The month of May is a busy one for our community. The Ord Valley Muster is a community / tourist event covering a fortnight of happenings. It culminates in a concert – the Kimberly Moon Experience –out under the stars. The Muster showcases life and variety in the Kimberley. We don’t try and do everything but this year we have managed to be involved in more than any other year.
We started with a combined church meeting, out in the park, with “the Muster” as the theme. You can check out a few photos from this website.
Since all the other events we went to were all in this week just gone – we have been very busy.
Tuesday night we went to an Astronomy night where we got to see the skies with some very powerful telescopes. We saw Saturn and its rings very clearly, the Moon and its mountains and crators, along with some stars out and about the Southern Cross. It was a very late night but Daniel, our budding astronomer, didn’t want to leave until it was all over and there was no more to see!
Wednesday night we headed into a national park where the surrounding rocks make a natural amphitheatre. We packed dinner, our chairs, a thermos and headed off for a great night of music. The concert is actually held in the carpark so we had to park our car a ways off and catch a bus into the concert. It is a real community event so there was lots of talking and catching up with folk, as well as lots of laughter from our own kids – so waiting for the bus didn’t seem to take too long. The concert started with a 15yo playing three solo pieces on the piano, then the school and community choir sang quite a selection of songs, then a few soloists had their turn (including a 12yo girl who was very very confident and impressive), and it finished with a few more choir pieces.
Thursday night was a much needed night at home.
Friday night Andrew Ironside was visiting at the local COC church so we went along to their evening meeting. Last Muster COC had Steve Grace up – it is nice to have a Christian event to support at this time. The evening was a Worship Encounter – which included a personal challenge to build a personal relationship with God – to climb the mountain.
Saturday morning I ducked into a local art gallery to see their new exhibition. They had a couple of exhibits during the past week which I wasn’t able to get to so I went to breakfast Saturday morning to have a quick look while the kids were all at sport. Red Rock Gallery features aboriginal art and a local artist, Jeanette Dyson. I really like Jeannette’s work – she works with local ocre paint colours and a little paint.
So ends our busy Muster time – Saturday night there is the main concert, the Kimberly Moon Experience, with quite a lineup – Jimmy Barnes, Chris Matthews and Adam Harvey, Darwin Army Band and several other entertainers. We stayed home!
