Bunbury/Boyanup visit

Feb. 22-23

This weekend we headed down to Bunbury and Boyanup which are a couple of small towns about an hour and a half south of us in Western Australia.  Our first stop was the tourist information centre in Bunbury, which was located inside the old train station in the heart of the city.   After talking to a very friendly guide, we had a better idea of what we wanted to do with the rest of our day.   We decided to start with some retail therapy for Suzie, and it didn't take long for her to sniff out a deal.  She hit the jackpot with one of her favourite past-times, shoe shopping.   It did however take a while to decide on which shoes to buy, because there were so many to choose from.  Fortunately they were mostly $10 each, so the rest of us let her have her fun, seeing as she is supporting us this year.  After what seemed like an eternity (maybe 30 min.), and 4 pairs of shoes later, we moved on to some other shops on the quaint main street.  For anyone with kids, you know shopping can only last so long without a lot of complaining, so fortunately we found Toy World to keep the kids satisfied for a while, so we could browse a bit longer before stopping at the Rose Hotel for a drink.  By the way, I don't know if I have mentioned how expensive drinks are over here.  A small glass of domestic draught is $6 and a pint is $8-10.  Regular bottle of beer is around $8, imported about $10.  Cider drinks or coolers are $10, and hard liquor starts at $10 and goes up from there.  A guy could get really thirsty in WA, which is quite ironic because it is so dry that you are always thirsty!

It was getting hot, only 37 C today, so we headed to the Koombana Bay beach for a picnic and a swim.  This area is renowned for bottle-nosed dolphins that come right up to the shore and swim with the people, but unfortunately we didn't see any dolphins, because it was too late in the day.  We planted ourselves on our towels in the shade of a tree, and had a relaxing afternoon.  We read our books, swam and napped as the gentle ocean breeze kept us cool.  Life is good!

And if you are lucky you can catch an Australian wedding.  
Who needs a church, when you have a beach!

From here, we were going to have tea and spend the night with our adopted Aunt Judy;  an aunt of our exchange partners.   She lives out in the country in Boyanup, so it was a good thing we had the GPS or we probably never would have found it.  We were warned how hot it is once you get away from the ocean, so we were hoping for the best, but expecting the worst.  We were happy to find that it wasn't as hot as we expected it to be, especially because she doesn't have air con.  Her house is surrounded by big gum trees and bushland which help shade it from the sun.  It reminded me a lot of my parents farm back home. We had a lovely evening sipping wine, telling stories, meeting neighbours and of course, eating.

Just as we were getting settled into bed, Judy came and got us because there was a kangaroo in her backyard.  Apparently a regular occurrence here.  This was very exciting for the kids because this was the first wild kangaroo that they have seen since we have been in Australia. It was dark, so we could just make out the outline of the kangaroo, as it kept to the edges of the yard.  Little did I know that this cute little kanga and her friends were going to keep us up most of the night.  We were awoken many, many times by the thumping of their feet and tails into the ground, and the constant tearing of grass and chewing right outside our window!  I felt like we were living in a National Geographic special.  There were even two male kangaroos fighting, boxing, and grunting at one point.  
So much for quiet, peaceful country life!

Fresh veggies from Aunt Judy's garden.

The bush behind Aunt Judy's house, where the kangaroos romp and play!

Sunday morning found us at the Boyanup Country Market, which would have been lovely if it wasn't 40+C with no breeze, and not much shade.  We did manage to find some fresh produce, bread and honey to bring back to the city with us though.  Then we headed back into Bunbury to visit the Wildlife Park to see the birds and feed the kangaroos.  Seeing the kangaroos was one thing, feeding them and petting them was another.  The kids loved it! Here are some of the photos:

Aunt Judy on the right, behind Ellise and our new friend!

After the Wildlife park, it was time to head to the beach to cool off before heading home.  This time we went to the Bunbury Back Beach where the surf was bigger and the waves crashed into the shore.  It took a bit to get accustomed to and we all ate a bit of sand, especially Ellise! But it was heaps of fun!

