Another weekend trip!

So I know that I just posted, but I thought that it be foolish to wait, just for the sake of putting time between them.

The floating (it's not on pontoons) Silverlink bridge that is currently high above the Burdikin River

So this past weekend, my principal and his wife took me south to Airle Beach in the Whitsunday Area and everywhere on any significance in between.

Whitsunday area

When we got there, we had discovered that we were crashing Schoolies. Schoolies is when the entire equivalent of graduating Seniors, party on the beach for a week, getting really drunk and sunburn. Anyways, thankfully it was just the first day so there weren’t that many people yet, so we enjoyed our nice picnic on the beach. Mom, this picnic would have made you proud; full cold-cut sandwiches, fresh cut fruit, various salads. The one added thing that was brought to the picnic that was not appreciated was Vegemite- SICK!!! and this is now from firsthand experience.

My 1st Aussie Seagull and I live 15km from the ocean.

Where we had our lunch

Bowman

After walking around and driving to the coast, and then up along it, we headed to Bowman. This was apparently where the opening scene of the movie Australia was filmed. We drove past the lot where most of it was all filmed, but nothing was left. Then we drove up to the top of Flagstaff Hill, a hill sits over the mouth of the channel into the Bowman ‘Harbor’, it was a nice picturesque view to end of the traveling around.

I really like the design of the cafe. It was light and open so you could really enjoy the view

On the way home, we drove up to the top of Mt Inkerman. This is a random hillish mountain that sits right on the edge of the Burdikin aquifer so there is a fabulous view for miles. The roads that led up to the top put our driveway to shame! After a good look around, we went across the road to one of the student’s cane farm. The family was great and now I know so much about planting and watering can in this region that if teaching falls through, I now have a backup job if teaching falls through :)

Panorama from the top

On top of the mountain (Km to...)

Anyways, I'm off again this next Sunday, we will see what I get up to!

Living Up to My Visa - FINALLY!!

So two weekends ago I was invited to go to Ingham. It was Friday afternoon and we were outside waiting for all of the kids to be picked up when I was asked if I wanted to join a family as they went about a two hour drives north of Ayr. I raced home, threw what I thought I’d need for the weekend in my bag and then hoped in the car and left for the weekend; literally I think there was maybe 45 minutes between the decision and us leaving. As we left, they laughed at me because this was the first time since I arrived in the country that I had left the tiny town of Ayr.

The next morning, we went on a drive (kind of a long way) to Mission Beach. While it a really long drive, it was so beautiful. It went from cane fields, to mountain covered with the deciduous almost tropical rain forests and then gorgeous coastline. On the way we entered cassowary country, there are these HUGE signs about being careful and to make sure that you don’t hit them. Right as we were about to enter the main town area they pointed over to the side and there was one of these huge emu type birds. They asked if I wanted to take a picture, I said that I was alright, so we kept on going, little did I know that I am now like the only person in Australia who has seen one of theses in the wild…WOOPS!

Anyways, we then made it to Mission Beach where I had my first shrimp…and it was sick; they didn’t de-vain them so they were crunch and sandy.

We went down to the beach; it was absolutely beautiful and completely vacant.

The boys of the family that I went with. The one in red is in my class

It’s really too bad that they have jellyfish, stingrays, sharks and crocodiles that they constantly have to worry about. I mean there was a family on the beach that was playing in this little ankle lake on the beach rather than in the beautiful surf right there!

Beach!

The next day we went out to Wallaman Falls, the longest free-falling waterfall in the Southern Hemisphere.

The only problem thus far with the vegetation aspect of the traveling around is that we are at the end of the dry season, so everything is rather dusty and the waterfalls are not huge (but at least it was going). It was while we eating lunch I was introduced to March flies. These are stupid, huge (like the size of a half dollar) flies that bite and when they bite, it feels like someone is sliding a needle sideways into your skin. They are slow and easily whackable but it was so weird whacking something that huge. Anyways, I was good, moving my legs constantly and stuff like that but as we were getting in the car... bam, I got bit! and it hurt and it left a mark (which it’s not supposed to happen but leave it to me).

Well, before the bite, we went walking down to a river in look of some place to swim. We found this place that was good,

but because there was not tons of movement in the whole river, it was a bit slimy on the bottom. We went on a really nice ‘bush walk’ through the jungle and we even saw a Rock Wallaby (since I didn’t get a picture it looks like a super small kangaroo) it was super cool. Anyways after that, we went back and wrapped up the weekend. It was super exciting and I really enjoyed getting out for the weekend!

I really like wildlife, but from a distance.

