Milawa Gourmet Region & Healesville Sanctuary

We left Albury and travelled to the Milawa Gourmet region famous for its wine and cheese. We stopped at Famous Brown Brothers Winery for Cappuchino and Chocolate muffins, and had a fabulous wine tour! This is definitely the Fulbright Culinary trip! We passed through the Great Divide region - and we are now in the State of Victoria. Our lengthy bus trip took us through beautiful mountains and cow/ sheep herding land. We stopped at Healesville Santuary where they have an interactive zoo and an animal hospital. They actually perform surgery and autopsies here - and it's open to the public. It has a total environmental educational slant, and we were able to pet kangaroos and wallabies. They were so cute and cuddly! We saw a bunch of Joeys in their mom's pouches. I saw a dingo - without a baby!! We then finished up in Melbourne - which is by far the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It has a beautiful Victorian and modern architecture blend over looking the river. Our Novotel is in the "France" section because of all the posh shops around us. Tiffany's is across the street from us. We are able to walk to everything because we are so centrally located. Today we went to the "Ceres Community Environment Park" for a tour and lecture. They are a community based park that is self sustaining, and we had lunch with all their home grown products. (Still a Culinary theme!.
We then went to the State Curriculum Board where we were able to purchase textbooks for our curriculum projects. We wound up over at the Victoria Market place with hundreds of food and retail stalls. Interesting inexpensive stuff! Tonight we are going to a Fulbright alumni dinner near our Hotel in China Town - and our 93 year old restaurant owner/cook was Mao's cook at one time.
Blog me back - make sure you check out the other 2 blogs I wrote about in my earlier blog. They are the blog experts with great pictures. Talk straine later to ya - Fair dinkum?? G'day!

Burrumbuttock School and Xavier School

This morning we visited the Burrumbuttock Primary School associated with the Wirraminna Environmental Education Center. This school is run by a Mr. Owen Dunlap who acts as Principal and teacher. There are 33 students in this "One Room Schoolhouse" type set-up from grades k through 6. The school is an environmentally based curriculum and has hectares of land to incorporate in their program. Saw a really scary looking spider web - but it's winter here at the moment so she was hibernating! It has been a crisp - cool 50 degrees here in southern Australia!
Xavier High School was our next stop. We had a very lengthy tour and visit to this large grade 7 through grade 12 Catholic School complex. I was walking by a year 7 science student in the Library and noticed he was working on researching the Hudson River and Pete Seeger songs dealing with water pollution! Staff members spent a lot of time talking about Australian Curriculum, and treated us to a wonderful lunch. Tonight we are all broken up into groups to go out to Dinner with Rotary Club members. Lynn, Patricia and I are going to the Rotary Club president's home for a homemade Curry meal. Things were hopping in town last night with the World Cup Football match between Italy and Australia. It started at 1:00 A.M. and two of our group went to the local pub to watch it with Aussie locals. (not me - but I did catch it on TV!)
Big disappointment here when Australia got a penalty during the last 5 minutes and Italy scored to win 1 to 0. Tomorrow we are off to wine country for a Winery Tour. G'Day mate!
Make sure you also check out these two blogs of our trip - Margo and Mark have laptops with them and there are some great pictures included. (some of me!)
ozspotting.blogspot.com
mheiden.blogspot.com

Charles Sturt University and Wodonga

Today we went to Charles Sturt University and had a presentation by Nick Klump, the Head of Environmental Science and Technology. The entire campus is made from recycled products, and environmentally run. It gave us a good overview of how Australia is developing environmental programs. Then we went to a presentation given by an Aboriginal Educator named Brendon Kennedy, at The Gateway Educational Center, Wodonga, in the State of Victoria over the famous Murray River. He gave us a very detailed overview of how the Aboriginal tribes lived, and made their tools. We also practiced throwing spears and making tools from rocks. We then finished up with a famous art exhibit from Eddie Kneebone - who painted a series of 33 canvases depicting the Aboriginal plight with the early settlers. Off to an Asian noodle shop for dinner.