And true to Australian custom, we had to dodge another wildfire on the drive back to Waikiki.  Driving towards a wall of smoke is not my idea of fun, but fortunately the highway went around the main region of the blaze.

Fremantle and Point Peron

Feb. 14-16, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!  It was fairly quiet here.  After picking up Ellise from gymnastics, we went down to the Rockingham foreshore and picked up some take-away (take-out) for tea (dinner). Suzie and I enjoyed an asian noodle box, my little carnivore Noah had a meat box, and Ellise decided on the always enjoyable Subway.  

This weekend we met up with our friends (the Rennie family), from Collingwood ON who are on exchange here too. We headed into the city for a tour of Fremantle which is the main port town of WA. It is known for its seafood restaurants and great shopping.  We started off with the Fremantle Market.  It was fun browsing through all the stalls, checking out all the Aussie goods for sale. We also caught a live performance by a busker called the "Bad Piper" who played the bagpipes with a real flare, literally. He had flames coming out of his bagpipes as he played his version of bagpipe heavy metal.  Some things you only see in Aus. 

Photo to come.

Then it was off to the wharf to visit the "Little Creatures", which is a local brewery.  We had a free tasting of all their different lagers, ales, and ciders.  Some were very enjoyable, others not so much. 
We continued our tour along the wharf restaurants, and circled back to the car to head off to our next destination, which was a potluck dinner with all the other exchange teachers.  It was great to catch up with everyone again, to see how everyone was doing teaching at their new schools, and to tell each other what we've been up to since we last met.  It's great sharing stories of places to go and things to do while we are here.  It is fun being a professional tourist!

The Rennie's came back to our place for the evening, and we played cards, had a few drinks, and a lot of laughs.  Sunday morning we decided to do some snorkelling at Point Peron, which is only about 10 minutes from our place.  Unfortunately, the water was pretty rough, so we didn't see much.  The snorkelling may not have been great, but the hiking was.  Great views of the rocky cliffs, and of the Rockingham coastline.

Kade, Noah, Ellise & Matthew at Point Peron.

The Fetter's at Palm Beach.

Hiking at Point Peron.

Wayne enjoying the sites.

The Fetter Family "down under"!

The Rennie's

AQWA - Aquarium of Western Australia

Sat. Feb. 8, 2014

Today we tried a new adventure, getting around on Perth's public transportation system.   We were headed to AQWA, which is on the far side of Perth, at Hillary's Boat Harbour. I discovered online that it is only $11.60 for the entire family to ride for the whole day on weekends and holidays (which would be less than it would cost to drive, as gas prices are between $1.48 -$1.60/L).  Ouch!  The first leg of the trip was by train.  The station is only a couple kilometers from our house, so it was a quick, easy drive to catch the train. The train ride was very comfortable and relaxing.  Much less stressful than driving on the freeways.  But I have to admit, driving over here is much different than back home in Canada because everyone does the speed limit.  WA has speed cameras set up all over the place to keep the drivers going the speed limit.  It actually feels much safer driving on the roads here because everyone is going the same speed. Maybe photo radar wasn't such a bad thing when they tried to introduce it years ago.  Of course, we haven't gotten a ticket yet either.  But back to the public transport. Stage 2 was a bus ride. Surprisingly, even the bus was modern and clean.  All in all, an enjoyable experience.

Much to our surprise when we arrived at Hillary's Boat Harbour, it wasn't just the aquarium that was there.  There was a small amusement park with water slides, rides, trampolines, and mini-golf.  A great little beach which was protected from the wind and waves of the ocean, and a whole wharf area with nice, little shops and restaurants.  This was going to be fun!  To the aquarium first.

Just inside the front door, you are greeted by this colourful coral reef with tropical fish.

Leafy Seadragon (Bottom), Weedy Seadragon (Top)

Part way through the aquarium, there is a viewing area with glass tunnel where you feel like you are swimming with the sharks. 

And the seaturtles,

And Stingrays!

