On Day 3 I woke up to a grey morning, but thankfully a ghost free night. I again made my way back down the peninsula to Eagleshawk Neck where I caught a boat for a tour of the Tasman Peninsula from the water. For three hours, we looked at the many geological features created by wind and waves. We were also told about the various sea animals we encountered. This included various sea birds (albatross, mutton birds, cormorants) and Australian and New Zealand Sea Lions. There were even some sea lion pups. Unfortunately, thought they'd seen some the day before, there were no whales. After departing the boat, I made my way back to the mainland and Triabunna.
Triabunna is the gateway to Maria Island. Maria Island was supposed to be another Port Arthur but, even though it's an island, it was too easy to escape. Not it is a National Park with some good hikes and interesting wildlife. Unfortunately, I arrived in Triabunna too late for the last ferry so I got some rest and relaxation, which was pretty good considering I'd had two nights of snoring and two nights of ghost stories. I stayed in a really cool old school hotel right across from the marina. They had amazing food and nice clean rooms. It is the coolest place I have stayed so far.
The next morning, I woke up to get on the ferry. There is only one ferry there in the morning and one ferry back in the afternoon. If you miss the afternoon, you get to spend it overnight in the old penitentiary. There was no way I was going to spend another night at an old prison. On the way to the island we ran into 2 whales. A mama and her calf, so that made us a little late getting to the island. A 25 minute trip became about 50 minutes as we chased the whales.
We finally arrived and began hiking. The Fossil Cliffs were the first stop on the tour, but on the way I got to finally see a live wombat. Other than the whales, this may have been the highlight of the day. The only time I'd seen others was either at the zoo or dead on the side of the road. There is also a gravestone for a Maori warrior who was part of a rebellion in New Zealand and was sent to the prison on Maria. His bones have been sent back to New Zealand, but the headstone remains. The fossil cliffs are amazing. Literally every rock you look at has a fossilized shell of some kind. I've never seen so many fossils. Then again, I've never actually seen a fossil other than petrified wood or in a museum.
Next was the painted cliffs. Unfortunately, I'd missed low tide, so I had to do some climbing up and down to see them. I have to say that Rainbow Beach is much more spectacular, but these were pretty neat too. The best part of this walk was that I got to watch the whales again as I walked along the coast. One even breached for me, though I missed it and only saw the splash at the end of it.
On the way home, we saw our mama and calf again, this time a little closer, though they weren't up for any playing. We also saw two more whales just outside the Triabunna harbor. It was fantastic. So much better than the paid whale tour I did in Sydney where I only saw one whale.
Sorry there are no photos yet, but I've had some difficulty finding a computer that will let me take some photos off my camera. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get the photos off. If not, you'll just have to wait until I get back to Canberra.
Onto Day 4....
Thursday, 6 October 2011
Tasmania - Day 2
I left Hobart on Sunday and headed towards the Tasman Peninsula. The World Heritage Historic Sight of Port Arthur is here. It is a beautiful drive from Hobart with lots of twists and turns. I made my way around Pirate's Bay where there are the Pavement stones, a blowhole, the Tasman Arch and the Devel's Kitchen. Pirate's Bay is almost a tiny version of the Great Ocean Road. The wave action and sandstone/dolormite cliffs has created amazing geological formations along the coast. Eaglehawks Neck is also found at the far end of Pirate's Bay. At it's narrowest it is 90m across. It is because of this that Port Arthur was built on the Tasman Peninsula. Port Arthur was built in the 1840s to hold re-offending convicts. These were the worst of the worst of the convicts. They would be brought by ship from Hobart or Sydney. The only way off the Peninsula was to either swim (long distances to anywhere i.e. 8 hours to Hobart) or bushwalk through the wilderness to get across Eaglehawks Neck which was guarded by 8 dogs (4 on the Neck and 4 out in the water on either side). The bushwalking was not successful for many reasons, the number one reason being that the Tasman wilderness is unforgiving. Just in the last couple of years, a recreational bushwalker came across a skeleton dressed in convict clothing. The remains of an escapee who never made it off the peninsula.
