Tessellating Tassie

 

The end of Thursday March 28 marked the celebration of the first of four school terms done. Good Friday and Saturday were spent getting the house chores done and packing up for our two week trip to Tasmania! This is a summary of what we saw.

You will notice that in many of our pictures, we are wearing toques, fleece jackets, and long pants. Heather sported some impressive looking leg warmers too! The temperatures are much colder here. It was embarrassing to be so soft when it cam to temperatures of only 15 C. We felt so uncomfortably cold, and hated the fact that other Aussies would see us Canadians dressed up so warm. March 21 marked the first day of autumn here and although there are few deciduous trees in Tasmania, the “feel” of fall is similar to that of Edmonton. As we drove along the Tasmanian highway to Port Arthur, many of the trees had been burnt by the fires and so it looked like our autumn trees after the leaves had fallen. 

 

Port Arthur is the site of one of the largest original penal colonies build by the British. The buildings are broken but are being restored. It is hard to describe the emotions when you visit a site like this. It is similar to visiting prisoner camps in Germany.

 

Once we had had our fill of Port Arthur, we drove to the Tasman peninsula to a place called Eaglehawk neck. Here they have special rocks that have fractured and eroded to look like tiles – known as Tessellated pavement. Along the coast, you can see other beautiful erosional features such as Devils kitchen and the Tasman Arch.

 

In order to get more Tasman penal history and experience even more natural beauty, we decided to go to Triabunna, a lovely little town with a ferry that could take us to Maria Island. 

 

There are no vehicles on this island, so most people rent bicycles to get around or go on multiple day hikes. We decided to go to the island for a day (with Fenton on my back) and try to do as much walking around as possible. Although we could not see the entire island, we did get to witness the Painted cliffs, Darlington penitentiary ruins, fossil cliffs, and even a wombat!

 

Our next destination was Freycinet National Park. There are many long hikes there, but Fenton insisted that we only do a couple of short ones. We decided on Wine Glass bay and Coles bay, two rather steep walks that gave daddy a good workout and the reward of breathtaking views.

 

Bicheno, our next stop is a lovely little fishing town. We hired a glass bottom boat to check out all of the sea life in the harbor. We learned a lot about the different kinds of fish, algae, and seaweed. There were even some bioluminescent insects that gave us a light show. We made one last stop at the blowhole and then off to our campsite.

 

We met a couple from New Zealand who highly recommended going north to Saint Helens to see the Bay of Fires and Binalong Bay. So the next day we were off to see rocks painted a vibrant red colour by the local algae. There were actually many different coloured species of algae there, ranging from white to yellow, green, red and even purple. A beautiful place.

 

Our next stop was Launceston, the “other city” in Tasmania. It is a very nice place with what I think may be one of the most spectacular running paths I’ve seen. The city built a series of trails along the Cataract Gorge complete with suspension bridges – absolutely stunning.

 

Next day we continued up north to Narawntapu National Park for some more hiking and a picnic in the historic Yorktown.

To get to the east side of the inlet (the Georgetown side) we crossed the “Batman Bride”. Why it was named this, we can’t figure out. They could have at least shaped it like the batman symbol or something. We stopped at Beauty Point to see the platypus house – we just had no luck seeing any in the wild. Apparently, the platypus is easiest to find in Tasmania because they are not nocturnal, unlike the rest of Australia. We stopped in at Deloraine to see the wonderful Liffey Falls.

 

Mole Creek is a small town in the mid north west of Tasmania. Here you can see two rather different cave systems – Marakoopa and King Solomons caves. The first was much larger than the other, but they both had stunning rock formations to look at and tight spaces to fit Fenton through. Who said traveling with children wasn’t fun?

 

After an overnight stay in Burnie, we drove to the old town of Zeehan. The buildings are very old and rustic here, and it felt like we were transformed back in time. We visited a very old cemetery, affectionately named the pioneers cemetery. The grave sites were very old and most were overgrown with vegetation. It was very sad to see these sites being allowed to deteriorate.

 

 The next day we visited the town of Strahan. It was a great place to stay, but quite expensive. The town has really catered to tourists by having loads of places to stay, cruises, walks, etc. We decided to do a few walks, one in particular being the beautiful Hogarth Falls.

 

The next day we drove through the bleak and dreary Queenstown. This was the site of a big copper mine and the devastation was quite apparent.

