speedos on display

(photos carefully selected by Nico)

This is the action we saw this past weekend at Lorne for the surf rescue part of Rescue 06, the world lifesaving championships hosted this year by Geelong and area. As expected, Australia and New Zealand cleaned up in this portion!

These photos are from the flag race finals where one person is eliminated each round.



This is the ready position in the final round--between a Kiwi and a Japanese. The competitors have to jump up and turn around.









Then they race across the sand . . .






. . . and dive for the plastic stick thing. This photo is from the previous round where Australia got eliminated but it just shows you how brutal it can be at the end! The Kiwi triumphed and the Japanese second place finisher broke into tears (overcome by getting second place or losing first place, we're not sure).




Here we have the boys ready for the swim competition--the Team Canada competitor is the one with the solid red cap. There were lots of speedos on display but that's clearly not a fashion faux pas when dealing with world champion lifeguards.





And finally, the champion taplin relay (swim, board, kayak, race) team: the Kiwis perform a haka, derived from a traditional Maori celebration (or war) dance. This is the dance where they stick out their tongue.

Cape Otway & The Shipwreck Coast

On January 17, 2006 we hit the Shipwreck Coast along the Great Ocean road. The first part of the trip we did a major hike to access a couple of shipwrecks (Nico already mentioned earlier) at Moonlight Head - the Fiji (1891) and Marie Gabrielle (1880.) All that's left of either wreck are the anchors. The sign claims it's 366 steps but we counted and they lied. It's really 380. Because of the long hike and the inaccessibility of Moonlight Head (only accessible via a long dirt road) we only saw three other people our entire time on the beach. The beach is dotted with rocks and you have to be careful navigating the rock shelves.

To combat the phenomenon of wrecks a lighthouse was erected at the northern tip of the Eye of The Needle - an 84 KM gap between King Island and Cape Otway - in 1848 (nearly 50 years after the first ship entered the straight.) How can an 84 KM gap be called the eye of the needle? Well, if you think about it in nautical terms (1000's of KMs) 84 KM is a tiny space to fit a boat through without hitting something in the dead of night and without modern technology.

I can't imagine being the lighthouse keeper in that era...utlimate isolation...beyond that which even than the basement Damo would desire. The only contact with the outside world occurred every 6 to 12 months when supplies were delivered. It wasn't until the 1930's that it was accessible overland by road. The second lighthouse keeper

Even today it seems so isolated on the tip of the second most southern point in Australia with cliffs dropping away to trecherous ocean. Rock shelves and breaking waves even a kilometer out. One could see how shipwrecks happened a lot. The views from the lighthouse and the point itself were stunning and its well worth the admission fee of $11.50 Aus.

catching a wave or two

Surfing is SO much fun! We had our first lesson down in South Gippsland with the other exchange teachers. It started off with some on-the-sand practice of jumping up on our imaginary boards.





Here we are ready to hit the surf with our foam G-boards--these are study and somewhat soft, just for beginners like us. They were really slippery and a bit unstable though. (Or maybe that was just my lack of balance?) Later, Damo tried out our host's $1000 plus fibreglass board and said it was much better, like surfing on a tub. There we are, running eagerly to hit the waves! We're the little people on the right.


No action shots of us catching a wave but here's an action shot of Damo waiting to catch a wave! Quite exciting. He's a bit braver and, by the time our lesson was done, had made it out further than me to catch the good waves--good because you get to ride them for much longer. Even when we couldn't get up to standing position or squatting on the board, it was just exhilerating to speed along atop the water.

language lessons

So here, it's okay to ask for a rubber in class because you're just asking for an eraser. Pencil crayons don't exist ("Which one, Miss? Pencils or crayons?")--they're coloured pencils. Markers are also textas. Binders are known as folders. Quotation marks are inverted commas and periods are full stops (sounds like a telegraph!). Thongs for flip-flop sandals, bathers or cozzies for your swimming suit, jumper for sweater, tea is a whole meal.

Rs are ignored so bee, bear and beer sound the same, as does weed and weird. I live near Melbin not Melbourne, and hope to go to Cans, not Cairns.

Everything is lovely, I reckon.

Tears over Spilt Milk

Today, at recess, a little Year Seven boy (12 or 13 years of age) couldn't get his lock open. He was so upset, he was crying! Poor kid! Some of my 'integrated" kids (aka 'coded' or learning disabled) almost cried today as well because we were looking up words in the dictionary and they 'hated it!' and just couldn't do it until I came to help them both with each and every word. "Miss, miss, I can't find environment! It's not on this page!" "Well, this is the ent page so we have to turn over to the next page . . . yes, there it is! Good work!" In the same class, I discovered a student with anger management issues after he hurled markers at his group--kicked him out, found him bawling when I went to chat with him.

