MBD’s class took a trip to Canberra and went to the Australian War Memorial to get a better understanding of what happened during war time. They visited Parliament House, where they split into groups and visited the House of Representatives and the Senate to learn about how parliament is run. Parliament was sitting and we got to hear members making speeches.

On the second day of our excursion they went to the snow and had lots of fun at Perisher Valley. They made snowballs, snowmen and igloos, and some of those Aussie kids were seeing snow for the first time.  (Never been to Pennsylvania!)

On the last day they went to Old Parliament House and learned about past Prime Ministers. They even got to sit in the seats of the old Senate!  They finished by visiting Questacon where they participated in many hands-on science activities.

The trip was partially funded by the Australian Government under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program.  Now MBD can say that in the span of only 2 years she has visited both the USA and Australian capitol cities.

Here is a photo from MBD taken at the Hall of Remembrance that honored Australia’s war dead.  She’s not into photography but was pretty pleased with this shot.  It was so well composed that I didn’t need to do any editing of the shot at all–just great the way she originally captured it.

Dad, what causes those horrible cold sores on your lips?

Well, while I was recovering from the flu, my resistance was down and the herpes simplex virus made them.

But isn’t  herpes an STD?

Well, yes herpes can be an STD.

So you have an STD, dad?

No, or course not!

But you just said that herpes was an STD.

Yeah, but this is a different type of herpes.

So do I have it?

Well, the herpes simplex virus is in everyone; it lies dormant and pops up when you get sick or really tired.  << NOTE:  Here is where I should have shut up! >>> Anyway, it’s not an STD and clearly isn’t as bad as the other types of STDs.

For instance?

Well, Syphilis is a nasty STD.  Did you know that Al Capone died from it in prison?

Huh?  What happens with that STD?

If you don’t treat it with drugs, your nose and lips will rot and fall off your face.

OH MY GOD!!!!  Will that happen to me?

Of course not!  You haven’t been sexually active, have you?

OF COURSE NOT!

Then you have nothing to worry about.

<<< I reckon that ought to keep her away from the boys for at least 9 months.  My score for this conversation: C-  Better luck next time, Dad! >>>

Matilda AKA “Tilly” and MBD enjoy a chocolate souffle at Max Brennan’s chocolate shoppe at the Manly Wharf.  Very windy, rainy, and chilly this weekend but Tilly and Lili have been lobbying hard for me to take the girls to this popular chain that is all over Australia.  That’ll take the chill away, if only for a moment!

Still on the subject of archery, these big targets are used for the beginners.  They are made of dense, fibrous, paper-like material and you have to roll (not carry) the things from the clubhouse onto the field.  I’ve been involved in helping them do this, even though I’m technically not a member.  Heck, last Saturday these two left on time to go watch Victoria play netball and I wound up bringing several of these things back into the building!  Just a really interesting sport for MBD to be dabbling with.

Big night last night! MBD and her friend Lily were at the Sydney Town Hall building as part of a large choral and band performance. She went down with a group of fellow classmates that were representing Manly West school. Here they are outside the building after rehearsal but prior to the concert.

And what could be more fun than snacking on cupcakes in the Queen Victoria Building?

Can you spot MBD? In the balcony, front row! Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Cleaning up the grounds at Manly West beautification day on Saturday.  Notice the “bottle brushes” in the tree behind me?  My comment to MBD:  Hey, I thought I sold my house so I wouldn’t have to do this any more!

Lily, Victoria, Tilly, and MBD.  On the archery range Saturday morning.

Reuniting with Emma in Pennsylvania, July 2012.

After a few hours of archery, what more fun can you have than hanging out on the pedestrian mall in downtown Manly?  This is MBD and her good friend Lily chatting about things. The picture is grainy due to the iPhone camera, not due to weather.  But it kind of looks like a foggy day and a bit romantic so I thought I’d keep it rather than discard it.  Surf was high today (see the header picture posted above on 22-June) and even though it’s cold outside there were lots of people in wet suits enjoying the waves.  The four of us enjoyed fish and chips (indoors, not outside today!)  We are getting over our colds and feeling better after a rough week back!

We made it back to Sydney! 9,625 miles by my calculations and about 26 hours of travel time from Knoxville. This trip was better than the one to the States. There were some empty seats so MBW moved across the aisle and we could spread out. MBD lay across 2 seats and slept for almost 12 of the 15 hours of the flight from Dallas to Brisbane.
What a crazy 2 weeks it has been! I am bracing for my Aussie colleagues to ask if I enjoyed my “time off”! Yeah, right! But in retrospect we did accomplish a lot during this trip. Sold the house, saw all 3 dogs, saw my parents & sister, and re-connected with many of our Knoxville friends. I think the swim team would like MBW to stick around to help with the computer scoring. (What will GKAISA do without her manning the laptop at the big City Meet in the next few weeks?). We’re just conflicted here: The Australian adventure is undeniably wonderful but we also loved being back in Tennessee in Whittington Creek. Two paths, but only one set of lives to live!
Well, back to our Aussie path for now.