 

Finally, we returned to Hobart, but decided to take the ferry to Bruny Island and stay the night. We were very lucky to see the white wallabies, a species that is only found on this island. 
 

When we returned to Hobart the next day, we drove up to the top of Mt. Wellington, checked out the wharf, checked out the markets at Salamanca place, and visited the famous Museum of Old and New Art (MONA)

 

Uncy B and G Blues

Best week ever.

This week Uncy B and Uncy G came to visit us from Canada. I was soooo excited to have them come and visit I couldn’t wait to go with Mommy and Daddyto Brisbane to pick them up at the airport.

First Uncy G arrived and right away he took me to a playground at Nudgee Beach. That was where I heard his laugh – a sound that I had not heard in a very long time. I think it was his laugh that reminded me who he was. It had been a long time since we had played together. Then when Uncy G came we went to Southbank and played some more on another playground and cooled off in the outdoor swimming pool next to the river. We had a quick bite to eat before heading back home to see one of my favourite things - kangaroos at the University.

The next day we spent at Mooloolaba beach. It was a little rainy so we didn’t go in the water but we still had fun exploring the beach, harbour, playgrounds, shops and cafes. I even got to visit the loo with a view! One day I will learn how to use one of those so that Mom and Dad don’t change my diapers anymore.

On Wedesday we went to the Eumundi market and Noosa. We bought a few trinkets at the market, including a book called Why I Shoudn’t Name My Son Clint. The author was there and signed it for us. I checked to see if my name was in the book. It wasn’t so I guess my name is a - okay.

At Noosa Uncy G and Uncy B had fun splashing in the waves. They even tried body boarding and caught onto a wave or two quite quickly. After another quick bite to eat (and a nap) we went for a walk up to Boiling Pot lookout. Needless to say it was another great day!

Thursday was spent at another beach – this time in Caloundra. Uncy B took me to another playground before he and Uncy G splashed in the waves. Caloundra was a lot of fun – I’ll have to go back to play in the swimming pool and splash park. Uncy G and I had a great time in the swimming pool at home. He sure is a lot of fun to play with!!!

On Friday, we had to take Uncy B and Uncy G to Palmwoods to catch the train back to the airport in Brisbane for their trip to Rarotonga. They don’t know this, but I tried to sneak into Uncy B’s suitcase so I could go along with them. Mommy said no.

We miss Uncy B and Uncy G soooo much it makes me, Mommy and Daddy sad. Mommy tells me the next time we will see them is New Years Day in Canada. I don’t know what New Years Day or Canada is but I know it will be loads of fun as long as Uncy B and Uncy G are there.

XOXOXOXOXOX

Fenton

"Ones", "Tens", "Twenties", and "Thirties"

The first of four terms is almost finished. Next week is my last week of instruction for most of my classes and I will then begin the process of report cards and planning for the next term. This means that my exchange experience is 25% complete. There will be a two week break where Heather, Fenton, and I will travel Tasmania and I will have the opportunity to take the time to decompress.

Two of the greatest things about teaching is as follows:

1. When you are on holidays, you are truly able to dissociate yourself from the work. There is no work piling up while you are gone, and no one will try to contact you to resolve problems that only you can help with. In teaching, you get to have a real break, reflect, and reenergize.
2. Teaching the next term is a bit like the movie “Groundhog Day”. You get to have a “start over”. After every holiday, you have the opportunity to reset the rules, standards, expectations, etc.

Cultural differences play a far greater role in this job than one would expect. Learning how to adapt to these differences is essential to being an effective educator. I have realized that I need to teach differently than ever before. The discomfort associated with adapting has been significant. However, the lessons I am learning are beneficial to me as a teacher and necessary for me as a human being. It really isn’t fun to learn this way, but I think in the end I will appreciate everything that has happened here in this remarkable country.

Anytime I have ever taken on a challenge, I have found it best to take on one chunk at a time. For example, when running a marathon, I know that I can break the distance into the ones, tens, twenties, and thirties. 0 – 10km are the “ones”. For the first 10 km of the race I spend the time setting the appropriate pace, concentrating on breathing, etc. For the “tens” (10 – 20 km) it is all about keeping a pace that I have trained myself to do and avoiding the temptation to go too hard. Once the “twenties” start, the race becomes uncomfortable. All of a sudden, the body says that it really doesn’t want to do this anymore. It is important to begin the positive self-talk necessary to get through this part. By the time the “thirties” hit (30 – 40 km), the discomfort felt in the “twenties” feels like a gentle stroll in the park compared to the pain at this stage. Getting through the “thirties” is pure determination. You do it because you made the agreement with yourself to do it and there is no other option unless you get injured. Once the “thirties” are over you only have two more km to go. Everyone who has made it through those last 2km knows that they are not easy physically, but the fact that you have made it as far as you have is sufficient motivation to finish the job.