Port Arthur is an amazing place, especially for a history buff like me. The ruins are amazing, especially the church, and the history is horrifying. Both the convicts and the free people living there had a rough life. The convicts were sent into the forests to quarry or forest, while the free folk were mostly forced to stay indoors, away from the convicts. If convicts were especially bad, they were sent to the seperate prison where there was enforced isolation where they were not allowed to talk to anyone, not even the jailers. The only time they were allowed out of their cell was for an hour of 'exercise' a day and mass on Sunday. Even at mass they were seperated by tall walls and could only see the pulpit in front of them. The only way they knew other prisoners were there was to listen for their singing around them. The convicts were also subjected to depersonalization. They were no longer called by their names. Instead, they were identified by their cell number. They also wore hoods at all times, as did the guards. Not surprisingly, many of these men went insane as these sentences could last from 4 months to 18 months. A very creepy place, but I'll get to that in a minute.
I got to spend my day at Port Arthur with a lovely couple from Sydney. We had actually met the night before on the Ghost Tour of Hobart and coincidently ended up in the same walking tour group in the morning at Port Arthur. They allowed me to tag along with them as we went through the site. This is the best part of travelling.
Once I'd finished at Port Arthur I made my way down to the Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary down the road. There are many sanctuaries throughout Tassie because of a wierd cancer that has spread throughout the Devil population. They only get it through fighting, but Tassie's like to fight so it is decimating the population. The sanctuaries are trying to protect many of the Devil's and hopefully someday repopulate the island with healthy devils. I watched a bird show that taught me about many of the common bird species in Australian, including a one-winged Peregrine Falcon. That was pretty cool. I also got to see baby quolls (small marsupials), baby Devils and pet a few kangaroos and wallabies.
Amazingly, my day was not done here. That night I signed myself up for yet another ghost tour, this time of Port Arthur. The Port Arthur ghost tours are conducted by candlelight and it is almost pitch dark on the sight. There are no street lamps and only a few of the ruins are lit up, but in a creepy way. I got to be a lantern holder (yay for being the only Canadian on the tour). Our guide was amazing. He even gave me some Canadian connections to the sight. Franklin, the guy who disappeared searching for the Northwest Passage, was actually an overseer at Port Arthur for a little while. Who knew? There is even a cottage on the sight called Canadian Cottage. This is because it was a packaged home from Canada (probably from Eaton's or something). There were also a couple convicts from Canada, one a soldier who deserted because he no longer wanted to serve in the wilderness of Canada. Anyways, being the lantern bearer was very scary. Mostly because I was the lantern beared at the front of the group which meant that I often got to go in first. No ghostly encounters for me though. We even went into the most haunted house in Australia and nothing. I'm not sure if I am disappointed or relieved. At one spot, the other front lantern bearer and myself had to stand with our backs to the door. That wasn't creepy at all.
Our final stop in the tour was the Seperate Prison. Though I was very frightened during most of the tour, this one gave me the willies. There wasn't even a half decent ghost story for the place. It was more the warning our guide gave us as we went in. He told us (the two lead lantern bearers) to go stand at the stairs into C Wing, then told everyone else to stand on the stairs that led to the chapel the administration area. He also told us to stay away from 2 doors. In one, if we saw a convict appear we were to tell him and he wouldn't even tell us what was at the other doorway. He was very serious about us staying away from the doors, he even yelled at a couple who got too close. After he had finished talking about it, he then told us how to make a quick escape, complete with the warning not to look behind us and to not stop and take pictures. By the way, us two lead lantern bearers got to walk down C wing all by ourselves again to show the way to the exit. That was the end of the tour. My next stop was to the Comfort Inn right above the sight. Literally about 300m from the most haunted house. Let's just say I left the light on all night and the TV as well.
more to come....