This could be my best photo ever!

The dangerous Lionfish.

One of the ugliest creatures you will ever encounter, the Moray Eel.

Another tropical fish aquarium that you can walk through using scuba gear.

All of the exhibits at AQWA represent different parts of the 12,000 kms of coastline along 
Western Australia.  We are going to have fun snorkelling this year!

After visiting the aquarium, we had some lunch along the wharf, and wandered in and out of the shops, buying some Aussie souvenirs and some new sandals for Ellise.

Ahh, I survived the first week of school. Three weeks worth of adventure in summary. Hope you laugh as much as I did!

January 17 to February 1st

Suzie:
What a great welcome to WA (Western Australia)! Tammy's parents, Marie and Wayne Smith, have been awesome! They have driven us all around the suburbs in the area, patiently showing us all the local spots like the bank, grocery stores, schools, restaurants and beaches. We've been for meals at their place and they always stop by with loads of produce or homemade goods. We are so spoiled, and love it!

Oh, by the way, Santa Claus made it to Australia, and had presents waiting for the kids on their beds. He left a big teddy bear for Ellise, and a beach volleyball for Noah.  They were very excited, and relieved that he didn't forget about them because we were travelling on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Wayne & Marie Smith

Our first night here we took a break from unpacking and ventured down to the beach. Sounds like an easy endeavour, but the streets in our new neighbourhood twist and turn, so it wasn't so easy. We only got lost once though, which we thought was pretty good.  When we got to the beach, we were greeted by the ocean breeze (which is nice and cool, and also strong enough to blow away a small child), but it felt great because it was a particularly hot January day in WA, almost 40 degrees celsius! The ocean was rough and there were many jelly fish and blowfish washed up on shore.  Ellise was instantly leery, and not very excited about swimming in the ocean, but the view was gorgeous!  And the sand was silky soft between our toes.  We would not be deterred though. The very next day we were back at the beach for a swim with the Smith's and the fish and the jellies were all washed away. We haven't seen a jelly fish since (3 weeks later). However, the Smith's did give us a bottle of vinegar for our beach bag, in the event that one of us does get stung.  It's not lethal, but hurts like a bee sting.  The water was blue, crystal clear, warm, and gorgeous. It turns out that the local beaches are terrific, and ideal for swimming!  And when the waves are crashing, great for body surfing!

Waikiki Beach (Penguin Island is at tip, far left)

Ellise loves the beach! We all do.

Of course, the first time we head to the beach on our own as a family to swim, a day later, we had a very unsettling experience again. First a guy fishing nearby came over and rushed us out of the water. He thought he saw a shark. It turned out to be schools of blowfish swimming by, harmless. But all bunched together, they do create a large shadow that had us jumping out of the water! Then just as Wayne was telling me how safe we must be, with Penguin Island just about 5 km to the north and clearly in view and Seal Island not too far either, he thought all the sharks would be well fed and we'd have no problems. Just as I was saying to him, "are you crazy?  We are surrounded by bait to bring the sharks right here" I swear I saw a fin. My heart stopped. We were back in the water by this point and staring in the direction of  my out stretched arm.... there it was again! And again and again, two of them actually. And we could clearly see by the fin movement that it was actually two dolphins! Now we were happy again and excited for our first of several dolphin sitings! Whew, it's been quite an emotional roller coaster for this Canadian family trying to decipher what is safe and what is dangerous in the Indian Ocean!

Most of the first two weeks involved unpacking, setting up bank accounts, transferring car ownerships, or trying to find our way home from these trips. Thank goodness for the Smith's GPS on loan. That really helped. My Wayne even went out to the 'shops' and bought the exact same model for us to use while we are here. The only downfall is that the females voice has a thick Aussie accent and we often can't understand what street name she's saying! 

