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

Hi Kids

A group of us spent a week volunteering at Ted Noffs. This is an organization that works to help young adults find their place in life.

Throughout week we spent time at One Noffs which is a second hand store. The goal of this store is to sell donated item in order to raise money for the Ted Noffs organization. While volunteering we helped to sort clothing, price it, and took the clothes out into the store.

This organization has different programs one is the street university which is a place with young adult can go to do actives like dancing, art work, singing, and song writing. We had a chance to go to a concert that the street university was putting on to raise awareness on the impact the Ted Noffs organization has on young adults.

Have a good day!

Kelsey and Alexia

Rummage Sale at Ted Noffs

Hi kids,
On Saturday the 21st, those of us who could, volunteered at Ted Noffs. We set up tables  of clothing and other items for people to buy.  We had a lot of fun talking to customers and playing with young kids.  After two hours of volunteering, we had to stop because of the rain.  We raised $200 for the organization. 

By Chai and Shannon

Pics from Cricket

As promised, here are a couple pics from the cricket match! Here are a few of us enjoying the match, and below is a picture of the stadium where they played.
I didn't have any of the players close-up, but you can see how the field and stadium are laid out. It is a large, circular arena with the players in the middle who do the bowling and protecting of the wicket- which is kind of like pitching in baseball, but done to knock the wicket off. The "batter" tries to protect the wicket and knock the ball out in the field. If the ball gets over the white line around the field, they get 6 runs, but if it bounces over, it's worth 4. So there's a little more about the game of cricket! Enjoy!

--Kayla

Featherdale Wildlife Park and Blue Mountains National Park

Today, Shannon and Chai went to the Blue Mountaions. Our first stop was at a zoo called Featherdale Wildlife Park.  Afterward, we stopped at the Scenic World to tour the mountains.  Here are some of our pictures from the Featherdale Wildlife and the Blue Mountains.  Walking in the mountains was very steep and the weather was raining, but the view was worth it. The Aboriginals have a legend about the famous rock formation known as the Three Sisters.  The legend states that an Aboriginal warrior fell in love with three sisters from a different clan.  An elder of the sisters clan knew the warrior would try to take the sisters away.  So before the warrior could get the sisters, the elder of their clan turned them into stone.  The warrior could not find them, so he went away.  It is unkown why the elder never changed the sisters back again.  They do not know if he died or simply was unable to get back.

                                             Kangaroos at Featherdale Wildlife Park.

                                          A beautiful waterfall at Blue Mountains National Park.

 The amazing view of the Blue Mountains.

The Three Sisters at Blue Mountains.

By: Chai and Shannon

Hey Kids,
Today we had a free day so we decided to go and check out the Harry Potter exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney. It featured a lot of costumes and props from all of the movies. Do any of you like Harry Potter books or movies? If so, what is your favorite one?
Lex bought Hermoine's wand in the gift shop. It is really cool!

Hope you enjoy the picture of us!
Lex, Lisa, Amy, Meredith

Answers To Your Question!

G'Day Mates!

It sounds like rollerskating was a blast! Sorry to hear about the cold weather... we'll do our best to bring some heat back with us! You all asked if we were trying anything new here in Australia. To answer your question, I'll share some pictures!

Here is me at my surf lesson! You mentioned that when you all were rollerskating you fell a lot and just had to keep getting up and trying again. We had a very similar experience surfing! If you look at the picture above, that's me wiping out! It was so difficult to get the hang of surfing, but once I did, it was a blast!!

This is Courtney, Me, and Ali J. listening to our surf instructor on how to push ourselves up when the wave hit us. We practiced for about 20 minutes on land before we hit the water. Practice makes perfect!

This is me snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. I was a little nervous to be around so many different fish, but it turned out to be a great experience and another first for me!

My FIRST time feeding a Kangaroo!! I was so excited, but again... a little nervous. He slobbered all over my hand, but he was so cute and friendly!

This is the "momma" kangaroo. If you look closely, she has a "Joey" in her pouch! You should be able to see his legs and tail. This was my first time seeing a baby kangaroo!!

Everything we have done so far has been absolutely amazing, and we've all had a lot of "firsts" on this trip. Unfortunately, we can only share five pictures at a time, or I would share EVERYTHING we've done. I hope you all are interested in what we're studying here, and when you get to college, I hope you travel around the world too!!

