a GOOD bye to Australia, and a welcome home

The three weeks went by fast and now we're back at home. It's sad to think I wouldn't be able to go back there, at least not anytime soon. Australia is a beautiful country and we did a lot of amazing things like scuba diving and learning about the culture. But one of my favorite parts about going is meeting new people; the very knowledgeable tour guides, the locals and backpackers, and the other students on the trip! Not only we're we able to experience a lifetime opportunity but we made lifelong friends too! We might not be in that country anymore but the memories will last forever!
Hopefully you all get a similar opportunity,
Jess H.

Back in the Snow!

Hey kids :)

As you see from previous posts, we all made it home safely from Australia. The experience we all got is one that words cannot describe. We had opportunities to volunteer at different institutions, and we got to sightsee like no other! It was sad coming back to freezing weather and snow, but our memories of Australia will live on forever. It's definitely a place that I would love to return to. If you ever get the opportunity to travel like this, I encourage you to do so! It really opens your eyes to new people and new cultures... and you really learn a lot!

As promised, I got a picture of Yoshi... and the Sydney Opera House is in the background :)

Back in the USA

Hey Guys,

We made it back home safely last night after a 14 hour plane ride to LAX airport, then a 4 hour plane ride to Chicago airport, and finally a 3 hour bus ride up to Oshkosh where we all went our separate ways. It was a bitter sweet goodbye, but we will all see each other again soon enough. I hope each and everyone of you get to travel the world some day or already have. It makes you appreciate what you have. Although, I really wanted to stay in Australia. Coming home to 20 degrees wasn't exactly a warm welcome haha. If anyone has questions let me know.

Where would any of you like to travel to and why??

-Sean Manion

Back in the Cold

Hey kids,
We arrived back in WI around 10:30pm on Thursday night after about 18 hours of flying! It was a really long day, but I think a lot of us are excited to be back home to see all of our family and friends. Our last day in Australia it was around 100 degrees, so it was really cold when we got off the plane in Chicago. I think it's going to take us a while to get used to all of the snow and cold weather here! We all had so much fun on our trip and I hope that you guys got a chance to read our posts everyday and watch the videos and see the pictures! Hopefully we can come visit you soon so we can tell you even more about everything we saw and learned about!
Cassie

Last Day

Hello Everyone,
Well today were are heading home. Everyone is so sad to leave this beautiful country. I think it is safe to say everyone had a WONDERFUL time. I had such an awesome time here. Yesterday it was Australian Day and people were wearing all their Australian gear. I walked around the harbor and went to the beach. It was a perfect day to end this 3 week adventure. At night, we watched fireworks at the harbor. They were the best fireworks I have ever seen. I think one of the best days here was snorkeling in the reef. It was such an amazing sight and I'll never forget it. If any of you ever have the chance to go somewhere outside the US I would do it, it is such a great experience and it is something you won't ever forget!
-Britt

Australia Day/Survival Day

Hey Guys, its me again!

This is a video I took on the morning of the public holiday known as Australia Day. The holiday is in celebration of the day that the English landed in Australia, however the Aboriginal people celebrate it as Survival Day because they are thankful that they are still around to continue their customs and practices to this day. It was a very unique experience that I felt inspired while watching.

On Australia Day many people wear the Australian flag which looks like this:


However, after watching the dance and then going to the Survival Day Festival I decided that I was going to wear the flag of the Aboriginal people which looks like this:


The colors of the Aboriginal flag all have a symbolic meaning. The black symbolizes the people and the night sky. The yellow symbolizes the sun, and the red symbolized the earth and the people that died.

It is very cool to experience a culture outside of your own and I am excited that I had the opportunity to participate in this and hope I can come back to Australia again, there is so much to see and do we could not fit it all in!

-Travis

Animals!

Hey Guys! This is a short video of a lizard that we saw while looking at Aboriginal rock paintings. It was pretty cool to see art that was thousands of years old and to also see some of the animals like the lizard and even some pretty big spiders!

Australia Day :)

Hi Kids!

Here is a picture of me in front of the Sydney Opera House! We visited the Opera House one last time on Australia Day yesterday. I did not have the chance to go watch a show in the Opera House but will try to the next time I come to Australia. On Australia Day we watched an Aboriginal dance performance. It was neat to see all the performers dancing in traditional clothing. Each performer had his/her body and hair painted in different designs. I spent my afternoon walking around Darling Harbour. It was neat to see everyone waving Australian flags!

Last Day :(

Hey Kids!
Our trip is coming to an end. I have had such a great time being in Australia. My favorite part of the trip was learning about the Aboriginal culture. Coming on the trip all I knew about the culture was that there was a stolen generation. Leaving now I know so much about their land and customs. They are very proud people. On our last day we were lucky to be able to celebrate Australia Day and Sorry Day. This is like our 4th of July. There are many events and bands. There was even a firework show! It has been great talking to all of you! I loved traveling abroad! You should all think about doing it!
-Kathryn

Last Day in Australia!! :(

Hey guys!

