And more months have slipped away ...  No wonder!  It's been so busy. Right now I'm in Brisbane, staying at my son Nick's home, and the weather is the typical Queensland "Beautiful today, perfect ..."  - you all know the rest. But it's true.

I've been here not only for family catch-up, but mainly as a delegate to the three-yearly Synod of the Lutheran Church - an intense week of meetings, dialogues, debates which were strenuous, perturbing, disappointing, but ultimately hopeful for the future. Bis issue, of course, the ordination of women. So close a vote: about 64% in favour, but not quite the mandatory two-thirds. Just another 13 votes need from a group of 423 delegates!! Next time round, surely!

But another big part of this trip for me was a Queensland launch of Bystanders during Synod, which was a lovely experience. Almost 150 people came to the launch, with its great wines (donated by a most generous group of Barossa Valley winemakers, a group that does a lot of combined things under their title of 'Lutheran Winemakers - and, believe me, I'm grateful to them.) We'd carried the wines on the four day drive from Adelaide to Brisbane without any misadventure, as well as books, etc etc. A long slow but very pleasant trip. Stephen Rudolph, National Director of Lutheran Education Australia launched the book again at this event with lovely commendations, and sales have been good throughout the week.

Also on the Bystanders front, I was delighted by the wonderful review by Peter Pierce that appeared first in the Sydney Morning Herald, then the Canberra Times. I've been told it was also in the Melbourne Age, so am zealously hunting it there.

But, almost pack-up time here, and tomorrow we start the trek south again. However, it's OK  - I hear the weather there is just as good!