The long goodbye

On Friday we all said goodbye to our host families, packed our now heavy bags and made our way to Melbourne. Jenna had one final PD day with a major digital signage company in Melbourne while the rest of us took a more relaxing drive to the city with Charlie. We all met up for lunch and then set off on foot to find the Victoria Market. We had a good look around and most of the group managed to inject some more money into the Aussie economy. Then we walked back through the city to Flinders and King street so we could all experience the Melbourne Aquarium which was amazing. Around 5:30 we caught a tram to Latrobte Steet and walked to Lygon street to look for a place to have dinner.

Lygon street has over 100 restaurants on it so we took our time selecting the right restaurant for our "last supper" together as a team. Eventually we selected Santinos and enjoyed an excellant Italian meal and wine with Charlie and Jan who were such an important part of our few days in Tralraglon. Around 10pm we drove to our accomodation which was the Holiday Inn at the airport as the girls had an 8am flight the next morning.

We had a wonderful final night together which included a Tim Tam tasting competition, several rounds of our "Music Trivia contest" and all getting an Aussie Tattoo!

5:30am came around much too soon and we all met up and took the shuttle to the airport and got the girls checked in and eventually to the gate for the flight to Sydney for Carolyn and Toronto for Shelley and Jenna.

Several of our good Australian friends showed up at the departure gate to see our GSE trip officially end (and perhaps ensure "The golden girls" got on the plane!) including Rotarians David and Tony.

The flight was called and the three girls got on the plane and began the final leg of their amazing adventure.

Diverse Activities

We wrapped up our week in Traralgon with vocational visits and a dinner with the Mirboo North Rotary Club at the Grand Ridge Brewery. This is an active club of about 14 members. They have been very busy with bush fire recovery.
At Morwell Park Primary school I participated in the English as a Second Language program for Sudanese students. I also learnt a great deal from Robyn Cox. She works with aboriginal students and is a curriculum leader.
Jenna was able to meet with the folks at Image Direct to discuss marketing and media technology.



Dolf ended his Victoria parks tour with Tara Bulga National Park. There they put him to work and leaches drew blood!
Shelley accompanied students from the La Trobe Special Developmental School on a field trip to the mall’s food court. She was also exposed to different approaches to occupational therapy at Noah’s Ark Inc in Morwell.

We have had an amazing journey!
A big thank you goes out to everyone involved in this exchange. It has been tremendous.





































Throughout our trip people have shared their experiences with Black Saturday and the terrible bush fires. This week we actually went with a Rotarian and his wife to the burnt remains of their home. Everyone was moved by this couple’s desire to rebuild and move forward.

























We visited Loy Yang Power’s brown coal mining facilities. It has been operating for over 25 years and expects to mine the brown coal for many more years. Shelley and Jenna enjoyed trading their thongs for communal safety boots for this visit.





















Pru, a former GSE team member to Kansas, gave us a tour of Gippsland Aeronautics, which manufactures Air Van airplanes worldwide. The planes are used to transporting goods into remotes areas.










While the team had a visit to Monash University and the educational precinct, Carolyn had an opportunity to visit the Gippsland Multicultural Services Centre in Morwell. This is the only rural multicultural centre in Australia and it is in very capable hands. Lisa, the director of the centre, was inspiring and had a refreshingly realistic perspective on immigration issues in this area.

Our District Farewell Dinner was well attended and it was fantastic to see our friends and hosts again. Many people traveled considerable distances to join us for this farewell dinner. We presented our last Canadian presentation and shared our Australian reflections. It was moving to hear how the trip has affected each team member. We have certainly gelled as a group and although we said good-bye to many friends last night, we are grateful that we still have a few more days together here in Australia.

Wednesday we toured Walhalla and took a vintage train that is run by volunteers. Here we also toured a gold mine that opened in 1865. We joined a Grade 9 communication technology class for this gold mine tour and enjoyed their interesting questions.

Traralgon

Monday morning we attended a civic reception at the Latrobe City offices. Dolf responded eloquently to the mayor's welcoming speech. My host, Chris, squeezed a visit to the Immigration Park for me on our way over to the Gippsland Rotary Centenary House.

This house is conveniently located behind the hospital, so that families have a comfortable place to stay while their loved ones receive cancer treatment. This rotary project is A+!

Alive and Well.... just too busy to update this blog:)

Okay, so our blog followers have been suggesting that I have been slacking off this week. We've been jumping in and out of Rotarian automobiles day and night since we left Orbust. We're still having an amazing experience here in Victoria and I'm squeezing in a blog update before heading out for a bbq.

We did venture across the state line last weekend for the District Conference in Albury, New South Wales. The speakers were outstanding and the evening entertainment won't soon be forgotten. Sunday morning the Aussie GSE team presented their Canadian reflections and we gave our "short" presentation. Chris presented the cheque from our district to the Victorian Fire Relief Fund.

We jumped back into cars for the 6 hour road trip to the Traralgon.

Crossing the Great Divide

Carolyn was given a fantastic opportunity to be taken up in a 2 seater plane, here are some shots from the plane. She got to fly the plane as well!!
















Shelley was taught by her host family to throw a Boomerang and yes it does come back!!


We traveled to Albury for the District Conference. A 5 hour car ride up and over the Great Dividing Range. Here are some pictures from the drive.

Vocational Day

We all have had vocational day experiences in and around the Bairnsdale area. With Jenna visiting a local newspaper (East Gippsland Newspaper), Chris at a local radio station (REGFM), Carolyn spending the day at Nagle College visiting with the Director of Educational Services and Dolf having a field day with a manager of Parks Victoria.

I (Shelley) was lucky enough to spend the morning at the Bairnsdale Regional Health Services hospital with a few different Occupational Therapists. Both Lorelle and Jane provided me with lots of information about the occupational therapy department and services and how they facilitate a patients return to home.

My afternoon was spent on a tour of the East Gippsland Specialist School. Coming from Canada where there is an integrated approach for students with disabilities I have found it very interesting to learn about Victoria's Specialist and Special Developmental Schools. These are schools where students with certain disabilities are able to attend and receive an alternative schooling and education with their peers.

Cape Conran Coastal Park and the Curlip

After a morning of touring Orbost the group headed to the Cape Conran Coastal Park. Once again we had fantastic weather and experienced beautiful beaches.

We were able to enjoy a walk on the beach and coastal board walk. We had a bbq in the park and then headed off to Marlo.

It was a great day for an icecream at the local convenience store owned by Rotarian Brian Shelley. Thank you for the icecream!!

We then enjoyed a ride on the steamer "Curlip." The P. S. Curlip was rebuilt by the community and only recently opened for tours in December 2008. We took a tour down the Snowy and Brodribb rivers right to its entrance to the ocean. We had great views of the local peligans and other animals.

We attended a joint Rotary meeting of all the surrounding Rotary Clubs. The flowers and food were excellent. It was a bittersweet meeting having to say goodbye to our Orbost host families but hello to our Mitchell River host families.