I can't believe how fast these three weeks have flown by!! We've done so much and I hope you all have enjoyed reading about it and looking at our pictures!!

Today was like the 4th of July for Australia. It has a few different names, Australia day, which celebrates when the British came and settled here, and Survival Day or Sorry Day, which celebrates the Aboriginal people who have lived here from many, many years.

The celebrations were very different, but I'm happy I was able to experience both sides to this holiday. For Sorry/Survival Day we I bought a bracelet made from nuts which fall off a tree, tried new foods, and watched traditional Aboriginal Dances. For Australia day, we walked through Sydney Harbor, watched swimming races, and soaked up the sun in the Botanical Gardens (an extremely huge and beautiful park in Sydney).

The whole day was amazing and I'm so sad to be coming home!! I love it here! :)

Australia Day!

Survival/Sorry day is a huge deal in Australia. January 26, 1788 James Cook sailed  and landed on present day Circular Quay. That is where King Arther Phillip anchored and started the city. This is the day the aboriginal people show their dances and express their culture proudly. Its so sad that today happens to be our last day in Australia. Tomorrow we'll have a long flight back to cold snowy Wisconsin. I learned so much while I was here and I hope you all enjoyed what I have shared with you. From down under, Mercedes

U.S. Consulate

Today we all were dressed very smart. We went a very tall building where we had to go through a security check then to the 56th floor to meet the U.S. Consulate,Niels Marquardt. He works in Australia and helps our the people from the United States that live here. It was a great pleasure to be able to meet with him.

The Beach :)

Hey guys,

The other day we had some free time so we decided to head down to Coogee Beach, which is one of many beaches along the coast of Australia. There was a little rock area that you could walk along and swim in a small pool enclosed by rocks. It was beautiful over there! We even found a small crab that was hiding under the rock wall and he had big bug looking eyes but it was really cool that we got to see it! What kind of water creatures have you guys been learning about? We have seen tons of them while we've been here so if you have any questions about them let me know! Hope to hear back from you!

Cassie

Jibbon Area and Aboriginal Culture

Hey Kids,

Yesterday we were at the Jibbon Area with a second generation Aboriginal woman named Pamela. This means that her mother was part of the original stolen generation that got their culture and way of life taken away from them when the British came to Australia. She was very passionate about her culture and heritage and wanted us to be very respectful when walking through their land. We saw an ancient burial grounds and they had chiseled into the rock forming different shapes of animals like a sting ray, hammerhead shark, and a man with six fingers that haunts your dreams if you don't follow and respect the aboriginal "lore" which is law, and the environment and tribe your with. She showed us how to make soap to clean our hands by rubbing a plant leaf together very fast and putting water on it. It was very cool! If any of you have any questions I would be happy to answer them...

-Sean Manion

Packers!

Hello Everyone!
The Packers Won! A few of us woke up at 530 am Monday morning to be able to watch the Packer game live. The time difference is about 17 hours. After the game we were all very excited. Once the game was over we went canoeing and had or first Australian barbie. A barbie is a barbecue. When the barbie was over we were able to hike where there were Aboriginal grave stones. I't was a massive rock and you know it is a grave when there are animals carved on top of the stones. There was a whale, shark, and a sting ray. For dinner it was the first time that I ever had kangaroo. It is very good and tastes like a steak. I hope it is not too cold in Wisconsin!
-Kathryn

Royal Flying Doctors

Hey Kids!

Here is a picture of one of the airplanes the Royal Flying Doctor Service uses to fly medical doctors and nurses to patients who live in the outback. The people who live in the outback may live several hundreds of miles away from the nearest doctor, so when they need medical attention, they have to call the RFDS. The RFDS takes patients from the outback to the nearest hospital. Flying a patient only takes several hours, whereas driving the patient to the nearest hospital may take several days.

We took a tour of the building when we were in Cairns.

Rock Concert in Sydney!

Hello!

This last Friday three of us went to a concert that was held at the Metro Theatre in Sydney to see the band Skillet. Have any of you heard of them? They are actually from Kenosha, Wisconsin and started getting really big just a couple years ago. They are one of my favorite bands and I was so happy I got to see them on tour in another country!

On Saturday it was the last day of volunteering at the Ted Noffs foundation. Those of us volunteering there helped out with the garage sale. The foundation holds a garage sale about twice a year. We had quite a few people show up, and we all had a great time helping out. It didn't hit me that it was our last day there until we started cleaning up... and it was pretty sad. I wish we could have volunteered there for a longer period of time.