After about 3 days I finally stopped getting turned around in my own house. Sounds weird, I know, but it's a sprawling ranch with more rooms and hallways than you'd think possible. And every time I thought I was heading down to Ellise's room, I'd end up in the master bedroom. Or when I thought I was going to the back yard, I'd end up at the front of the house! Too funny. And what a relief once we were completely settled in. After all that packing up and moving around in Africa and Mauritius, it felt good to have a home again.  By the last time we packed up to fly to WA, we just stuffed things in anywhere, so it took days to find all the deodorant, toothpaste, and souvenirs. It was weeks before we found the kids Aussie gift money that we tucked away somewhere safe.  It was so safe we couldn't even find it!  All settled now, and we're getting around nicely. We're really starting to feel at home. 

Just like the Google Maps photo!

The palm tree view from bedroom window 

Family Room

Kitchen

Games Room

Living Room

Office

Noah's Room

Ellise's Room

Guest Room

Sunday, January 26th was Australia Day, a national holiday here in Oz.  The city of Perth puts on a big show called the Skyworks complete with fireworks, lasers and water fountains.  So, the exchange foundation here in Perth decided to have a welcome dinner for all the new exchangees to WA for 2014. We had a general meeting and dinner at the local lawn bowling club in Perth, and got to meet several other families and couples here on exchange from Canada.  It was great to talk to people to see what they did on their way over to Australia, and to find out where they are living this year in WA.  Then everyone headed down to the river to watch the fireworks display.   For those of you in Windsor, it was comparable to the Freedom Festival fireworks at home in June.  Here are some of the photos.

Perth CBD (Central Business District), and Langley Park.

Suzie practising her lawn bowling form.

The boats are lined up in the Swan River, just like at home for the Detroit/Windsor fireworks. 

Families anxiously waiting for the fireworks to start.

Ellise having a great time at Skyworks!

While at the Skyworks BBQ we met some families that are also here on exchange. They also have kids who were in need of playing with someone other than a sibling! So we made plans for a swim, dinner, and cards night at Sean and Krystin Rennie's who are from Collingwood. Funny thing is they live a few houses down the street from Jim and Michelle MacIntyre, friends of ours! Great family, two nice boys. They joined us for a swim and dinner in Waikiki later that week.

The Rennie's Beach Cottage 45min. south of us.

Dinner at our place; notice the trampoline? It's the kids favourite pass time!

Especially when the sprinklers come on!

Just before school started we had a chance to kayak over to Penguin Island. Great paddle; maybe a bit scary to see everything beneath us. I kept seeing the shadow of my own boat and thinking it was a shark. FYI you have to understand that sharks are in the news daily right now. There is a big, controversial Catch And Kill policy that the WA government just passed last Monday. All because there are so many shark attacks right now in WA. 

It was still great to be out on the water. No penguins in sight at the island though. Lots of birds!!!  

Suzie and Ellise

The island is only about a half kilometer from the mainland.

Wed/Thurs/Friday,  Jan. 29/30/31st

Suzie: 

Ryan’s very kind co-worker Robin took me into work with him today. Then Wayne and the kids picked me up at 1pm and we headed to the Perth Zoo for a look at some Australian wildlife. A great afternoon and day.

Ellise spots her first real live Koalas.

They really are cute!

Free Roaming Wallaby

Kangaroo's were all resting in the midday heat.

Robin also drove me in the next day, taking a different route and narrating all along like a professional tour guide. He was awesome and I absorbed every detail I could in an effort to find my way around all by myself on Friday.

Friday came along and I was very pleased with myself. I had gotten myself to work. Enjoyed the PD Day and learned quite a bit. Ready for Monday and feeling pretty good, I kept the windows down, enjoyed a little music and headed for home to enjoy a home cooked meal from Marie and Wayne Smith (Tammy Donnelly’s parents had invited us over for dinner again). I’m heading home, when all of a sudden I see an exit for Rockingham. Thinking that is me, I check the left lane beside me, I have just enough room to change lanes and make the exit. Not even sure if this is me, but not wanting to miss my exit if it is- I make a split second decision and go for it. Zoom, zoom. A bit of a Toronto-style move, I admit, but as soon as I get off the freeway and look around I instantly realize I am miles and miles from my exit. (Thomas Rd for you Google Maps junkies) Just as I am starting to initiate a U-Turn to get back on the highway, I see that magical sight in my rear view mirror. Yup, you guessed it. Mr. Police Man had all his light flashing for me. What a show!

