For some reason, this last trip has had a profound impact on me.

I didn’t think that seeing a big red rock in the desert would be such a big deal.

But it was.
And is.

If it hadn’t been for this Kryon Consciousness Retreat, I probably would never have gone to Uluru. And it wouldn’t have bothered me. It was never high on my To-Do list.

In fact, it wasn’t on my To-Do list at all.

But when I first saw it, as I drove around a bend in the road and there it was in front of me, the power of it struck me immediately. But the strange thing was, I’d felt it before I saw it.

I can’t explain it any better than that.

The rock radiates a palpable energy that impacts you from afar. And that power is now still within me, here in Mudgee.

It seems that once connected, you are always connected.

Why did Lee Carroll stage his Consciousness Retreat at Uluru? In part, because of the potent spiritual power of the place. And partly because of his creation myth, delivered to him through his Source of Kryon, which he discovered is consistent with creation myths from many cultures, including those of the aboriginal peoples of Australia.

I will go into this in greater detail in a later post – but first I want to tell you about Lee Carroll, Kryon, and channelling.

This is perhaps the most profound thing that I’ve learned from this trip.

Lee Carroll was a very accomplished sound engineer. He worked in film and established a studio that did sound tracks for movies, television and tv commercials.

His wife was into New Age stuff. She was on a spiritual path, and he had absolutely no interest. As he tells it, she would drive him crazy walking about their house with metal Tibetan meditation bowls, rubbing them with a stick and making them hum OM.

He wanted no part of her world. He was happily becoming very successful in his world of audio and music.

And then one day his wife gave him a gift – she paid for him to go to a channeller. And so he went. Reluctantly, but he went. At that channeling, he was told that an “entity” named Kryon from the Magnetic Grid wanted to get in contact with him.

This of course freaked Lee Carroll out.

But being something of a nerd, he went off and began researching channelling, and became intrigued. He then went to another channeller, this time he paid for it himself, and he got the same message: an entity named Kryon was trying to get in touch with him.

Lee immediately thought this was some kind of set up – that the two channellers had been in contact with each other, they’d swapped notes, and given him exactly the same story. But he discovered that there had been absolutely no communication between the channellers, and that this message had come through twice, from two completely separate people.

Lee became even more intrigued. And so began his union with Kryon.

Who is Kryon?

This is where it gets very tricky – and this is where Lee Carroll, sweet man that he is, says that some people think he’s evil, and that channelling is the work of the devil.

I must admit that my naive view of channelling was from Lynda Blair in The Exorcist – all funny voices and head turning and vomit. Or sleazy white-shoed smart talkers who claimed they were channelling Nefertiti or John Lennon, and charging vast sums of money for the privilege of hearing these pearls of wisdom from the netherworld.

Lee Carroll is none of these.

There is a truthfulness about the man, a sincerity, a humility and a knowing that immediately made me feel, when I first saw him on stage at the Retreat, then later when I met him, that this guy is the real deal.

There’s nothing phoney about him. No agenda, hidden or otherwise. And yes he makes some money out of these seminars, and he sells books, but most of his work is free, on his website. It is a huge resource, available to anyone at no cost.

http://www.kyron.com

But what’s astonishing about the man is the channellings. The ideas, the articulation, the eloquence, the wisdom. And the love.

Who is Kyron?

Kryon is the Creator, the Source, Spirit, God.
Whatever name you like to put on it.

Kryon has chosen Lee Carroll to be his mouthpiece within our culture, and using our language. But Kyron is beyond time and space, and multi-dimensional.

This to some people is blasphemous – the notion that God could manifest in the form of an audio engineer from San Diego.

But even the Dalai Lama says that God is in every atom – and this is a fundamental belief of Hindus and Yogis too.

Just to explain – Jennifer has been following Kryon for the past 25 years. She has listened to pretty much every channelling, and has read many of his books.

She would have Kryon playing in the kitchen of an evening, while making dinner. And I would come in and demand that she turn that crap off. It used to bug the hell out of me.

I thought it was New Age Weird & Whacky, taken to the nth degree. But I respected that Jennifer took it seriously, and was taking on the concepts that came from Kryon.