Below are a few pictures! :)

1) Kathryn, Sean, and I waiting in line for the Skillet concert

2) Sean and I inside the Metro Theatre with our new Skillet t-shirts

3) A group of us volunteering at the Ted Noffs foundation

This is a Aboriginal rock engraving we seen today. If you look at it one way it looks like a kangaroo on a surf board and if you look at it the other way it looks like a hammerhead shark. It was really neat to see the carvings and learn the stories behind them.

A Fun Time

This morning we drove out to a Royal National Park. Everyone paired up and went in a canoe. We were canoeing down the river for over an hour. It was my first time, but I did quite well. We had a great view of all the scenery. Then we had a little barbie, barbecue, in the park. Then we took a walk along the beach and hiked through the bushes. We learned about the aboriginal background and saw many of the carvings from early years. It was a wonderful day! Talk to you soon, Mercedes

Coogee and Manly Beaches!

Hey Kids!

Like Mike said, there was a lot of Jellyfish on the beach so we could not really go in the water today at Manly Beach. Here is a picture of one that washed up on the shore. They were pretty small, which is dangerous because they can still sting people even when they are dead so we had to be really careful to not step on them. They said that there is nothing to cure the sting, you just have to let in hurt for a couple hours and then it should get better, I'm sure glad I did not get stung!



This is from a little cove at Coogee Beach. This video does not do this place justice. It is very beautiful, with water that you can see to the bottom of! I loved it there and hope to go back again before the end of the trip. It will be a shock to jump off the plane in Chicago to weather that is below zero knowing that I was here less than a week earlier!

-Travis

Jellyfish!

Hey kids,

Today we had a free day and a bunch of us went to a beach. It was a really nice day but in the late afternoon it started to get really windy. The lifeguards announced that the ocean tides were very strong and they were washing up jellyfish all over the shore so it was not safe to swim in the water. All of us were a little mad that we could'nt go in the water, it was so hot outside! But I was glad that we knew not to go in, a jellyfish string can be very painful.

Have any of you ever seen a jellyfish? The ones that were washing up on the beach were actually very small, but some of the smallest jellyfish can give the most poisonous stings.

-Mike

Hello everyone!
Today we had a free day, I had family in Sydney so I decided to spend the afternoon with them. We went to Manly beach and spent the day in their apartment. They live on the beach and it overlooks the water. It is so beautiful. I could live their someday. Last night we went to listen to the orchestra in the park downtown. There were so many people there and the music was incredible. It is sad to think that this is our last week here, but we still have some amazing activities planned!

Hello

Every time I see a gellato stand my eyes light up. It's cold like ice cream, but way better. There are so many different kinds of flavors and all of them are delicious. Last night we walked around and I had some Mango gelato. There are flavors you probably haven't even heard of and then there are the ones you wouldn't even think would be there. They have watermelon, bubblegum, snickers, and a lot more to choose from. Yummy!

Volunteering

Hey guys!

Today was our last day volunteering for Special Olympics. Special Olympics is an organization that gives individuals with Intellectual Disabilities an oppertunity to be active and play all different kinds of sports. Some athletes compete in competitions and others just are in it to have fun.

This morning we went to a bowling alley with a ton of the athletes. It was really fun because all week we have been volunteering in the office but today we actually got to work with the athletes. Seeing how much fun everyone has made the office work we did all week seem more worth it!!

Have any of you volunteered with Special Olympics?? Or any other organizations?

Bye for now! :)

-Liz

Hey!

How's everyone doing? For the past couple of days we've been volunteering at Ted Noffs foundation. It's a place that helps young adults with some problems they might be having. They run a charity store that's called One Noffs. It's a secondhand store where people can bring any of their used clothes they don't wear anymore. Then we sort through the bags and decide if its garbage or if its good enough to sell at the store. We've been meeting so many new and different people that we work with. We're having tons of fun while working because we get to try on clothes and dance to the music. I can't believe we only have a couple more days left in Australia then we head back home. It's so sad to think its almost over, but we all had a lot of fun. Well write back with any questions you have. Talk to you soon! Mercedes

Hello Boys and Girls,

This is a bug I found walking up my shoe. I was ok with it on me until it started going up my jeans. Had to kick it away and when I did it went towards some of the other students and they all screamed and ducked. I wish I would have got a video of it. Anyway I am having a great time here in Sydney and the weather is great. How is the weather in Wisconsin? I am not looking forward to coming home to the snow so if you could make sure it is all gone by Thursday Jan. 27?