Albury and Holbrook Land Care Company

We took a long ride down to Albury and stopped at a sheep-shearing town along the way. We stopped at a travelers spot called "Dog on The Tuckerbox". This place has a famous poem written about a Sheep-shearing farmer's escapades, and how his dog ended up on his Tuckerbox (lunch box). We traveled to Albury via a bus most of the day and had an evening dinner and reception with a state Senator, and the Mayor and Mayoress of Albury. Our hotel is located in the middle of this beautiful vintage town, located near a botanical gardens. We spent Sunday morning at a sheep farm with a bird banding demonstration by the Holbrook Land Care Management Company. They have a tree replanting scheme and keep track and protect the birds and wildlife. It is winter here so the weather is a cool and mild 54 degrees. Very comfortable! Please feel free to blog me back with comments or questions! G'Day!

Tea at the U.S. Embassy

Friday afternoon we had tea at the U.S. Embassy in Canberra and drove down Embassy row. The Embassies are designed to reflect each individual country's architecture - Each embassy was more beautiful than the next. The U.S. Embassy complex was designed to recreate the architecture of Williamsburgh, VA. We were heavily screened before entering - no cameras what-so-ever. We walked up the complex and passed trees planted by Eleanor Roosevelt, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, etc. We had Tea and hor deurves with William A. Stanton, the Charge d'Affaires, who will be leaving his post to serve in Soeul, Korea in two weeks time. We had a professional photographer available to us who took pictures to send to us later. That evening we went to a Scottish Caedleigh music and dance festival at the Australian Polish Club! Great music and food!

Birrigai Outdoor Learning Center

Yesterday I was able to visit the Australian War Memorial. Australia is the only country that has been in every world war along side the US. I went extensively through the WW11 exhibit - it was fabulous. It takes a whole day to go through. We have seen everything in Canberra - it's like visiting all the sites in Washington DC in three days! We went to the Birrigai (Aboriginal name for "laughter") learning center, and walked amongst the wild kangaroos. We saw a baby Joey crawl into his mom's pouch! This area is noted for it's diamond back pythons - thankfully they were hibernating today! This area was devastated by bush fires three years ago - and many of the educational buildings were destroyed. You can see all the new regrowth - especially with the eucalyptus and tea tree oil trees. There was kangaroo poop all over the hills - had to watch where you walked! We are going to the American Embassy to see the Ambassador this afternoon for a Reception. I have really become interested in the Aboriginal art from the presentations we saw at the museums - What a magical society and art form! Haven't seen any redback spiders today - G'day mates! No Worries!

Canberra, Australia's Capital

We have renamed our Fulbright Seminar the "Australian Culinary Tour"! We have had the best dinners and food provided by the Fulbright Association. The food here is spectacular! We had an extensive tour of Parliament yesterday and witnessed a session in progress, with a lecture by a member of Parliament. We then went for lunch at the Royal Botanical Gardens, and saw a wild kangaroo lost in the rainforst section. Next we went to the National museum and had a private tour of all of the exhibits. We saw captain Cooks artifacts, and many aboriginal displays. The more I study over here the more I want to learn about the Aboriginal Society. It is fascinating! The Australian Fulbright Society put on a fabulous reception for us and gave us all Fulbright fleece jacket vests, coffee mugs and a stipend for our expenses (meals out, entrance fees, taxi rides, etc.) They are also going to reimburse us for texts and supplies we order when our project is complete. The winning project wins a huge stipend. I have been able to purchase great books and posters at the National Trust shops. Our guide Ted will be with us the entire trip, and he is terrific! He really helps us plan our activities and develop our projects. Today we went to the National Gallery and had a private tour and lecture on Australian artists and Aboriginal Art. We are now doing research at the National Library and are going to the National War Memorial next. We have the evening free and we are going to have more culinary investigations! Please Blog back! I would love to hear from you! If you want to see a great Blog from Marc in our group - check out his blog at: www.mheiden.blogspot.com Also I cannot access my road runner account at all - so if you want to e-mail me please do it through mohawkdj@aol.com. Cheers Mate!

