My Favorites

Hello Everyone!!

Now that we are all back in the United States I thought I would share some of my favorite moments of the the trip with you. But before I do that I would like to say that Australia is an amazing place and if you ever get the opportunity to travel there in your future take it. (Or if you get the opportunity to travel to any other country it's worth going to.)

This is a picture of Sara and I at the Cricket game. I tired to find a picture of just the cricket field but I couldn't. But going to the cricket game was one of my favorite things to do during the trip. I enjoy sports so when we got a chance to watch a sport in another country I jumped at the opportunity to go to the game. And Sydney beat Perth that match so it was a nail biting game to go to.

This is a banner I saw hanging on Australia Day. Personally, I loved that throughout our time in Australia that we got to learn about the Aboriginals. It's important for Australia as well as us to recognize that Australia's first inhabitants weren't the criminals from Great Britain but the aboriginals themselves. I enjoyed learning about there culture, history, and how far they have come today. Also getting to learn how to dance in Yarrabah and watching the aboriginal dances on Survival Day (this is what aboriginals call Australia Day) will be a memory I will never forget.

This is a picture of Rex! He is a HUGE crocodile that lives in the Sydney Zoo. Although he was the biggest crocodile I saw during my time in Australia, I truly enjoyed learning about them and trying to spot them out in Cairns on the Daintree River. Learning about all the animals of Australia throughout our time down there was interesting. Kangaroos, Cassowary, Crocodiles, and Jellyfish were some of the animals I found to be interesting to learn about.

Australia Day Celebrations

As Chai mentioned, yesterday was Australia Day where Australians celebrate becoming a country, like our 4th of July celebrations. The Aborigine population celebrates Survival Day, where they are immersed in their culture and do special ceremonies that they share with the public to educate us on what they do and share their history. I wanted to share a few additional pictures as we had the chance to make a last visit to Sydney Harbor to see the Harbor Bridge and Opera House, were at the Botanical Gardens for a ceremony in the morning, Victoria Park for Aboriginal programs in the afternoon, and a final event of fireworks at Darling Harbor in the evening. Enjoy the pictures!
Aboriginal performers at the program in Victoria Park
Kayla and Courtney, our instructor, in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge

Fireworks at Darling Harbor!

Australia Day's

Today, some of us went with Courtney to Botnic Gardens to see Aboriginals performing the story of Nerumoro.  The performs are fablous, I love the story and the dance that they did.  Then later, we as the whole group went to Victoria Park to see another Aboriginals dance.  Overall, the whole dances are really interesting and had good meaning.  Here is a picture I take at the Botnic Gardens with the dancers.

 Chai and Shannon

Hi everyone,
How are you guys doing?  Guess what? We are coming home back tomorrow!  Well anyway, yesterday as a whole group, we went to Bondi Beach to a school to help volunteer.  The school called Bondi Beach Public School.  We was actually got divided into two group to help the students.  I got to stay back and help the students.  What Shannon and I did was making arts work with the students.  Afterward we went outside to play the students.  I enjoy my time being with them, I had a great time.  Hopefully you guys have tons of fun with the snow that you guys have in Wisconsin.  Bye!

Chai and Shannon

Hi! I've been asked by Mr. Thompson to tell about about some of the books that we have been reading here in school while you guys are traveling. If you're looking for good books, then you have come to the right place. I know a really funny and easy book. The name is Rotten School by R.L. Stine. It's a funny story about a kid in fourth grade. He has a bunch of wierd and crazy friends that do the un-normal!
If your looking for a good-fit book, I would recommend The Million Dollar Kick.  It's a book about a girl named Whisper.She gets a chance to kick a soccer ball into a net, with a famous soccer player blocking her, but she's not all that great at soccer. So if she goes for the shot and misses, how will she get one million dollars?
One more good book is one of my favorite books to read, Diary of a Wimpy Kid. It's a great book with a kid who is friends with a funny character, a nerdy type of person. They are in the middle School and their school is really crazy. I love reading all three of these books. I hope you will read them and enjoy them as much as I did.
What kinds of books have you been reading while you have been traveling? Any really good ones?

Kyra

Royal National Park

Hello everyone,
Today, we went to the Royal National Park in the town of Jibbon.  The ride to Jibbon is about one and half hour drive.  At the park I saw lots of beautiful view and some unique Aboriginal arts works.  Here are some of the pictures.

 Here is a picture of a whale.

This picture of a frog.

By Chai

Aboriginal Tour

Hey everyone!

Today was a very neat learning experience as we were guided by an Aboriginal woman, Pamela, through sacred Aborigine ground which is part of a park that we drove to about an hour and a half from Sydney. She taught us so many cool things about what you can find in nature- she called it "going shopping!" Pamela showed us a plant that can be split to be used in weaving, as well as made into a soft bristled paint brush. Another "bottle brush" plant which grew from a tree could be used to curl your hair and after the bristles fall off, also used as a paintbrush. She showed us where the soils and rocks were composed of different colors that Aborigine people used for making paints, too! There was so much to learn! We'll have pictures for you soon! The other really cool thing was seeing all of the ancient Aboriginal rock art, which was carved into sandstone. Images of whales, kangaroos, and other symbols were in the rocks! I have some cool videos I hope to show you when we get a chance to visit you when we're home!

--Kayla