So now I’m in the far right lane, for the U-Turn, see the lights and try to pull over. I can see his giant hand is pointing to the left through his windshield. Oh yeah, I suppose I should pull over on the far left and not on the median. He’s got to be thinking I am the worst driver in WA. To top it off, I can’t quite make the gas station entrance with out another super wicked left turn, so I zigzag up over the curb and start literally laughing at myself. It’s just one goof up after another. I’m wondering if maybe I should just walk home after this.

BTW: I had just told Dave Austen back home that neither Wayne or I had been pulled over the whole year we were in Melbourne. To which Dave said, oh yeah, I think I was pulled over twice in WA! Watch out for the speed cameras too. Well, speed cameras were not my problem today...

Mr Police Man was very nice. And I’m not just saying that because he was also super cute! I should have asked him his name. He was trying not to laugh and kept saying “that was some impressive driving back there”. He must have said that two or three times half laughing. And I was all smiles and happy, because as soon as I saw the lights I was completely ready to pay a few hundred dollars in fines. That’s life! So I didn’t let it ruin the experience and had a laugh with this guy. It turns out he noticed my driving back at Beeliar trying to get onto the highway. Truth: yes, I almost missed my turn to get on the freeway. It was very poorly signed and the on-ramp lane was so short, I had no choice but to make use of Ryan’s tiny little shopping cart of a car. It fits in anywhere, really! So, strike number one. Then combined with my two lane exit off the highway, which the same cop saw, I was confident I was maybe even going to be asked to surrender my car and licence and be asked to stop driving all together. A fine was seriously the least of my worries. What’s a little cash?

To my surprise he said he was not going to book me (which I didn’t understand, but was hoping it meant no ticket for me and nothing about not being arrested?). Then we talked about where I was heading and he sent me on my way. I am so lucky. He even walked back from his car to check to see if I could find my way home. I lied and said "oh yeah, no problem".  I wasn’t sure at all from that new exit! Plus all I wanted to do was sit in the car parked up on the curb and rest for a moment. Maybe collect my thoughts, look at a map, or say a little prayer of thanks. Oh, no. No rest for me. Guess who has to pull out first- not the cop car behind you! So now I’ve got only seconds to climb down off the raised curb, enter traffic in crazy busy rush hour traffic and try to convince this guy he made the right choice in letting me keep driving. NO pressure!

I didn’t make that U-Turn, and I didn’t even try to get back on the freeway. Sure I’d used up all my luck for the day, I headed for the coastal route and prayed that I’d listened to Robin’s tour guide directions enough to get me home. Turns out I was much closer to school than home and had ages still to drive. Pulled over, called Wayne and told them to go to dinner and I’d meet them there later. All was good, I made it just fine and we all had a good laugh at my first drive to work experience. Please let the next drive be easier!?!

Not meant to be....

Monday, Feb. 3rd: The First Day of School

The Charthouse Primary School uniform- I love it! The kids like it too. Very easy every morning.

All three ready for our first day at a new school

Away they go!

Suzie: 

Hooray! I survived my first day at a new school. I have to admit, it all went very well. I arrived on time, no chats with local police officers. I could’t quite figure out why so many parents were wandering around, but soon learned that is perfectly normal. (read later in the week) Actually, it felt great to start teaching and not have to wonder what the schedule would be like, what the kids would be like, etc.  It was a big relief to get through my first day. I am still wandering around semi-lost from one building to the next trying to find my next class, but all the teachers and students were super friendly. This was a completely different start to my school year than I had at CBC in Melbourne back in 2000. Today was a thousand times better!