Sydney Harbour

The last night in Hawaii was spent at a posh dinner overlooking Hilo bay on the lanai (veranda - at the Sugar plantation mansion "The Shipman House". The great granddaughter now owns it as a Bed and Breakfast. We had an exciting trip to Sydney from Honolulu. One of the 5 pilots got food poisoning and we had to land on the French owned island of New Caladonia. We were very delayed because the French workers close down for two hours in the afternoon and the airline crew couldn't replenish the food and drink supplies. We got in late and had a busy day Monday going to a Bobbin Head National Park, and had a conference tour of the Gibberagong Educational site. We went to the Tarango Zoo, and had lunch overlooking Sydney Harbour and the Opera House. We had a private back stage tour and presentation at the zoo and saw all the Aussie animals up close. I even held a live deadly black funnel web spider (In a Plexiglas box!!!) Boy they are big and ugly! We saw wombats - wallabies - platypus - roos - and the most beautiful birds ever. Go figure - The white Cockatoo is not well liked here! They are a predator to other birds and are affecting other bird populations! Then at night we went to a lifesaving surf demonstration at the Manly Lifesaving Club. They put on a wonderful Aussie BBQ for us.
We then took the ferry across the Harbour past the Opera House all lit up at night. Today we went by bus to Canberra, The capital of Australia. We are 14 hours ahead of you here!
Thursday our time I will get the computer - G'Day Mate!

Hilo, Hawaii

We are now in Hilo Hawaii - big island and we are staying at the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel overlooking the ocean. Yesterday we went to the Imiloa Astronomy Center Planetarium and had a Traditional religious Ho'okupu Welcome chant. Dinner was in the historic Hilo district where the big Tsunami hit in the eighties. Today we went to Akaka Falls and rainforest. It rained all through our trek! Then we went to Volcanoes National Park and saw the Kilauea volcano crater. No eruptions - just steam! Our guide Claudia gave us a history and marine biologist slant to the Hawaiian Culture. Tonight we go to the Shipman House and meet a famous sugar plantation owner's granddaughter for a private tour and dinner at her estate. We fly to Sydney tomorrow - 11 hour flight! I will try to Blog again in Sydney - Aloha!

Los Angeles Stopover

Greetings! I made it to L.A., but not without delays. The lavoratory was malfunctioning in Philadelphia, so our flight left late. An hour into our flight, I heard the pilot say "Is there a doctor in the house?" First time I have heard that. Some elderly gentleman was having heart problems - but he seemed OK. The medics came to take him to the hospital when we arrived in LA. I then took a shuttle bus to the Raddison LA Airport, and enjoyed the ambiance of L.A. You can feel the energy! Largest airport I have ever seen. The T.V. morning shows are even different! It's like watching the Today Show with rap music! The sun is shining brightly this morning, and I am off to the airport to fly to Hawaii soon. Cheers for now - for those students checking my Blog - STUDY FOR YOUR REGENTS!!!!!!!! I expect you all to pass! Love - DLP

This Blog is designed to keep my friends and family updated on my Fulbright-Hays Australian Seminar Abroad from June 13th to July 15th 2006.The Australian study abroad program will begin with an orientation in Hilo ( Hawaii), and proceed to Sydney, Canberra, Albury, Melbourne, Marnambool, Ballarat, Uluru (Ayers Rock), Alice Springs, Kakadu National Park, Darwin, Great Barrier Reef, and Cairns. I will be visiting museums, schools, universities, historical sites, National Parks, and the Sydney Opera House. Part of the study will include studying the Aboriginal culture, and visiting with an Australian family.The Fulbright-Hays Seminar Abroad Program is sponsored by the Australian-American Fulbright Commission and the United States Department of Education.

Visit my school website at http://www.brittonkill.k12.ny.us/langleyweb/Australia.htm
to check out my itinerary and other Australian and Fulbright-Hays facts!