south east australia newsletter.pdf

7/30/2019 south east australia newsletter.pdf

1/6

Garrett Kearns

October/November 2012 Australia

The original pen for Wilbur from th

movie set in Charlottes Web was at th

farm we stayed at.

About to have surgery on my elbow after Idislocated it falling out of a coconut tree in Fiji.

Parrots on my head at a little town

called Apollo Bay. (Is this what they

mean by parrot head)

Ellory trying on hats for the Melbourn

cup.We saw many Kolas including this

baby Koala hanging on its mothers

back at the Otway Light Station.


2/6

Ourfirst week in Australia was in Melbourne. We had an

unexpected twist when I found out I had to have surgery for

my dislocated elbow, we stayed in Melbourne a week longer

than we had intended.. This turned out great because we took

hold of some great city exploring. We stayed in a suburb of the city called South Yarra,which was a very comfortable neighborhood. South Yarra has

the Royal Botanical Garden in it and we spent an afternoon

walking around in quite a state of amazement. There weremany new species of birds and plants that we had never seen

before. It felt really weird because we realized it was Spring in

October, there were many familiar Spring blooming plants and

flowers and it took a while to get used to the fact we were going

to miss Fall this year. We ventured into the Central District of downtownMelbourne almost every day and did some great exploring,

like going to the Aboriginal Cultural Center, the Aquarium,

walking along the Yarra River, going to Federation Square,

and just wandering around. When we arrived we very soon

realized it was extremely crowded, upon asking we found out

there was a major horse racing event going on.

An interesting part of getting around the city wasriding on the trams.The trams are like cable cars , on tracks in

the middle of the streets. Melbourne is also known as the tram

city, it has over one hundred trams taking people from their

offices to their houses or to restaurants or ball games or

anywhere you need to go. The trams are like cable cars and go

all over the city including all the suburbs. I felt like it was a

great form of pubic transportation, and lots of fun. The Yarra River runs straight through the center ofthe city. It holds large water events such as rowing and

outrigger races, yet it also beckons other, more subtile sports

such as fishing and kayaking. The restaurant district is located

on the waterfront so no matter where you go, whether it be a

cafeteria or a fine dining restaurant, you will have amazing

views of the river.

Even though Melbourne was a big city, when ourtime there had ended I felt like the city was really easy to get

around in and that I felt comfortable and familiar with. The

city is very friendly, beautiful and full of life.


3/6

Itwas really cool that we were

in Melbourne for the horse racing

season. The Melbourne Cup is one

of the most impor tant andprestigious horse races in the

world, comparing to the Kentucky

Derby. in was founded in 1861. I

was amazed that thousands of

people from around the world come

to watch the race and pay hundreds

of dollars to see it and it only lasts

about three minutes. The amount

of gambling the Aussies do during

the race season is tremendous. On

Melbourne Cup day it almost

seems that normal life stops. Everytown and village has a huge party

going on where the people are all

totally mesmerized by the lead up

to the race. At the race grounds,

horses parade for the crowds who

are dressed in their finest clothes,

especially fascinating are their

unique and funky hats.

We were driving North up theWestern Coast and stopped in a

little wind blown fishing town and

went in a pub. The people were all

dressed up in party mode with

noisemakers, watching the pre race

show on a stupendous big screen

with surround sound, it made you

feel like you were really there. The

people were really nice to us and

asked us if we wanted to bet, we all

got to place a little bet and it madethe race really exciting.The race

began and everyone in the room

started cheering, the horses

seemed really clumped together

and I was amazed the jockeys

could even stay on going full speed

and standing up, in the end the

horse I bet on, Jackleberry, placed

third out of twenty four horses.

After watching the race ithelped me recognize how

important a part horses play in the

history and cultural of Australia.

Since the settling of Australia

horses have been a necessity for

the people, From the work horses

in the the cities to the stations in the

far reaches of of the outback,

horses have been part of the spirit

of Australia. They estimate that

there are up to a million wild horsescalled Brumbies. It makes me feel

ecstatic that the wild horses are

thriving in a harsh yet beautiful

landscape.


4/6

The Shipwreck Coast ofVictoria, Australia is considered the

one deadliest coasts in the world. Filled

with massive reefs and rocks jutting out

from the ocean, few people venture into

these unforgiving waters. Since the

mid1800s, immigrants, travelled from

England and other parts of Europe to

Australia in hopes of finding a new

promising land. Many made it to

Melbourne the main destination for

most of the voyages, but many lost

their lives on the long and difficult

journey.

They say if you drained thesea waters from this shoreline you

would find the remains of up to 1,200

ships that were lost to the sea forever.

The trip from England or

Europe took from 80 to 100 days.

