Ballarat Wildlife Park

 Tasmanian Devil

dingos

  emu

 echindna, or spiny anteater

 kookaburra

A kangaroo siesta.

Sunday February 28^th.

We had a leisurely breakfast and then Jen led us to the Ballarat Wildlife Park, where she left us as she had things to do. Canadian Jen and I followed in our cars.

The wildlife park was excellent. There were lots of Australian animals on display and a few from other areas of Asia. There were kangaroos wandering around the you could feed. There were koalas, dingos, emus, Tasmanian devils, echidnas, and tree kangaroos. They also had a reptile pavilion with three salt water crocodiles, a Komodo dragon and an assortment of snakes, lizards and turtles. We spent a couple of hours walking around and enjoying the park and the animals.

About lunch time many of the Canadians wanted to head home, but Carol, Bev, Janice (from Denver) and our guide Joan went for lunch in downtown Ballarat in a nice outdoor cafe. Then Janice drove Carol and Bev back and I decided to go to the gold museum. This is a museum about the history of gold particularly in Australia. I knew I was able to get in for free because our ticket to Sovereign Hill entilted us to go as long as we went within 24 hours. It was a beautiful new museum with lots of displays and artifacts and a gift shop that sold some very expensive things. Then I went back to the wildlife park to enjoy the sunny afternoon.

I left from there about 4:30 and drove back to Melbourne via the toll route which takes you through a very long tunnel that goes under the city to the eastern suburbs. I stopped at my Woolies to pick up the weeks vegetables before getting home by about 7:30. I spent the rest of the night looking at photos and typing. 

Ballarat and Sovereign Hill

 Sovereign Hill, the recreation of the mining town of Ballarat.

 My first koala in the wild.

 Lydiard Street with its 1880's feel.

The couple on either end are our hosts Jen and Tony and the woman in red with Bev and I is also Jen. 

Saturday, February, 27^th.

I got up early, organized and left for Ballarat by 7 am. This is a weekend sponsored by the International Teacher's Association (ITA) which is comprised of past exchange participants who want to support and welcome this year's exchangees. They arrange for some local teachers to billet us in their homes.

I had to drive north to Melbourne and through the city before I picked up the Western Freeway that goes to Ballarat. Once I got out of the city the countryside was attractive, dry and hilly. I arrived by 9, just in time to have breakfast with my hosts Jen and Tony and another Canadian teacher they were hosting, also named Jen. They had been on exchange in 2014 to the Okanagan Valley. We shared some experiences before Jen, Jen and I left for Sovereign Hill. Ballarat was the site of the Australian gold run of the late 1880's and Sovereign Hill is a large outdoor museum and recreation of the town in its heyday during the goldrush. It's like a huge Black Creek Pioneer Village. Whe we got there we meet other Canadian teachers and their hosts. As teachers our admission was free, otherwise a $50 charge! We had an orientation from a teacher who works at the Hill. There are lots of schools who go here to learn about their history and apparently they run overnight trips as well. After that we all wandered off and checked out the buildings, the period shops. I bought some humbug lollies (candies) that reminded me of my grandfather. There were people in costumes who were role playing, including redcoat British soldiers and a community policeman who told us how corrupt they were and how they took advantage of the miners because they received half of every fine they handed out. There was an area where you could pan for gold and go underground to experience what the miners went through.

In the afternoon we called Jen and she came back and got us and took us for drive up a hill in the country that gave us a great view of the surrounding area and where she said we might see a koala. Sure enough we found this one resting in a tree.

Then she drove us downtown to the main street that still has a 1880's feeling to it. The population isabout 100,000. The buildings are beautiful and many have wrought iron lattice work on them. The street is apparently used as a set in many period movies and TV shows. She took us inside of the couple of them including the gold exchange and a hotel.

She drove us to her school where she teaches. It is a really nice school and has an old building and a new one that is very similar to the new one at Caulfield Junior College. It is on right on the shores of Lake Wendouree. After touring the inside of the school we walked across to the lake where they were having championship rowing competitions for schools in the area. The lake is not really big, but has a two kilometre rowing course. It is only six feet deep. As a result it gets very weedy and reedy and they have to mow it with a skiff with a rotating blade! You could see the area where they leave it as a natural wetlands habitat and the reeds stick out of the water by a couple of feet. We were also invited onto a lake paddlewheeler that does dinner cruises on the lake, but we already had plans for dinner.

We drove to a restaurant where we met up with all the Canadian and Australian teachers. We were about 30 strong. We had a couple of drinks and a nice dinner and talked about exchanges for a few hours. After which we returned to Jen and Tony's house where we had a nightcap and talked until eleven before turning in.

