Rock Chalk Jayhawk in Australia

One thing that you can say is that Rotarians have good taste

Going Home

2 out of the 5 team members are now officially on US soil despite Sarah's little adventure with duty free and the TSA. One final shot before we left Adelaide and it was such a nice treat to be sent off from many of our new friends.

Thanks 9500

For those who missed it, here is our final presentation video from the farewell dinner.

Meet Map the Miner

Another in the series of big things in Australia, Map the Miner is a tribute to the Cornish Miner heritage of Kapunda. The is version 2.0 of Map since the first one was burnt down in an teenager's attempt to create an artistic photograph of a ring of fire around dear old Map.

Pictured below are my Salisbury hosts Graham and Mary who have been fantastic. They spent 3 years in STL during the 80s.

I am going to pass on #13

From the....

Big Rocking Horse

Australia is littered with Big Stuff. I am guessing it is the equivalent of Kansas' largest ball of twine or the giant groundhog that is on the way to Colorado that my parents would never stop at. We had the pleasure of visiting the big rocking horse. For $2 AUS, you could climb to the top and also receive a certificate of completion.



Map the Miner is next on the itinerary.

Big in Salisbury

With the honorable Mayor Gillian Aldridge of Salisbury, SA.

Dear Andrea 911Woman Overboard!

Or 000 if you are in Australia.



Dear Andrea, we lost Sarah to the sea. Please remit one alternate ASAP.




Retract that, she just fell in the pool.



Thanks to Mark for making this very special moment happen.

What a Beautiful Country

More Pics

AUS Wildlife

Check out more animal pics.

Postcards to Andrea - Going Rogue

Dear Andrea:

Who knew base-jumping off of the Adelaide Entertainment Centre could be so fulfilling. Despite my host dad’s (pictured behind me) objections, I managed to get over the ledge before the cops arrived.

Success! Another thing off my bucket list…

Cricket

I could not have said it any better. Check out Ryan's post.

Colleges, Uni's, Oh My!

When I first got here, I was totally confusing my host parents when I used the terms college and university interchangeably. In the states, college and universities are often used to refer to anything post high school (grade 12). One of my favorite host mom's comments is all she thought was colleges are where people go to play sports. I have now been enlightened.

Universities are called uni's in Australia so I apologize to all of my colleagues if I start using this term upon my return.

Colleges/unis in Australia are based on the traditional Oxford/Cambridge model. Universities are were students pursue their major course of study which is often decided based on their performance in grade 12. Australian universities traditionally don't have the robust amount of student support services that you find in American higher education. The concept of on-campus housing, activity centers is new to Australia and they are slowing starting to build the services.

That is where colleges come into play. Colleges were formed in South Austrlalia predominately by church organizations to fill the void especially with rural students who were in the city for the first time. They do more than just provide accomodations. They also serve as academic counselors, support system, intercollegiate athletics, etc. By enrolling at college also, the student also consents access to all of their educational records at the uni for advising purposes.

Confused yet, so when a student goes to uni, they might also go to college. They are a student at both places and the colleges do provide some educational programs not related to their academic major. Enrollment at both an university and college would constitute what I think of as the freshman experience in the states.

Austrlian colleges are part residential life, part-fraternity/sorority, part-student activities, part-counseling, and very competitive part-intramural athletics since they offer scholarships.

Postcards to Andrea – Pier Diving

Dear Andrea,

Today, somebody told me to make a leap of faith. So, I did. The problem is that they didn’t tell me to do it at high tide.

Please send money and well-wishes to the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

Thank you.

Westlakes

Thanks Rob and Sue for being such great hosts!

R.I.P.

The bush is a dangerous place. All you got to do is ask some of my favorite pairs of jeans. If you know me well, you know that I don't part well with a good pair of jeans. People pay good money for the wear that 4-5 years of good service a pair of jeans can provide. Somewhere around the Goyder's Line, one of my favorite pairs was assaulted by some barb wire.



