A big day – Cristo Rae, Remixio and Resistance- Wednesday 2 July

By Eva & Lulu

Another big day in Timor that started with a very early morning. Waking up at 5am, we we’re picked up for a magnificent sunrise walk up to Cristo Rae a gift from Indonesia celebrating Timors independence. We all sat on a Rocky Mountain taking lots of photos of the beautiful sunrise and watching the waves crash on the shore from a far.

As we made our way down the mountain, we began to walk along a road by the beach, watching Timor wake up. We walked past fishermen and runners who were beginning their day. This delight of a morning continued as we made our way back to the troopies.

Although it was an early start, everyone was thrilled to continue the day’s activities embracing as many experiences as they could in Timor Leste. 

After showers and breakfast we made our ways back to the troopies to travel to the Dare memorial school. We had a little let down when we found out that it was a pupil free day and had to quickly reschedule our day’s activities.

With a short lunch break at the Remixio waterfall, we heard stories and ventured around the beautiful landscape. Learning about the Japanese invasion in World War Two and how willingly the Timorese looked after the Australian soldiers in battle. Many of us felt moved hearing how the Timorese, although called creados (servants) by the Australian soldiers,were thought of as family and friends. Many built relationships that would last a lifetime in just twelve months.

We learnt that although many Timorese helped the Australians, during the danger of invasion, they were rejected transport on the boat back to Australia purely because they were black.  

We followed the afternoon with a trip to Santa Cruz cemetery where we visited and paid our respects to the grave of Sebastian Gomez and Max Stahl. Learning about the peace protests and the massacre by the Indonesian army.

After this we travelled to the Resistance museum where we read stories and saw artefacts of clothing worn by the brave soldiers of Timor. This adventure lead us to reflect on our history and brought up many emotions. 

Overall, our day was filled with both tears and laughter as everyone bonded over the stories of events of the past, reflecting on how to change the future. As we venture into the last full day in Timor, many of us will hold stories that will last a lifetime.