I am so not used to this age group! Tears everywhere! Immature behaviour! Lack of basic skills! They tell on each other! I think I will be developing my nuturing side a lot more this year, along with my patience. However, these little guys can be cute too. The students all have to wear uniforms--adorable! The girls all love my accent ("That's Ms. Cameron. Isn't her accent lovely!?!") and all the students ask lots of questions about Canada, including whether I speak Canadian! I spoke a few words of my awfully accented French and they just thought that was SO exotic!

The Year 9s are okay, even though they all hate Australian history, the subject matter of this course. There's one pisshead (pardon my language, Mom!) who's an exception--he's notorious so I have much sympathy from the other teachers. As the Aussies would say, he's feral.

Eden Home of the Prettiest Cemetary

Welcome to Eden where the prime real estate is occupied by a cemetary!

Eden is a small fishing town on the south eastern tip of Australia midway between Sydney and Melbourne, it has yet to acquire the look and feel of a tourist town. It almost seems lost in time with open beaches unoccupied by houses, beautiful cliffs right in the town center with wooden walkways along their precipice. We stayed the night here on January 10th 2006 and still wonder why it was named 'Eden' - as beautiful as the town is that seems a bit of a stretch.

The main attraction is the cemetary itself . It's a lonely place that overlooks the ocean, its loneliness amplified by the overcast skies. Many of the graves bear only a bronze plaque 'unknown' the original inscriptions worn by the salt laden wind and time.

The other thing of note, besides the quaintness of the town, is the Killer Whale Museum. It was in Eden that a most unusual partnership developed between man and killer whale. Tom, the leader of a pack of killer whales, learned to herd larger blue, sperm, and beluga whales into the bay so that the fishermen could row out to sea and kill them. Tom would actually swim into the bay to signal the fishermen that they were about to lure a whale into the bay so that they could prepare their boats. Once the whale was slayed, the pack of killer whales would feast on the lips and tongue, then head back out to sea. This unusual partnership lasted for over a decade until Tom died. His skeleton is the focal point of the museum.

Are There Really Flies in Australia?

Yes. The annoying, swarm en mass and get in your face type flies. Flies that have no qualms about crawling in your nose, landing on your eyeball …or even worse…flying into your mouth just as you are breathing in so that you get a late afternoon meal. These two stunning photos demonstrate the phenomenon...in certain areas it's almost impossible to take a photo without a fly in it. I guess that flies, like humans, lust after recognition and fame.

the great ocean road

January 16th-18th

Here's the winding road along the cliffside--one of the world's most spectacular (and fun) drives.

The anchor is from a shipwreak of the Marie Gabrielle in 1880, one of two wreaks at Moonlight Head and among oodles of others along this stretch of coast. We walked down and up 380 steps to get down to the beach!





The limstone cliffs are at Loch Ard Gorge and the rock formations are the remains of the Twelve Apostles (apparently in this story the apostles are picked off one at a time instead of Jebas - only 7 or so are left.) It's still so pretty!

sleeping koala

Look at our cute little buddy fast asleep after his afternoon snack of eucalyptus leaves, some hand picked by us! We just pulled off the road (jan 16th at Kennett River on the Great Ocean Road) and there he was, right in the wild--much lower down in the tall eucalylps than koalas usually are. A typical day consists of eating, then a lot of sleep, followed by more eating.

Sad thing is right now with all the bush fires, there's lots of koalas being burned in their trees and kangaroos with burnt paws from hopping through embers. : (

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,17949418^2862,00.html

Cafe Mimo

We had to stop for a coffee at the fabulous Cafe Mimo in Melbourne. Who knew that Mimo would make a go at opening a coffee shop Down Under.

Drowsy Drivers Die

It's been a long time! We FINALLY got internet hooked up in our new home and now can update re: our adventures so far.

In brief:

• Penrith for four days. Hung with Darren and Kelly who were nice to put us up. Saw some kangaroos suffering in the sweltering 45.5 degree heat. We comisserated with them.
• From Penrith to Sydney for two nights accomodation at the Four Points Sheriton hotel (free thanks to Nico's parents! gracias!). We saw a hell of a lot in a whirlwind tour that went from 9 am til 10 pm at night. We bought a 'See Sydney' card which let us into most attractions all for one low price as long as we saw them all on the same day...we really saw too much so that by the third museum it was more about saying we went there than actually absorbing anything useful.
• Rented a car in Sydney and drove down the coast swimming at numerous secluded beaches. Stopped in Ulladulla for two nights to enjoy wine and good company with Tony and Jo. We had our own suit in their house. Awfully nice of them.
• Onward to Melbourne and Geelong our new home.
• Puttered in Geelong and battled a massive hangover. The hangover won for a day.
• Took our new Suburu (it's David's but it's ours for the year) and headed out down the Great Ocean Road. It starts at Torquay - the home of Billabong, Ripcurl, and the 'best surf beaches' in the world...like Bell's Beach.
• The Great Ocean Road is the most stunning road trip I have ever done. Better even than the Redwood Forrest trip in California. The road is carved into the side of cliffs hovering above the ocean. It's only 300 KM but it took us over three days to do it as we stopped every KM or so for yet another stunning vista. We handfed a wild koala. No he didnt fall and just cause he was wild doesnt mean he was ravenous so no one lost any fingers.
• From the Great Ocean Road to Penola the gateway to the Coonawarra wine region known for its Shiraz and Cab Sav. I love the latter, Nico the former. We stopped briefly and hand fed wild possums. They are even cuter and less dangerous than koalas. We met Mark and Cathy who invited us to their house for a huge Ozzie feed that included Kangaroo sausage and steak. It was yummy despite how cute they look in life. Nico ate a cute and cuddly animal - someone please harrass her for it. Mark, funnily enough, is a Yank from Oregon and moved here in 73 to pursue teaching and to avoid the Vietnam war. Super great people. I battled a massive hangover yet again the next day. The hangover came in second.
• From Penola back to Geelong where Internet hookup became possible! Woo!!

That's the brief version, many more stories to come.

Some Ozzie Facts:

• Ozzie's do not pronounce the letter R and thus the word wierd sounds exactly like the word weed. This could lead to confusion back in Canada if I ask someone for a bee.
• Speeding is not tolerated in Australia. The speed limit IS THE SPEED LIMIT.
• Overstaying your welcome by 1/2 an hour at a parking spot is a serious offense and leads to a $75 fine.
• Driving drowsy is frowned upon. Some roadsigns "Drowsy Drivers Die" "Drooping eyes? Powernap now!"
• As anal as Aussies are about speeding, drunk driving, illegal parking, driving while drowsy, they are the opposite about bee's. The passengers can all have bee's in the car as long as the driver is under 0.05.

That's all I got for now!

The Damo.

hot rods and huntsmans

we're in ulladulla right now, a cute little beachside town south of sydney, sleeping in a real bed (hoorah!), thanks to damo's friends, tony and jo. tony is a wine buff so we drank lots of kick ass wine last night and celebrated the day after my birthday (happy birthday me!). after this contact with the world over via internet, we're going to hit the beach again in our attempt to get rid of our sun reflecting pale white skin!

the past weekend was spent in canberra, the nation's capital. it's this neat designed city so it's full of green spaces (in theory, but was bone dry so they were all brown spaces), random public art and beautiful or weird buildings.

highlight: war memorial--a big, thorough, interesting, spectacular museum covering all of australia's involvement in what seems to be every major conflict in the past two hundred years.

lowlight: we chose the one weekend that sees canberra host a souped up car festival. we ended up on a crowded tent field in a caravan park with rowdies, young and old, who partied and revved their engines ALL night long. by night three we were cranky with no sleep.

wildlife update: damo killed a big ass spider outside the tent--probably a non-venomous huntsman but we didn't know at the time. damo tried to shoo it away but it reared up and tried to attack the twig (!!) he was using so he smooshed it under his shoe. we're reading a book on aussie's most dangerous animals so are in a heighted state of paranoia right now with anything creeping, crawling or swimming. we've seen a white tip spider in the bathroom of a friend's house already.

lots more to write about--it was australia's hottest new year's day on record (45.5 degrees outside of sydney!)--but we'll update once we hit geelong.

the nico

a melodramatic beginning

we arrived at the calgary airport just in time to miss our flight--unbeknowst to us, our 9:30 flight had been moved up to 8:15! we were told that there were no other air canada flights that night but we needed to be in vancouver to catch our 1:20 am cathy pacific flight! damo ran down to westjet; they were overbooked. We panicked (i called mom and dad in almost tears), but luckily cooler heads prevailed (i.e. Wray and Colleen) and noticed that there was indeed another air canada flight. damo and wray sprinted back to the other side of the airport (poor winded boys!), dropped a few hundred bucks on two business class tickets and we were set. phew! a few hundred bucks over a potential few thousand dollars for two one-way flights to syndey?--big deal! we made sure, however, that we took full advantage of our two hundred dollar beverage service.

got to vancouver, into the insanely long line for the cathy pacific flight to hong kong, and a lady in red (uniform) came walking down the line, asking for volunteers to give up their seats since that flight was overbooked. offer was a night in the fairmont airport hotel, all meals, phone vouchers, and either an upgrade to business class or $400 cash each. sold! we opted for the cash but it was a tough choice. so now we're lounging around our swank hotel room, all nicely rested and refreshed for tonight's long haul. we had stinky stress-sweat armpits last night.

the nico

countdown: 13 days until we fly out!