School Week 4

 Some left over pictures of last weekend. I have taken no photos for four days!

 My first notice of one of the deadly animals here in Australia.

Sunset on Chelsea Beach.

Monday, February 22^nd.

Rode the bicycle to school on this nice warm morning. The next two weeks are the parent interview weeks. They are called “You tell us” interviews. The idea is the parents come in and tell us anything they deem important for us to know about their child. Claire and I work as a team as we both teach all of the 44 children. She takes notes on her computer and we both listen and answer questions or provide information. The interviews are not about student progress because we have not worked with the children long enough to be able to report accurately about them. We had two interviews before school and three after school.

In between we had our Monday morning assembly outside and the usual classes. There is another new timetable for all the classes of the binome as all of our prep time is directed as either team planning (all the grade 3/4 teachers) or binome planning where the French and English teacher of the grade have time to work and plan together. So now my Friday started with two hours of planning with Claire, followed by two hours of outdoor sport, then lunch. After lunch I see the students for an hour before we go to the computer lab for the last hour.

After the after school interviews I rode home again. It never reached the promised 30 degrees today, so if was quite comfortable riding. Then I went to the store to buy some supplies for dinner and then worked at home before an early bed.

Tuesday, February 23^rd.

I got home this evening after interviews at nine. I rode my bike to school this morning in a nice comfortable 23 degree morning. The temperature climbed to 40 by the afternoon, but it was a drier heat than back home. Carol and I walked to the school to buy an icy pole (popsicle) at lunch, just to experience the heat. It wasn't awful although the icy pole melted quickly. While we were interviewing there was a thunderstorm with strong winds but luckily for me the temperature dropped a bit and the rain stopped by the time I rode home again.

The interviews that are taking place this week and next are designed to be information meetings with the parents where the parents tell us about their child. We have not had them long enough to really say too much about the students yet. The parents here are quite different from back home. On average they seem very educated and very involved parents. It was interesting to listen to them talk about their children. Most families are at least half French, some have both parents French and a few are both English speakers. Everyone spoke English on my behalf. They were all very friendly and most welcomed me to Australia and asked how I was settling in. I told them that I was really enjoying myself and that I felt very comfortable at the school. The staff has been very supportive, the children are wonderful and the community has been very welcoming.

During our team meeting today the VP came in and started up a dialogue about a professional dress code. Boy did that stir the teachers up! They were not happy but I think they sense some direction will be coming down the pipe.

We have 200 hundred minutes of prep but all of it is directed by the principal. I have two 50 minute periods back to back in grade team meetings on Tuesday and two 50 minute periods back to back on Friday morning for team planning with Claire about planning for our 44 kids. There is no prep at all on Monday Wednesday or Thursday, and none where I can do what I want or what I need to do. This is what our last battle back home was about, principal directed prep. From what I hear the union here is pretty toothless and has given away lots of things in recent negotiations. For comparison sake I want to find out more.

Wednesday, February 24^th.

Rode the bike to school again. It was a warm and pleasant morning. Today we rotated classes again and I now have class 4F for the week. They seemed awfully chatting at first but once I gave them the recount assignment they settled down to work quite quickly.

The day went smoothly until we went down for the 160 grade 3/4 singing session. There is one teacher leading them and six teachers doing crowd control. At one point Joel (the young music teacher asked Libby the cagey veteran to pick out the three best singers and have them come up to the stage. She picked three teachers, Carol, An Cecil and me! This put the kids into a frenzy. Yikes, anyone who knows me knows I can't sing. Anyway the whole choir sang including us. I think all three teachers were pretending. Then when Libby had the children close their eyes and vote with their raised hand as to which of the three of us they thought was the best. I told the three of us to turn our backs to the audience to avoid the embarrassment of seeing the vote. “Who thinks Ann Cecil was the best?, pause, who thinks Joe was the best? Oh hell! Who thinks Carol was the best. Okay put your hands down.” Apparently I won in a landslide. Just goes to show that the kids don't know talent when they see it!

After school I rode home in the 30 degree heat and a strong head wind. I was hungry and went to Woolies where I bought a package of seasoned salmon and prawns and came home and cooked them. That was the first time I turned on the stove. Then a lazy evening and early to bed.

Thursday, February 25^th.

I took the train to school today, as my legs are tired and I need a rest. The highlight of the day was that Libby and Carol arranged a treat tea for Anne-Cecile at morning recess, as she has just received permanent resident status here in Australia. Everyone was very happy for her. Most of the French teachers here hope to get their citizenship.