Have a great day, guys!

Emmy

Answers!

Hello Room 8,

Your skating day that you had sounds so much fun. I love skating and it is one of my favorite things to do in the summer time! To answer your question about if we have tried anything new that was hard at first, I would say yes! Many of us thought surfing was very hard at first and we had to keep trying. It was hard to overcome the big waves and get out deep, and it was also hard to stand up on your surf board and balance while the wave is pushing you. It is just like you said, you have to keep trying over and over and eventually you will succeed. It is such a great feel to overcome the challenge though, so it is worth the work. I hope it warms up a bit in Wisconsin for you. Let us know if you have any more questions for us. We are having a blast and can't believe there is less than a week until we come home! Time flies when you are having fun.

Cheers,
Sara

Vinnies

This is a picture the Vinnies Groups.

(Kayla, Amy, Ellie, Me, Shannon and John)

This is a picture of the glassware John, Shannon, Kayla, Ellie and I organized on our first day of volunteering. It was a mess and the end result was stunning to us, the managers and the customers. They could finally see the awesome glassware Vinnies has to offer.

This is a picture of all the other services Vinnies has to offer within their organization.

Hello Everyone!!!!!

I hope you guys didn't freeze on your coldest day of the year. Ellie, Kayla, and I thought we would share some of our experiences about volunteering. We volunteered for 4 days at an organization called St. Vinnies. We also have this organization in the United States. However, it was super interesting to volunteer our time in this particular shop.

Ellie spent majority of her time time organizing the clothes in the shop. She would go through and put the tops, pants, and dresses in there correct spot in the shop according to there color. She also got to price the bangles. Ellie was awesome at displaying pieces of art work, purses, glass ware, etc. in an way that made it sell in what it seemed like a minute! Together we worked on the organizing the dresses on Friday (they were a mess).

Kayla did a variety of tasks around the shop including sorting new donations, shelving clothing, and organizing displays. On our first day, almost all of us worked on sorting the brick-a-brack section which is what we at home would describe as knick-knacks and glassware. It was neat to see how the store was organized and run behind the scenes, which is similar in some aspects to our charity shops in Wisconsin.

I (Alli T.) spent majority of my time in the basement in the office pricing the China and antique items the shop got from donations. It was a little lonely down there by myself but I learned so much about antiques that now I feel like a pro! I spent Friday up on the floor with Ellie and it was fun to see how the shop function.

I must first say that our shop was under some need of organizing when our group arrived but after we our time spent there, we helped turn the shop into something great. The customers and the managers gave us so many compliments and thank yous it was an experience Ellie and I won't forget. We learned so much about Vinnies and there other services during our 4 days. Also the staff and other volunteers were so friendly it made us feel welcomed and comfortable and we will truly miss them. St. Vinnies is an amazing organization that needs get more recognition in the States.

Hope your enjoying your weekend!

-Ellie, Kayla and Alli T.

The Illusionist

Hey kids!

It is another beautiful day in Sydney, Australia! Yesterday I had the opportunity to go see a performance at the Sydney Opera House! The show was called "The Illusionist" and kept us entertained for about 2 hours. One of the scariest acts was a man who did an act similar to Houdini. Do you guys know who Houdini was? If not, he was a great stuntman that was known for his escape acts. He would perform risky acts that usually threatened his life. His performance usually consisted of him being locked up and showed him getting out of seemingly impossible situations. At the show, we got to witness an act very similar to Houdini. The performer who called himself The Escapologist, did an act where he was handcuffed, hung upside down, and put into a box filled with water. His only way to escape was to use two bobby pins to pick locks. I was sitting at the edge of my seat as I watched. He ended up getting out after holding his breath for 3 minutes! I am amazed at how he did this! It truly was a great show and one that I will remember forever.

Check out this link below to take a look at the show and the performers in it. You may recognize The Anti Conguror who was on America's Got Talent.

http://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/the-illusionists/default.aspx?gclid=CKyl0-Cd4K0CFUNspAodDW5tGw

-- Ali J.

So many questions, so little time!

