Halloween Party at Zen Dan Kwan

Saturday, October 27, 2012

The place where the kids take karate was having a Halloween Party.  The kids decided they wanted to go since this was going to be their only chance to do something for Halloween.  Halloween definitely is not as big here as in the states.  Kids for the most part don't go trick or treating.  That only happens if a subdivision plans that themselves.   Dagan's school is having a Halloween mufti day, so he will be able to dress up again.  Plus, spring is in the air not fall.  It just doesn't feel quite like Halloween.

You can see the image they wanted in the background.

Adam painting the details.

The kids decided that we would just paint their faces.  They found a scary clown that they wanted.   I painted on the white.  Then Sydney did a little work on Dagan and put black around her own eyes.  Adam finished with the detail work.   Each wore a blackish shirt and a black hat.  With the teeth painted on their lips, it looked funny whenever they decided to smile.

Our scary clowns

Dagan ended up having more fun than Sydney because a couple of his friends from school were there.  One of the instructors asked her if it was like being in the states for Halloween.  She said no, but it was fun to do something for Halloween.

Wollongong City Surf Life Saving Club

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Dagan on a surf board

The kids had surf club again today.  Both weren't very excited about going, but ended up having fun.  It is a lot more work than either of them (or Adam and I) thought it would be.  It is training for the Ironman.  They work really hard for the time that they are there.  We got the kids rashies (swim shirts) and board shorts to match the other kids.  The hats are required.  That way, the water safety patrol can see where they are.  Needless to say, the hats are not Sydney and Dagan's favorite part. 

Sydney is near the read buoy. 

We met at the clubhouse, and both kids ended up going to the harbor for board training.  The waves were a little large to be practicing on the boards on City Beach this morning.   Both kids were happy to be heading over to the harbor.  At the moment, both are getting bruises on their arms from where they rub against the boards as they are paddling, and Sydney has ended up with bruises on her hip bones.  Hopefully, their bodies will toughen up soon. 

Sydney paddling to shore.

Sydney likes jogging on the packed sand.

Sydney's group spent most of the 1 1/2 hours in the water learning how to paddle, to roll under the water and back on the board, to sit on it in open water, and to run into the water from shore and jump onto the board.  When on shore, they jog on the beach and do sprints.

Dagan's group ran relay races.

Dagan's group worked on similar things when he was doing board training.  He is in a larger group, so half went on the boards at a time.  When not on the boards, they are jogging on the beach or doing sprints.  For the last part of his class, they went back to City Beach.  They lined the kids up in the sand.  They all lay down facing towards the starting line, so they can't see where an adult is placing hoses in the sand at the finish line.  When the whistle blows they get up and run to the other end and try to get a piece of hose that is sticking out of the sand.  There is one less than kids in the group.  Kind of like musical chairs. 

Dagan getting ready to race for a hose.  

Besides the physical activities, the kids are learning about the surf.  This is really why we wanted them to be a part of this club.  Not sure this will be our kids favorite part of being in Australia, but it is making them much more comfortable in the ocean.

Sydney at camp

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - Friday, October 19, 2012

Sydney went to camp with all the other Year 7 girls from St. Mary's.  This is her account of her days at camp.  Sydney took a camera, and her friends were nice enough to take lots of pictures of her doing the different activities.  She was dropped off at school at 7:15am.

Our Shelter

I am on the high ropes course.

We rode the bus for about 2 hours.  When we got there, we found out who was our camp instructor for the 3 days was and who was in our group.  Phil, our instructor, told us to sit in the forest, and we played get to know you games.  Then Phil took us out into a more woody area, and we were split up into groups.  Every group had to make their own shelter.  Next we hiked our way to the high ropes area.  We learned how to belay.  Then off we went.  I like these kinds of activities.  After that, we went to step up our camp.  We had to find a spot to put up the tents and find tent mates.  We made a living room and a kitchen.  We had to cook dinner.  We cut up carrots, zucchini, chicken, capsicums, and snow peas.  We cooked them all together and added noodles for a stir fry.  We had to keep taking more even though we weren't hungry anymore because Phil didn't want any to go to waste.  We went to bed early.

The tents we slept in.

All the food for the stir fry

Vertical Climb

Crate Climbing

On Thursday, we woke up at 5:15am.  We had to pack up all our bags and tents because tonight we were going to sleep in a cabin and breakfast was early.  Our breakfast was powdered milk and cereal.  It wasn't good.  After breakfast, we went to the crate climbing station.  Crate climbing is when you start with one crate and you go back and forth as high as you can go until you fall over.  You have on a harness, 3 girls are belaying you, and another girl is stacking the crates.  For lunch, we had to mix all these vegetables, chips, sour cream, and cheese together in a bag.  You mushed it together, and it looked like vomit, but tasted better than that.  In the afternoon, we did a vertical climb.  I was the fastest.  We had dinner and went to bed early again. 

