“Lagoon for Activities” (Day 12)

Today is the second last day of our Australian Study Tour. Time flies like a flash. This morning we learnt how to write a thank you letter to our host family to thank them for providing us a good homestay in the past two weeks. We got focused in our writing and everyone was creative. We all did a good job and we had lots of fun.

In the afternoon, we went to the Lagoon. As nobody wanted to play in the water, Chelsey led us to the volleyball court and the views were beautiful. Chelsey taught us to play a new ball game. It was fun to play together in the volleyball court and we had a free time afterwards. We visited the Cairns Central Shopping Centre again. I returned a T-shirt and a pair of Bermuda shorts to a shop. Then, we bought some drinks and took a rest in the food court.

At night our host family took us to a supermarket and she bought tons of Tim Tam. For today’s dinner, we had Lasagna and some noodles. They tasted good and all of us ate a lot. After the dinner, we played wii games with some teenagers from Spain and Japan. It was a happy moment!

LAGOON

PUBLIC SWIMMING AREA

SEA SIDE VIEW

VOLLEYBALL

BALL GAME

NEW BALL GAME

by Raymond, Ted and Paul from 3A

“Cooking Class” (Day 11)

We had a Hong Kong style breakfast with hot noodles and sausages this morning. We were full of beans when arriving at our school. In the morning lesson, we learnt words about cooking methods, such as stirring, cutting out and baking. With all this prior knowledge, we found it easy for us to follow the recipe in the afternoon cooking section.

We were trying to make two Australian desserts, the pavlova and giant ANZAC biscuits, which were cakes and cookies indeed. First, we bought the ingredients, plain flour, brown sugar, etc., in a supermarket. Following the steps in the recipe carefully, we worked together to make the desserts on the first floor of our school. The end products were a great success and we saw how important it was to work cooperatively!

It was also the first time that our English teacher, Chelsey, joined our poker game. We taught her how to play “killer”. Surprisingly, she managed to win in the first round! We all felt excited in the game.  

SHOPPING AT WOOLWORTHS

BUYING FRUIT

BUYING LUNCH

MISSION FINISHED

PREPARING INGREDIENTS

ENJOYING COOKING

COOPERATION

ENJOYING THE PAVLOVA

SHARING THE COOKIES

by Carlos (3B) and Lokby (4B)

“Botanic Gardens” (Day 10)

As the previous few days, we woke up early and had a good breakfast. Today, the two English classes were combined together. During the lesson, we listened to some music and were not as sleepy as we had been yesterday.

We visited the Botanic Gardens in the afternoon. Although we felt a bit bored, we saw many spectacular plants like pines, jades, vanilla and some giant trees. We took many pictures.

After spending a few hours in the Botanical Gardens, we had a rich western dinner prepared by our host father, Eugene. It was really yummy. Our host mum, Ms. Miri, took us to the Night Market, where we found different shops. We bought some souvenirs in some shops.

After shopping, we had a walk along the seashore. Some acrobats were performing a marvelous show, playing stunts with fire there. We were all attracted by the show and we stayed there for 15 minutes before going home.

CAIRNS BOTANIC GARDENS

OBSERVING THE PLANTS

WORKING ON THE PROJECT

END OF THE TRIP

BOARDWALK

by Jeffrey and Jason from 4A

“Harbour Inlet Cruise” (Day 9)

After two days of whole day excursions, we were back to the lesson again. All of us were a bit exhausted because of the Green Island trip yesterday.

Elaine, our class teacher, recognized that we were quite sleepy, so she started the lesson with a song, “You’re Gonna Miss Me”. All along the song, we had to keep a good beat with the cups.

After that, she taught us some Australian slangs. Some of them were funny. For example, the word “dunny” means toilet, “shelia” means women and “sanger” sandwiches. She also told us some information of the wetland that we were going to see in the afternoon boat trip. We leant that mangroves and saltmarsh are ecologically important habitats to link the marine and terrestrial environment.

Finally, we had a game in which we had to pass a message by whispering to our neighbours and the final person had to shout it out. We found the message shouted aloud was much different from the original one. That was fun!

REEF FLEET TERMINAL

HARBOUR CAIRNS

HARBOUR CAIRNS

A SUNNY DAY

WONDERFUL HARBOUR VIEW

After lunch, we had a “Harbour Inlet Cruise”. The sights of the harbor were gorgeous. While we were enjoying the sights of the harbor inlet, a sailor told us we would be able to see crocodiles. However, we just saw one in the whole boat trip. It was a comfortable trip, though. We were able to admire the great views of the harbour in Cairns after the tiring trip yesterday.

INSIDE THE BOAT

PLAYING CARD GAME

SUN BATHING

WE FOUND A CROCODILE

BOYS' CHILL AREA

by Arthur (4B) and Ziv (4A)

“The Green Island” (Day 8)

“Wake up boys, breakfast ready!” Romy, our homestay mum yelled. Oh my God! Waking up reluctantly, we found that it was just 6:30 in the morning. However, we had to have breakfast early or else we would be late for school and our trip.

We felt excited when getting off the car because of the Green Island trip today. The island is located within the Great Barrier Reef Marine Pave, one of the seven Natural Wonders of the World. There are over 120 native plant species on the island surrounded by coral gardens. During the 45-minute boat trip, we climbed to the upper deck to have a better view of the sea. The views of the beach close to the pier were amazing.

We first thought that we could do whatever we wanted on the island but our teachers reminded us again and again that we were not allowed to swim. We could play in the shallow water though. Buffet lunch was provided in a restaurant and it was delicious.

Finally, we left the island at 4:45 p.m. As there were too many passengers, the boat was late. We arrived at Cairns at 5:35 p.m. and we had to hurry to school to meet our host family. It was an exciting trip.

REEF FLEET TERMINAL

BEFORE BOARDING

INSIDE THE CABIN

UPPER DECK

GREEN ISLAND PIER

ARRIVING

CORAL SEA

ISLAND MAP

THE PIER

GLASS BOTTOM BOAT

ON THE BEACH

PLAYING IN THE WATER

SEA FIGHTING

by Christian (4C) and Brian (4D)

“Kuranda Rainforestation” (Day 7)

The Kuranda Rainforestation is situated in the north of Cairns near the small Kuranda Village. It took us about 45 minutes to go there from our school.

We arrived and waited at the entrance beside a pond that was full of tadpoles. Inside the Rainforestation, we saw different kinds of Australian animals such as Tasmanian Devils, koalas and wallabies. We even fed the wallabies which were not afraid of human beings. After that, we had our Army Duck Tour in the tropical rainforest. The army duck was a truck-boat like crossover that the US army used to transport their soldiers during the WWII. It was a very interesting journey.

Next, we had the Pamagirri Aboriginal Experience, which was an interactive life performance of the aboriginal Australians. They showed us the boomerangs and spears throwing, didgeridoo playing and their traditional dance.

After visiting the rainforest, we went shopping in Kuranda Village. It was actually a big market full of small stalls and restaurants. Necklaces, chain bracelets, music boxes souvenirs and post cards were sold in the stalls but they were quite expensive.

FEEDING A KANGAROO

FEEDING KANGAROOS

ARMY DUCK

SPEAR THROWING

AN AMATEUR

BOOMERANG THROWING

DIDGERIDOO PLAYING

TRADITIONAL DANCE

by Sharon (3A) and Sally (4A)