And then something very strange happened. I don’t know how I heard of it, but when I discovered that Lee Carroll was going to channel Kryon at Uluru, I immediately knew that I, or we, had to attend. I didn’t even ask Jennifer. I just booked straight away.

And then later when I told her, she was shocked. Shocked that I, who had been such a Kryon cynic, would want to attend a seminar.

But my PGS led me. That’s all I can tell you. I had an immediate and unequivocal “yes” to going, and I’ve learned from past experience that I have to listen to my PGS. And so going there was on my instigation, not Jennifer’s. As I say, Jennifer was stunned.

As Kryon would say: And so it is…

If you’re interested, here’s some more reading –
http://www.kryon.com/k_25b.html

And here’s some text from his website, explaining the nature of channelling –

After driving 7,500kms in less than three weeks, we’re home in Mudgee.

Thankfully there were no issues with the car – it went like a dream – and there were no problems with roos, emus, or Highway Patrol officers!

It was a safe journey, and for that I’m grateful – and I did a little meditation beside the car once we’d unpacked, just thanking those concerned… It was an extraordinary trip – and in the next day or so I will elaborate on what I’ve learned, but just to list the highlights –

• Having dinner in the Glenrowan pub in Victoria – a place of myth, where Australia’s most infamous bushranger (outlaw) had a shootout with cops
• Walking through the William Ricketts Sanctuary in the Dandenongs, feeling the spirits of the aboriginal elders, women and children captured in sculptures that sprang from the rocks and the trees…
• Photographing the wedding of Alex & Matt – two truly beautiful people in every way –
• Catching up again with The Landers Express – Peter and Julie – and talking into the wee hours. Two special friends…
• Sleeping in an underground motel in Coober Pedy –
• Driving north into the Red Heart of Australia. Such beautiful country…
• Spending time with Cowboy Loy Pwerle, and filming with him and his family – Cowboy a wonderful artist and a true gentleman.
• Our time in Utopia, which I will remember always

• Walking around Alice Springs late one afternoon – drinking in the beautiful light.
• Meeting Lee Carroll and interviewing him. An extraordinary man…

• Attending the Gaia Consciousness Retreat – and witnessing Lee Carroll channel Kryon.
• Trying to avoid taking touristy shots of Uluru at sunset, but finding myself taking shots like everyone else.
• Walking around the base of Uluru at sunrise with Jennifer.
• Meeting Doug and Grace, and experiencing the wonder of their energetic machine that can show what’s happening in your body.
• Driving through the flatland desert – and being deeply affected by the ancient beauty of this land.

On this last leg back today, I took some shots – Jennifer and I are not back for long.

We’re home for Easter, and then about a week later we leave for Italy, to meet up with Elena in Tuscany and finalise everything for the walking tour, starting April 27th in Florence.

And after the tour, we fly to Turkey to film with the descendants of Rumi in the centre of the country. This for a Sufi perspective on intuition.

I feel very fortunate to be doing what I’m doing – and doing it with my mate.

Jennifer and I are in Adelaide at the moment. For those who aren't familiar with Australian geography, Adelaide is the capital of South Australia, at the bottom end of our country.

We came here to meet with some possible investors for PGS. An added benefit was that we could watch yesterday's cricket World Cup final on a decent tv!

We won by the way.

Today we make our way back to Mudgee – about 1300 kms – which we'll do in two days. It will be good to get back home.

Once home I'll do a recap of what I've learned from this trip. I've learned a lot, and changed my views on some formerly held beliefs.

This has been a very important trip for me.

I thought I'd put up a post now though about something that I find quite interesting. I've been thinking about this for a while.

In researching my PHOTO CAMINO book, I came across an interesting term that's used in tech circles.

It's “good enough..”

Good enough describes a threshold beyond which buyers of cameras, or other tech products, won't breach.

A camera manufacturer for instance might put out a new model camera, but sales will be flat because most consumers feel that their current camera is “good enough.”

They're not prepared to shell out money for a new model camera that has new technology that they don't really need, or would rarely use.