The funniest thing about today was this little kid who came to get me while I was walking by during recess. He was tiny, maybe Year 1 or 2. He had a high pitched, angelic voice, and looked way up at me with giant, scared eyes. He said “excuse me miss, there’s a spider over there. Can you get ‘em for me?” He wasn’t too upset, just informing me really. But some of the other kids heard him telling me about this Red Back Spider that he’d seen. Now there was a small group of tiny people huddled around a support pole beside an outside sidewalk. Of course, I am very curious by this point. I’ve heard these Red Backs are venomous and quite dangerous and I want to see one. So I have a look and get a few nearby kids to confirm that it is indeed a Red Back. And then I check with them, “is this really the spider that is so dangerous?” because truthfully it was a pretty small little thing. But it did clearly have a distinct red back. At this point the original kid lights up and very animatedly says to me “oh, yes! if you get bit by one, YOU DIE IN JUST 4 MINUTES!” You have to try to imagine how cute he is with this adorable Aussie accent, trying to be very serious and I am trying not to crack up. So cute. 

Now, my neighbours have already told us that you have several hours to get yourself to a hospital and get an anti-venom shot. But nevertheless I intend to do SOMETHING, I just don’t know what! What is the protocol in this situation? Beats me. So I ask them, “what does a teacher usually do when you find a Red Back?” One answered “leave them alone and they’ll leave you alone” (obviously what an adult has told him). Another shouts “kill it, kill it!” and then a heated debate starts up instantly between all the kids in this group and I’m wishing I didn’t ask for any opinions. Before things become a worse spectacle, I make a quick decision to sacrifice my shoe and knocked the spider to the ground and smushed him! My school is a Catholic one and they take it to heart, so I immediately threw in a quick prayer to god to accept the little spider into heaven and apologized for killing him, “but I couldn’t let him harm any of my students. Amen.” 

Unfortunately, despite having a super first day, I came home absolutely exhausted and a little miserable. Okay, if this were anyone in my family writing, they’d say totally miserable! 

While I was locking up the back gate near the oval I noticed a big smoke cloud coming from the direction of home. Two things cross my mind: I heard an EA excuse herself earlier today saying there was a fire near her house and she needed to call home right away. Hmmm. Then I realize the clouds I thought were moving in to cool things off a little for my drive home, are not clouds, but a bush fire - nearby! Yikes.

I head to the office to inquire- again wondering what is the protocol when there’s a fire and I’m suppose to drive in that direction home!?! So they inform me that the main highway (my usual route home) has several closed exits near the fire and this is causing a major traffic jam. FYI anything in WA causes a traffic jam! We've been told that WA also stands for "wait awhile".  My drive home is normally 35 minutes depending on traffic (30 km on the local Kwinana Highway- pronounced Qui-Naana). I am told to take the slower route along the coast and to head out now. So I’m off and not too happy to be driving towards the smoke! Thoughts at the time: Just how fast can a bush fire move, and am I going to be a statistic by tomorrow?? I just don’t know what to think! 

So I start off, already tired from Day One and staying too long prepping.  I enter the traffic jams of ALL TRAFFIC JAMS. Oh, and did I mention my car from Ryan is a manual. That’s right, I’m averaging between 10 and 20 km/hr for 1 hour and 45 minutes- all the way home! It's first gear, second, brake, back to first gear, ...  It wouldn’t have been all bad if it weren’t for the completely cramped left calf muscle and my left shoulder and neck, still not quite used to shifting gears with the left hand, are seized! Ouch! I’m hurting now. Still wondering (just a bit, for the first half hour) if I’m going to die of smoke inhalation. All the while I’m thinking ‘what the !@#$^?!’ Is this a normal day in WA? And what the heck have I gotten myself into?

Interesting Fact:

Ryan drives into work heading north and comes home heading south. For all of you geographically talented people that know the sun rises from the east, etc, etc, what I’m getting at here is that I am sitting on the right hand side of the car to drive. I AM BAKING MY SELF all the way in to work and all the way home. Today, I thought my right ear was going to fall off. It was burning hot, seriously, I have got to get one of those window blinds. The air-con cannot keep up. Once home I had a cold shower, thanked god for being alive and literally slept on the floor, where I landed, for half an hour! Got to get some rest to wake up in 10 hours and do it all again! 