There are two things that I have learned about myself and being in nature. The first is that if there is a mosquito or "mozzy" as they say, within about a mile of me, it will find me and it will bite me. While I have been thankful only to have one or two bites at a time, when I do get them, they are HUGE, we're talking the size of a nickle. And they get all weird blotchy so it looks like I'm coming down with some sort of 'condition'. No joke, one night about a week ago, the door had been left open all night, so the next night, I stayed up for about an hour and killed around 25-30 mosquitoes that were in my closed room alone! Seriously, I am either going to have malaria or no blood left by the time I leave.

The other thing I have really learned is that while I love living in nature, you know with trees and rivers and what not, but I now know that I am not really a fan of the rest. I am over the I really am bugs, geckos, any bird that chirps/squawk in a flock incessantly, or crickets that sound like a vibrating phone. I don't like when 6 inch geckos running around my room. I don't like either huge ants crawling all over you, or tiny tiny ants crawling all over anything you set down. Half of these insects I have never seen before and now they are crawling all over me.

The other thing that I loved and now Im not such a huge fan of are the birds. Oh gosh, the loracites sure looked pretty with their blue heads orange tale feathers and green bodies, but now that they wake me up at 4 am every morning, I am over them. Also, because it is spring, all of the birds are nesting which means that we have to keep the kids away because a few of the species are known to dive bomb those who get too close; its crazy. The weirdest thing though is we are 15km (so I've been told, thus I have no idea how many miles that is) from the ocean and I have yet to see one sea gull, not that I am complaining, but it is just odd.

Ok this post is random and somewhat ranting, but now it is done. Back to the crazy animal kingdom that I am living in.

Ayr! Complete with pictures

Sorry! I have been so limited with the internet, but at last, here are some pictures of where I am.
This is the house that I am staying in.

This is the view from the street.

This is the view from one of my windows, out into the backyard.

It's a nice house that has lots of windows, which has been really nice with all of the wind that we have been having. They keep telling me that the wind is not normal and that it should be going away, but I'd be alright if it never left.

A poorly put together 180 view, looking out from the front (almost the staff lounge)
Click to enlarge

Here is the school that I am at, Burdikin Christian College. It has almost 100 students ranging from Prep (Kindergarten) to Grade 7 (I think they are are 11-12 years old). The school's claim to fame is that it is North Queensland's Greenest school. Let's see, my class... Well, I am in the Pre/Year 1 class and have students ages 5 through a few that have just turned 7 and boy to these kids like to run around and not follow directions. If you received the email from my mom, you will already know that these kids are really lovely individuals, but really bad as a class (we're talking telling me 'no', punching, tackling, and the occasional destructive tantrum which means that they kid has to be physically carried out.) However, while the children are a project, I am still having a good time. The staff here, while they are the must blunt, straight to the point people I have met, they are also really kind and supportive.

A bad picture of my lovely class.

Ok, other things that have been going on. Well, so far I have been bitten at least 10 times by a mosquito, but thankfully at the moment I only have three that really are red and itch. It's so not fair! None of the kids at school, nor the people I live with ever get bitten, and yet I cannot seem to go a night without getting at least one. I wish that the two geckos who have been living in my windows would just hurry up and eat them all. Christy, tell your mom that I have yet to step on one but I think I might have accidentally taken one's tale off when I was closing the window (he's alright, just a little shorter).

Here are just some other pictures to give you an idea of what is around where I am. Enjoy!

Cane field across the street from the school.

More to come soon, I just need to take more photos!

Ayr, Australia

So, here is the introduction to my life for the next two months. I am living in a town called Ayr which I have been told is pronounced air (but you don’t really say the r). If you look for it on a map, just find Townsville (in Northern Queensland) and go south a little ways. Before I talk about the town I should probably mention how I ended up here. It’s rather simple, I told Biola that I wanted to teach in England and they said, “No” so I then found the only other country that spoke English that wasn’t the US and that was Australia and New Zealand. So I ask for a place in either of those countries and they sent back saying we found you this place and I said great, when should I get there.

Ok, so Ayr is a tiny town (and town is a generous word) and is about an hour away from the biggest city, which, without the military base would be nothing more than a town itself. Picture with me (at least until I get around to taking actual pictures) a town in more rural Florida. However, it is not like it is a hick town, they have electricity and running water, the streets are paved with what seems to be tar with rocks thrown on top of it and some of them are newly paved. The main feature of this area is the sugar cane fields; these fields surround the area where people live and then are sprinkled throughout the neighborhoods.

So, there is one main street, it’s about 6ish blocks long and the best way to describe it is they have taken a whole city and squished it into one street. Everything from the court house and the police station to the super market and the Country Target are found along this street, everything but the schools. Other than that, nothing is really distinctive, which makes it especially hard to get my bearings.