I had a great day with the kids. They are generally very well behaved and there aren't any major issues, just the usual silly, inattentive things. We worked on editing a few written things on the computer and the data display so they could all learn from each other's mistakes. I am trying to train them to help each other proofread and edit their work. Also a productive math class teaching rounding and estimating.

Claire and I had a couple more interviews after school and then I took the train back. It was my first experience with a rush hour train. It was full.

After I ate, I took my book and a towel down to the beach to read for a bit and enjoy the sun, sand and the sound of the surf. It was quite windy and the water was rough, so I read for a while and then returned to the house for the night.

Friday, February, 26^th.

I rode my bicycle to school again today. It was a beautiful warm sunny day. Claire and I had our first two hour planning session. We had different agendas or needs, but we got a few things done. Now that I finally have an account and password to get on the teachers website, I can now do my own attendance instead of Claire having to enter hers and mine. So I learned how to do that. We planned a bit and talked a bit about individual learn plans which are much simpler here. After recess we had two hours of sport and again I did soccer with the girls. It's interesting watching them. After lunch I finally had my kids for the last two hours and we finished up some work and read some of Parvana.

After school I rode home again, had dinner and then headed out in the car.

I went to one of the teacher's houses, Anne-Cecile's, who was having a party in celebration of receiving her little permanent residence. I met her husband and a lot of the other French teachers. Interesting to see them outside of school. Claire was there with husband and some others. 90% of the party were French speakers. Leora and Adam were there, I keep seeing them everyone. The most interesting couple was the French assistant principal and her English husband. She is very attractive and Libby said one day she doesn't know what Caroline does except walk around and look hot. Well her husband is a character. He is probably 50 and looks like he has had a rough life, his face looks weathered. He was born in England, lived in Durban South Africa for years, fought in the war in Angola. Now he is a hairdresser in Australia. His hair was cut really short on the sides, but was 6 or 7 inches long on the back and was jelled up about 7 inches on top of his head. He was wearing a t-shirt, a casual suit jacket and black leggings with black cut off sweat pant shorts. And he chain smoked. He showed everybody his enormous scar from his bellybutton up to between his nipples. I thought maybe it was from the war, but no it was from a duodenal ulcer, which almost killed him. When I left he gave me a couple of strange handshakes, a hug and kissed my ear! Needless to say he made an impression on me. Compared to him everyone else was very normal, but I thought it was weird that here I am in Australia at a party and most people were French.

I'm off to bed so I can get an early start for the two hour drive to Ballarat. There are teachers who live there who are billeting us. I am staying with a family there. I will type when I get home on Sunday.

Flinders, Cape Schanck Lighthouse and Blairgowrie Beach

 Flinders Beach

The Cape Schanck Lighthouse and Cape Schanck below.

Blairgowrie Beach

Sunday, February 21^st.

Skyped with Mom and Dad this morning before heading out on another road trip. I decided to drive to the southern shore of the Mornington Peninsula. On route I saw a road called Canadian Bay Road, so I had to investigate that. It lead to another small rocky beach in a cove.

From there I drove to Flinders on the peninsula. When I got to the lookout over the beach

I met a surfer who was standing at the top with his surfboard in two pieces! I said better it than him. We talked for a bit and he recommended a couple of things to do in the area. Then I walked down the steps to the beach and walked along it. At the end there is Mushroom Marine Nature Reserve which is home to a wide variety of marine animals including the Weedy Dragon and the Blue Ringed Octopus which is small but has a deadly bite full of neurotoxic. I watched a number of hang gliders and paragliders launch themselves off the cliff and float above us on the wind currents.

I went back to the car and drove further to Cape Schanck and it's 160 year old lighthouse. It is one of three or four lighthouses that were used to guide ships past the rocks along the coast and the through the Bass Strait between Australia and Tasmania. I took a tour of the lighthouse and climbed the interior steps to get an even better view of the cape. Then I climbed down the two hundred steps to the end of the peninsula. Another beautiful rock landform.

From there I drove to Arthur's Seat which on a hill that gives a commanding view of the coastline and beaches below. Then I drove along the coast to Blairgowrie Beach just before Sorrento and decided to hang out there for a while. It is on the bay side of the peninsula where the water is calm and shallow. I brought a mask and snorkel with me and went of a swim. The water was cool at first but I got used to it quickly and I swam around for a while looking for fish, but not many here. I lay on a towel and read for a bit while I dried off.

From there I drove to Sorrento and thought about having fish and chips for dinner, but decided against it and took the scenic coastal route all the way back home. I arrived about eight and settled in for the night.