Same when deciding on what camera to take on the Camino. A lot of people would say their iPhone or smartphone is good enough.

Why do I find this interesting?

Because the term “good enough” used to be a pejorative term. If someone did something that was merely good enough, then that person was deemed lazy or lacking ambition.

We don't want good enough, we want excellence. We want the best.

But technology has introduced this term good enough to describe buyers' take-up behaviour, and I look at it now in a broader social context.

Perhaps “good enough” = “satisfied.”

Now that I find interesting.

Could it be that we're becoming more satisfied with what we've got? That we're not succumbing anymore to marketing bewitchments? That the allure of materialism is starting to wane?

I used to rail against the whole notion of good enough. In my work, good enough was never good enough. I had to make it the best I possibly could, and I would demand that of those that I worked with too.

And that's still the case.

Good enough just doesn't cut it.

But then that's not entirely true.

I worked with a wonderful lady who was a true perfectionist. But she would always be late on delivering because nothing was ever good enough. I remember saying to her once, what's more important, packing your suitcase perfectly? Or catching the train?

Catching the train.

How you pack your clothes in your suitcase is good enough.

And now I'm starting to think of this term in ways that can impact other areas of my life. The clothes I buy, the places I stay, even the food I eat.

I used to live in Adelaide. I used to go to all the fancy restaurants. I used to follow the fortunes of chefs. I don't do that anymore. Last night Jennifer and I had miso soup with bok choy and broad beans, cooked in our hotel room with the aid of an electric kettle, and eaten from tin cups.

It was good enough.

In fact it wasn't only good enough, it was superb.

I'm starting to rethink my attitude to good enough. I used to bristle at that term. I used to think of it as a loser's term.

Now I'm starting to think it could be a winner's term.

We're less than a month out from the Assisi tour, and we now have to finalise hotel numbers etc. So if you wish to join us, last chance to let us know…

It's going to be an incredible walk – meeting up in Florence, then we'll bus to the monastery at La Verna, high on a hill top. This monastery holds great significance for St. Francis.

We then commence our walk through to Assisi, about 220kms away. We arrive in Assisi on a weekend when they're celebrating an ancient Rights of Srping festival. It's an amazing festival apparently, with processions and dancing and markets etc. Should be fun!

Jennifer has been studying the life of St. Francis, and the relevance of this pilgrimage route. She's become a walking encyclodedia on it all. So those who want to know more about St Francis and some of the places we'll be visiting can walk with her, and she'll yabber on for hours!

We'll have a support van with us all the time, and our gorgeous assistant Elena, who will accompany us and help sort any problems should they arise.

Details are on http://www.gonetours.com. Go to the Via di Francesco link in the menu. Or contact me, Bill Bennett, at bill@gonetours.com

The tour is going to be an amazing experience.

Assisi at dawn

I’ve driven probably hundreds of thousands of kilometres on Outback roads over the years, and I’ve never heard of anything happening such as happened today.

We’d driven about 300kms from Uluru, heading south towards Coober Pedy. At around lunchtime we passed a roadhouse at Kulgera, about 20kms north of the Northern Territory / South Australian border.

It’s very remote here.

This shot below is a rest stop. The next rest stop is 109kms down the road.

Just past the roadhouse, on the highway, I saw what looked to be some construction workers on the road.

As I got closer I realised it was a police roadblock, stopping southbound traffic. I pulled up and a cop dressed in civvies – not in uniform, but wearing a police vest – signalled for me to stop.

He said the highway was closed for an hour, maybe more, because a very wide load was coming through. He told me to wait at the roadhouse until he advised that the highway was clear.

This sounded odd to me. There’d been wide load transports coming through regularly. Some were so wide you had to drive nearly completely off the side of the highway – but they were always preceded by escort vehicles warning you the wide load was coming.

Irrespective, there was no arguing with a police roadblock, so we drove back to the roadhouse where the manager had a police radio. He told me what was really happening.

Evidently the driver of a huge three-ganger road train – called a Tanami truck – had gone nuts and was deliberately crashing into oncoming traffic and forcing cars off the road.

