The Goodbyes Begin...

The staff from school gathered in the staffroom to say farewell and wish me all the best for my trip home. They even gave me a little stash of Aussie Beers to sat thank you.

It's been great working at this school. I think I've taught in nearly every grade so have met a lot of the 600 kids! And it's been good experience to spend the last five weeks in one class. It means I'm going home feeling like I've had a wealth of experience teaching in Australia- which was, after all, the point in coming out here.

I'm gonna miss this place. 

One month today.

Mixed emotions. 

Trigger Happy...

It seems like this "travel" blog is slowly turning into a photography blog instead. I'm sorry, but I'm a bit obsessed with this new hobby. It seems like every moment not spent working is spent clicking the shutter on my camera. I fear my addiction may have gone too far after coming home last night covered in leech and mosquito bites and stinking of cow dung!

As mentioned earlier, Jared and I have been experimenting lots with long exposures- trying to capture movement in a single shot. So yesterday we bush-bashed our way through a forest to find a creek up in the hills. As is usually the case, only 10% of the shots I took were worth keeping but it's fun trying. We'd stop at a spot and try a few shots, compare notes, swap positions, kick ourselves for not getting the shot the other person got, then move on to the next area we wanted to shoot. Bleeding (from the leeches) and itching (from the mosquitos) we headed back to look at out photos.

 As we drove home we passed a little pond just as the sun was going down so jumped out for a final shot.

After having dinner it was time to head out again to try and capture some star trails. We drove out to a cattle field we had seen earlier in the day. Unfortunately I realised (a little too late) that cow pat is a lot harder to see in the dark! I think I can still smell it! The sky was perfect. Not a cloud to be seen and a new moon- just black sky and millions of stars.

Our mission was to take HEAPS of shots and them merge them later on computer.

The Rubber Hits The Road...

Had a great day yesterday. The school I've been working at for the past few weeks didn't need me so I had a bonus day off. My mate Joshi and I had been talking a lot about going on motorcycle ride together so it was great to finally put our plans into action.

After getting the train into the city, Joshi picked me up on his bike. After a quick zip down the motorway we stopped at a mates house to collect my 'steed' for the day- a sweet little Kawasaki Ninja 250cc. After not being on a bike for over a year I was pretty nervous, so we decided a few lengths of a quiet street were in order. Thankfully all my lessons can flooding back to me and we were soon ready to hit the road.

We headed straight for the motorway- the quickest way up to Mount Dandenong. It got my blood pumping to be chugging along at 100 (kph not mph) but it was nice to be driving in a straight line while I got used to the bike. The smile that had been plastered on my face for a few brief seconds was wiped away when I looked at the dash to see a red light! Driving at 100kph in four lanes of traffic is not the time to pull over! It wasn't the oil light, it was a 'speed' light. I'd never seen a speed light so was trying to figure out what was going on. I couldn't tell if the bike didn't like going this fast, or if it was simply there to help the rider check their speed.

A few minutes later we were off the motorway and in a never ending sequence of traffic lights. This was a good chance to chat to Joshi and he assured me the light came on at 80kph to stop people speeding.

All the traffic lights were really testing my clumsy clutch control. Despite a few stalls I was starting to get to grips with this little lightening bolt. I was loving it. And the farther we got out of the city, the more beautiful the roads became. After a nice warm-up on the bike it was so fun to get to the twisty roads that climbed the mountain. Granted we were taking it pretty slow but it was still a lot of fun.

A burger and chips at the lookout over Melbourne was a great rest before we saddled up and headed for home. I'm just gutted I didn't bring a camera so I don't have any pics.

Now I just need to find a bike for sale in Nottingham so I can get all the paperwork in place before I return! :o)

Hitting The Road...

I have a day off work tomorrow so my mate has arranged a for us to go motorcycle riding. The plan is to head into the mountains and get a view of the city. It's been a while since I've been on a bike so I'm a bit nervous but am definitely looking forward to it.

A photo or two should follow...

Exploring Night Photography...

Recently my mate Jared and I have been standing out in the cold until the wee hours trying to get some long exposure photographs.

We're taking lots of photos (only 1% of which are in focus!) but we're having a lot of fun. Here are some of my favs:

An English Experience...

Had a great night last night at 'The Pig And Whistle'- an English pub up in the mountains outside Melbourne. They sold Steak and Guinness pie and even had OLD SPECKLED HED, GUINNESS and HOBGOBLIN ON TAP! The Aussies aren't too into their ales so this was a real find. I've eaten at a few breweries and winers during my time in Australia, but it was so exciting to have some real English ale for a change. 

Moving House...

Naomi, Jared and I moved house today.

It's not a permanent move, just three/four days. The house attached to ours is having asbestos removed from the roof so we have to run for the hills! So we've moved out to Naomi's parents house in the countryside. Her parents are currently on a trip in Europe and only Sam (Naomi's brother) is around. It's nice to have treats like a fireplace and bath, so we plan on living it up!

More Aussie Animals...

We took a trip to Healesville Sanctuary last weekend in an effort to tick off more animals on my Aussia Animal List. Having already seen Kangaroos, Koalas, Possums, Wombats and Emus I still had a few to go- especially the deadly ones! Even though the platypus enclosure was closed, we still got to see a lot:

A Pleasant Surprise...

Thoughts of home have been at the forefront of my mind recently. I've been looking forward to little brother's wedding and have been making preparations for my return to school in Nottingham. I've had such a great time here in Australia but I know the dream can't last forever.

I was reminded recently of the fact that I should really be saving some money for all the various expenses involved in coming home. Up to this point the motivation to save was fuelled by the long list of sightseeing destinations on my list.

As I posted recently I’ve mainly been working at a child-care centre. It has been sooooo much fun but unfortunately doesn’t pay very well. So it was a nice surprise to get a phone call at the end of last week telling me that a school need me to work full time for the next five weeks! One of their staff has had to go help at another school and so there is a gap that needs to be filled. Perfect!

From a ‘pay’ point of view its fantastic, but it is a bit of a reality check- getting back into planning and assessment! I suppose it’s a step towards reality. The school is great and the staff have been so welcoming so hopefully the reality check wont be too bad.

Now I just have to go get my head around the Australian curriculum! Oh wait… THERE ISN’T ONE!!!!!!!