Elizabeth

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to tell you all about my work experience in Australia since it is different from everyone else's. I am working at GIDEON SHOES, it is a company started by two brothers to help fund a college for the youth in Western Australia. The shoes at GIDEONS are handmade in Australia out of mainly kangaroo leather and cane toad hide. Here are some pictures of the shoes. They are pretty crazy! I want a pair! You can check out the website if you would like! www.gideon.com.au

Take care,

Jamie

Greetings from Down Under

Hi everyone!
How's it going in Wisconsin? We would sure like to hear from you, hope you are getting all of our pictures and comments! We are doing a lot of neat things here in Sydney!
The other night Kristen and I went to see the Sydney aquarium. It was very neat to see all the different water animals. We saw jellyfish, seahorses, stingrays, a huge sea turtle, and even sharks! After that we walked over to the Sydney Tower, its a very tall building that overlooks the city! The view is amazing; we went at night and saw all the lights that make the city glow.
Tomorrow is our final day of volunteering and then we plan to visit the beach! We want to get as much time as we can in the hot sun before we return to the chilly winter back home. I heard there was a snow storm, how much snow did you get? Did you make a snowman?
Bye for now, Jess H.

Hey Cassie,

Sorry I did not see you last questions. The flooding is not where we are in Australia so we are perfectly safe. It is a natural disaster and horrible thing happening though. The plane ride was long but not bad. It was fun getting to know the other kids on the trip and we got to watch all kinds of movies!


Your friend,
Jamie

Dear Cassie,

That is so cool you want to be an interior designer, decorator, or photographer. They all are very interesting and fun! I want to be in business and work with marketing. I get to use photography but not take the actual pictures like you would be doing! Australians eat many different kinds of food. They have all the same fast food like McDonalds and KFC, but also have a variety of cuisines like Italian, Chinese, and Asian food. Food that we don't normally eat in America that they have is Shark and Kangaroo! They have so many animals here. I have seen koalas, crocodiles, snakes, birds, kangaroos, fish, frogs, spiders, cattle, and lizards to name a few! In my free time here we go swimming, hang at the beach, play catch with a football, shop, and walk around town. My main hobbie at home is golfing but I love hanging out with my friends and going out for dinner too.

Take care,
Jamie

Dear Christopher,

That is so cool that you know what you want to be when you are older. Fixing cars is very important, I don't even know how to do it! I'll make sure to give you a call when mine breaks down! Mongollia is a very interesting choice of place to visit. Hopefully I will make it there one day myself. As of giant monkeys, I am sorry to say I have not even seen a monkey yet! Lots of other animals and wildlife. We do still have a week, so I will let you know if i come across one. When we went swimming in the Great Barrier Reef I saw so many fish! All bright and fun colors. If you have seen Finding Nemo, it was just like that! There were schools of fish, fish that were almost two feet wide, and little tiny fish! A great variety! Hope you are staying warm in Wisconsin!

Take care,
Jamie

Dear Zach S,

Sorry it took so long to respond to your post! I love Australia almost as much as I love Brett Favre. It is so fun wearing our Packer jerseys around here and having people recognize the Packers from across the world! It is so warm here compared to Wisconsin. A tropical paradise with beaches and fun wildlife. I love animals, I have 2 dogs at home named Cali and Peanut. I have seen so many animals here from bright colored birds, crocodiles, snakes, frogs, kangaroos, koalas. If you like animals as much as me, you would love every second of it!

Take care,
Jamie

A blurb on volunteering!

Hey kids! We haven't done too much sightseeing this week since we've been doing volunteering. A few of us have been volunteering at the Ted Noffs foundation, which is a foundation in Australia that provides services for young people and their families who are experiencing drug and alcohol problems and other related trauma. We have been helping out with the store that is run by other volunteers. Donations of clothes, shoes, toys, books, and more are sorted and put in the store to sell and raise money for the foundation. It's been a lot of work, but it feels great knowing that we are being a big help to other volunteers, workers, as well as youth and families who use these services.

Here are a couple pictures that I took this week in Sydney!


Manly Beach

A distant view of the Sydney Harbour Bridge

Sydney and Cricket!

Hello Everyone! Here are a few pictures from Sydney and from the Cricket match a few of us attended. Australia is in the blue jerseys.

Volunteering!

Hey guys!

This week half of our group has had the chance to volunteer at a local organization called Ted Noffs Foundation. They help teenagers who are having issues with drug problems and it's a really cool place to help out! We have been working at their clothing store, which is similar to a Goodwill back in WI. We sort through clothes that people donate to the organization and then we price them to sell. We have met some really nice people while working there and this is a picture of us with a woman named Denise who has been volunteering for the past ten years! I can't believe we only have one week left here....time has gone by so fast! Hope to hear from you soon!

Cassie

Ethan

Don't worry about only winning one game, as long as you have fun that's all that matters. You will be on a different team next year and maybe have better luck. I think that it's so cool that you want to be a cartoon artist. I can't draw very good, I still use stick people. The next place I want to travel to is Hawaii, possibly when after I graduate this year. Talk to you soon buddy.