Then, my other pair that has been previously masterfully patched at the knees were harmed at a bonfire where the glue on the patch melted from the inferno. Another issue of concern is that hole in my back packet. Sarah is convinced I am going to lose my wallet or my passport.



The silver lining to the story is like the Phoenix, one of my pairs has risen from the ashes all due to one of our great hosts, Karen from Peterborough. Karen agreed to mend my jeans. I now have a memento that I can guarantee that you will not find in any gift shop. Now you can't put a price on that.

Strangely enough, I haven't seen a Fosters yet

It is like looking for a Corona in Mexico.

Goodbye Clare

Thanks for a great 3 days!

Wine Country

Winemaker Brother John from Sevenhill Winery.

If you are coming to Australia, you need to put the Barossa and Clare Valley on your list. The country is beautiful, the towns are charming, and the wine is tasty.

More Pics

We are famous!

From the Argus Times...

Expect delays and alternate routes are suggested

Police Blotter

From the Peterborough Wires.

The beloved Bob the Dog was subjected to a vicious attack over the weekend. With little leads to work from, the local police ask anyone with information to contact the TIPS hotline.

Middle of Nowhere

Postcards to Andrea-Volunteer Firefighting

While in Peterborough, we were able and ready to be called out for the nearest bush fire. No worries, it is our understanding that the repatriation of remains would still be covered.

Vegemite by any name is still vegemite

Which means that I still find it gross. Sorry, my Aussie friends....

Postcards to Andrea V3

Dear Andrea, everything is great. By the way, we had a great time cliff diving the Murray River.

Cheers,
Your GSE Team

Peterborough!

Postcard to Andrea V2

Dear Andrea, we were so excited to see helicopter rides when we arrived in the Barossa. The extra bonus was that they would allow us to bungee from it for an extra ten bucks!

Regards,

Your GSE Team

Barossa Valley

AKA Wine Country. This was my backyard view for a couple of days.



Rosemary and Robert were great hosts!

Barossa Valley

For the last few days we have had the privilege of staying with several families in the beautiful Barossa Valley where we learned all about agriculture, which just happens to be grape growing! The five of us learned all about wine tasting what we liked and what we didn't like. While we were in the Barossa we went cliff diving, rock climbing, bungee jumping and Pam, being our fearless leader showed us how to live on the edge. This brings me to a new part in our blog entitled "Letters to Andrea"

Dear Andrea,

Today Traci chased lizards out in the

Bush. Whilst she was successful in catching the lizard, she was not as successful in keeping all of her appendages. We will need help in acquiring funding to reattach Traci's finger. Thank goodness we have repatriation of remains insurance!

Sarah

This is Traci holding Bluey, the Blue Tongued Lizard before she lost a finger!

Aussies know how to do bacon!

Leaving Gawler

Today is our last day in Gawler and we are moving on to the Barossa Valley. It has been a great time and all of our hosts have been great. My hosts, Jacqui and Tony have been the best and they are very proud of all their grandchildren. Here is a pic of one of their grandchildren enjoying ice cream at the music festival beach side.

Footie Match

We saw a great grand finals match of the Southern Australian Football League. The SANFL would be considered a second division league. We supported the right side (Central Bulldogs) and I think it was due to my new scarf. Another very interesting side note, the premier league's grand final was the weekend before we arrived. The game ended in a draw and based on the rules, the game was re-played in its entirety this Sunday. Think if you had to play the Super Bowl twice. This was the third time in the history of the game that this happened and the rules will likely now change.

More Footie Pics

More Gold Mining

Check out some pics of the gold panning at Ryan's blog.

Eureka! Gold Mining

Part of day 2 in Gawler was spent visiting a historical mining site that also now serves as a hiking trail. The trail takes you past many of the abandoned mine shafts and due to the time of the year, we were also able to see many of the wildflowers.

More pics from the tour

Whispering Wall-Gawler Day 2

Similar to Kansas, there are several reservoirs that are used for water supplies. The Barossa Reservoir was built in 1902 by an American. It's claim to fame is that of a whispering wall. The acoustics were built by accident that you could sit on opposite ends of the wall and communicate with each other.