Tuesday, Feb. 4th

Suzie: 

Today was a blessing. It was meant to be “Support” in the morning, I still don’t know what that is, and DOT in the afternoon. That I do know. “Do Other Things” or what we call Prep Time. The Support wasn’t organized yet, so the AP (Assistant Principal) told me I had the morning to get organized. What great timing! I had just gotten my email sorted out and had a zillion to read. Plus I still needed to run around to the IT guy and get my laptop set up. This school gives a MacBook Pro to every teacher for the year. It’s awesome! They’ve also gone to WiFi for teachers only, just like St Joe’s. And Wayne had just got me an agenda, so I could write down all the things on my To Do List officially!

I also tried out my first Duty today. Pick Up in the Undercover:

First I need to explain that this and all schools in WA are set up like a mini university campus. Each grade level gets their own building (Lobby). Each specialty area also has their own building, like administration, drama, music, the library and so on. So all the kids walk outside from class to class or to the washroom (which is called the ‘toilet’), or to the library. Before and after school the parents walk their kids directly into their class, so they are walking all over the place for half an hour in the mornings and again after school. I’m getting used to this, but it’s different. You can certainly lose time while getting caught in a spontaneous parent-teacher interview at 8:30am! Happens all the time. So, although there are about 30 to 50 parents mulling around from 2:30 to 3:00pm there is still at student pick up area that works exactly like a drive-thru. Plus another teacher and I have a microphone and stand at the cul-de-sac and read the surnames posted on the flip down sun visors as the cars drive up. We’re heard on giant speakers in the ‘under cover’ area where the kids all wait for their rides and come over only when they’ve heard their name called. Weird!! I am terrible at pronouncing all the names AND the sun is blinding me bouncing off the windshields trying to read the names. I reckon I’ll be blind by March, as I have this duty twice a week! 

Tip of the Day:

Aussie’s are so laid back, it cracks me up. There is a teacher here for LOTE- stands for “Language Other Than English”. This covers them for who ever they can find to teach any second language for that year. My school has Italian. Noah and Ellise’s school has Indonesian. How cool it that! They also go around barefoot all the time. I’ve seen this in shops (stores), on the sidewalks, and even in Kindy Class- they don’t wear shoes half the time! 

Wednesday, Feb. 5th

Suzie: 

This day I will title “Little Sarah” and you’ll know why soon.

At the end of the day my most memorable moment is surely during my Kindy class (see Feb.7th for meaning). Whilst learning that nothing will really get done and my lesson plan is just an idea for me only (three and a half year olds have an attention span the same length as my little finger nail)! I was trying to get the kids to sit in a circle on their bums, “criss-crossed apple sauce”, blah, blah, blah. (F.Y.I. This should have been the only goal of my lesson for the 30 minute class!) 

All of a sudden this adorable little red head (who had instantly reminded me of my out-going little niece in LaSalle, Sarah, because she can carry on a conversation with a bug, if she so desires) blurted out in ‘the’ cutest possible little girl voice with a thick accent that you’ll just have to imagine: “I have a cat named Gingy. She’s orange like me.” No warning, no excuse me miss, nothing. Then of course they all wanted to tell me about their pets, and on and on. They are hilarious!

So for the rest of the class, I carried on like a soldier in my own little world of organizing tiny people, while they continually blurted out random comments: I heard when birthdays were, who went pee recently, who had a cut or a booger, etc. (And yes, you parents of little ones, there is no privacy for you. Their Kindy teachers know everything that goes on at your house)! 

I do wish you could have heard their little voices and accents. I was in my own little heaven today. Too cute. I hope I managed to not laugh right out loud, too often anyhow!