Road Trip Up Mount Baw Baw

 Over hill and dale.

 Toorongo Falls

 Great roads through the forest.

 Blue Rock Lake

This is the better part of the dirt road I explored.

Saturday, February 20^th.

I slept in a bit this morning and then headed out for a road trip. I decided to check out one of the local mountainous areas where they sometimes have skiing in the winter. So I headed off to Mount Baw Baw.

It took a while to drive through the suburban sprawl of Melbourne but I finally reached the M1 highway and drove out into the country. When I left the freeway and drove north the roads became much more scenic as they climbed up into the hills. These mountains are like the Appalachian  Mountains in the States. I came across an old wooden trestle bridge that is not used for trains anymore, just hikers. Then I took a short detour to see the Toorongo Falls. There was a beautiful 2.5 kilometres walk to see them and the Amphitheatre Falls, through the lush forest.

From there I drove up the mountain along a very narrow, winding road for about forty kilometres before I reached a roadblock! There was a car rally going on further up and the road was closed for the day. So I never reached the actual summit, I will have to return another time.

On the way back down I took a different road and stumbled across Blue Rock Lake which is actually a man made reservoir. There was a picnic and park area there so I stopped and had some fruit I brought with me and a swim in the freshwater. It was a great temperature.

Then I drove across the dam and up into another forested area along a gravel road which turned into a series of narrower and rougher dirt roads on an alternate (unmarked) route up the mountain that my GPS said goes to the summit. I drove through an area that had obviously had a bush fire in the past. I think these roads were logging roads and I was getting more and more anxious about the distance I was traveling and how far I was from any help if I needed it. I didn't see anyone for the whole twenty kilometres. Then I came to a really rough spot and a very steep climb. I started up and then noticed through the trees that it continued going up around the corner. I stopped on the hill and discretion got the better of my FOMO. The GPS said I still had an hour of drive ahead of me and who knew what lay ahead. I certainly didn't want to damage the car or me, so I backed carefully down the hill until I found a part of the road wide enough that I could do a five point turn to retrace my steps.

I hit the GO HOME button on the GPS and two hours later it guided me back to Chelsea. I went to Woolies and picked up some dinner and the makings of my salad for the week. Then I watched some TV and read before bed.

Reunion with Graham and Tess

The didgeridoo player.

Yellow crested cockatoos on the neighbour's roof.

Findley, 9 months and Edward 3 1/2 years.

Tess, Graham and Graham's mom Sylvia who lives with them.

Friday, February 19^th.

I took the car this morning as I am going to visit friends after school. At school one of Don's students brought in a didgeridoo to play for the his music teacher. Don asked me if I wanted the student to play it for me and my class, and of course I agreed. This is the traditional Aboriginal instrument and has a really unique sound. I shot a video of him playing it too for the sound.

Most of today was taken up with music, two periods of sport and one of computers, so the day passed quickly.

After school I drove to a northern suburb of Melbourne called Heidelberg to meet up with Graham and Tess who were on my Intrepid trip through Jordan, Syria and Turkey in 2011, along with Megan Hassett one of our guides, who also live in Melbourne. When they left the tour Graham and Tess (who are English) were moving to Perth, but didn't like living there so they moved to Auckland, New Zealand (where they'd lived before) and then Graham landed a job that he wanted in Melbourne. So they have moved around a bit. They are both pharmacists. And in the meantime they now have two young boys, Edward, three and a half and Findlay, nine months. We had a really great evening and a delicious meal. It was great to see them again and catch up. We spent time talking about the horrors that the Syrian people have endured since we were there. Really sad.

It took about forty minutes to drive home along the M3, which is a toll road. I guess I'll have to wait and see what the bill is for that!

School and Photos From Last Weekend

I have no photos from the last three days to share, so I am including some from last weekend.

 A pelican that I was watching for a while on top of a light standard on Phillip Island.

 A Little Penguin and chick in a man made home on Phillip Island.

 That wallaby hopping away past the grandstand.

 The funky cabin I slept in on Phillip Island behind the cottage that Leora rented.

 Some different types of road kill.

Gotta love this message!

Tuesday, February 16th.

I decided to drive in today as we have a parent night tonight and I don't want to ride home that late. The day went well with the kids. They have all brought the Self Portrait Projects to school and we had a gallery walk where they could all see each other's. They enjoyed that.

After school, the grade 3/4 team got ready for the evening presentation to the parents. Then Carol, Libby and I went for dinner at a small neighbourhood Asian restaurant where we could get dumplings and Chinese style food. Libby is an experienced teacher but new to the school and has been very supportive of Carol and I.