Sawyer

I'm glad you want to be a mechanic, I know nothing about cars so maybe when my car breaks down you can give me a hand and fix it for me. I like all different types of music but my favorite music is hip hop, country, and alternative rock. You should youtube some Didgeridoo music, its pretty cool and popular here in Australia. Talk to you soon buddy.

Sawyer

I like to hunt as well but unfortunately I have not shot a buck yet, so congradulations on getting a 5 point buck! I also enjoy going duck hunting, its much easier to shoot a duck. I've seen many animals here, we have gone to a crocodile farm, zoo, and the Sydney Aquarium. The only thing that I have seen flying around other than birds are airplanes. Talk to you soon buddy.

Dylan

My dream was to grow up and be a professional athlete too, it didn't matter to me in which sport I became famous in because I played every sport growing up. I find it strange that you said if that didn't work out for you that you wanted to be a carpenter because when I'm not in school I work as a carpenter for the summer. I like all sports but my favorites are football, hockey, baseball, and soccer. I'm hoping the PACKERS beat the Bears this weekend and move on to the Superbowl!!! Other than sports I enjoy building different things out of wood. I traveled to Germany last year and it was very differnt from the U.S. and even Australia so I would suggest that if you want to travel there that you learn how to speak German well before you go. Now that I'm in Australia though I want to move here! Talk to you soon buddy.

Braydon

I'm a football fan also, how about those Packers!!! We will be watching the Packer game live in Australia, the only difference is that it will be 7 a.m. on Monday morning here. Australia is about 14 hours ahead of Wisconsin. So when you watching the game think about that. Talk to you soon buddy.

Cole

It's good to hear there are people out there that are as excited as I am with sports. When I was in 5th grade I didn't think that I would travel to Australia and now I'm here. So keep your options open and you never know, maybe someday you will see Australia too. The culture is different here for example some of the foods that i've had here, the language has some slang words just like we do in the U.S., and they drive on the other side of the road and steering wheel.
Talk to you soon buddy

Hello from Sydney!!

Hey guys!

I heard that the weather is getting quite chilly in Wisconsin! We looked it up and it said it could get as cold as -30 Farinheit! It's about 30 degrees Celsius here, which is about 86 degrees Fahrenheit! So quite a change from home, and I'm not too excited to come home to that next week!!

Sydney is really nice! On the first day here we went on a walking tour of historic Sydney. It was really neat to learn some the the early history of when the British came and settled here. We got to see "heaps" (Australians say this A LOT when then are describing things, it means a lot) of the oldest buildings in Sydney and actually homes that earlier settlers lived in! One of the buildings we went into during the tour had clear glass as the floor and a model of the whole city of Sydney underneath! It was really cool, but it was hard to take a picture of because of the glass! I will try and upload a picture of it later!

Well thats all for now! I'll try and get on later today and upload pictures! I've taken HEAPS :)

-Liz

Cricket Match

Hi Kids,
Last night a group of us went to see a cricket match. Have any of you ever heard of cricket, or do any of you know anything about how the game is played? The game of cricket is sort of like baseball but there are only two bases and all of the terminology and rules are different, so it was very confusing at first. We ended up sitting right next to a few very nice people that tried to explain the rules to us, so by the end of the match some of us knew what was going on. The game is very high scoring and can last all day sometimes! The match we went to was only a half match and when we left the score was 167 to 120, or something around there. When a player hits the ball into the crowd, like a homerun in baseball, their team gets 6 points, so points can add up pretty fast.

Cricket is actually a very popular sport around the world, but it just isn't really played at all in the US. The stadium that we went to to see the game was the same stadium that games were played in there during the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The stadium was really big, I'll make sure to have someone that took pictures post them as soon as possible.

If you have any questions about Cricket feel free to ask, I am no expert but I'll do my best to answer.

-Mike

Sydney Aquarium

Hi Kids!

Last night I went to the Sydney Aquarium. It was so neat! I saw a giant manatee, a huge sting-ray, and a gigantic sea turtle! There were also underwater tanks that you could walk through. Gigantic sharks were swimming above my head! It was so cool to see the shark's teeth. I also saw a platypus for the first time. They were a lot smaller than I had imagined. I also saw thanks full of jelly-fish. It was mesmerizing to watch them suction to the walls and float around. I will put up pictures later! :)

Kristen

Chilly Wisconsin!

It is very cold and snowy here in Mishicot, Wisconsin!

Ethan says that it is so cold that Jack Frost is shivering!

New South Wales!

Hey Kids!

We have not heard from you in a while, I hope you are seeing our posts we are putting up for you! Here is a picture of our group in front of the Sydney Opera House!