Helping belay

Putting on the safety gear

Swinging on the giant swing

On Friday morning, our group went to the giant swing.  It was my favorite.  For the giant swing, you are put in a harness which is attached to a rope.  The rest of the group pulls the rope until you are as high as the two telephone poles.  Once you are up there, you pull a red string, and you free fall for a couple of seconds.  Then you are swinging on a gigantic swing.  I went upside down.  We got to go two times because our group worked quickly together.  Then we went canoeing.  I jumped into the water.  The water really wasn't very cold. 

We headed back to school in the afternoon.  I enjoyed camp and wished we had these camps for school once a year in the states like they do here.

Wollongong Public School Fete

Sunday, October 14, 2012

The kids had their first surf club this morning.  It went well.  I will  have to take pictures next time.

Dagan doing flips.

Sydney joined in the fun.

"The Storm"

After surf club, we went to Dagan's school for the fete.  There were carnival rides, food, crafters, and performances by dancers and a karate school.  Dagan had a lot of fun.  He joined in with his friends right away.  Sydney went on a few of the rides with Dagan and his friends, too.   Dagan said the Storm ride was the most fun.  He likes to go in circles and get dizzy.  I am glad we came back for his fete.  It was fun to watch him interact and listen to his friends cheer for him when he was jousting.  He has found a good group to hang out with from school.

Dagan won his joust.

The teacups were just about too small for him.

Visit to Canberra

Friday, October 12, 2012 - Saturday, October 13, 2012

Peter and Dagan

Sydney and Madeline

We headed to Canberra today to see Bob and family.  Bob is Margaret's brother.  They have been living in Australia for a while.  It is ironic that both Brett and Margaret now have siblings living here. 


It was an easy drive to their house.  It took a little over 2 1/2 hours to get there.  We arrived around 7:00 pm.  They live in a nice suburb not too from Parliament House.  Madeline was cooking dinner for us.  She made burritos.  Sydney helped chop the lettuce.  Dagan was excited for the guacamole.  We had a great dinner.  It was nice to talk and get to know each other better.  After dinner, the kids played games.  Sydney and Dagan had brought some of our favorites, too.

The kids with a view of the old Parliament House 

 and War Memorial behind them.

Parliament House

On Saturday, we headed to Parliament House after breakfast.  It was really interesting.  The building was built under the ground, so the people could stand on top of or above the government.  We wandered around for a while.  Dagan was trying to find the portrait of the Prime Minister he had researched, Christopher Watson, but unfortunately, "it was on a different floor.  We went up on the roof.  What a view!  Canberra is a beautiful city.  The War Memorial and the old Parliament House are lined up in a way similar to Washington DC.  We could also see the US embassy.  When we went back inside, we got a tour of the building.  The guide was excellent.  He tailored the tour to provide information from where all the visitors came from. 

Bob, Peter, Adam and Dagan

Sydney, Kristin, Madeline and Vernique

We went back home for a delicious lunch.  While lunch was cooking, Madeline got Sydney to help her make dessert.  They made pavlova.  Maybe her motivation to cook will rub off on Sydney.  Peter and Dagan set the table.  After lunch, we went for a walk up Red Hill.  It was a good walk.  You went through their subdivision first, and then up the hill.  It was rather steep.  The views at the top were great.  Plus, there were lots of kangaroos.  The kids decided to bushwalk down the hill.  The adults took the path.  Sydney and Madeline took my camera to take nature pictures.  The boys had fun with sticks. 

Sydney pointing at some kangaroos.

A mob of kangaroos

Once home, the kids took a quick swim before we headed for Wollongong.  We had a great weekend with our "extended" family.  We can't wait to do it again.  All of us are headed to Wisconsin for Christmas.  It would be fun to be able to see each other there, too. 

Volleyball Tournament

Thursday, October 22, 2012

Look at that form!

I went with Sydney to her volleyball tournament for her school.  I think I was one of the only parents who stayed all day.  She got to miss a whole day of school to go to this tournament.  She was a little excited about that.  It was held at the Illawara Hockey Center.  Sydney played well.  It reminded me of the rec games she played in through the Town of Mukwonago.  Sydney's team was definitely the best coached team.  They ended up coming in 4th place.  When they placed the teams in the brackets for the afternoon play, they had the A teams playing against the B teams.  Sydney's team had a disadvantage because the A teams had year 10 and year 11 players.  Her team ended up playing the older girls from their own school.  They played well, but need some more height on their team.  For some of the girls, this was the first time they had ever played volleyball. Sydney was one of 3 year 7's on the team.  The rest of the girls were year 9.

Sydney getting ready to set.

Sydney's St. Mary's team

Trip Home

Thursday, October 4, 2012

We headed out in the morning.  We swung into Tuross Head to see why everyone turned this way on our way down.  It was pretty and looked more like lakes.  We didn't find any cafes or stores, so we went back to our original plan and drove on to Mogo.  Mogo is a cute town.  We had some breakfast and looked around.  We found a good potter.  We picked up a cool bowl with painted fish. 

The falls we stopped at. 

