Yom Kippur day, our departure from Heron Island flying to Sydney and breaking the fast

One of the families we met on Heron Island were The Clarke's - Rodney, Penny, Daniel and William.  You can read about the entire family on the above link.

We met and became friends because I was moved to tears as I watch Daniel age 19 (who has cerebral palsy) and William age 17 give a presentation about their cause, which is to SAVE THE ORANGUTAN'S of Borneo and Sumatra. At least this is where we first met Daniel, William, Penny and Rodney

Here are a few things Daniel and William have achieved following their visit to the jungles of Borneo in 2008 when Daniel was 12 and William 10:

• Self published authoress of the Best Selling Australian book "Tears In The Jungle" - a children's adventure to save the orangutan
• Raised over $785,000.00 to save the orangutan - there goal is $1 MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!
• Sponsored over 108,000 acres of orangutan habitat in Borneo
• Presented to 48 schools and events across Australia on the problems facing the orangutan (around 28,000 people)
• Awarded the NSW & National Pride of Australia Medal, Environment Category 2012 and the Pride of Australia "People's Choice" Award 2012
• Received International conservation award from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) "Young Campaigners"
• Featured in ABC's Australian Story, March 2012
• Received a letter from President Barack Obama in recognition for their efforts to save the Orangutan.
•  Their book was the inspiration for a song written and sung by Australian rock band, INXS it's called 'Tears In The Rain"

DID YOU KNOW?

1. Orangutans share 97% of our DNA?
2. The female orangutan only has ONE baby every NINE (9) YEARS!
3. The orangutan baby stays with its mother for SEVEN (7) YEARS!
4. An adult orangutan has the strength of TEN (10) men
5. Orangutans can live up 40 to 55 years in the wild and 50 to 60 years in captivity

Orangutans MAY BE EXTINCT within 5 to 10 years!

 WHY?  PALM OIL!!!   The industry is linked to major issues such as deforestation, habitat degradation, climate change, animal cruelty and indigenous rights abuses in the countries where it is produced, as the land and forests must be cleared for the development of the oil palm plantations. 

This single vegetable oil is found in approximately 40-50% of household products in countries such as United States, Canada, Australia and England. Palm oil can be present in a wide variety of products, including: baked goods, confectionery, shampoo, cosmetics, cleaning agents, washing detergents and toothpaste.

What can YOU do?  #1) Do NOT buy anything made with Palm Oil, unless it is sustainable Palm Oil.  #2)Write to companies using Palm Oil.  Tell them to either change to another type of oil OR use ONLY sustainably grown Palm Oil.  #3) Adopt an Orangutan or make a donation!

Rodney is a 5 time Ice Dance Champion (Junior/Senior) and represented Australia in the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary in Ice Dancing (20th in the World).

Penny started figure skating at age of 10 as a solo figure skater and then turned to ice dancing and by 19 was the 1981 Australian National Ice Dance Champion.  Read about her life and how Daniel got Cerebral Palsy in the link above.

I was so inspired and totally blown away by Penny and Daniel.  Penny took Daniel everywhere and he did everything.  Penny picked him up out of his wheel chair helped walk him down a set of stairs to help him put on his wetsuit so he could snorkel with the black tip sharks.  Another afternoon I was heading to the east side of the island when I met the Clarke's and they invited me and Beth to snorkeled with the sting rays, etc on the west side.  I enjoyed being with Daniel.  It helped that his passion in sports is the NBA.  His favorite player is Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.  So we spent quite a bit of time talking basketball.

We were also moved by another family Jason Sayre and his wife Allison along with 5 kids. He works for BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (think coal).  I love his job title Execution Superintendent Major Shutdown.  I think he oversees the shutdown of old coal mines?

In any case our first experience with them was when we were eating lunch and Jason was just relaxing playing his Ukulele while his kids played in the pool.  When a few coke's arrived the kids took time to thank their parents for the cokes and go on the think them for taking them on this wonderful vacation. Both of us were crying……it blew us away to see how much these kids loved their parents, how much they appreciated everything their parents did for them…it was incredible to watch and experience. So naturally we told them how moved we were by their family and we became friends.  It must have been meant to be a 2 of the 5:30 am mornings that I could not sleep and went to see the sun rise…..Jason happened to be there to. 

Today we depart, all while I am on my Yom Kippur fast.  First is our departure from the island for our 2 hour boat ride to Gladestone…..sad to be leaving Heron Island…..hope to come back some day!

So after arriving in Gladestone we took the bus to the airport and caught our flights - Gladestone to Brisbane to Sydney.  It was nice to travel all the way to Sydney with the Clarke.

What was MOST UNIQUE was breaking my 24 hour fast for Yom Kippur.  I had seen the sun rise and set on erev Yom Kippur and the sun rise today, Yom Kippur day.  Now I am at 35,000 feet watching the sun set…..it was the closes I ever have been to G-D on Yom Kipper.  I might also reconsider my break fast at home.  I broke my fast on the plane with 2 FREE beers and peanuts (Qantas provides free beers for flights that depart between 5pm and 7 pm)  It was refreshing, I loved it.

We arrive in Sydney and walked our luggage over to the Stamford hotel…nothing to write home about just a airport hotel!