The day broke on a glorious spring morning, with the beautiful Barossa Valley spread out below.
From my vantage spot I could see the gunmetal grey sprinklers spring into life across the winery closest to me. The water created little rainbows across the vineyards.

I had been to this very spot many times in my dreams but this was somehow more intense. I felt that I was going to learn something important here today.

Watching and waiting for something to happen, I spied the backpackers walking two abreast, seemingly deep in conversation, leaving the brightly coloured accommodation huts and meandering down the track to the vineyard; to commence picking for the day. The huts were fairly old, so the farmer gave the backpackers paint and allowed then to decorate the huts, in any way they saw fit. This included street art or graffiti art, as long as there were no obscenities or " tagging". He was a good boss old Costos and paid his workers a fair wage for a good days work.

I seemed to be rooted to the spot, as if I knew something wonderful was about to unfold.

The grapes were so full of juice they looked as if they might burst any moment and indeed they did. As I spied from my hiding place, I watched a young man reach for a bunch of red grapes. How he laughed as the grapes burst and exploded, leaving him with a "strawberry wine birthmark" on his already tanned face. The surprise on his face made me laugh along with him.

He looked around, with wonder. It was almost as though he could hear me laughing, but that wasn't possible because this was a dream and I wasn't actually there, I was watching from outside the dream.

Strangely, an ochre coloured dust storm, started to gather in the east. How was that possible on such a beautiful, sunny day? There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Nor was there any wind. All was still, except for this dust storm, which was gathering momentum and growing in size as it drew nearer still.

All at once the red dust flew upwards and outwards as if to make a screen. The dust swirled and eddied and changed shape from a flat sheet, to a three dimensional figure.

And there it was! I could see in the earthy dust, a figure, slowly taking form and shape.....
And I gasped, tears streaming down my face, grief shuddering through my very core.

It was an epiphany, dressed in her favourite coloured forest green jumper and jeans. It was my beautiful sister Chrissy. She was shouting to me. I panicked, I couldn't hear her, so I tried to stand up. The image started to fade and Chrissy held up her hand, as if to tell me to sit back down, so I obliged, mesmerised.

Once again the image became clear. Chrissy was smiling her cheeky, beautiful smile and she started to talk to me. I could hear her clearly now.

"I was too young to leave you all" she smiled sadly. "I know you all miss me terribly, even though I've been gone for eight years today; but I'm happy enough. I have my Mum and Paddy Joe to keep me company. I've watched my grandchildren being born and growing up. I wish I'd met them, and I have in a way. They know me from photos and stories and I watch over them every day. Tell Jaime I'm so proud of her. She's an amazing mother, wife and daughter and she grows more beautiful every day."

The tears started to flow again, hot and salty on my cheeks. "My darling Marie. Don't cry, we will be together again one day. In the blink of an eye we are gone and when our time on earth is done we can start a new life up here," Chrissy promised.

She lifted both of her hands, palms upwards to signify her surroundings, that I couldn't see.

" Please tell Jonno that I love him so much and miss him terribly. Also that he has turned into the wonderful man, I wanted him to become. I'm proud of his achievements and he is so talented in his work."

"Tell John I'm happy that he found love a second time. I'm so glad that he's not alone and he has a wonderful, kind and loving wife, to keep him warm on cold nights. He was too young to be alone forever," Chrissy continued.

"Marie........."

"Yes", I held my head high, to take the image of her in fully, she was as beautiful as when she was a girl of sixteen. "Don't cry for me, be happy and I'm saving a spot next to me for you so that one day, we can be as thick as thieves once again." She laughed, that tinkling, beautiful sound I'd missed so much but could never forget.

Suddenly I remembered that I was dreaming and I was sitting on this craggy grey rock waiting for a message. "What did you want to tell me?" I enquired. The image was starting to fade. "Don't go Chrissy, please stay." I remembered begging with these same words eight years ago.

"It's okay." Chrissy replied, fading faster." I just wanted you to know, that when John scattered my ashes over the Valley, from the hot air balloon, this is where my heart landed. You are sitting exactly in that place, where the dust from my stilled heart settled." Her silhouette was all that remained now and I knew that any second she would be gone, again.

" Goodbye once more, my darling sister," she whispered softly, fading now, until there was just a tiny cloud right above my head. "Goodbye Chrissy, 'til we meet again one day. I love you and miss you always."

"I love you too," she whispered quietly and then faded away completely.

I was bereft, the tears sprang forth and I thought they would never stop. Then I looked out over the valley and knew that she was here and always would be. At rest, pain free and watching over us all. A rainbow stretched from one side of the Barossa Valley to the other.

'How bizarre,' I thought, ' it hasn't even rained today.' Then I remembered that Chrissy loved rainbows and she had sent this message to me, to us...

" If you see a rainbow I will be holding one end in my hand, and you will know that I am watching over you, and you are safe."

I stole one last look over the Barossa Valley, taking in all the shades of green and the patchwork shapes of the vineyards and farms. There were a myriad of shades and hues in every direction.

Looking down, I realised that the rock I was sitting on, was now earthy red, and I realised.
This is the spot which holds Chrissy's heart and I smiled. A deep, sense of relaxation and comfort washed over me.

As I rolled over and opened my eyes, I thought wow, what a powerful dream!

It was a dream wasn't it?