It NEVER Rains in Central Australia!

Famous last words, eh? Well, "Plan B" turned out to be a WAY better plan! Plan "A" was to drive into Bush Camp and sleep out under the stars in Swags. However, it rained! Did I say rain?! I don't know if that's a strong enough word! It rained hard enough for all of the main roads to be closed! The police stopped us on the road and would not let us pass. Plan B was to hire a 4-wheel bus to pick us up and drive us out into the bush!

Whoo hoo! We had SO much fun! We fish-tailed down the road with a bunch of adventurous students joyfully screaming and giggling in the cab! Jannita hopped in the front and took pictures! The puddles we went over sprayed up and over our bus as we drove on! When we got to bush camp, the windows were covered in red mud, and globs of it were caked all over the side of the bus!

Once at camp, the kids made "damper"- a bread made out of flour and water. We had it for dinner, and "Oh boy!" ... It was delicious! Who knew?!

We tried our best to warm ourselves by the fire, but it was very cold. The kids got to practice whip cracking with Bill Hayes, the owner of the land! He was amazing! Then we headed up to camp to learn how to make up our swags. Ken asked if the sheets were 1000 thread count. Sally told him that there were about 1000 threads in the sheet! (I don't think that's what he meant!) It was pretty funny watching a bunch of city kids learn how to make a swag! I was right there with them, wondering if we'd survive the night in the rain!

After our campfire, we got snuggled into our swags. Now, I have to apologize to everyone I've ever said that I didn't like camping because we were actually comfortable and cozy! Now, after this post, of course I'll deny ever saying that! :)
But I think it was the best night's sleep we got so far! The air was very cold, but it was surprisingly warm in the swag.

My students Tweeted that I actually camped and my daughter, at home in the States, thought that I may had hit my head or something. Nope, I didn't hit my head! It was just a very pleasant surprise! (And just so you know, I'd be HAPPY to camp... in Central Australia... in a swag again! ... but only under those conditions!)

Here's to more surprises!
Mrs. McGuire

On The Road To The Fly

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As our student adventure continues and we become more acclimated to the time, climate, food, and Australian slang terms (this is the best part) our experiences are having more of an impact. On our second day here we had the privilege of taking a drive on one of the top drives in the world. We were heading to the Otway Ranges and we went along the Southern Australian coast to get there. The road we took is known as The Great Ocean Road.

This road was built by Australians after WWI and during a time of economic depression provided many with desperately needed jobs. The took about 15 to construct and was built using dynamite, pick axes, and shovels. The road takes you along the southern coast of Australia and is quite windy in many sections. We were provided with lots of historical information about this area and the road itself by our travel manager Amanda. In many sections of the road we were told that there have been fires during periods of drought that have destroyed the landscape, including the great bush fire of 1983 (Also called Ash Wednesday). We were also treated with many spectacular panoramic views of the varying coastline. One of my favorite views is capture in the picture below

Upon our arrival to Otway the first order of business, besides lunch, was for the students to learn about the types of trees that are in the area. The best part was the students all were going to plant two different trees. The two types of trees they planted were Mountain Ash and Myrtle Beech. We had a fantastic guide during our time at Otway, his name is Peter. He shared a many great things about rain forests, climate change, the cyclical environment of the rain forest, and the impact rain forests have on our environment. One of our students, Sophie Bridges, had the opportunity to conduct a brief interview of Peter which is below.

The most important theme for the day was the emphasis of the interrelated nature of all the things in the forest. So for example: tree leaves drop water to the ground in areas that its' roots can get the water, water helps the trees grow (in addition to photosynthesis), the leaves also hold enough moisture that evaporates into the atmosphere that condenses and turns to rain, which in turn drops down to the leaves, and the cycle begins again. This is but one example of not only why trees are vital to a rain forest, but also how interrelated things are in the rain forest.

Can you think of other ways in which the rain forest is beneficial and vital to our environment?