Tuesday, July 24th

Today was our last day in Australia.  We fly out of Brisbane tomorrow morning and arrive back in Winnipeg on Wednesday evening.  We went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary today.  It was great fun to see all of the marsupiels - we were able to interact with many of the animals.  The park was beautiful with much of it not being fenced in so we could walk amongst the kangaroos and emus.  Tonight we walked along the beachfront and stopped at a restaurant for fish and chips.  Linda had shark and I ate baramundi.  We are busy organizing our bags and hoping that we are not over our  50 pound limit.  I bought a didgideroo today and am hoping that I will be allowed to take it as a carryon.  The following pictures are some of the few highlights of our trip (hard to pick as I took over 1300 pics).

Monday, July 23rd

We visited two schools today. The first school had only multi-age classrooms set up for gifted students and straight grades for all others. It was in a very upscale area of Brisbane, consisting of mainly Asian population. Our model/philosophy of multi-age was not at all reflected in this school. Even the Americans we are traveling with were baffled. The school we visited in the afternoon was amazing. I took a ton of pictures and Natalie recorded our findings. The grounds around the school have returned back to their natural state as far as plant life and nature goes. The tree belt that supports the koala bears travels right through the school grounds and the koalas often feed there. We saw rainbow parakeets, ground turkeys and a variety of other birds there.I thought about my classroom chicks and ducks and wondered if there was a way we could have them roaming our school grounds - just kidding Liz! The schools here look like college campuses as each grade or year level is housed in different areas.
Linda went to the beach today and to a shopping mall. We went out for fish and chips tonight and bought a few souvenirs.
Due to high winds and waves on the ocean, our whale watching has been cancelled tomorrow. We are fortunate that we got to see two beautiful humpbacked whales on our way back from the reef the other day.I think that a group of us are going to take a bus out of the city to a wildlife reserve. Then I would like to walk on the sandy beaches before leaving on Wednesday morning to go back home.

Monday, July 22nd

We flew to Brisbane today and then bussed to the Gold Coast where we checked into a hotel on Surfer's Paradise, the world's Number one surfing beach with 70 miles of sandy beaches. It is beautiful here but a little chilly for the beach. We'll have to wear a light jacket when we walk on the beach tomorrow afternoon. I am spending the entire day at schools tomorrow in the Gold Coast region. I am expecting another interesting and informative day with my fellow colleagues. Natalie, Sharron and I have bought several Aussie children's books to match our themes and topics for the upcoming school year.
I went out for an Italian meal tonight with a couple of gals. Linda chose to go to a restaurant/bar with another group. I have to meet the group at 7:00 am for the school tours. On Wednesday, Linda and I plan to go whale watching but if the ocean is rough, we may bypass and stay on the beaches. Going to the reef the other day was enough stress and discomfort. They say that the whale watching boat is smaller and much rougher - we'll see...
We did see 2beautiful hump backed whales coming back from the reef - they were frolicking and doing somersaults. Unfortunately, I was not able to get pictures for fear of losing my camera in the ocean.
I am not downloading pics tonight because I don't have Sharron's computer. I have taken 850 pics so far o I should have a few good ones to show everyone when I get home!
If you are reading this Debbie, we hope your surgery went well and that you are home now!

Saturday, July 21st

Yesterday, we took a catamaran out to the Great Barrier Reef - a 1 1/2 hour boat ride from Cairns.  The winds were quite high making the boat ride extremely rocky (20 to 25 knots).  Many people were sea sick - luckily we weren't, but it was not a comfortable ride by any means.  Linda and I snorkeled which was the most unbelievable experience I have ever had.  I have never seen such brilliant colors and so much of them.  The reef is home to over 400 different kinds of coral and many fish.

Today, we traveled by train to Karunda, which is on top of a mountains in a rainforest.  We went on army ducks (amphibious vehicles) through part of the rainforest and watched a dance performance by an indigenous group (can't remember the name) and had a didigeroo, boomerang and spear demonstration.  Then we travelled on cable car over the canapy of the rainforest.  A beautiful day - I even got to hold a koala bear!  They are much smaller than I imagined and they don't even look real.  Another great day.  Tomorrow we travel to Brisbane and I will blog more then.

Army Duck that we traveled through part of the rainforest

A Wallabee

                                                

Snakehead

Wednesday, July 18

Yesterday we took a tour of the Blue Mountains which appear to look blue because of the interaction of the eucalytis leaves and heat releasing a blueish gas. We took a train ride down the mountain (the steepest train ride in the world at 52 degrees).  Once there, we walked through the forest floor on trails and went back up to the top on a cable car.  Once on the top we took another cable car across to Katoomba falls and walked down to the cliff lookout.  It was an amazing day with spectacular sights.  Last evening a group of us explored China Town and ate at a Vietnemese restaurant.
Today was a full day at two different schools - St. Paul's in Dulwich Hills and St. Mel's in Campsie.  The hospitality was awesome - children waiting outside the school to greet us.  We had "tea time" and cake with staff and an awesome lunch also provided.  The multi-age schools we toured are student-centred, inquiry based with a focus on literacy and numeracy.  I took a ton of pictures of student projects, artwork, bulletin boards and students. We were able to debrief at the end of the day with the staff of both schools who were more than willing to answer our questions.  Natalie and I have some ideas for our classrooms next year.
This evening, the Canadian team headed off the Sydney Opera House to see the performance "Terrain" performed by "Bandara" an Australian indiginous dance group.  It was a great experience. 
Linda took a bus to the harbor today while I was touring schools.  From there, she took a ferry to the Sydney Zoo. She took lots of pictures and said it was a fabulous zoo.

Three Sisters rock formations at the Blue Mountains

                                         
                                              Part of Katoomba Falls at the top of the Blue Mountains.

Staff from St. Pauls School in Dulwich Hills, team from Arizona and Canada

We are leaving Sydney tomorrow and flying to Cairns for the next three days.  I am planning to facetime Sydney from the Sydney airport.  Greg tells me that she reads my emails several times a day and asks him over and over "how many hours 'til mom comes home?" 

Wednesday, June 18

Hi Everyone,
I am at Dulwich school right now and have to leave for another school.  I am having the most awesome time.  The school here is awesome and I will write more later.  Linda has taken a ferry to the zoo today.

Monday, July 17th

Linda got her luggage today - it was waiting in our room when we came back from our tour of the Harbor and Opera House. Today we toured the Sydney Opera House and then took a boat tour of the harbor.  Later we visited the Sydney aquarium, went out for Mexican food and returned back to the hotel on the light rail train. I bought Sydney a pair of UGGS - we just so happen to have the same size feet - how convenient!
Anyway, here are a few pics from today. 

Our Canadian Group

Sydney Opera House

View from Sydney Harbor