SOS Walk from Sydney to Brisbane: from the Diary of an Australian Practitioner

Day 14 (Thursday 14/9/01) Johns River to Lake Cathie

We went to the office of Mr. Robert Oakshott, MP to let him know about our Walk and its purpose. He was not in the office. We talked to his secretary who seemed to know very little about Falun Dafa, so we told her the purpose of our Walk and then asked if she had time to look at some pictures. She said that she didn't have the time as a person was waiting to be served by her. We then started to talk about our personal experiences in China, how each one of us got arrested and detained and suffered when we went to China to validate the Fa. As she was listening, she rose from her chair and stood up. The person waiting also moved over and joined our conversation. We left a message for Mr. Oakshott requesting him to vote for any resolutions concerning human rights and the Falun Dafa issue if one came up, and, if he had time, to write a letter of support for us to the Minister of Foreign Affairs asking the Australian government to uphold human rights.

When we took a rest in the afternoon, a car stopped behind us. A woman stepped out of the car and said that she wanted to take a photo of us. She gladly shook hands with each one of us. She told us that she was a freelance reporter for a local weekly newspaper called Camden Haven Courier. She would write about our Walk in the paper and mail a copy to us. She also took a picture with us before she left.

As we were putting SOS newsletters into the mailboxes, another car stopped near us. We walked to the car and handed the driver a newsletter. After exchanging greetings, the man said with sincerity, "I know you are good people." His kind words caught us by surprise. For a moment, we were speechless and just looked at him.

When we were crossing a road, a car came by and stopped. The driver got off the car and offered us a donation. He had learned about our Walk on the radio. Two radio stations in Port Macquarie broadcasted news of our Walk three times a day. He wished us success and good luck.

Day 15 (Saturday 15/9/01) - Lake Cathie to Telegraph Point

A fellow practitioner came last night from Canberra and joined our walk this morning. She was prepared to stay with us until we reached Brisbane.

Some fellow practitioners also arrived last night for today's Falun Dafa day at Port Macquarie, and still more came today to take part in the activities. Some went to some nearby towns to hand out flyers. Some spread the Fa at Port Macquarie. When we reached Port Macquarie in the afternoon, the fellow practitioners and some residents warmly welcomed us. We demonstrated the five sets of exercises for an hour and then continued on our journey.

When we were about to study the Fa after dinner, David, a western practitioner, appeared at the door. He told us that as he was driving home after the Hongfa activities at Port Macquarie, the human side wanted to go home but the enlightened side wanted him to stay, so he returned to Port Macquarie to stay one night with us. He came down from the Gold Coast.

The next morning at 6am, David and Kevin went to meet three people to teach them Dafa exercises. One of them already learned the meditation exercise yesterday. She could meditate for an hour at the very beginning. She had studied Yoga for a long time and could only meditate for half an hour previously. This morning after she learned the other four exercises, there were tears in her eyes. She felt a strong energy flow in her body and had a good feeling. She got from David a videotape teaching the exercises, a cassette tape for doing the exercises and Zhuan Falun. She said that she wanted to set up a practice site at Port Macquarie. The three exchanged phone numbers. She told Kevin that yesterday there was a voice telling her to go out, and that's how she got our SOS newsletter in the street. Then there seemed to be a force guiding her to the place where we did demonstrations. David finally said, "I understand now why I came all the way down here."

Day 16 (Sunday 16/9/01) - Telegraph Point to Frederickton

As we were walking along the road, we saw on the opposite side of the road a mother with some children. One child riding a bicycle came over and gave a high-five to one walker. Another walker behind handed him an SOS newsletter, which he gladly accepted. His mother on the other side of the road shouted that they walked everyday but didn't walk as well as we did. The children all had their thumbs up.

At the caravan park where we stayed tonight, a man insisted on donating three dollars to us. He had some disabilities in speech and hearing. He uttered one sentence and could not say another one. Then he used hand gestures to express himself. After we told him we could not accept the donation, he put the money into one of the boxes in our van. Then he walked to the gas tank of the van and pointed at it, meaning that we needed money for petrol. We could feel his kind heart and all of us were touched.

Day 17 (Monday 17/9/01) - Frederickton to Eungai Creek

A woman hugged each one of us as soon as we arrived at a park in Kempsey at noon to Hongfa. Her warm welcome made some of us think that she was a local fellow practitioner. In fact, she was just a local resident. She came with her friends to learn Dafa. They immediately learned the exercises. After that, they sat down and chatted with us. They were very excited about Falun Dafa's principles of Truth, Compassion and Forbearance. They realised the importance of these principles to mankind. They asked for more SOS newsletters to give to their relatives and friends. They had the intention of setting up a practice site in Kempsey. While we were chatting, another local resident joined us and showed great interest in learning Dafa. She lives on the opposite side of the park. They exchanged phone numbers and were very excited. The enthusiasm they showed towards Falun Dafa was tremendous. This gave us great encouragement in our walk.

As we were walking, a journalist came to take pictures and interviewed us. The name of the newspaper was The Macleay Argus, Kempsey, and it is a weekly newspaper that is published every Monday. The journalist, Sue Patrick, wrote about the persecution of Falun Dafa in China as we spoke to her. She told us that her colleague had seen us walking and asked her to come to interview us.

An ABC radio station in Kempsey interviewed us on the phone for about 7 to 8 minutes. We also went to the office of Mr. Andrew Stoner and the office of Kempsey's mayor to let as many people as possible know about our Walk.