Port Arthur is an amazing place, especially for a history buff like me. The ruins are amazing, especially the church, and the history is horrifying. Both the convicts and the free people living there had a rough life. The convicts were sent into the forests to quarry or forest, while the free folk were mostly forced to stay indoors, away from the convicts. If convicts were especially bad, they were sent to the seperate prison where there was enforced isolation where they were not allowed to talk to anyone, not even the jailers. The only time they were allowed out of their cell was for an hour of 'exercise' a day and mass on Sunday. Even at mass they were seperated by tall walls and could only see the pulpit in front of them. The only way they knew other prisoners were there was to listen for their singing around them. The convicts were also subjected to depersonalization. They were no longer called by their names. Instead, they were identified by their cell number. They also wore hoods at all times, as did the guards. Not surprisingly, many of these men went insane as these sentences could last from 4 months to 18 months. A very creepy place, but I'll get to that in a minute.
I got to spend my day at Port Arthur with a lovely couple from Sydney. We had actually met the night before on the Ghost Tour of Hobart and coincidently ended up in the same walking tour group in the morning at Port Arthur. They allowed me to tag along with them as we went through the site. This is the best part of travelling.
Once I'd finished at Port Arthur I made my way down to the Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary down the road. There are many sanctuaries throughout Tassie because of a wierd cancer that has spread throughout the Devil population. They only get it through fighting, but Tassie's like to fight so it is decimating the population. The sanctuaries are trying to protect many of the Devil's and hopefully someday repopulate the island with healthy devils. I watched a bird show that taught me about many of the common bird species in Australian, including a one-winged Peregrine Falcon. That was pretty cool. I also got to see baby quolls (small marsupials), baby Devils and pet a few kangaroos and wallabies.
Amazingly, my day was not done here. That night I signed myself up for yet another ghost tour, this time of Port Arthur. The Port Arthur ghost tours are conducted by candlelight and it is almost pitch dark on the sight. There are no street lamps and only a few of the ruins are lit up, but in a creepy way. I got to be a lantern holder (yay for being the only Canadian on the tour). Our guide was amazing. He even gave me some Canadian connections to the sight. Franklin, the guy who disappeared searching for the Northwest Passage, was actually an overseer at Port Arthur for a little while. Who knew? There is even a cottage on the sight called Canadian Cottage. This is because it was a packaged home from Canada (probably from Eaton's or something). There were also a couple convicts from Canada, one a soldier who deserted because he no longer wanted to serve in the wilderness of Canada. Anyways, being the lantern bearer was very scary. Mostly because I was the lantern beared at the front of the group which meant that I often got to go in first. No ghostly encounters for me though. We even went into the most haunted house in Australia and nothing. I'm not sure if I am disappointed or relieved. At one spot, the other front lantern bearer and myself had to stand with our backs to the door. That wasn't creepy at all.
Our final stop in the tour was the Seperate Prison. Though I was very frightened during most of the tour, this one gave me the willies. There wasn't even a half decent ghost story for the place. It was more the warning our guide gave us as we went in. He told us (the two lead lantern bearers) to go stand at the stairs into C Wing, then told everyone else to stand on the stairs that led to the chapel the administration area. He also told us to stay away from 2 doors. In one, if we saw a convict appear we were to tell him and he wouldn't even tell us what was at the other doorway. He was very serious about us staying away from the doors, he even yelled at a couple who got too close. After he had finished talking about it, he then told us how to make a quick escape, complete with the warning not to look behind us and to not stop and take pictures. By the way, us two lead lantern bearers got to walk down C wing all by ourselves again to show the way to the exit. That was the end of the tour. My next stop was to the Comfort Inn right above the sight. Literally about 300m from the most haunted house. Let's just say I left the light on all night and the TV as well.
more to come....
Monday, 3 October 2011
Taz-Mania!!
Friday! Friday! Friday! The chant heard all around the school when the bell rang on Friday afternoon to signal the beginnings of Term Break. For me, this meant 'milkshakes' at the club and then onto the airport for my flight to Hobart and the beginnings of my Tasmanian tour.
Day 1 - Arrive in Hobart
An interesting evening considering I did nothing touristy. I rented my beautiful 6-speed Mazda 3 (sky blue) and spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to drive the thing. Thank God it was parked backed in as I did not figure out how to reverse until the next morning. This was my first experience driving a standard on the wrong side of the car. Shifting with my left hand took some getting used to, but now it is so much fun. Especially on these Tasmanian roads which twist and turn and climb and dip. Soooooo much fun.
