Wave Goodbye

With our extended time in Australia quickly coming to an end, it is difficult to believe we have been here since mid November. During the last few days in Melbourne, we made it out to Bells Beach and meandered along the Great Ocean Road. Although none of us have taken surfing lessons, just watching the surfers patiently wait for the next great wave was addictive. Imagine awe-inspiring waves crashing down contrasted with a surfer’s seemingly effortless skim on the very edge of being unceremoniously dumped, but staying just ahead, avoiding disaster.

Beautiful beaches!

Tidal pool fun.

Wild Kangaroos!

We followed up Melbourne and area with a flight up to Brisbane using JetStar. A few notes for anyone using JetStar, the budget airline of Qantas:

1. They do not announce boarding for flights
2. Flights are randomly cancelled
3. Flight crew are wonderfully friendly and helpful, within the airport…not so much
4. Did I mention they are a BUDGET airline hence your have BUDGET type space

Melbourne Airport is a less than inspiring airport, but landing in Brisbane, we were immediately impressed with the aesthetically pleasing layout and ease of movement – experiences we did not have in Melbourne.

We spent no time in Brisbane at all and immediately drove out to our apartment in Noosaville along the Sunshine Coast. Everyone we spoke to recommended heading to the Sunshine Coast as opposed to Gold Coast which is much more developed and touristy. Noosaville is a small town situated approximately an 1 1/2 hours from Brisbane. It has a fascinating river and canal system off of the ocean and it would appear that everyone fishes here.

The boys were thrilled to meet two brothers from Brisbane who matched them both in age and interests. Non stop body boarding, swimming in the pool and impromptu soccer matches commenced for our first week.

This area suits us – the sun is up early (as in 4:15 am) and consequently, so are most people. We’ve been getting up at 6 am most mornings and are out the door to head to the beach by 7:30 – 8:00 am. That sounds relaxing, but we actually spend very little time on the beach – most of it is in the ocean riding the waves on our bodyboards, or being unceremoniously dumped by those same waves. When a 6 foot wave filled with fish is crashing down on you and you’ve had the misfortune of misjudging the timing of your board – let’s just say that the ocean wins every time. Kelly experienced this first hand when a particularly nasty wave dumped him head first into the ocean floor and he emerged with a broken and bloodied nose. Thankfully, our place has a hot tub to assist with the aching muscles. That being said, it is an absolute thrill to be thrust through the water at great speed with a board or without – I’m just thankful that everything stays on…usually.

 

Christmas in Australia, or at least in the state of Queensland is certainly a different experience for us. First of all, we observed that it’s much more low key in terms of decorations and commercial hype. The grocery store was still packed a few days prior, and everyone certainly makes plans, but overall, it seems much less of a production and more about time spent with those you love. This appealed to us. Christmas Eve was spent listening to carolling and watching the fireworks at Perigian Beach.

Perigian Beach – where the sand squeaks!

We attended a lovely Christmas morning service at the Noosa Baptist Church (at 8 am I might add) and the boys enjoyed 3 small gifts each. While they understood prior that gifts would be small, they were thrilled with their unwrapped gifts and squealed in delight over attention to their individual interests. While buying countless gifts has never been part of our Christmases, we all so enjoyed our small thoughtful gifts and our day has been outstanding. The boys have played, we’ve swam in the pool, ridden the waves at the ocean, walked along the beach, barbecued shrimp and lamb, and again enjoyed ourselves together as a family.

We certainly miss our families at home, but for today, we have had to be it for one another. Wishing all of you a wonderful day and may you be blessed as we have been countless times. Merry Christmas!

 

It’s a Wild Life

Whenever we’re driving to Jasper National Park, one of our favourite places to go as a family, we always have an “Animal Competition.” The rules are as follows:

• Teams are split by driver’s side and passenger’s side
• Points are awarded to the team for spotting wildlife (roadkill doesn’t count) so long as it is on their vehicle side at the time of passing the wildlife
• Various animals equal more points. Eg: Bears are worth 5 pts, any other predators – 2 pts, Moose – 2 pts, Elk – 2 pts, Deer – 1 pt, Mountain Sheep – 1 pt. etc.
• Birds don’t count (apologies to our bird watching friend, Mike Clark)
• The point total ends when you reach the destination though we have been known on especially lengthy journeys to create a series.

