rule and the siege lasted for about 3 years, from 73-75 AD. In the end, there were the final ten chosen by lot, and if the worst came, which it did, they were to kill each other and the last one standing would then kill himself, rather than submit to Roman rule and slavery. It was an amazing story of courage and faithfulness to Yahweh. Continue reading MASADA and FLOATING in the DEAD SEA – Wednesday August 6 →

We reluctantly left our beautiful nabataean village hotel, Taybet Zaman, this morning and were pleased to find a spot on the road to get a bird’s eye view of how it is laid out. We all found it a wonderful place to stay and thoroughly enjoyed our time in Petra.

Driving south we stopped at another place with a magnificent view of the rugged mountainous landscape of southern Jordan, and Rabi told us that there were many more siqs winding their way through them, apart from the one we had walked the previous day. Continue reading JORDAN INTO ISRAEL →

Expectations were high as we woke this morning. After a delicious breakfast we got back on the bus for our short drive to the Petra Visitor’s Centre and Rabi gave us the options – walking all the way; a horse ride to the Siq or a buggy ride through the Siq. Different people chose different options, but for us, we had to do the horse ride to the Siq and then walk through it to see the Treasury at the other end. What an amazing experience. Geological awesomeness is probably the only words that would do. Continue reading PETRA – Monday August 4 →

Amman is an amazing city. Often called the white city because all the buildings are made out of limestone which is so readily available. The main export industries of Jordan are phosphorus and potash, and the other big focus is education.

We were checking out of Cham Palace Amman this morning by 8am and Rabi took us on a city tour, particularly to see some of the very well heeled suburbs. Continue reading AMMAN TO PETRA – Sunday August 3 →