Once I finally made it into central Hobart and to my hostel, I checked in and went right to bed. Unfortunately, not right to sleep. My roommate was the world champion of snorers. I swear to God, from across the room she was shaking my bed she was so loud. I had my iPod turned up as loud as it could go, and I could still hear (and feel) the snores. To say the least, I did not get much sleep. On the good news side of things, it meant I got an early start to my day in Hobart.
I started at the Salamanca Markets. Very cool. Lots of need stuff. I even managed to buy a couple Christmas presents for people. I then made my way up to Battery Point which is the centre of Old Hobart. The architecture is insane. It's no wonder everyone wants to live up here (except for the ghosts, which I'll get to later). I then made my way back to my car and drove up to the Cascade Brewery. Unfortunately 'bookings are essential' and I was unable to go in. Maybe at the end of my journey I'll get the tour. So I decided to go to the MONA (Museum of Old and New). This is the wierdest art gallery every. There is everything from Egyptian art to post-modern wierdness. If you ever get to Hobart, I highly recommend it just for the experience. I can guarantee there will be stuff that you love and stuff that you loathe. As I was driving away from the MONA, I saw that the clouds had managed to clear a little so I decided to drive up Mt. Wellington, the mountain that dominates Hobart. The mountain had been under cloud cover for the entire day up to this point. It was a 20 minute drive to the top on a winding, twisting, narrow road with few guardrails. I almost pissed myself a few times. Once I got to the top, the views were stunning. You could see all of Hobart and the harbour. There was also SNOW! That's right snow. I was talking to an Australian couple later that night and their daughter was so excited to see snow. It was a first for her at the age of 8.
Once I'd had enough of the cold, snow and gorgeous views and then headed back down the mountain and found an Irish pub to watch the 2nd half of the AFL Grand Final. The Geelong Cats won in a thriller. They actually dominated the 2nd half. I had fun with the other patrons at the bar cheering against Collingwood (kinda the Toronto Maple Leafs of AFL, except Collingwood wins).
Now to the ghosts. That night, stupid person that I am, I made a booking with the local ghost tour company. This was actually quite fantastic. We walked around Battery Point with a true believer who told us all the local ghost stories. We actually got to go underneath the Point to where they used to store the munitions. No one else gets to see this part of Hobart's history. This of course was the scariest place, though I had no ghostly encounters. There were some very fascinating stories to do with all the old buildings in the district and our tour guide had pictures to prove some of the sightings. You can check them out at the Hobart Ghost Tours website if you want to see.
I headed back to the hostel and my snoring roommate. I was actually grateful for her on this night as the ghosts stayed away and I was able to sleep a little. The next day I made my way to the Tasman peninsula and more ghosts.
More to come later......
Day 1 - Arrive in Hobart
An interesting evening considering I did nothing touristy. I rented my beautiful 6-speed Mazda 3 (sky blue) and spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how to drive the thing. Thank God it was parked backed in as I did not figure out how to reverse until the next morning. This was my first experience driving a standard on the wrong side of the car. Shifting with my left hand took some getting used to, but now it is so much fun. Especially on these Tasmanian roads which twist and turn and climb and dip. Soooooo much fun.
Once I finally made it into central Hobart and to my hostel, I checked in and went right to bed. Unfortunately, not right to sleep. My roommate was the world champion of snorers. I swear to God, from across the room she was shaking my bed she was so loud. I had my iPod turned up as loud as it could go, and I could still hear (and feel) the snores. To say the least, I did not get much sleep. On the good news side of things, it meant I got an early start to my day in Hobart.
I started at the Salamanca Markets. Very cool. Lots of need stuff. I even managed to buy a couple Christmas presents for people. I then made my way up to Battery Point which is the centre of Old Hobart. The architecture is insane. It's no wonder everyone wants to live up here (except for the ghosts, which I'll get to later). I then made my way back to my car and drove up to the Cascade Brewery. Unfortunately 'bookings are essential' and I was unable to go in. Maybe at the end of my journey I'll get the tour. So I decided to go to the MONA (Museum of Old and New). This is the wierdest art gallery every. There is everything from Egyptian art to post-modern wierdness. If you ever get to Hobart, I highly recommend it just for the experience. I can guarantee there will be stuff that you love and stuff that you loathe. As I was driving away from the MONA, I saw that the clouds had managed to clear a little so I decided to drive up Mt. Wellington, the mountain that dominates Hobart. The mountain had been under cloud cover for the entire day up to this point. It was a 20 minute drive to the top on a winding, twisting, narrow road with few guardrails. I almost pissed myself a few times. Once I got to the top, the views were stunning. You could see all of Hobart and the harbour. There was also SNOW! That's right snow. I was talking to an Australian couple later that night and their daughter was so excited to see snow. It was a first for her at the age of 8.
