Bringing It Up to Date

Thursday we got up early went downtown Sydney, boarded the plane to the Gold Coast, performed at Southport School, and went back to the hotel exhausted where we all got a good night's sleep.

Waiting for the airplane.

Southport School

Preping for the concert.

Southport main hall.

Dinning at Southport.

Out host at Southport.

Firday at the wildlife sanctuary was a great day of fun for all of us. We fed kangaroos, watched wallabies, held koala bears and snakes, and on and on the story goes.Several of the kids and parents did a ropes course that ended in a zip line. From what I heard it was fantastic and I missed a great opportunity for some extra fun.

The day ended with an Australian BBQ that consisted of steak, sausage, pasta salad and ceasar salad. Then everyone was able to shop the outside street market on the beach. People were selling soap, pictures, art etc.

That is a real croc.

Waiting to feed the larakeets.

Wombats are us.

Larakeets.

Tuesday through Wednesday

It has been difficult to find an internet connection for the laptop. This has created a blank spot in our blog. It is regrettable that one cannot find a good connection; nevertheless, I will try my best to keep you up to date.

When I have the opportunity to upload more pictures and more copy, I will do so post haste. In brief: we have moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast. We are staying at a community called Surfer's Paradise. Once you get here, you can see why this is the name. It has an endless white sand beach with nice waves off the ocean and about 80 degrees.

The band performed last night at Southport School, a large private school. They played their music and also joined the Southport band in one number that was incredible. All of us were very proud of the way our kids worked with the ones from Southport. It was a truly amazing performance. One not to be missed.

After our wonderful dinner of meat pie, pasta, etc. at Southport Dining Hall, think Hogwarts for the architecture, we stepped outside to be entertained by very large fruit bats flying overhead. These large animals povided a nice bit of "shock and awe" for anyone who was not prepared to see a bat the size of a large seagull.

I will do my best to upload more pictures and commentary later this evening which is for us yesterday. Hmmm, confused yet.

Pictures from Pittwater Performance

Monday after the Beach

Monday found us early in the morning investigating Darling Harbor. Sydney is a metropolitan area that is built around an amazing number of harbors, beaches, and amazing coastlines. This harbor is filled with a number of activities for one to do. Some of the group went to the Maritime museum, where a replica of Captain Cook's ship, Endeavor is moored. Others shopped in a little mall that was filled with tourist stores and other businesses. A couple of students went to the aquarium and watched while sharks swam over their heads. It was a nice way to start the day and see another part of Sydney.


One major reason anyone coming to Sydney would choose this place or another is the Sydney Opera House. The following photos were taken in the Opera House.


The human fly, on the outside of the windows, cleaning up a bit.


We listened intently to the director of the National Opal Museum tell us about opals in Australia. An interesting point was that boulder opals and black opals are only found in Australia.

Stay tuned for more.

Sunday at the Beach

Sunday, here in Australia, at Newport Beach was amazingly hot, yet we had a great time swimming in the ocean, hiking up to get this shot of the beach and other fun experiences.

Mr. Searle and I were recruited by the lifeguard crew to help demonstrate how to hold a life saving board that they all use to provide safety and security on the beach.

On our hike to a ridge between two beaches, we noticed this pristine VW camper van and I thought it could be called a "yellow submarine."

There were people swiming, sun bathing, and surfing. It was a beach for all interests.

This little guy was not at the beach. We spotted him on our hike to the beach. I would guess that the size would be three inches from the tip of one leg to the tip of the opposite leg. It presented an intimidating web and sight for both Mr. Searle and myself.
Sunday, a day to just rest and catch up on some sleep presented to us another view of the area and the people. Hospitality and friendliness abounds in this place so far from home. Everyone is open and wanting to talk about the local area and find out a little about Alaska. They provide recommendations for anything from something new to do, to where the best place to eat might be, or another place to just recreate. Australians seem to love recreation and take full advantage of the warm sunny weather that is found throughout this country.

Saturday in Sydney and Beyond

Today we started downtown again in the Circle Quay watching an aboriginal digereedoo player.











Then we went across the street to a big old building and looked through a glass floor at a scale model of the downtown Sydney area. It was an amazing replica that provided us with perspective regarding the size of this city.

There were more mime performers on the waterfront that entertained the masses.











Shortly thereafter we boarded a ferry for a one hour cruise/tour of the bay.











Everyone found a strategic place to take this boat ride.











One of the great vistas on the cruise was seeing all the sailboats.











After returning to shore we drove to ths outskirts of Sydney to watch and participate in activities that were similar to life in the outback for years.





First was a campfire scene where we were able to sample campfire tea and bread with golden syrup.


Next was a test with the boomerang. All the students had an opportunity to test their skill.
So did a few of the adults.










Then on to Matilda to try our hand at milking. Those who volunteered for this were few in number.










We did hav a great teacher, the ranch hand Phil was everywhere doing everything.
























Phil even demonstrated how sheep were sheared and told of the numbers, types, and details related to sheering sheep.











Phil and his dog Fred work a small herd of sheep.












Barbque family style.













After a tasty dinner, Phil showed us how to crack the whip.











The day was filled with many experiences that could not be relived or repeated without a visit to this part of the world.

Tomorrow the students spend the day with their host families. Therefore, I may post more pictures, but won't have much more regarding information on what is going on.

Our motor coach awaits us, with our tour guide helping us to be prepared for the day.






Bondi beach, one of the "iconic" beaches of the city.







I think this is an Ibis.








Our view from a local park. Everyone was excited in getting pictures of this one.






This is most of the students in a sandstone formation that is by the harbor.






A conversation ensued after I placed some money in this chap's money container.






Awaiting the bus.







More of us patiently waiting for the bus.



We went to our lodging from here.

First Day in Sydney

One result of hours and hours in airports and on airplanes.

Waiting in Auckland airport.













(As you can see the kids have fun while they wait in airports. This is from the wait in Anchorage)







We arrived on our last plane at 8:30 a.m. Australian time. This is about 19 hours ahead of Alaska. That means, right now, here in Australia it is 8:12 p.m. Friday and in Homer, if I am not mistaken it is 1:12 a.m. on Friday. This time issue did not have much of an effect on the kids.













Getting through customs was about as smooth as it could get. While the lines were long, the traffic moved along at a quick pace and we were on the bus in short order.













Our bus driver got us loaded up quickly while he listened to comments like, "look the steering wheel is on the wrong side." He is filled with humor and truly knows his way around the city.

Once we were on the road, our first stop was Bondi beach. It has sand that caused my shoes to squeek. Yes, I am not exagerating, it was soft and warm and squeeky. Anyway, the first one in the surf was Alex. By the time 10 minutes had passed the majority had either waded or gone in for a nice swim in the warm water.

We moved along to downtown Sydney where we took pictures of the Opera House, the Sydney bridge that the locals call "the Big Hanger" for its shape, and a wonder around areas called "Circle Quay" and "The Rocks". While we did this, we saw Ibis, amazing numbers of trees, wild cockateels, and other strange birds. By 3:30 p.m. it was time to take the chaperones to their hotel and the kids to Pittwater High School.

The high school is a 7th-12th grade school with about 900 students. Hospitality is the word of the day. Our receptionsl, no matter where we were, were great. One of the chaperones had a local person in one of the airports compliment our kids as the best group of young people they had ever seen. Of course we already knew that.

By 5:30 our time here, the kids were off with their homestay groups and we were winding down the day.