Road trains are massive. Ninety-six wheels. Three times the size of a regular eighteen wheeler. And this one, according to the roadhouse manager, had a huge bullbar, which he was using to crash into cars.

Reminiscent of the film DUEL,I thought. 

I’m sorry I don’t have any photos of this, because I didn’t get a chance to take a shot of the roadblock, and everything else for Jen and myself was a waiting game in the hotel bar.

After about an hour the copper at the roadblock drove up to the bar and told all those waiting inside  – about 20 of us by that stage – that the highway was now clear. I asked the cop what had happened, and he confirmed what the manager had said – and confirmed that the truck driver was now under arrest.

If we had left maybe 20 mins earlier, we could have been one of the cars that the truck crashed into…

Anyway, that’s pretty weird, no?

The Stuart Highway, running north south through the Red Centre of this country, is I think the scariest highway in Australia. All sorts of crazy stuff happens on this remote road – serial killings, people going missing strangely, never to be heard of again, cars breaking down unexpectedly then the occupants raped and murdered…

This is not myth. This happens in Outback Australia.

Anyway, Jennifer and I made it safe and sound to Coober Pedy. I stopped a couple of times to take photos –

Outside of Coober Pedy I took a shot of an old opal field.

We stayed in the Underground Motel again, and I asked Mike who runs the place where was a good place to have a feed. He suggested the Italo-Australian Miners Club.

Hoping for a genuine Italian meal, I was disappointed to see that there was nothing Italian, nor indeed Australian, on the menu.

But then we were told there were specials, including an Indian curry. Jennifer settled for the Lasagna with salad, I went for the chicken and mushroom risotto.

Both were truly disgusting.

The risotto was cold half an inch below the surface, which was hot. Very apologetically, the staff grabbed it off me and then spent the next twenty minutes nuking a lasagna so that it was definitely hot inside.

I should add, when Jennifer ordered the lasagna the lady who took her order asked the kitchen if they had any lasagna left. Someone from the kitchen yelled back: Yep, we got two left over from last night. 

I’d asked to change from risotto to lasagna because eating the risotto could have put me in hospital. There was a strong chance though that the lasagna could be equally as hazardous.

I shouldn’t be unkind to the Italo-Australian Miners Club – all those working there do so voluntarily, and they were very sweet.

As I drove back the sun was setting, and the last rays of light were doing wonderful things to the high wispy clouds.

This really is very beautiful country out here.

Tomorrow we leave this place to return home.

It’s about a 3,500km drive.

I think Jennifer and I both need that drive, that space, that time, to absorb these last several days.

I won’t go into any specifics about the Kryon Consciousness Retreat, because some of you might find it alienating and seriously weird.

It was seriously weird.

But also seriously profound in ways I did not expect.

Through his channellings, which are pieces of unscripted oration to rival the best I’ve ever heard, he speaks about issues which confront us all. The big questions of life.

The huge questions of life.

And he does so with wisdom, compassion, and relevance.

Lee Carroll is a rock star.

And the interview he provided for my film was fabulous.

From the PGS film perspective, the trip out here has been very worthwhile. Not only was the interview with Mr. Carroll spectacular, but I also got some wonderful footage up at Utopia with the aboriginal people there – and as well I made some contacts for future filming in the US.

The Retreat finished this evening, which coincided with the World Cup semi final, with Australia playing India. It’s a testament to how seriously I’ve taken this Retreat that I didn’t stay back in my room and watch the game. Instead, during the evening’s events, I kept peaking at my iPhone to check the scores.

(We won, convincingly.)

One of the biggest surprises I’ve had during this time here is that before I came here, I had no idea how strongly I would be affected by Uluru.

Prior to coming here, I thought it was just a gigantic rock in the desert.

But it’s more than that.
Much more.
Much much more.

I think it will resonate with me for a very long time…

My day started early this morning – 5:30am.

I woke up, and realised that Jennifer would probably sleep till 11am if she was undisturbed. And 10:30am if she was disturbed.

Not wanting to kick my heels in a darkened hotel room for some 5 hours or more, I decided to head out to catch sunrise over the Olgas.

