Monsignor John Cyril Hawes

We had a really rushed and early start this morning as the call of nature was urgent and crucial and we needed to get to town which was 15mins away from our tent. When we got to the toilets at 7.09am, it was locked eventhough it was meant to be open at 7am. The urgency became a crisis by this stage. We raced by car to the caravan park and snuck in to use their lavatory only to find that the locked door needed a combination of which we did not have. Fortunately when we ran to the other door, someone had left the door ajar.
Crisis averted.
We were about to set up our camp stove to cook breakfast and make coffee to restart our morning with less stress when the skies opened and wind drove the rain into the shelter at the park. There was a marquee set up for the festival and I thought to take our things to set up in there only to find that all chairs and tables were put away for the night before and not set up yet. The lady in the canteen spotted me checking out the marquee and asked if she could help. She so kindly offered us hot water for our coffees and told us that the only breakfast place was the servo (petrol station) and that we were not to go there.
We settled for muesli with yoghurt eaten in the car.
There was a break in the rain, so we got out of the car and made soft boiled eggs in our jet boil set up in the boot of our car. The eggs turned out hard boiled but that went well with avocado and bread, all in a bowl. True camping breakfast.
As we were too early for the talk we tried to drive up to the waterfall but the track was so boggy we didn't get to it. We later heard from the town folk that someone had been stranded there.

We attended a very comprehensive Monsignor Hawes talk followed by a walk to Our Lady of Carmel and a tour of the church and the priest house.
Monsignor Hawes was a very clever, talented and spiritual man. He was Anglican and graduated as an architect in the 1920s. In his early years, he designed churches in the UK and Bahamas. He even designed a beach house at Portsea where 3 brothers wanted sea views so he made it such that each brother had to take turns having the 3rd floor as that was the only one with seaviews.
Monsignor Hawes became Catholic few years later and went to Rome to be ordained where he met the Bishop Kelly of Geraldton. Kelly asked Fr Hawes to return to Geraldton with him to design and build a cathedral.
Unfortunately due to the premature death of Bishop Kelly, the new Bishop did not countinue funding the half built cathedral and sent Monsignor Hawes away to Mullewa as he did not like the design and would not allow the completion of the Cathedral.
Monsignor Hawes took up the building of a new church in Mullewa instead whilst doing priestly duties through the diocese, travelling 100s of km on horseback to say mass in the neighbouring towns. He funded and built most of the church singlehandedly and completed the church in 7 years. Our Lady of Carmel celebrates her 100th anniversary this year.
Besides an architect, builder of churches and priest, he was also a keen horse breeder and horse racer, winning the Geraldton Cup and the Yalgoo Cup horse races.
Monsignor Hawes decided to move to the Bahamas in 1940s to live in a Hermitage till his death and gave precise instructions on how he was to be buried in the precise direction even the down to the minute detail of his underpants.
Our tour of the church was given by the Kevin ( who Ruby calls Stanley) and Pat ( who Ruby calls Pamela) whom we opportunely met at the Mullewa Sports Club dinner the night before and again with Father Robert O'Brien.
Father O'Brien is very open minded priest and told me that he will hear my confession and give me holy communion if I attended mass tomorrow. That's very special as I have not received communion since 1990s and no priest is willing to give me communion since then.
Our little tent amongst the everlastings is now surrounded by three large caravans. We think they are not venturing further in due to the boggy track conditions. We had to locate a bush clearing away from eyes of caravans and occupants for our small nature calls.Read more