We got back in the car and decided to take the scenic route that was recommended to Adam.  It was a beautiful drive to the top of the mountains.  Then it became interesting.  We turned onto a 2 lane road to head to Nowra which is on the coast.  About 10 miles in, it turned to a gravel road.  Then in the middle of nowhere it turned to pavement for a mile.  Then back into gravel again.  We ended up driving on this gravel road for close to 120km.  It took forever.  The kids were wanting to know whose great idea this was.  Adam stopped at a falls along the way, so we could stretch our legs.  The falls were not the best, but the view of the valley was good.  It is just fascinating to us that the only road going to Nowra is gravel.  You don't see this in the states when the road is a main one.

We ended up stopping again in Berry for ice cream and to look around.  Sydney and I found a shop that sells yarn, embroidery items, and quilting material.  We will have to take my mom back there when she visits.  I think Sydney would like to place an order for a new sweater.

Mystery Bay/Narooma San Bar

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Montague Island (where we were the other day) is in the background.

Sydney trying to body surf.

Dagan actually going under the water.

After going fishing, we headed to Mystery Bay.  The kids wanted to do some swimming/exploring.  Adam and I took our beach chairs and relaxed as they kids did some exploring along the beach and rocks.  By the tidal pools, they found some black crabs.  Sydney was very excited.   They went swimming with the rocks in the background.  They are getting more adventurous in the water.  They are starting to dive and try to ride the waves. 

Dagan with the frog rock.

 All us went for a walk along the beach.  We found these cool green shells.  I ended up filling my pockets with them.  As we were collecting these, Sydney asked if we could go back to the area by Australia Rock to collect more of those shells.  We headed back there.  Since it was low tide, we didn't have to climb through the rock again.  Thank you!  We found a whole bag full of shells.  Some of them were large and still intact.  Sydney and Dagan are hoping to take some home for their friends.

We went back to the place where the seal was yesterday.  There ended up being 4 on the rocks and two in the water.  We sat on the top rocks and watched them for a while. 

Afterwards, we headed back to the wharf.  A really large stingray came by.  It was in the shallow water for quite some time.  It was eating the scraps.  They are fascinating to watch.

Fishing in Wagonga Inlet Estuary

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Dagan's trumpeter

Sydney's Tailor

Adam's nipper bait

We went out fishing today.  We went on a pontoon boat in the Wagonga Inlet Estuary.  It was really pretty.  It reminded us of being on a lake in the U.P.  There was both forest and open land surrounding the water.  We only caught 3 fish.  Sydney caught a Tailor; Dagan caught a trumpeter, and I caught a Bream.  Adam didn't catch anything, but baited all our hooks for us with nippers (or saltwater Yabbies), funky looking crayfish like creatures.  As we were moving to a different fishing spot, we saw a seal floating with its fin out of the water.  It didn't even try to move when the boat came right next to it.  Even though we didn't catch much, it was really nice to out on water that reminded us of home.

The seal that wouldn't move.

Montague Island Tour/Whale Watching

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

The lighthouse on Montague Island

Some of the nesting sea birds

View of our boat from the light house

We headed to Montague Island.  It is a nature reserve.  The national park staff live on the island and guests may stay, but there are no permanent residents anymore.  We saw lots of nesting birds, the lighthouse built from one rock on the island, a spot where the US had a secret military base in the 1950's, a very barren landscape, and a glimpse of a baby penguin.  Unfortunately, it was in a penguin house, so it was very hard to see.  If we had gone to the island at dusk, we would have been able to see the penguins as they come ashore to their nests.

New Zealand fur seals

Australian fur seals

Once we got back on the boat, we went to see the New Zealand fur seals and the Australian fur seals.  They don't ever combine groups.  Also, the New Zealand fur seals like to have space between them while the Australian fur seals like to be jumbled together.  They were really neat to see.  We thought about going swimming with them, but the water had come up from Antarctica and was too cold.

First family photo in Australia

A small glimpse of a whale

The next part of the tour involved whale watching.  We went really far out trying to find the whales. We actually can now say we have been on the continental shelf of Australia.  We saw a few from a distance and a couple came next to the boat, but they wouldn't stay near us.  We were not too upset because we had such a good view of them while going to the Great Barrier Reef.  Dagan was especially happy because he thinks when they come up under the boat, they will end up tipping the boat over.  He will be happy if we never go whale watching again.

Some of the dolphins

One of the albatross

Fortunately, we did see lots of dolphins.  We enjoyed seeing them.  They were swimming and jumping right next to the boat.  There were also more birds than we would have thought.  There were shearwaters and albatross.   It was the first time any of us got to see either of these birds.  The albatross is a huge bird.  We learned that they can fly for 20 hours straight and can go 10 years without ever going to land. 

On the way back, we stopped to watch bait fish busting the surface of the water.  There were tons of birds swooping around trying to get the bait.

First sting ray

After we docked, we saw our first sting rays.  They were feeding on the scraps left by the fishermen.  They didn't stick around very long, so we will have to come back tomorrow.