If I can use the marathon analogy with the teaching exchange, it started off like I was running in the “twenties”. And I thought “oh my God. How will I do this for a year?” Now that the term is nearly over, I have begun to accept the discomfort. It is what it is. The attitude that I need to develop is one that will allow me to thrive as my colleagues do. How do they motivate their students? How do they motivate themselves? I have learned that I need to focus on my successes rather than continually stew on my failures. The positive self-talk has begun, and if this challenge is like any other that I have endeavored to conquer, I can do this.

I wrote earlier of my ride to work as an analogy for my teaching experience. Interestingly, I am now able to climb both hills seated everyday. I now ride past the point where I first had to stand up and I am not even in my lowest gear yet. What seemed impossible is no longer a real challenge. Many of my colleagues ask me why I take such a difficult route each day to get to school. It reminds me that “impossible” is just an attitude and that attitudes can change.

These are a Few of Our Favorite Things

When on an international teacher exchange, it becomes apparent how quickly the year goes by. We have realized that we need to make the most of every moment we have. It is not acceptable to say “ahhh we have a whole year to see places, so let’s just stay home and watch TV”. Since we have endeavored to make the most of every weekend, it has been exceptionally difficult to keep the blog up to date. We considered a blog about all of our weekends to date but then thought it might be too long, factual, and boring. So instead, we decided to write about some of our favorite places

The first market that we visited was Big Pineapple market near Nambour. The origin of the name is uncertain, however, it exists on an organic pineapple farm and there is a giant plastic pineapple, reminiscent of the many large foods found in Canadian towns, like Vegreville’s egg. Apparently, this market has recently undergone a change in ownership and is just being re-established. Of course being new to the area, we had no idea. We found the market to be full of wonderful fruits, vegetables, bakery, crafts, clothing and people. Thanks to our little early riser, we arrived at the market early in the morning – by 7 a.m. and were home by 9. We spent $100 Australian. 

We have been so fortunate to have met June and Oj, English friends from Noosa who came over to the house for morning tea. What great names. And great people. We had a lovely time visiting with June and Oj. It was like we were being reacquainted with old friends. They shared tales of teaching in England, nursing in Australia, and old times with our exchange family the Turners. It is typical to always bring a “plate” when visiting. This of course means food, not just the plate it sits on. We loved the goods from the local bakery, some lamingtons, wine and a picture book of all the local beaches. June and Oj invited us to Noosa, their home. On the way, we decided to stop off at the Eumundi market.

Let’s just say that Eumundi is the West Edmonton Mall of markets. It was unbelievably huge. There was incredible food, art, musical instruments, naturopahic medicines, clothes… It was a neohippy’s paradise. We will be sure to go back before returning home in order to get some fabulous treasures to bring back.

Noosa is beautiful. It is a lovely little town with an absolutely perfect beach. When we were there we had ideal weather. The elite lifesaving competition was being set up and the hype of that competition was evident with the crowds, cameras, helicopters, and beach bums. June and Oj took us around, put us on a ferry along the Noosa river, and some walks ending at a lookout to see the sun set over the Noosa waterway.

This last weekend was spent at Stratbroke Island with a group of exchange teachers from Canada. It was an amazing experience to hear the familiar accents and to speak “Canadian” again. We shared a house with another Canadian family - Randal, Karen, Erica, and Christa. We got along so well with them and had a blast making a huge fort out of the dining room table and playing while waiting for the rain to stop. We were hosted by the Queensland Exchange Teachers’ League. Helen and Arthur Leben – our Aussie hosts - gave us a tour of “Straddie”. We saw many kangaroos (wallabies?), some saw Koalas, and some breathtaking views. It was such a wonderful way to spend a weekend. With great company, great wine, and amazing wilderness. Thanks QETL!

While I (Greg) go off to work, Heather researches our next weekend destination. There are only a few short weeks remaining in the term and then we have a two week vacation where we will go to Tasmania! If there is one we have learned from the Aussies; it is to work to LIVE, rather than the reverse.