I got to the Park Ranger Station leading into the Uluru National Park, and there were two cops there doing a random breath testing.

And it was just on 6am, and still dark!

Looking around, hoping there was a film crew shooting it all for RBT (a reality tv show in Australia that I’m addicted to) – and disappointed to see there wasn’t, I submitted to the breath testing somewhat churlishly.

I had cleaned my teeth fifteen minutes earlier, and wondered if there was any alcohol in Colgates Whiter than White. Fortunately there wasn’t, and they let me through.

Anyone who has read my book, PHOTO CAMINO knows that good shootable light at sunrise is fleeting, compared to good shootable light at sunset, which tends to last longer.

I didn’t want to go to Uluru again, so I headed to The Olgas, a line of bulbous stone rocks about 40kms from Uluru.

I had to move fast though, because the sun was already rising, and there was a layer of high cloud over most of the sky.

Part way I stopped and got a distant shot of Uluru –

And then kept driving towards The Olgas.

I climbed a ridge some distance away, but by this time the light was pretty boring – the sun had risen into a band of high cloud, but I still took some shots.

I raced back to wake up Jennifer – who would have slept till 11am if undisturbed – and at 9am we attended the second day of the Kryon Consciousness Retreat.

There were people lined up out the door to get a seat.

This guy is hugely popular. There are people attending this retreat that have come from 23 different countries. Some follow Lee Carroll around the world attending his events, like groupies following a rock star.

I can see why.

We walked in, and immediately stepped into a meditation that was accompanied by two didgeridoo players. The two players, working in harmony and at times out of harmonic, created a sound that took the top of your head off.

Mesmerising, and profoundly a product of their land, and their unique and ageless culture.

Sorry I have no photos to accompany this, but photos were not allowed.

After the session I did the interview with Lee.

He was incredible. Articulate, smart, and on the button with intuition. He will be an important part of the film. A great interview.

I then did another interview with a wonderful Chinese doctor – Grace Moy O’Brien – (yes it doesn’t appear to be a Chinese name, but she was born in Penang, in Malaysia.) She talked eloquently about the chakra  system, and energies within the body that Western medicine is yet to formally acknowledge, yet Chinese medicine has worked with for centuries.

This evening we were invited to have our energetic imprints scanned by a new machine only recently brought into this country. I will write a separate post about it later, because it’s amazing, and what Doug Strandly and Grace are doing will revolutionise conventional medical thought.

They scanned both Jennifer and myself, and as I say I will write more in depth on this in a separate post, but I just wanted to report that the machine, amongst other things, measures chakras. It measures the energetic level of each chakra – the “size” of the chakra – and the alignment.

Jennifer’s chakras were strong and healthy, and got very many murmurs of admiration from Doug and Grace – particularly as they were mostly all in perfect alignment.

Then they did my scan, and showed me my chakras.

Mine were friggin’ HUGE!

Now, I know this is not a competition, right? And I am a mature dignified bloke with grey hair (or white as Jennifer cruelly described it this morning, after she had woken) however my chakras were bigger than hers!

Let me repeat that in caps:

MY CHAKRAS WERE BIGGER THAN JENNIFER’S.

Yes, mine were out of alignment a bit. In fact one was almost off the chart, but I’m not fussed about a straying chakra. A couple of shoulder stands will fix that.

Those who had previously murmured in appreciation at Jennifer’s chakras were now gasping in wonderment at mine!

Seriously, this machine is something else. I lost a filling in my upper left tooth. No-one knew about it, not even Jennifer.

It showed up on this scan.

Early night tonight because we want to walk the Base Track around Uluru at sunrise tomorrow morning.

If I can wake Jennifer up, that is…

I took no photos today – which is unusual for me.

I spent half the day in a large conference hall with some 400 hundred others listening to Lee Carroll – and his channelling entity, Kryon.

It was truly fascinating.

If you listen to any of Kryon’s audio tapes – his seminars and his channellings – the entity that is Kryon is an extraordinary orator. A deep rich resonate voice, as if it comes from the very heart of the Cosmos itself.