Once I'd had enough of the cold, snow and gorgeous views and then headed back down the mountain and found an Irish pub to watch the 2nd half of the AFL Grand Final. The Geelong Cats won in a thriller. They actually dominated the 2nd half. I had fun with the other patrons at the bar cheering against Collingwood (kinda the Toronto Maple Leafs of AFL, except Collingwood wins).
Now to the ghosts. That night, stupid person that I am, I made a booking with the local ghost tour company. This was actually quite fantastic. We walked around Battery Point with a true believer who told us all the local ghost stories. We actually got to go underneath the Point to where they used to store the munitions. No one else gets to see this part of Hobart's history. This of course was the scariest place, though I had no ghostly encounters. There were some very fascinating stories to do with all the old buildings in the district and our tour guide had pictures to prove some of the sightings. You can check them out at the Hobart Ghost Tours website if you want to see.
I headed back to the hostel and my snoring roommate. I was actually grateful for her on this night as the ghosts stayed away and I was able to sleep a little. The next day I made my way to the Tasman peninsula and more ghosts.
More to come later......
Sunday, 18 September 2011
My classroom - Week 8
Some people were whinging that my classroom didn't look like me yet. After 8 weeks, I think that I've managed to add some Ally touches to things. Yay for Art!
 |
| The Hungry Caterpillar (tissue paper art) |
 |
| Footprint bees and a poem about bees |
 |
| Happy Spiders (much like the 2 Huntsmen I found this morning. One is still hanging out on the roof of my classroom.) |
 |
| Gary the Snail from Spongebob |
Floriade (Exchange Weekend in Canberra)
This weekend a former exchange teacher here in Canberra (she exchanged to Kamloops) hosted a weekend for exchangers. I was semi-host as I provided lodgings for a couple of the exchangees. It was awesome showing people how great Canberra is, especially since so many Australians ask me, "Were you disappointed when you found out you go Canberra?". It was a very busy and exhausting weekend but I thinkI managed to see more of Canberra in two days, than I have in 2 and a half months.
It all started with a drive to the top of Mount Ainslie. It has the best view of Canberra. Down below, at the base, is the War Memorial. As you go straight up the orange median you can see Lake Burley Griffen. As you continue south, the old Parliament leads right up into the new Parliament. This is my favorite part of Canberra. In the background, you can see the Australian Alps. Off to the left, and over the hill is out where I live.
After breakfast at Mt. Ainslie, we went to the National Art Gallery, which was fantastic. We saw a Jackson Pollock and various other famous artists. Most of our tour was spent learning about Aboriginal Art. I learned quite a bit, but I'm not going to go into details. Let's just say that I've never really looked at Aboriginal art the right way, and I'm not sure that I can even interpret alot of it now. It also made me want to learn a little bit more about Canadian aboriginal art as I'm starting to think that I haven't been looking at that right either. Some of the contemporary Aboriginal Art was very enlightening as well. I'm sure that a lot of it could have been created in Canada as well. One artwork, called Austracism, had lines of text that all started with "I'm not racist but....." and then finished with some things that I've said about our own native groups.
After the gallery, I walked with an American exchange teacher named Susan to the War Memorial. I gave her a quick and dirty history lesson using American, Australian and Canadian facts I know about many of the battles and wars that are portrayed at the memorial. This is still one of my favorite places to go in Canberra. I think I'll probably spend many a rainy day here in the year that I will spend here. I still don't think I've seen much of it, or I've missed something. I also bought books on Australian involvement in WW1 as well as an entire book on Gallipoli. I'm sure I'll have to go back after I read those too. (P.S. Ian, do you want an Australian Army hat?).