Today we started our volunteering, it has been a really cool experience! Sydney actually reminds me a lot of Boston (with some of the things that New York has to offer as well). It is not as hot as Cairns is (which I am thankful for). But it is a lot like summertime in Wisconsin. Happy MLK Day!

pictures from australia

Hey Kids! Here are some pictures from our amazing trip to Australia so far!

This is the Sydney Harbor Bridge. When they built it, they called it the "Iron Lung" because it helped breathe life into the economy of the city. Can you guess what it's called now? ... They call it the "Coat Hanger" because there is so much steel it looks like a place you could hang your coats! The bridge is very big, and tourists can pay to climb to the top! Would you ever climb that high?

Can anyone guess what this picture is? This is cocoa in it's natural form! Cocoa is what chocolate is made from! It doesn't look anything like chocolate. We all got to try a piece, and believe me, it does not taste like chocolate either! This is a picture of some Australian money. They only have bills form the 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100. They have coins for $1 and $2. Also, all of their money is waterproof!

This is a picture of all of us at the Sydney Opera House. It sits right on Sydney Harbor and is very beautiful!

This is Bernie, our aboriginal tour guide. He taught us many things when we went to visit with him. This is Bernie showing us how to throw a boomerang! Boomerangs were used for hunting birds. Have you ever thrown a boomerang?

This is Bernie showing us how to throw a spear. There are two main ways to throw a spear, either by hand with no tools or with a woomera which is a special tool made to help throw spears farther. How far do you think you could throw a spear?

Finally, this is Bernie showing us how to play a didgeridoo. It was used to make music for people to dance to, as well as communicate with other tribes. He uses a technique called 'circular breathing' which means they breathe in and out continuously and never stop playing. This instrument makes a really cool sound, and Bernie was really good at it!

There's another look into what we've been up to in Australia! Hope you're all enjoying the snow in Wisconsin!

-Dani

Hi Everyone!
Well we have been in Sydney for 3 days now and it's been so wonderful! We have been around the city, on the beach and today we split into groups and did volunteering at 2 different places. I was at Olympic Park doing things with Special Olympics. Olmypic Park was really cool to walk through because that is where the 2000 Summer Olympics were held. We saw some buildings but we will walk through them another day. For volunteering we did some work in the office to get things organized. We have been riding on the subway and I think we are finally getting the hang of it! Sydney is great, it is like a mini New York City. We are really enjoying our time here!
-Britt

Surfs Up!!!

Oye Mates!

We are now in Sydney and I thought I would update you all on what we have been up to. Yesterday was really fun we got a tour of Sydney and got to see the old part of town and our tour guide told about the history and how the early settlers like the british came in and took the land from the aboriginals just like setters from Euorpe came to America and took the Native American's land. Then we went on a ferry ride to Manly beach past the Sydney Oprea House. We then watched the Green Bay Packers beat the Atlanta Falcons!! Next we went to the beach for surfing lessons. This was my favorite part beacuse I've always wanted to go surfing. It was a two hour lessons and learn hot to catch waves and stand up. We should be getting pictures up shortly.

-Sean Manion

Good afternoon, or should I say good morning?

Did you guys know that there is a 16 hour time difference between Wisconsin and Australia? It's already monday here. How was your weekend? Do anything fun?
During our weekend we flew to Sydney and went to the beach. Today we went to an elementary school called Bondi Beach public school. We did some painting and played sports outside! It was a lot of fun! Hopefully we can visit Mischicot and meet you guys soon!
We wanted to go to the beach after but it was really windy so the waves were too big for swimming. So instead we had lunch at a sushi place. I never had it before. Do you guys like seafood? It's really popular here since the Ocean is so close!
Hopefully we'll hear from you tomorrow,
Jess H.

Sydney!!

Hey kids!

We made it to Sydney and got a chance to walk around the entire city yesterday with a tour guide. We saw the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Bridge, which you can climb up and it's really high! Have you guys been learning anything about Sydney in class yet? This city is absolutely amazing and I think it's very similar to Chicago with all of the tall building and sky scrapers.
We also took surfing lessons at Manly Beach yesterday and the instructors were really cool and helped us all catch a wave or two! How much snow have you guys been getting in WI? It's about 85 degrees here and really sunny! Hopefully we can get up some pictures from our surf lessons from yesterday soon! Let me know if you have any questions, we learned quite a bit about Sydney yesterday!

Cassie

Sunday in the Sun!

Hey there!

We all arrived in Sydney on Saturday in the evening, and were greeted with a welcome dinner at a restaurant located in Darling Harbour. It was so neat to see many different sizes of ships that were in the harbour, including a large cruise ship! Fireworks were set off over the water during our dinner, which made our first night in Sydney even more cool.