Meeting Lee Carroll today – the physical “partner” of Kryon – he looks like a primary school teacher. Or a cinephile attending a film festival. The man who channels Kryon looks nothing like the voice of this cosmic guru.

I had tried to line up an interview with Lee Carroll, nee Kryon, prior to coming to Uluru. I was told politely it was not possible. He would be too busy.

Today in a break in the seminar I walked straight up to him, introduced myself, told him what I was doing, and he immediately agreed to an interview tomorrow.

I’m thrilled.

Because this guy is a big deal. Within the world of the Weird & Whacky, he’s a big deal. I’m in no way being derogatory when I say that – he would probably use that term himself – because Lee Carroll is a very down to earth guy.

But what Kryon is saying is important, and it’s shifting consciousness on a global scale.

I don’t say that lightly.
I believe it.

I’m thrilled that he’s agreed to be interviewed for the film, because I have heard some of Kryon’s views on intuition, and they are informed by science, yet they are deeply spiritual.

What did he talk about today? He talked about the Creation Stories of the traditional landowners of Uluru, and how they coincide almost exactly with channellings of Kryon done many years ago. I won’t go into detail here – if you’re interested, go onto Kryon’s website.

http://www.kryon.com

This evening we saw a film made several years ago, centering on one of the main traditional landowners of Uluru, Dr. Bob Randall. The film is called Kanyini – and it can be viewed on YouTube.

I regard it as one of the most powerful film’s I’ve seen on the Australian aboriginal people.

Tomorrow the seminar continues – then I have the interview with Lee Carroll, which should be fascinating – then Jennifer and I do the 11km Base Walk around Uluru.

Another big day at the spiritual heart of Australia…

(No Peter Landers, it’s NOT the MCG!)

A shorter drive today – about 460kms, or nearly 300mls.

Driving out of Alice, I was struck once again by the beauty of the place – and how accurately the aboriginal artists depict the textures of the land and vegetation.

To get to Uluru you have to drive about 260kms off the main highway. I stopped to take a shot of a truck being loaded with gravel.

About 100kms from Uluru, we saw it in the far distance. Even that far away, you could feel its power and spiritual energy.

Small hills masked the rock until I got closer, and then it revealed around a bend in the road. In the distance still, but again its power was palpable.

Let me just say: I’ve been fortunate during my life to see some of the great wonders of the world – the Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon, the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza, Angkor Wat, the Cathedral of Notre Dame –

And there’s one thing I’ve observed; that on first sighting one of these wonders, I’ve been shocked, truly shocked, at how magnificent they are.

Why?

Because I’d grown up with a familiarity to these icons. You see them constantly in travel posters, on the covers of books and magazines, in documentaries – and after a while you begin to feel blasé.

You feel a certain familiarity.

I had no real desire to see the Taj Mahal for instance. I felt I’d already seen it, because I had seen it thousands of times, although not in real life. And then while I was working in Delhi I had an opportunity to take my wife there on our thirtieth wedding anniversary.

I remember first seeing the Taj Mahal, and being electrified at how beautiful it was. It was just like all the pictures I’d seen of it, but being there in person was something else.

That’s how I felt today at Uluru.

I’ve never had any real desire to go to Uluru. Like with the Taj Mahal, I’ve seen so many images of it, the thought of actually going into Central Australia to see it for real was kind of boring. There are other better ways for me to spend my time. And really, if it wasn’t for this Consciousness Retreat tomorrow, I would never have come all the way out here.

But today, when I drove around the bend and there it was in front of me, I was stunned at just how magnificent it was. No pictures can ever fully give you that experience – a profoundly spiritual experience – of seeing Uluru at sunset.

In its own way, it is a cathedral. An important energetic nodal point. There are stories within that rock that go back millennia. It is truly a sacred place.

Here are some shots I dashed off. I tried really hard not to take any tourist shots – the kind of shots we’ve seen a thousand times – but hey, I got suckered in. It’s really hard not to take tourist shots of this magnificent beast of a rock…

Tomorrow, work schedule allowing, Jennifer and I will do a 11km walk around the base of the rock. I’ll take my camera, and try really hard not to take any tourist shots!