SHAMBANI REVISITED. By Uncle Monty.

SHAMBANI REVISITED.

Story By Uncle Monty.

Photos By Myrna Hancock

and Alex Albion.

~~~

Standing miles away from nowhere and

full of grace is “Shambani” at what is surely

God’s Big Acre among the Adelaide Hills of

South Australia. To find Shambani is an

adventure all by itself aside from staying

there with my gracious hosts Carl and

Myrna Hancock and their nurse-trained
daughter Rosiland and their gym trainer

son-in-law Perry.

~~~
Myrna Hancock With Her Beloved Horses.

~~~

Dare I also mention their host of beloved pets

from fine horses to friendly dogs to curled-up

cats along with even passing families of brick-

red kangaroos from time to time at the 50-acre

Hancock hobby farm or homestead that is more

than 12,000 miles from their native Wales.

To spend human time at Shambani is like

having one’s soul and body and mind re-

stored to its former health and glory and
everlasting joy. And whoever said there is
no paradise on earth, surely must have

never laid their open eyes upon such an

expansive and wonderful place called

Shambani like I did.
~~~
View of The Hancocks Home at Shambani.

~~~

Powered by solar engery panels, Shambani is a

self-contained and isolated oasis from the buzz

and hub of the noisy and clamorous world out-

side. Carl and Myrna do their shopping just

once a week at the nearest town of Mount

Barker at where the intially greeted me upon

my first arrival via Firefly coach after my 12-

hour ride to get to Shambani from Melbourne.

When they go to Adelaide itself some 25 miles

away they drive and park their car outside the

city and then hitch a local bus ride to the down-

town territory capital of South Australia that is
Adelaide. Their daughter and son-in-law

work there and commute to and from

Shambani during their week days.
~~~

Shambani landowners Carl and Myrna Hancock.

~~~

For me, Shambani was such a nice surprise

since I had no real idea of what kind of home The

Hancocks had invited me to stay at. I assumed it
would be a regular size house and not one with

more than 12 nicely spacious and well-appointed

rooms and furnished with many personal mom-

entoes of their family upbringing back in Wales,
of their professional standing in Africa, and of

their happy retirement life at Down Under.

Nor did I expect by far to gaze upon such a

vast amount of Aussie farmland of their’s that

is bigger than London’s Covent Garden itself

or beyond the size of The French Market at

Louisiana's New Orleans. Plus, never did I

expect to be completely encircled by their

delightful pets who are treated with the

love and care of “All Things

Great and Small.”
~~~
Uncle Monty at the garden shed with

Shambani's co-owner Carl Hancock.

~~~
I felt truly blessed to be a part of the peace,

quiet and human decency of Shambani, if only

for all too short a time at these ever closing years

of my own worldly yet unworthy and unremarkable
life. What Carl and Myrna Hancock have personally
achieved, I couldn’t even come close to. Thus to

briefly share in their achievement that Shambani

so clearly represents of both of them, and is also

an honest and living testimony of their good and

Godly character, then I have been truly

privileged to dwell with them and their

goodness for one brief shining moment

at Shambani. No wonder I didn't want

to leave for my heart is still there.
~~~

Uncle Monty Horse Petting At Shambani.

~~~

Myrna and Carl at morning breakfast.
~~~
Myrna and Carl at their Shambani
Computer/Library Room.
~~~
Uncle Monty Saying Goodbye To Shambani.
~~~
Now far, far, far, away from Shambani, I
send my deepest Christmas greetings to
Myrna, Carl, Rosiland, Perry, and all of the
Hancock pets and even to those passing
families of brick-red kangaroos just days
from Christmas Day itself. And wishing
for myself, too, that I may again one
day return and bathe in my joy
and love of Shambani.
~~~
So Christmas here we come, Uncle Monty.
+Shortest Day of the Year, 2oo8.
~~~