Only 24 hours left of our time in Israel.

Had another boat ride on Lake Galilee. Same blue-green lake. Same sunny calm morning. Different boat.

Instead of creating a quiet, reflective space, they played loud Christian music as we rode along. I respond more naturally to calm and quiet than loud music. So it had a very different impact on me.

One of the reasons why we joined this tour was for doing lots of walking in the Galilean countryside. But it hasn’t quite worked out that way.  There hasn’t been nearly as much walking as I’d hoped. Despite being one of the oldest in the group, both Philip and I leave them way behind when we do go on walks. And I don’t think we’re fast walkers. They also enjoy shopping at gift shops and drinking at cafes more than we do. So that part of our trip has been a bit disappointing.

The best and most fun walk that I did do was the challenging one I did myself on Mt Arbell the other day – down the cliffs to the caves and the fortress. By the way, next day I had sore pectoral muscles in my chest from hauling myself up the cliff from that one. So I still had my fun!

But I can’t speak highly enough of our first tour with Oak Hall.  I highly recommend them for their professionalism and tight organisational management. We found it fun, fascinating and very interesting. Learnt so much. The people who run it, run it very well. And we enjoyed the people on the tour. From so many different backgrounds.

After the boat ride on Galilee, we did a short walk to Magdala. Which is a recent archaeological dig near where they found the 2,000 year old “Jesus boat”. They are still working on the digs. But not today. They’ve uncovered a synagogue and houses and a marketplace.

Mary Magdalene was from Magdala. Her name means Mary from Magdala. Jesus would have travelled through this town when he went from Nazareth to Capernaum. It was the normal route. He may even have been to that synagogue. Although there’s no mention of that in the Bible.

This is how they sift through the rubble at a site. Long, back-breaking, painstaking work.

The Catholics own the land of this archaeological site and they’re developing it. They’ve already built a beautiful chapel. Right on the edge of Lake Galilee.

They have a boat sculpture at the front of the chapel and it looks like the boat is floating on the Lake. A beautiful contemporary chapel that is one of those places where it’s easy to focus on and worship God.

Because we didn’t do much today, I’ll post some photos I took of flowers on the walk we did!

Then it was back on the road. Back down south to Jerusalem. Following the Jordan River Valley with the country of Jordan on the other side of the river. Back through the barren Judean wilderness. Back up to Jerusalem.

It was interesting to listen to the guide as we drove along. He’s a Jewish Christian. A very tiny minority in his country. But it was encouraging to also hear him say that there’s room in Israel for everyone. Not to divide and partition the land. But to learn to compromise and get on with everyone. We have to all stop saying that “we have it right”. Or that “we have got the right”. Everyone has to stop saying that, he said. The Jews. The Palestinians. The Christians. We have to listen to each other and work out compromises.

A complicated, complex and multi-layered land with so many issues. And no quick fixes.

We’re here overnight in Jerusalem. Not far from the Old City. It’s Sabbath today so the streets are quieter. We’re planning on having a quiet morning tomorrow on our own. Probably wander through the Old City a bit. And then it will be time to take off to the airport.

And back home. We’re ready to go home. More than ready. It’s a sign of a great holiday when you’ve had a wonderful time. Thoroughly enjoyed yourself. Learnt many new things and concepts. Thought deeply about lots of things. Been changed in the process. It’s time to turn our faces towards home. And we’re really looking forward to that.