Room 8 had a wonderful day yesterday that began with a roller-skating party at the Manitowoc Rollaire as an earned incentive for showing progress in math and reading. Our whole grade level boarded a school bus and arrived at the Rollaire for 2 hours of roller rink fun! You should have seen everyone go! There were kids who had never skated before and were trying their best to work on balance and coordination. It is like anything else one does for the first time. You fall down and you get back up and keep trying until you're eventually skating on your own.

It was the coldest day of the year! The windchill was down to about 15 degrees below zero! And we had a blast!

We were wondering if there are things you guys are trying for the first time that might seem very difficult at first. We love your photos and posts! Keep writing to us!

Room 8

Cricket Match

G'Day Mates!

Last night we took in a very interesting experience by attending a cricket match! Cricket is a game that is not very commonly known in the U.S. Perhaps you have heard of it, but we try to compare it to baseball, even though it is very different! The match was between the Sydney Sixers and the Perth Scorchers, and the home team- the Sixers, won! It came down to the last ball at the end of the match, which lasted over 3 hours! Myself or one of the other travelers will get pictures up here to show you what it's like soon, so stay tuned for those! Can't wait to tell you and show you more about what we've been up to in Sydney!

--Kayla

Here are some answers to your questions for a little while ago. I hope this helps.

Please keep the questions coming!

-We have not really learned about waterborne diseases in the water, as far as we have seen the water is usually pretty clean, otherwise it is salt water.

-The Australians here have great clean water, but Yes, they are very conscience of the use of water. For example with the toilets here, we can do a half flush or a full flush, and even then water sitting in the toilet is less than you see in America.

- Today Trecia and I saw that there was a recycling center for water that was used, and in ponds, and would be recycled for toilet facilities. We have also seen that Australians are more "green" here.

-For ocean reefs, the area is being controlled and is called a Marina Park. If people do bad things to it they get fined, and they try to keep tourism to certain areas so the reef doesn't get damaged!

~Mai, Trecia, & Jenilee

Conservation Volunteering Frog Day

Hey Kiddos!

Trecia and I are part of the Conservation Volunteering here in Sydney. Today we were able to listen and look at frogs. There were 5 different types of frogs (Green and Gold Bell Frog, Perons Tree Frog, Dwarf Tree Frog, Striped Marsh Frog, and the Common Eastern Froglet) and we saw 2 of them. The frogs we saw have bright colors on the back of their legs to scare away predators. The females are bigger than the males, and we even learned the call of the Green and Golden Bell Frog! Here are some pics of the frogs. The two that are dark green are of the Golden Green Bell Frogs, and the smaller brown ones are of the Perons Tree Frog (we saw 7 of these ones!)

(P.S. Maybe your teacher can google what a Green and Gold Bell Frog sound like)

~Jenilee & Trecia

Volunteer Placement

Hey guys,

Yesterday (Tuesday) we started our volunteer work here in Sydney, the place I am working is St. Vinny's. For those of you who don't know St. Vinny's has thrift stores with discounted prices to help people who can't afford new clothes, they also use the money they make to help pay bills, provide food, and many other services. My job was to go through the clothes rack and pull out the older clothes so we could put more out. I've already gotten to know a few of the employees well and I have a great time talking to them. It always makes it easier at the end of the day to know who you're helping and how you can make a difference in their life.

Tonight we are going to a cricket match, you'll have to check back for a post about how it went. Hopefully things are going well in Wisconsin and you are enjoying our stories, let us know if you have any questions!

Amy

Yarrabah

Hey Guys!

Sorry I haven't posted yet, things have been a little crazy (fun, but crazy!). I wanted to share a little bit with you guys about our adventure in an Aboriginal community we visited last week. The community was Yarrabah and it was just outside of Cairns. We learned more about the Aboriginal people, their history, their community, daily life, and how they function as a unit in current times. This day was a favorite for many of us!

Just to give you a small taste of some things we saw, I wanted to share some pictures and videos with you! Above is a picture of some genuine Aboriginal art. Well okay... one of the pictures is genuine, the other is mine! While we were in Yarrabah, we learned about Aboriginal art! The picture (above) of the two crabs was painted by an individual living in the Yarrabah community. During our day visit, we also got the chance to create our own "masterpiece" of Aboriginal art. The other picture above (with the turtle) is the work I created! Isn't it awesome!? You guys should look up some more pictures of Aboriginal art (and do a little more research on its history) and see if you're art teacher will allow you to take a day to make some Aboriginal art of your own- It's "heaps" of fun! ("Heaps" is the term Australian people use instead of "lots").