On Sunday, we had breakfast down by the Carillon at Lake Burley Griffen and then walked our way around the lake to Floriade, the spring festival here in Canberra. Mom, you would have loved this. There are flowers everywhere and they've put them into designs like Watermelons and Farmer's Market Stalls, etc. There are also cool shops down there and I managed to spend too much money on things I didn't need. The good news is I got some cool Christmas presents for people.
The weekend ended with a trip to the Glassworks factory and the Kingston markets. I'm also going to have to sign up for the Artist off the Street program they have at the glassworks so that I can make a cool glass souveneir to take home with me. I can pretend I'm an artist for a while.
Monday, 12 September 2011
Radelaide
This weekend I made my way to Adelaide. The adventrue did not start off well as just as I was headed up stairs to pack and go to bed, I got a text saying that my flight in the morning had been cancelled and please call Virgin Airlines. Good News: I now could sleep until 5:30 a.m. as my flight was later. Bad News: Arriving 1.5 hours later than I planned in Adelaide. My morning went much better and I again found myself flying in over Sydney. Unfortunately I didn't get the awesome views of the the Harbour Bridge and Opera House I got last time, but I did spy the Olympic park and the true size of Sydney Harbour.
I arrived at 10:30 a.m. Adelaide time. As I was flying from Sydney to Adelaide, I had the thought. "This flight is about the same distance as Calgary is from Toronto. Would I ever just make a 2 day trip to Toronto? Probably not." Being overseas definitely makes you look at the world differently. I may have to start making a weekend trip to Toronto or Montreal every once in a while.
Rocky picked me up and we were off and running. We made our way over to the Adelaide Zoo to visit the Pandas. I haven't seen pandas since I was 8 at the Calgary Zoo (also the last time I was at the Calgary Zoo) so I was very excited. They were very active. Apparently this is normal for mating season. I guess this is why they had them separated at the zoo. They didn't want any children watching Panda Porno.
The zoo in Adelaide is pretty good and there are tonnes of different animals including the normal giraffes, lions, and orangutuans, but there were also Sun Bears (I've never seen), meerkats (Hakuna Matata!) and wombats (will hopefully see in the wild eventually).
Next we headed to the Haigh's Chocolate Factory. We took a self-tour and looked through the windows at all the delicious, delicious chocolate. I also loaded up on chocolate goodies. We even got to be part of a taste test for a new Strawberry White Chocolate. I had a hard time making up my mind so I of course had to try both multiple times to make sure I got it right They were both fantastic.
Food was next on the agenda as well as watching the AFL playoffs. Collingwood beat West Coast, as expected and I stuffed myself on a hamburger and fries. By the end of the evening, I was so stuffed just the mention of food made me ill. I think it was the chocolate that did me in.
 |
| Yes, this is all Sydney Harbour |
 |
| Flying over Australian farmland. Looks like home. |
I arrived at 10:30 a.m. Adelaide time. As I was flying from Sydney to Adelaide, I had the thought. "This flight is about the same distance as Calgary is from Toronto. Would I ever just make a 2 day trip to Toronto? Probably not." Being overseas definitely makes you look at the world differently. I may have to start making a weekend trip to Toronto or Montreal every once in a while.
Rocky picked me up and we were off and running. We made our way over to the Adelaide Zoo to visit the Pandas. I haven't seen pandas since I was 8 at the Calgary Zoo (also the last time I was at the Calgary Zoo) so I was very excited. They were very active. Apparently this is normal for mating season. I guess this is why they had them separated at the zoo. They didn't want any children watching Panda Porno.
The zoo in Adelaide is pretty good and there are tonnes of different animals including the normal giraffes, lions, and orangutuans, but there were also Sun Bears (I've never seen), meerkats (Hakuna Matata!) and wombats (will hopefully see in the wild eventually).
 |
| Rocky having fun in the Museum Shop |
Food was next on the agenda as well as watching the AFL playoffs. Collingwood beat West Coast, as expected and I stuffed myself on a hamburger and fries. By the end of the evening, I was so stuffed just the mention of food made me ill. I think it was the chocolate that did me in.