Thursday, Feb. 6th

Suzie: 

This was our planned ‘Family Night’. We made plans to bring a picnic dinner to the beach and enjoy a swim and maybe sunset. Well, next time I’ll check the weather more carefully. Wayne had said it was a little windy, am I sure I still want to go? Now I’m sure that I didn’t notice a thing at school while I was outside. But it turns out the wind was blocked by a building where I was. So when we got to the beach and were blown away, we ended up eating at the foreshore picnic table and later the kids swam until mom was getting too cool and we headed for home. Plus we could hardly see the swimmers due to the sea mist fogging up our sun glasses and my skin hurt from being pelted by sand.  Whoops. 

FYI- foreshore means the sand dune area with some grass and plants like a park land between the beach and the walking path. Every few kilometers there are picnic tables, outdoor showers, sometimes an Aussie BBQ (these push button grills that anyone can use any time- no charge). It’s like this for nearly 10 kilometers north and south, all along the Waikiki Beach area. It’s a super place to own a house. The Donnelly’s have a great spot!

But I must mention the sensational WA sunsets. There has been about 2 drops of rain that lasted a minute about 3 weeks ago and only about 5 days where we’ve had any clouds. So it is sunny and blue skies nearly every day. This makes for some outstanding sunsets right over the Indian Ocean. Just gorgeous!

Friday, Feb. 7th

Suzie: 

First week done! Hip, hip, horray! What a relief to meet all the kids and get a feel for the new schedule. No more wondering what my new job will be like. Now I know--it’s great. All these little people (some stinkers of course, but mostly just “busy”). I can tell that Term 1 will fly by just getting used to everything. Then before I know it, it’ll be Term 4 and nearing the end of the year!

Today’s fun: I ventured onto the “Oval”. That is the Aussie name for a field. As in soccer field, football field, etc. No matter what the sport, or what the shape of the grass area, it’s called an oval. Now any of you who know Jamie Max (at St. Joe’s) need to pass along a message for me. I am no longer worried about just losing William during a P.E. Class. Now I have to worry about 30 little 5 year olds wandering off! And the Oval at Mater Christi Primary School is adjacent to an open nature reserve. Yes, that’s right. A large wooded area filled with snakes and spiders and who knows what else. And did I mention there’s a good sized lake about 500 meters from the oval too? I’m sure you’re assuming there’s a fence around the schools perimeter- as was I - but no. Nothing! Jeeze, I’m even worried about the Year 1’s and 2’s wandering off. Max, you wouldn’t believe it!

Tip of the Day (Terminology 101):

Aussie --- Canadian Term

Kindy = Jr. Kindergarden (they are about 3.5 years old, not many are already 4 when it’s only February, but some are 4).

Pre-Primary (PP) = Sr. Kindergarden (they never say Jr or Sr).

Year 1 = Grade 1

Years PP to 3 are considered “Primary”, Years 4 to 6 are “Seniors”

As of next year, all primary schools will stop at year 6 and all high schools will start at year 7. Finishing in year 12, same as at home. We got lucky that the public school in our neighbourhood ....

drink break- what a good house husband- Wayne just brought me a Friday night drink. Tonight’s sampler is a Newton. It’s a cider, comes in apple or pear, and tastes just like champagne. How appropriate!

.... still has Year 7. As of next year Noah and Ellise’s school, Charthouse, will finish in Year 6 as well. It would have been weird to take Noah out of Grade 6 in Canada and put him into a high school!!

Had some more entertainment on the drive home: almost took out a motorcyclist. They drive right up the middle of traffic on the two lane Kwinana Highway. It’s so common, I’m starting to wonder if it’s legal? So tonight when I had plenty of time and signalled ahead, I switched lanes and then saw him arc around me to avoid taking off my paint! How kind of the bugger. 

Secondly, I confess, I hit the windshield wipers again today. I think it was the first time this week. The windshield wipers and turn signals are opposite here in Australia, so it is a habit to turn on the wipers instead of signalling and vice versa. I was doing so well, too! Time for bed, it's just after midnight Friday night and we're off to take the train into Perth and check out the Aquarium Saturday morning. Should be fun.