Pumpkin Carving

At first they were a bit hesitant, but in the end the kids enjoyed digging in to the pumpkins.

Happy Birthday

Madison singing Happy Birthday.

Somersaults

Two kids doing somersaults.

Syndey

Sydney is a very vibrant and busy city. There is so much to do and so many people around at all hours. Here are some photos below of Circular Quay - the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge. The third photo shows the view we had of the Opera House from the deck of the restaurant we ate at on Friday night. We have so much more to tell about Sydney - but we are updating right now from the airport in Edmonton (have to be quick). Bye for now.




 

Ayer's Rock and surrounding

Here we are at Ayer's Rock. The first photo is a sunset on "the olgas" - which are over 500m high - that's half a kilometre high! The second and third photos are of some of the local wildlife - a "thorny devil" and some kind of dragon (I forget the name). The final photo is of Ayer's Rock. It is nearly half a kilometre high. The area is in the middle of the desert and is quite sacred to the Australian aboriginal people.




 

The Red Centre

Hello from Ayers Rock, which is in the middle of Australia.
We are at an internet kiosk, therefore can not upload any photos.
Last night we were able to see the sun set in front of Kata-Tjutas (the olgas) as the full-moon rose behind. A spectacular site. This morning, we were up at 4am in order to view the sunrise on Uluru (Ayers Rock). We are now heading out to Sydney and will be home Monday night.

Finding Nemo

Not only did we find Nemo, we saw thousands of other fish varieties. We even saw a shark - a great big one as is passed approximately 3 metres beneath us. I fumbled to take a picture of it, but I think it was too far away by the time I snapped the photo. The dive-boat cameraman saw it too and was amazed at its size. It made us feel a little nervous knowing sharks were that close to us, but oddly enough it sparked our curiosity as we were hoping to see more.

We snorkeled in 3 different locations on the reef. I certainly have a new appreciation for the Great Barrier Reef. The labrynth of living, moving, colorful reefs and marine life was awe inspiring. I am exhausted from swimming all day, but I could have stayed out there for many more hours, just floating and watching the reef a few feet below. Everywhere you looked, you would see literally hundreds if not thousands of fish.

I can't wait to watch Finding Nemo and Shark Tale again. The characters in the animated movies really do resemble the real things. For example, the clownfish, always in pairs, would not venture out of the anemonies very far, and they would retreat when we came near. The really fast silver fish (I forget their names) would move quickly in large schools - just like in the movie! We didn't see any giant stingrays though.

We took many photos - but using underwater cameras (not digital), so I have nothing to show you now of the underwater shots. I can't wait to get the film developed. Everyone should experience the Great Barrier Reef at least once in a lifetime. I have heard people say that they have seen more marine life in one day here than they have in a lifetime in the Caribbean.

Pacific Ocean

Here we are at the beach in Cairns. Not too many people swim in the ocean here. There are too many crocs and jellyfish.

Check out this video for a message to Cam, Mad, and Boss.



 

Late Arrival

On Monday night, the airline called to say that one suitcase would be arriving. We were wondering which one it would be. We asked the hotel to wake us up at anytime. At about 1:00 am, one of the suitcases arrived - Lorrie's.

Then on Tuesday afternoon, Keith's finally arrived. Apparently the mix-up was in Los Angeles, where they did not put the luggage on the airplane. 

Rainforest Video

Here is short video clip of our view from above the rainforest here in Queensland.

Rainforest

They say that the city of Cairns is located where the Great Barrier Reef meets the Rainforest. We got to have a look at the Rainforest. We took a one-hundred-year-old train up the mountain. Then we travelled in a gondola back down - over the top of the tree canopy of the rain forest. It was pretty spectacular.


 

Wildlife

We visited the night zoo - which as its name indicates, has tours at night. We had a large Australian barbecue (I think they barbecue everything here) and then a chance to get up-close to the wildlife. Crocs, roos, koalas, and wombats to name a few.




 

Hotel in Cairns

Here are some shots of our hotel in Cairns - the Pacific International. We are on the 8th floor, overlooking the Pacific Ocean.


 

Presentation

I just finished presenting to a group of approximately 40 to 50 people. Most were from rural areas - including mostly Australia, a few from New Zealand, USA, Papau New Guinea, South Africa, and two other countries in the South Pacific which I have never heard of (or at least couldn't understand the pronunciation of when I polled the audience).

It's interesting how situations in rural Saskatchewan (which is what my presentation is about) are similar to other areas...yet different. Interesting conversations with others from Australia, New Zealand, and USA continued after. I met 2 people from Western Australia and Arizona who are interested in setting up communication with teachers in rural Saskatchewan , and even with students (to compare ways of life, professional development etc.)

The opening remarks this morning included a video-conference with a diver out on the Great Barrier Reef. The audience in the theatre talked to and watched a diver as she swam near sharks and other marine life. She took some time to point out some of the fish at the bottom of the reef. Quite cool! What if a classroom could connect with someone like this?

This conference is about the use of technology in education. But it's better than that since it seems like it is more about the teaching practice - and improving it, which technology is supposed to do. Lots about Web 2.0 (which is the evolution of the web becoming more interactive...such as blogs, wikis, etc.), virtual communities, the Digital Divide and information age learners, one-to-one computing, and the development of professional development for teachers to name a few. Lots of cool stuff that I can tell you all about later if you are interested.

Here are 2 photos of the Cairns Convention Centre.

PS - note my clothes in the top photo - not quite as "dressy" as I should have been - my fancy clothes are still in my suitcase on their way here (hopefully)...made for a good story anyway. Plus, the Aussies are pretty casual. Gotta go...just enjoying the "afternoon tea"

Arrived Safely

Hello. We have arrived in Australia, however our luggage decided to spent another day in LA. Qantas airlines assured us that our luggage would arrive today. They provided us with a bag of toiletries and $100 each to buy clothes for the day - not an easy task on a Sunday night.

The flights were long, but not a s bad as we expected. Tons of movies on demand on the plane - we watched The Da Vinci Code, Nacho Libre, The Devil Wears Prada, and X-Men 3. May seem like a lot of movies, but when you are in the air for approximatley 14 hours over the Pacific, there's not much else to do. Oh yeah, Camden would have liked this - each seat not only had movies on demand, but also video games.

Cairns is beautiful. Palm trees, blue ocean. Just heading out to the conference. It is nearly 8am on Monday here. We are 16 hours ahead of Sask.