I am staying with a nice family, The Brocks, who live about a 6 minute walk from school and who are fairly close to the center of town, but like I've said before, I have no idea where that is. The family is mom, dad, 14 year old son and 11 year old daughter. They are really great people and I am very grateful to them for letting me stay with them.

The only downside so far is that I have to share the one ethernet cable with a 14 year old boy, meaning I never get on. Plus, to use it I have to sit in the family room with my back to the family room, in the middle of everything, so I feel wierd if I ever want to use the internet, but not be super productive.

I think that will be all for now, especially since I don't have any pictures yet. I will write about school later, but here's a small preview...I am the school's new toy, my gosh do these kids need some discipline and wow are there a lot of little ones in one class.

So long for now! (14 year old is waiting)

California Dreaming, On Such A Winters Day

Well, I wish the whole "Winters Day" part of that statement would stay true, but alas, 'Global Warming' strikes again. I can not tell you how excited I was to be enjoying the wind and the clouds and the cool; I was actually convinced that we had left summer behind (FINALLY!). This is where I could say something witty about Mother Nature being a cruel temptress, but honestly I'm at my wit's end, so instead you get my statement of how much a really do want it to be Fall (please!)

As far as my picture every day, well life happened (mainly the of the homework variety) a before I knew it, there were days that had gone by where I had not even touched my camera. I, however, have not totally given up, so now instead I am just trying to be more proactive about picture taking.

Anyways enough with my talking, here is what I have taken since last time.
From the 22nd and 23rd Biola had Torrey Conference, during that time instead of worry about going home or out to lunch we picnicked. It was nice sitting under the trees on a blanket with beach chairs in the Santa Ana's (well that wasn't very nice, but they felt good with how hot it was).

On the 23rd, my Grandmother was officially named Huntington Park's Women of the Century; They had a bronze bust of her and everything. I was the representative for my family which meant meeting loads of people that I had heard about, who knew my parents when they were little, whom I had never met. It was odd, but fun.

Per tradition, I went home for part of Torrey. Yea!! To pass the time in the airport, I wrote a letter to my friend Hannah in England. She decided that we were going to be pen palls, hopefully it will last, I like getting letters in the mail.

I really like going home. And it was the perfect fall weather without it being winter yet! It was cold, but sunny; everything was crisp and you could wear a jacket. My family is an obvious highlight to going home, and so is Oliver. He is the newest addition to our family and he is a psycho (in all the best ways). He is such a lover and a fighter, mixed with a very needy over excited toddler and he's all ours!

I also took so pictures of the leaves because they are actually different colors there.

The week between that and Halloween is lost in a haze of stress and black and orange. I'm not a fan of any of the Halloween pics I took, so I will spare you.
The day after Halloween, Christy and I woke up 6:30am! Crazy, I know, but that day the two of us, plus Liz (another girl in the house) and a bunch of guys headed out to the middle of nowhere near Apple Valley to go shooting. It was AMAZING! I can't tell you what we shot, because while I know they are different, I couldn't tell you what they were. All I know is there were mainly riffles, a shotgun and a handgun. Despite that fact that were using deadly force on pumpkins from the night before, it was really relaxing. O and possible the best part was, with how flat and open it was we were able to see a storm collect, break apart and then reform.

Ok, I'm getting a little wordy, so here is the last one. It's just a picture of my head, but I still like it. I like wearing my hair with a headband and pulled back, but my hair is not always very cooprotave. Yea for submissive hair days!

I'll spair you the words... The End!

Well, now that I am not abroad...

Since I am home this blog will now become a tad more "traditional", however, I will refrain from all the emotional ranting that people tend to do on these things. I'm not sure that I would even want to listen to my ranting, so why subject you to it. Instead I am going to do this like an expanded facebook...more room to describe what is going on.

I am trying to become a more comfortable picture taker and to take more pictures of my everyday life, So here it goes.

October 18th

I made it! It was a kit from Micheal's, it's paper! While it was a bit labor intensive it I rather proud of myself and now it greets me every time I walk into my room.

October 19th

So there is an olive tree in my front yard and it, or at least its fruit, is the bane of my existence. However, since Halloween is right around the corner I am hanging ghosts made from trash bags. They are, in all reality, pretty childish but I think they're cute.

October 20th

It was the first day since England where I could justify wearing a sweatshirt. Notice I still needed the flip flops. I also must note that it only stayed on until about 11am, sad, but a step in the right direction.

October 21st

Perfect example of me just messing around with my camera. I think it also does at least a half decent job of capturing the panic that I am starting to feel.

I'll post more once the days come, gosh I hope they don't come too quickly!