On Sunday we got a walking tour throughout part of Sydney, then took a ferry over to Manly Beach. Some of us signed up for surf lessons, which took about two hours. This was my first time surfing, and it was a lot harder than it looked. However, with the help of an instructor one on one, I was able to ride a couple small waves! I didn't see any sharks or jellyfish, but the waves got pretty strong. Most of us got quite a bit of sun, so thankfully the beach was our last activity of the day since the majority of us were exhausted.

We've had a great start to our Sydney adventure, and on Monday we get the opportunity to start off our volunteering at Bondi Beach Public School.

Great Barrier Reef

Hey Guys! Here is a video I took with my underwater camera while we were scuba diving at the Great Barrier Reef. Did you know that the Great Barrier Reef is the largest living animal in the world (Yep, I mean animal! Coral is a member of the Animal kingdom just like us!)It was really cool to see such a magnificent thing, actually the Great Barrier Reef is one of the seven natural wonders of the world. Sadly the reef is dying because of pollution, but the Country of Australia and State of Queensland is doing everything they can to save it!

Hello Everyone!
Well it is our last night in Cairns and the week flew by! We did so many things like snorkeling, walking in the rainforest and getting to meet all different kinds of ainimals. My favorite was petting the kangaroo. For our last day in Cairns we went to the airport and saw the Royal Flying Doctor Serivce. This is an airplane service that reaches out to people in need of medical attention in the outback. Some people don't have neighbors for 50 or more miles so when they need medical help they call this service and the planes fly out to help them. This is one of the many iconic things in Australia. This service has a huge impact on people's lives. For the rest of the day we had the afternoon free. It was so hot and humid here many people sat by the pool and relaxed. We leave tomorrow morning for Sydney and we all are so excited to vist the city. Can't wait to tell you all about Sydney!
-Brittany

Hello Boys and Girls,

Here is a photo of the whole group on the Daintree river. We had to swim against the current so it was not that easy to get on the rock.

The week in Cairns comes to an end

Hello kids!

It's Friday and it's our last day in Cairns. It's been a fun and exciting week full of many different experiences, and there are more to come after we arrive in Sydney! While in Cairns, I got to take a look at some animals that we don't have in the USA. Not only did I get to take a look at them, but I got to hold a few including a koala bear, baby crocodile, and even a snake! I was a bit jumpy with the crocodile and snake, but it's cool to be able to say that I held them. I also got my picture with a kangaroo and a baby wallaby. A wallaby is just like a kangaroo, except it's a little smaller.

Yesterday we volunteered at a local elementary school to hang out with the kids. They are on their summer vacation right now, so we were able to do fun activities with them. In the morning we went to a roller rink, where they could choose to roller skate or rollerblade. I even threw on some rollerblades and joined them. In the afternoon we all took a trip to the pool to cool off and enjoy some more time with the kids. My mom is a 2nd grade teacher, so I'm pretty used to working with kids!

Tomorrow we fly to Sydney! Below are a couple pictures from Cairns, and I'll probably add more on another day. As for now, enjoy the snake, kangaroo, and baby crocodile!

Hey Kids!
Yesterday we all went to a summer school. We were with the kids for most of the day. We took them rollerblading. Have any of you gone rollerblading before? For most of the kids it was their first time. Once we were done rollerblading we all went swimming. In the pool we played a lot of games. One was marco polo, but since they have an accent it sounded like they were saying polar. I'm sure by now you are all ready for summer and are wanting to go swimming too. Has it snowed lately? What is the temperature there? Hope its not too cold!
-Kathryn

Oy Mates!!

How's everyone doing? It's super hot here in Cairns, Australia. I've done so many neat things like went scuba diving in the Great Barrier Reef. It was awesome I saw so many colorful fish and a lot of coral. We also went to the Kuranda Rainforest the other day and I got to hold a baby koala bear, it was so adorable. I was being a bit brave that day because I also held a crocodile and I have to say I was a little bit scared. Then I got to pet and feed some kangaroos that were there. I'm having a lot of fun and I would love to answer any questions you have so just ask away.

Hello children,
Today we went to the Daintree wild zoo, on a river cruise, we hiked through the rain forest, and swim in a river with water falls. When we were at the zoo we got to watch the keepers feed the crocs. This was really neat because they jumped really high to get the food. When we were on the river cruise we saw a crock on the side of the river. I have learned a lot about the crocks in the last couple of days. I think I could be the new croc hunter. The hike was fun but we did not see much wildlife. The weather is in the 90's here, how is the weather by you?

Sun & Fun ☀

Hi Destiny & 5th graders!

