Well for those of you who follow our blog religiously you are in for a treat! Two posts in the same week!! Crazy I know. Well we are now in Perth and figure that it is time that we back track and update you on our tour through the Red Centre (literally the sand is red). We flew in to Alice Springs on the 8th and were immediately hit with the heat (at this time of year it gets up to 40 degrees on average) and also literally hit, mostly in the face, with FLIES! I have never been so close to going crazy in my life as I was constantly swatting flies from my face and anything else they fancy. The next day we took off for our tour at 5:45am! (We actually woke up early enough for that pick up)
This portion that explains the trip is pretty much from the brochure with a few personal insights.
1st Day - Kings Canyon - spend the day hiking (a good couple of hours up and down) the canyon, with plenty of time for the north and south walls, and a swim in the Garden of Eden waterhole (slippery rocks as you try to gracefully slide your way in to the cold/hot water that is home to many tadpoles). We have dinner (pasta & meat sauce) while viewing the sunset over the ranges (personally we enjoyed the sunset at Carlo Sandblow better). Then we slept under the stars on top of our swag (essentially a bigger version of a fully body sleeping bag with a mat inside) in our own sleeping bags (I woke up to the sight of a bull about thirty feet away from me - making a lot of noise I may add).
2nd Day - The Olgas (Kata Tjuta) & Ayers Rock (Uluru) - the morning's spent on a rewarding hike through the Valley of the Winds at Kata Tjuta. After lunch it's off to Uluru for a leisurely guided base walk around the rock and visit to the informantive cultural center. Then we watched the sunset on the rock.
3rd Day - Ayers Rock (Uluru) - did a 9km walk around about more than 3/4 of the rock's perimeter. Amanda and I did it in an hour and a half much to the surprise of our tour guide. Woot Woot! And we still managed to take about 40 pictures of the massive rock. We will be sure to post all of them soon.
After our tour was done Amanda and I spent an extra day in Alice Springs so that we could do a tour of the School of Air, which is essentially a centralized correspondence school that allows students in isolated areas of the Northern Territory to receive education. Everything is done through a live feed. The teachers teach lessons from the studio that we visited while their students follow the lesson on a computer answering/asking question over microphones, head sets, and chatrooms. It was incredibly interesting to learn about and even more refreshing to hear about how engaged the students are in their own learning - no behaviour problems and no late assignments. I may just have to come and teach here...ha. The students also have a home tutor that can be hired or just a parent that will retain weekly contact with the instructor to make sure that the student is on the right page. Really an interesting concept.
That is all that I can think of for right now off the top of my head. Hope to talk to you all soon again.
Ryan and Amanda!
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9 comments:
Hey boy, I was telling you about a job in Australia the website is:
www.islandreefjob.com and the job is looking after the Hamilton Islands and blogging for 6 months! You should apply, you're there, you're a teacher so hopefully smart and you blog already! Promise me you will go to the website and there you can get a full job description. It sounds amazing, oh and did I forget to mention it pays $125000.00!
Can I be an admin asst at that school - no late slips or band aids or ice packs to give out - sounds like a dream! Enjoying your blog - have fun and stay safe!
Listen lady... cool it... I have to actually look into things before I impulsively dive in... unlike some.
As for the school it is quite a different world. Tempting to stick around and teach there for sure.
School smchool, I can't visit if you are staying at someones house! the house included in the job is FABULOUS!!!!! I would so come and see the house ....I mean you! lol love you!
And whose this lady you are talking too?
So when are we getting a new update??? And pictures, I love the pictures.
When you start paying for our internet time! No seriously it is really expensive so we are going to wait until Monday when the Library is open (assuming that Australia day doesn't interfere)
Sure BB, just checking to make sure you are ok!!!
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