The journey took them through the

blazing heat of the tropics as they

crossed the equator, then down into the

frozen seas around Antarctica. One of

the most perilous parts of the journey

was when they could smell the flowers

and glimpse shores of Otway Point,

knowing their loved ones were waiting

only one more days sail away.. Bass

Strait was a narrow channel going

between the reefs on one side and the

looming cliffs of the South Coast on

the other. As they did not have reliable

compasses and charts, they had to

depend on sight, at night and in

storms or fog this was close to

impossible. Their only guide through

the deadly channel was Otway

Lighthouse; with morse code, flags, and

a light that could be seen 36 miles out

into the foaming sea.The lighthouse

keepers had a huge responsibility to

help these ships be guided through these

perilous waters.

In these modern times we arefortunate that almost all ships have

radar, sonar, GPS, and many other

sophisticated electronics that help them

navigate the seas and treacherous

coastlines.

It was amazing to stand onthe coastline and imagine what it

would have been like to be a part of

one of these horrific or successful

journeys.

Otway Light Station


5/6

Lifeon a dairy farm is a job that is veryunique and fulfilling. It requires a immenseamount of work yet the rewards of living in the

countryside, working outdoors and making aliving in this environment are worth the hardwork.

The primary responsibility of a dairyfarmer is milking and caring for the cows. Thecows have to be milked twice a day seven daysa week. Unlike in the past, the farmers nowhave machines that they milk the cows with, themachines are cleaned and assembled to attachto the cows each day by hand. As the cows arebeing milked the milk is sent through stainless

pipes to a large tank where the milk is turbospeed cooled to take it from 98 degrees downto 40 degrees in seconds. A truck then comes tothe farm every day to take the milk to the localcheese, butter and milk plant.

Since only the females can produce milkthe farmers don't keep any of the young malecalves except a couple of chosen ones theymay believe may be good for breeding. Theyoung female calves are kept in the barn andbottle fed milk until they are a couple weeks old.

The young females will not produce milk until

they have a calf of their own, at about two yearsold.

The farm also had many other animals.

Since it was spring, most the babies had justbeen born. They ranged from just a few weeksold to a coupe calves that were born while wewere there. There were pigs, sheep, cats,alpaca, goat, chickens, ducks, and dogs. Manyof the babies had to be bottle fed twice daily, wewere fortunate that we got to be a part of this.

Living on the farm was intriguing andawesome experience. I learned there are manyskills you must have in order to successfully runa farm. You must have good veterinarian skills

and be able to handle animals to help them incase of emergency. You also must be able togrow hundreds of acres of hay or feed for theanimals, so knowing how to do this is anotherfarming skill in agriculture. This is what Mackastudied in school.! It is a tough lifestyle that requires atremendous amount of work, it therefore leaveslittle for days off or holidays. It was great beingaround the animals, but the job is not foreveryone it would be an huge commitment for

anyone signing up.

Mackas Dairy

Farm


6/6

Garrett Kearns

Mutant Message Down Under / 187

Pages / Marlo Morgan

Mutant message down

under is a true story about a

women who has a career of a

psychiatrist in the states who is

asked to go on a four month long

walk with the aboriginals of

Australia through the heart of the

outback. If she had be given a

choice she would have said no but

she did not why she was invited to

Australia until the last moment and

by then it was to late to go back.

During the walkabout, as the

aboriginals call it they taught her

the ways of their people and in

return she taught them about the

modern world as we know it. As the

walkabout ends she comes into

civilization a new person who will

teach future generations about the

native people of Australia and other

third world cultures around the

world.

I love her writing style

immensely because she is so detail

with her work and she paints a

wonderful picture in my mind of the

aboriginal culture and what they are

all about. Even though there are

very few characters in the book,

she really brings out all that she

can in them and she exposes

everything from physical build to

emotions. She really touches with

every charter individually and it is

amazing how she remembered all

that with no journal or anything to

write on. She went through many

hardships on the journey and she

found many thing that made all of

life a whole lot easier. Everywhere

around the world cultures and

people are being treated poorly and

they will continue to be unless we

can stop it. It's book really show

how undies turned some cultures

are and will the advancing modern

civilisation they are becoming less

and less that way. It was an exciting

book and I would recommend it to

anyone.

"Perhaps I started as a

reluctant urban student, but now it

seemed right for me to have this

experience here in the outback

where only earth, sky, and ancient

life exists, where prehistoric scales,

fangs, and claws are ever present,

yet are dominated by fearless

people. I felt I was finally ready for

the life I had apparently chosen to

inherit." To me this quote

symbolizes how people can make

adjustments in life and how it is ok

to change the way you are.

"After the torrential rain, the flowers

appeared out of nowhere. The

landscape went from barren

nothingness to a carpet of Color.

We walked on flowers, ate them,

and wore garlands if flowers all

over our bodies. It was wonderful."

To me, this article show how in the

barren land, it can all of a sudden

change to beautifulness. and

splendor.

south east australia newsletter.pdf

Documents