At the meeting Don introduced our team and then talked to the parents for about a half hour about what we are going to teach and what the school expects. Claire delivered the same information in French as we are truly a bilingual school.

Drove home and started a new book about the Rolling Stones called Sympathy For the Devil. It focuses more on the role of Brian Jones and his era.

Wednesday, February 17^th.

Got ready to ride the bike to school, but it started to rain so I drove. I wanted to stop at the bicycle shop on the way home, where I bought my bicycle and buy some arm warmers, a plastic cover for my backpack to keep it dry and a flashing rear USB light, but they didn't have what I wanted (except the light) so I will go somewhere else later.

The drive in was long, lots of traffic and it seems a really long way. I think I will take the train more often as it is just as quick and I can read.

School was uneventful, with nothing really to relate. Starting to settle into a routine and feeling comfortable.

Bought a few groceries, had sushi for dinner from a takeout and spent a relaxing evening. I went to bed early as I am feeling quite tired.

Thursday, February 18^th.

I rode the bike to school this morning. It was a pleasant journey with a little mist in the air. I prefer the ride in by bike rather than car and it actually seems shorter and it takes only slightly longer on the bike.

Nothing too much to report about school other than I had a good day with the kids with writing and math. I am reading the Parvana book (about a young girl growing up in Taliban Afghanistan) to them and they love it. I have had parents comment favourably about their child's interest in the book too.

Today on the ride home I stopped at a Shell gas station to fill my bicycle tires and discovered an air machine where you select the pressure you want, attach the hose by a clamp to the valve and it fills the tire and stops when it's full. How civilized is that? But the best part is that it's free! It doesn't work on road bike tire valves though, only the ones like car tires, which I have on my hybrid.

Also stopped at a store called Anaconda which reminded me of Mountain Coop Equipment. I bought lights for the bike and arm warmers. We are heading towards winter here and I will need the warmers and it's slowly getting darker in the morning, and the afternoon too I guess.

When I got home I dropped off the bike and went for a walk to the shops to pick up a salad. The weather today was sunny and warmer and less windy than the last couple of days. Relaxed and off to bed early again.

Field Trip - the Swimming Carnival

 Morning assembly with the students of the week.

 Our coaches await!

 The facility.

Monday, February 15^th.

Rode the bike to school again today. Today was our first field trip. They call it the Swimming Carnival. We had our Monday morning assembly outside again. Today they honoured the student of the week from each class. Right after that we did attendance and lined the kids up to take the buses to the pool. These were not the run of the mill yellow school buses, they were air-conditioned coaches! And there were six of them.

The bus ride was only about ten minutes before we arrived at the outdoor, Olympic sized swimming pool. What a beautiful facility. Leora the physical education teacher did an excellent job organizing it. There were heats and races for boys and girls of all ages from grade 3,4,5 and 6 in all the disciplines: freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. Some of the students were excellent. We were there the whole day and there were no issues with student behaviours.

When we got back to school we had a half hour before the end of day bell. Then Claire and I had to organize our times for the parent-teacher information nights that will happen over the next two weeks. Then we had our Monday evening professional learning meeting until 5:00, whereupon I rode home again.

I spent the evening catching up on the blog, all five posts.

Mt Oberon

 The path up to the summit of Mt. Oberon.

Finally the stairs.

Views from the summit.

The beaches of the south shore.

Sunday, February 14^th continued.

Then I continued on to the Tidal River park headquarters. Here I learned of a shuttle that takes you to a hike that climbs to the summit of Mt. Oberon. So I took that. It was about a four kilometre climb up a gravel path to the top of the mountain. The view from there was stunning and overlooked both Squeaky Beach and Whiskey Bay. It was very windy up there and there are no rails to protect you from falling off. I stayed up there for a half hour or so talking to a couple from Australia and a woman from Hungary who is here studying. Then I hiked back down before I got blown off!

When I got back down I wandered around the Tidal River campground and saw the river which changes flow when the tide comes in and surges up the river (not while I was there). Then I drove to the Lilly Tilly Gully Boardwalk hike that the woman on the summit told me about. It was a pleasant, easy two kilometre hike to a boardwalk that goes around an area of tree ferns. Really nice and peaceful, there was no one there.

Then it was time to leave for the 200 kilometre drive back to Chelsea. The drive was easy and scenic and I arrived about 9:30 just in time to buy more salad fixings for the week, go home and chop them up before going to bed. (370 kms today).

What an excellent weekend of driving, hiking, swimming, exploring and enjoying Australia!