This year Govindas Catering had a few extra challenges than we normally do. We had some major troubles with our truck; Sevamrita dasa went missing one night, only to be found in hospital the next day; and we lost two of our team members to other activities half way through our trip – as well as a few other minor mishaps.
But we soldiered on and all the festivals were successful. We even managed to cater at a new type of festival aimed at trying to raise the consciousness through the use of drugs and dance music! It was the type of event that we don’t usually cater at, but it seems like we might be covering more of this type in the future because there were many sincere searching souls who received prasadam to genuinely raise the consciousness.
We started our five-week trip in Agnes Water, at the end of May,
then we moved to Townsville where we catered at two festivals and then onto Cooktown to finish the tour by June end.
We were fortunate to meet many amazing people and visit some beautiful places, too. Personally, it was also an opportunity to visit my family and old friends as I grew up in North Queensland, but it is always nice to come home to New Govardhana. There is no place like it!
One amazing soul we met was Ingrid. We have seen her for many years at one particular festival, where she would tell us about her cassowary sanctuary. This time she asked us to come and stay there, which we did for one night.
She is quite a special lady, having built her house by herself and has cared for thousands of cassowaries and other wildlife 24 hours a day. Ingrid is implementing government policies to protect endangered species, has raised a family living mostly off the grid, and much more.
But she wanted to know about what we do, so we spent time talking about Krishna conscious philosophy and trading life stories. She is looking forward to visiting the farm some time in the future.
The Govindas Catering tent, masterminded by Krishna Gana dasa, is a replica of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium being constructed in Mayapur, India.