This game has resulted in excellent math problem solving (ever the teachers…our poor children), a few arguments and comparisons between which parent the children choose to sit behind, point total disputes, and Kelly swerving erratically to ensure that when the animal passes, it’s on the driver’s side! All joking aside, we have had opportunity to spot incredible wildlife during our travels and enjoy the side challenge of competing against one another as well – a Pitman/Bueckert family trait.

During our world travels we’ve had opportunity to spot wild boar and well not much else…until we arrived in Australia. One of our identified road trips was out to Phillip Island, approximately 1 3/4 hours from Melbourne. This island is a popular wildlife viewing destination as it boasts an incredible Koala Reserve, has main nesting beaches for Little Penguins (their actual name – not merely a size description), a seal colony, wallabies and kangaroos, along with an incredible variety of birds.

We first explored the Koala Reserve and with I’m sure we looked like the tourists who stroll through the Banff and Jasper National Parks calling out in excitement when spotting any form of wildlife. Here’s a note – Koala’s don’t move around too much so there’s no rush. Once you find one, you can observe it NOT moving (except for the odd bowel movement), for some time. Luckily, we found one enjoying a feed and it was fascinating to watch these animals carefully chew eucalyptus leaves.

While we had originally arrived for the Koalas, the boys, who are now addicted to the TV show “Deadly 60,” were also on the watch for Bull Ants, an aggressive and potentially poisonous ant growing over 4 cm in length! Unbelievably, while watching carefully for a Copperhead snake in the area (yes, you read correctly), Anderson spotted the Bull Ant on a tree trunk. Ethan couldn’t resist a close up! Thankfully, we didn’t see the Copperhead.

Look carefully to the left of Ethan’s hat

Phillip Island is also home to the Penguin Parade: http://www.penguins.org.au an opportunity to observe the nightly parade of Little Penguins back to their nests after a long day of fishing. The penguins arrive at sunset each night and make their way up the beach and through the grasses to their nests and young (depending on the time of year of course). Unsure of how busy it would be and wanting to ensure we were sitting right on the beach (there are grandstands set up), we waited around the center for a number of hours. The boys are now experts on the details of Little Penguins! While waiting we were also able to spot the many wallabies who inhabit the area hopping around.

With an hour to go, we were allowed down the boardwalks towards the beach area and had the best seats!

No penguins yet…no photos were allowed when the penguins are on the beach

On cue, when the sun set, groups of Little Penguins emerged from the rolling waves. Initially, they were quite hesitant as they were certainly vulnerable on the beach; however, as darkness sets in, they waddled their way up to the rocks and on towards their nests. The perseverance of these animals is truly a sight to behold with many of them are hauling large amounts of food in their bellies in order to feed their young. As we walked along the boardwalk, we were able to watch the chicks accost whomever they thought might be their parent (chicks don’t recognize their parents, but the parents recognize their chicks), and when they finally approached the right one, the full regurgitation feed was in plain view – really it’s like their stomachs are mini Vitamix machines making fish soup!

Watching penguins waddle throughout the paths was somewhat addictive as just when we thought most had arrived, we would see another group come waddling along. Penguins are fascinating creatures – we all thoroughly enjoyed our experience. Sorry for the lack of photos – we were not allowed to take pictures of the penguins.

Seeing animals in their natural habitats can be awe-inspiring event – even without the competition thrown into the mix. It’s a wild life we live!

Connecting

Last May, I (Joanne), had the privilege of meeting an outstanding group of principals from the Melbourne area as they were completing a study tour of schools in various parts of Canada. It was this experience which convinced us to include Australia in our itinerary. After spending one day with the group, I connected with three of the leaders in particular – two of whom were a married couple who made the fortunate mistake of inviting our family to stay with them for some of the time we were in Melbourne.

Michael West and Danielle Stella, two wonderfully committed and inspiring school leaders, have done so much to make our time in Melbourne memorable. From arranging school visits to their respective schools as well as others, recommending various sites in and around Melbourne, and finally ensuring that I was looked after when on our 3rd day in Melbourne and on the morning I was heading to tour Michael’s school,  I enjoyed (not) the experience of a condition called ‘Acute Wry Neck.’ Imagine my neck locked at a most abnormal angle with severe spasming of the muscles. Despite my best efforts to make it through the day and not scare the children with the sudden gritting of my teeth due to an ill chosen move, I realized I might need some medical attention. Of course, one of the staff member’s best friend’s son was a chiropractor and could see me immediately. It was humbling to be so well taken care of by people who had just met me.