I really encourage you guys to look into the indigenous community of Australia, and learn more about the Aboriginal people and the stolen generation. You'll be interested in what you find (I promise)!

Have a great day, guys!! :)

Emmy

P.S. HOW ABOUT THOSE PACKERS!?!?!? :(

Sydney

G'day Mates!

Yesterday was our first full day in Sydney! We had an awesome day getting a tour around the city and then some of us got to learn how to surf! On our tour, we saw historical parts of Sydney and our tour guide was full of information. Our guide talked about how they built the docks for the boats into the harbor, so the harbor smaller than it originally was in 1788. Above is a picture of the Sydney Opera House that we got to see on our tour. It is a famous place most people only get to see in pictures, but we were fortunate enough to get to see it in person! Also above are picture from surfing. The middle picture is the most of the group that decided to surf (Ali J, Ellie, Emmy, Sara, Cathy, and Alli T). We all had a blast learning to surf, but it was way harder than we expected. You had to make sure you followed the instruction how to to do it properly, or you would find yourself taking a nose dive into the water. Surfing was another amazing experience that we were all fortunate enough to be able to try. We are having a blast on our trip and we hope everything is going good back home!

Sara, Alli T, and Emmy

Sorry for late photos..

Here is Mia bowling in the game, this is like pitching the ball in baseball. Behind her are poles called wickets.
Here we are getting ready to start the game of cricket.
Here is our teacher feeding the joey, which is another name for a small kangaroo.
Here is the ferry we had to take to get over to the rain forest! This ferry hold cars and people are able to drive on to the ferry and stay in the car. In the river below the ferry there were crocodiles.

Please look at the comments we posted to you about your questions on the fruit.

Hope you all had a good weekend and are staying warm.
Kelsey, Ellie, Alexia

Sydney!

Hi Kids!
We have arrived in Sydney safely!  The weather is much cooler than in Cairns.  It rained this morning then cleared up while we were at Manley Beach.  We took a ferry from the harbor after we went sightseeing to see the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House.  Luckily it was done raining by then.  Some people took surfing lessons and others enjoyed walking on the beach.  How's the weather back in Wisconsin?  We heard Wisconsin had a snow storm a few days ago.  While we were in Cairns some of us even missed having snow because it was so hot and humid.

-Meredith and Lisa

Crocs and Koalas

Hey Kids,

Today we went on an adventure to a Zoo. The zoo was located on the top story of a casino! We were able to hold and pet a koala, and watch a 53-58 year old Crocodile eat today! It was amazing! Hope you enjoy the pictures. We can't upload the video of the crocodile eating yet, but we're leaving from Cairns tonight going to Sydney, so hopefully we'll be able to upload when we get there.

~Jeniee, Mai, and Trecia

Free Day in Cairns

Today was a free day for us to do whatever we would like.  Amy and I spent some time by the pool at Gilligan's then we ate lunch at Sushi Train.  It was our first experience trying sushi.  Afterwards we walked around and bought souvenirs.  Meredith loves hello kitty and came across a giant kangaroo hello kitty stuffed animal, it was awesome!

-Amy and Meredith

Pictures

The first picture is a picture of Sara feeding a Kangaroo! It was once in a lifetime opportunity to feed an animal so many people never get the chance to see. The cool thing about this kangaroo is that it was carrying a baby Joey in its pouch. Everyone here really enjoyed spending time with the kangaroos.

The second picture is a picture of an Umbrella Tree. They grow in the rain forest here. These tress are fun to look at because they are truly as big as an umbrella and provide PLENTY of shade as you walk through the rain forest. We think they are our favorite tree from the many trees that grow in the forest.

The 3rd picture is a picture from when we went to an Aboriginal community named Yarrabah. When we first arrived in Yarrabah we were by a name Mala. He then introduced us to the boys Francis (17), Shamis (12), Arthur (11), and Camedin (7) who greeted us with a WELCOME DANCE and a CROCODILE dance. It was so much fun watching these boys that we also got a chance to dance along side of them.

The last picture is a picture of us after our day at the rain forest. We got to enjoy come beautiful scenery on our way back. We all would like to say HELLO to you back home!!

Cheers

Sara and Alli T.