Gembrook

Last weekend Peter and Gord stayed two nights at the Gembrook Retreat, where they started a carpentry project. Barb and Bec with Piper and Jasper, stayed in Melbourne for some mother and daughter time.

The Gembrook Retreat is a project in progress. Most people who visit and stay at present are there as workers, bringing the place up to a 'retreat' standard. Steve and Jane, and their children, live there and are Quakers. They see this place as their ministry for city people who are searching for a 'space' to rejuvenate their spirits. The panorama shows the majestic vantage point the place has.

Steve, Gord and Peter constructed new internal walls. These walls will be trimmed and insulated by others the following weekend. This was a blessing both ways, because needed rooms were made and the workers gained skills through the challenge.




Gembrook Retreat is five minutes drive out of the town of Gembrook and overlooks a small valley with natural eucalypt growth, and over a few ridges further on is the Bunyip State Forrest. As well as the native flora, there is an large chestnut orchard that produces a massive crop each year and there are numerous deciduous fruit trees, planted by the previous owners. In the Autumn the colours are breathtaking as the picture shows.