Accepting help when it’s offered can sometimes go against the grain especially when you’re used to being the one to offer help to others. I learned to set my pride aside and appreciate that I do not need to look after everything. Throughout our travels, we have had occasions where we have needed assistance, and always our acceptance of help has resulted in us feeling grateful and keenly aware of opportunities where we might do the same.

It has been inspiring to tour schools of such dedicated professionals and I know I will continue my connection with various schools here. Seeing many of the same challenges faced by educators in Alberta, it is encouraging to see many of the same thought processes I have been engaged in being considered and implemented here. However, there are always nuances of difference and it is crucial to consider these in moving systems forward. The collaborative, measured, and creative approaches to building into the education of children has been outstanding!

Traveling the world and seeing such amazing places is a gift to be sure. Meeting more people who welcome us as virtual strangers into their home and professional lives is a reminder of the important role relationships have in completing, or in fact, creating any great experience regardless of location and scenery.

Continent Hopping

After 2 1/2 months traveling in countries with the official language being unfamiliar to us, we noticed within ourselves a certain relief at not having to think quite so carefully about our communication skills. We spent another wonderful 4 days with friends, Mike and Lizzy as well as the return of the famous Uncle Daryll outside of London prior to our departure for Australia. This allowed us to recover from the boys being ill for a few days in Venice and also some more time touring London.

The usual view of all of us pulling our luggage about the city.

Having spent 2 separate days in the Louvre in Paris, Kelly and I were curious as to how the British Museum might compare. Suffice it to say that centuries of British colonization of the ends of the earth have resulted in a most impressive collection of artifacts. While the Louvre most certainly has the corner on the market on paintings, the British Museum is unsurpassed in treasures of the world, both in sheer number and in style of display.

The Louvre

British Museum

Contemplation (this was not posed)

After a great visit with friends, our departure date was upon us and it was time for a new continent. We started at 3:00 pm on November 20th and arrived in Melbourne on November 22nd at 7:30 am. Granted, one must take into account the time change; nonetheless, our straight travel time total was over the 32 hour mark. Flying Qantas is a dream compared to many other airlines – food was quality as was the service. It was easy to use their website to select the meal requirements with my plethora of allergies and all was looked after with great efficiency. We had a 2 hour stop over in Dubai where a dust storm was swirling about despite the rain that was falling.

Melbourne has not disappointed on any level thus far. We had heard rave reviews from friends who came over on a teacher exchange (shout out to the Whitbys!), and now understand their love for the city and its incredible coffee culture, high quality restaurants, inspired architecture, and wide range of activities for families.

A side comment on coffee in Melbourne: Kelly and I have always greatly appreciated a high quality coffee. This excludes Tim Hortons. At the risk of offending many – a long black at even the most basic cafe is like a beautiful bean explosion and easily surpasses the Timmies Double Double. A week of sampling coffee throughout the cafes of Melbourne would be seen as a worthy plan for us, though I don’t know the boys would have the same level of appreciation.

The Melbourne Aquarium was yet another excellent aquarium experience (we’ve had 3 so far), but it was a particular highlight due to the enormous saltwater crocodile and the underwater fish feed which allowed us to see scuba divers feed the gigantic fish and sharks in their largest tank. Penguins were also a joy to watch and peaked our interest into an excursion out to Phillip Island where Little Penguins nest in the wild and emerge from the sea at sunset completing the amazing penguin parade. For those of you who haven’t brushed up on penguin knowledge – not all penguins live in the Antarctic – in fact a number of species live in warm climates in Africa, New Zealand and Africa.

Upon arriving in Melbourne, and as you can tell by the photos, the boys were becoming more than a little shaggy. During our aquarium trip, we came across a ‘salon’ with great prices for a cut and made a spur of the moment decision. This location was potentially a bit sketchy as it was the front for what was called “The Fight Club” and their list of services available was ‘ahem’, all encompassing…nonetheless, the hairdresser did a great job shearing the boys’ thick and lengthy locks. Success and a story!