Next we were off to the 'resort' of Glenelg. It was raining, windy and cold, but we did mini-golf and I really took it to poor Rocky, beating him by 2 strokes.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around Adelaide as we'd pretty much done everything there was to do except the Gaol which was closed.
We ended the evening by going to the movie "The Change-Up". Very, very funny. I highly recommend. By this time I was passing out on my feet and it was time to go to the hostel for a good night's sleep.
In the morning I was left to my own devices and made my way through the rain to check out the cool architecture and the shops of CBD Adelaide. I even managed to find a tiny market and a Canadian artisan who made jewellary out of the coolest items. It was the Canadian coins that caught my eye first, but I ended up buying a necklace made from an old typewriter key and one made from the inside of a bottlecap. Gotta support the fellow Canadians.
 |
| Hanging 10 at Glenelg in the rain. |
The rest of the day was spent wandering around Adelaide as we'd pretty much done everything there was to do except the Gaol which was closed.
We ended the evening by going to the movie "The Change-Up". Very, very funny. I highly recommend. By this time I was passing out on my feet and it was time to go to the hostel for a good night's sleep.
 |
| I don't know what it is about Australia and their wierd animal statues. Sheeps in Canberra. Pigs in Adelaide. |
 |
| The only woman executed at Adelaide Gaol. |
 |
| Rocky right where he belongs. |
Next it was off to the jail. Adelaide was the longest running jail in Australia. It originally opened in 1840 and ran until 1988. South Australia was the first colony in Australia to be settled by non-convicts. Apparently they thought that because these people weren't convicts, they were better stock and therefore no prison was planned. That quickly changed when it became quite apparent that there were thieves and murderers among the 'normal' population as well. The jail is smaller than I thought, but pretty creepy. There are graves for those inmates who were executed by hanging, the last taking place in 1964. It's also supposed to be haunted which always makes things more fun. Women were even incarcerated and executed here until 1969. In the beginning, women with children actually brought their children to jail with them. This stopped in the 1880s or something like that. The jail was definitely very fascinating.
Finally, it was time to head home. As I made the final trek to Canberra from Sydney once again, I was treated to wonderful views as the sun set in the distance.
 |
| Sydney's coastline |
 |
| Welcome home to Canberra |
Thursday, 8 September 2011
Spring Has Sprung
 |
| The cherry blossoms are in bloom, the weather is getting warmer. Spring has arrived. |
It has again been a very busy and interesting couple of weeks. I've again learned something new about our Aussie friends. Apparently, the seasons begin on the first of the months. i.e. Spring begins on Sept. 1, Winter on Dec. 1, etc. I tried to explain that this was not correct as spring and autumn don't happen until the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and summer and winter don't start until the longest and shortest days of the year, around the 21st of the aforementioned months. They now think I'm insane and that they are much smarter than us North Americans. They've also been making fun of me all week. I must have something tatooed on my forehead. I've had comments about Canadians being slow, being the same as Americans, etc. If anyone has some good comebacks let me know. I can't think that quickly on my feet.
Last week was Father's Day, so we had the dads come in and read with their children. On the same day, we had Learning Journeys (student-led conferences) so my Friday was pretty much shot. I also had an incident with a student that led to me gaining a few new bruises. To say that least, I was happy to see Friday in my rearview mirror. The weekend was spent recovering and heading to the Hall Markets on the Sunday morning. It was a beautiful sunny day and a great day for eating Dutch pancakes and buying random stuff I don't really need. Actually, all I bought was coffee, but I'm sure I could have bought a bunch of stuff if I didn't have to get it back to Canada somehow.
The kids are starting to get my sense of humor and have started repeating my stupid sayings before I do, like "Clear as mud, Miss Bendfeld." They really think that one is funny. They've started to realize that they can laugh at me and the stupid things I do. They are also starting to get when I am serious and that they should get back to work. I wish that I could remember all the cute things they say to share with you, but my memory just isn't that good.
Well, this weekend I am off to Adelaide for a couple of days. There are sure to be pictures and stories to tell when I return.
Off to "milkshakes"! Gotta love staff bonding.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)