Our group is having so much fun in Australia! We have seen so many native animals so far including kangaroos, koala bears, crocodiles, spiders, snakes, butterflies, etc. Yesterday we visited the Kuranda Rainforest Station and I held Kip the Koala and also held a huge snake around my shoulders! I loved holding the koala and hope to do it again while we are still in Australia. Kip was so cute and just cuddled in my arms. We also went to a Butterfly Sanctuary that day where we learned all about butterflies. Did you know that most butterflies only live a few days? My favorite butterfly was the Ulysses buttefly which is a brilliant blue and black in color. Today we went to another zoo and were followed around by a goofy emu. We also saw a mommy kangaroo and a baby joey in her pouch. After our tour around the zoo, we went on a boat ride in water that contained sharks, crocodiles, and jellyfish! We were told to be careful to not put our arms or fingers outside the boat because crocodiles can jump high out of the water. Scary! We did see one crocodile on the ride whose name was Lizzy.

Destiny-
I love baking as well. Are you familiar with the TV show Cake Boss? My mom and I love to watch the show because it is all about creating unique cakes. You should check it out! We have already been to many amazing places so far - snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef, visiting the Kuranda Rainforest Station (to see the animals!), hiking in the rainforest, visiting an Aboriginal village where we learned how to throw a boomerang! Tomorrow we will be visiting a school and will be swimming with the children. When we visit Sydney, we will be visiting the Opera House, which I am very excited about. My favorite animals so far have been the koalas, kangaroos, and wallabies. Today a little baby wallaby was hopping around following me. It let me pet him and couldn't stop licking my hand! To answer your question - we have not seen any flying squirrels here. We will be in Australia until January 27 and have many more exciting adventures to experience! We will be helping out in several schools while we are here. I can't wait to meet the kids! I also do have friends who live in Melbourne and Brisbane and hope to meet up with them while I am here. Please let me know if you have any more questions! :)

Thanks for your good wishes! I hope you all are having fun with this blog and are learning something about Australia! :) We look forward to your questions!

Logan and Hippos in the water

Hey Logan and Kids!

Sean here from the land down under!
Logan -over 200,000 people have been affected by the relentless flooding in Northeasten Australia and the flood zone is said to be bigger than France and Germany combined!! That's Big!! We did take a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef that had about 100 people on it. I saw about 23 Hippos :) just kidding haven't seen any hippos but I've seen Kangaroos, dingos, and crocodiles!!

G'day mates!

Hello everyone! It is our third day in Cairns, Australia and we are having a blast! It has been very, very hot and humid here. The sun is shining by 7am every morning, and we are putting on sunscreen constantly so we don't burn because the sun is very strong. We have spent the past couple of days doing many things I have only dreamed of doing, such as scuba diving and hanging out in a rainforest! We've seen many different types of wildlife, including stingrays and sharks when snorkeling (no one got hurt, don't worry!), butterflies, lizards, crocodiles, kangaroos, and koala bears, and even spiders! We have also met many different people, including many aboriginal people. Some of these peoples tribes/cultures have been around for over 40,000 years! That's a really long time! I have had such a good time learning about a different area of the world and the people that live here. I cannot wait to learn more, and experience more of this spectacular country! Good luck to the students in the spelling bee, and PLEASE don't hesitate to ask any questions while we are here!

Aboriginal People!

Hello Kids!
Today we were able to go to an Aboriginal community. These people are very proud of their culture and land. They respect their land and the land provides for them. The man that talked to us about it described the trees as their grocery stores. A lot of us were able to buy paintings from these people. One day I will upload a picture of what I bought. It is very warm here. Is it snowing at home? I was glad to here that the Packers won! Keep us posted with how much snow you are getting!
-Kathryn Simon

Our Trip!

Hey everyone! We made it safely here to Australia after about 20 hours of flying! We have already done so much here. We got a chance to go snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef yesterday and I got to see a shark, a sea turtle, and a sting ray! They were all really cool looking! I know you guys are having pretty cold weather back in WI, but its almost 100 degrees here everyday so we have to make sure to wear lots of sunscreen. Today we got to pet and feed some kangaroos and hold crocodiles, snakes, and a koala bear and that was really awesome! Can't wait to hear from all of you soon!
Cassie

5th Grade Intros...

Dear UW Travelers,

We have posted a bunch of our student introductions on our school website. We encourage you to read them and follow-up with posts of your own if you wish.

http://www.mishicot.k12.wi.us/faculty/jthompson/dreamtime2011.cfm?posts=1&threadid=4415

Also, we started working on our Australian art projects and we look forward to showing you them when you return!

5th Grade Travel Buddies

Flooding in Australia....

Dear UW Travelers,

We are concerned about all of the news reports about flooding in Australia. There is a news report about a place called Toowoomba, near Brisbane that was hit hard. We are all thinking about the families who live there and wondering how people are doing. Give us an update when you have a chance!

Thanks,

Your 5th Grade Mishicot Travel Buddies