Holiday Activities!

The past few days I have gone back to the Botanic Gardens where I saw rare and unique succulent plants (cacti), bats, cockatoos (hundreds in one place) and some really pretty flowers. It was a really nice day at the Botanic Gardens and every time I go, I find something new and beautiful to look at.

The highlight to the Gardens this time was definitely seeing hundreds of cockatoos and thousands of bats in trees! They were everywhere and so noisy.

I also went to a cooking show called Ready, Steady Cook! Not only was it a show, but they were taping it for television here!! So, I will be on t.v. here in about 3 months. It was fun to see behind the scenes and to meet the people I see on the show when I watch it in my room. The food smelled so good too while they were competing.

Holy Cow 2 was in town the other night as well. It is a magic show and it was also at the Sydney Opera House. It was an intriguing show with lots of audience participation. Two of my friends were chosen to participate during the show. It was really funny!

A few days ago four of us went to St. Mary's Cathedral. It is the largest sandstone structure here and it is beautiful! I had been to it one time before but it was rushed, so this time we sat inside an enjoyed the church.

I finally was able to walk across the Sydney Harbor Bridge! Not the bridge climb, but just across on the footpath. The bridge is the widest bridge in the world. Like most bridges, it shakes as the traffic goes over, but at times it felt like an earthquake! The view of the Sydney Opera House was stunning and I couldn't get enough pictures of it! My friend and I walked from one side to the other, explored around Milson's Point and walked back.

I am still on Holiday for another week! The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, but in the past hour has started to rain.

Enjoy the pictures to follow and don't forget to check out my PICASA website where ALL of my pictures are at!

Some of the cacti in the Botanic Gardens.

Inside St. Mary's Cathedral

St. Mary's Cathedral from a nearby Park

Waiting to go into Ready, Steady Cook! Joy, AJ, Eric, Janelle, Kevin, Melissa, Me, Dani and Andrea

On the set of Ready, Steady Cook!

Me starting across the Sydney Harbor Bridge

View of the Sydney Opera House from the Harbor Bridge

Beautiful!

Museums and Beach Walks

A few days ago I headed to the National Maritime Museum down at Darling Harbor. Inside the museum I learned about the Navy history of Australia, the history of swimsuits and about Charles Darwin.

It was a huge museum with many things to see and read about. They even had a submarine and other naval ships outside you could tour.

Yesterday on my Thursday, my friend Dani and I went for a coastal walk/hike from Coogee Beach to Bondi Beach. Along the way we saw other smaller beaches, coves and wharfs. There was even the largest cemetery I have seen in my life. It was beautiful - if a cemetery can be called that.

After two and a half hours of walking up and down hills we finally arrived at Bondi Beach! The walk was awesome and beautiful. It reminded me a lot of the Oregon Coast. There were lots of places along the way to sit and enjoy, but we wanted to sit and enjoy at Bondi Beach.

Once at Bondi Beach we walked on the sand - which squeaks! - and saw surfers and three guys attempting to get a huge kite in the air, only to be told it was against the rules to fly it.

We enjoyed a meal at Bondi Beach and then headed back home. We stopped at Circular Quay to get Gellato and then went back to join the rest of our friends to watch a movie.

Here are a few pictures from my two adventures.

The Worlds Fastest Boat! It gets up to 317mph!

We started here at Coogee Beach

Walked past Waverley Cemetery





And ended up here! At Bondi Beach!

Wildlife World and Sydney Aquarium!

A few days ago I went to the Sydney Wildlife World and Aquarium down at Darling Harbor. I saw all indigenous Australian animals, insects and fish. I was able to pet a Kangaroo and a Koala as well as see the most poisonous snake in the world! (All of these photos are on my picasa website - it is impossible to upload more than 5 on here.)

I also saw the most poisonous spider in the world too! It was nasty. You could walk through a nocturnal animal section at the wildlife world too. It was really awesome to see the animals and insects in their natural environment.

There was even an section that had thousands of butterflies flying around. From really small to large butterfly bigger than my hand. They were beautiful! I had on a red sweatshirt and they kept landing on me! A huge one landed on my hand too!

The Aquarium wasn't as fun as the Wildlife world, but was still interesting to go through. They had two underwater areas you could walk through to see fish, sharks and other swimming things.

I am on Holiday now for two weeks and am hoping to get around each day to something new!
So far I have gone on a walk around the Harbor Bridge to some pretty little parks. In a few days I plan on going to Bondi Beach on a nice day for a walk, I've been told it is beautiful. I also hope to get up to the Blue Mountains and to other Sydney sites during my time off! Hope everyone is doing well, enjoy the pictures here and on my picasa website!

The Koala Bear I got to pet!

Me petting a Kangaroo!

The Sydney Opera House Concert Hall!

This is Dani - She is interning at the same school as me!





A butterfly!

I have been taking short video clips of differently things in Sydney. Be sure to check out my picasa site and wait for them to load to watch them!!

School and the Zoo!

This past week I have been having a great time working at the school. I am learning more about each student and learning all of their names. I've learned who the trouble makers are and the tattle-tales. They all have something unique about them.

The students have been working on learning how to do bar graphs and how to collect the data to make the graphs. From the first day we worked on them until Friday they have all improved. I have also found that these year 1 and 2 students have really good handwriting. As part of the curriculum, students are required to be taught handwriting and it sure pays off. There are only a few that still struggle, but they are the younger students of the class.

The other day I was getting ready to take my class back to the classroom when I heard a kid screaming. I went over to him with another teacher and found that he had fallen down a flight of stairs and his foot was injured. He couldn't walk so I carried him into the office. It looked like he had either broken a bone or severely sprained his ankle. Hopefully he gets better soon!

On Friday the staff invited Dani (another intern) and myself to go to dinner and have drinks with them as part of the end of the term celebration. Dani and I went to the Exchange Hotel near school for an awesome dinner and night. I talked quite a bit with the Principal (Lyn Doppler) and my teacher. They are great about giving me ideas on things to do around here and the best time to do them.

Somewhere between Thursday and Saturday I started getting sick and have since lost my voice. It sounds awful, but I am glad that it is just a lost voice right now and not a cold. Everyone at school is sick and we have had 5 students out sick the entire week.

Saturday morning Kristin and Heather (who are interns as well and live where I do) went to the Taronga Zoo on the other side of the Harbor. What a great day! We saw many different animals I have never seen and went to a few shows as well. The weather was great and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. The animals at the zoo have the best view of the city. From all over the zoo you can see the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House as well as the city sky line. It was amazing and I hope to get back there one more time before I leave.

As I write this it is Sunday here and I am taking the day to rest. I am hoping to be better so that I can go in to work tomorrow!

Enjoy some of the pictures I took at the zoo of some animals! I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! This is how I spent mine...

The Giraffes have the best view in the whole zoo!

The Koalas were adorable! They had a Koala walk-a-bout, which meant you could walk 360 degrees around their enclosure.

This morning the zoo had an elephant birth. The first elephant to be born in captivity in Australia! The zoo in Melbourne is expecting a baby elephant in the next month as well. The elephant wasn't out, but they showed us a picture and he was cute!

This is a red panda. They were SO cute! I spent the longest time watching them. They looked so soft too.



This is a pygmy hippo. So cute, but they have the nastiest teeth. Their teeth are HUGE, a little longer than my hand and very sharp!

I also have a website at www.picasaweb.google.com/MeggoinAustralia where you can look at ALL of my pictures. I can't put them all up on here, it takes too long. Feel free to visit that website and see pictures and videos I have taken while on my trip. I try to update it everytime I have new pictures.