With A Grateful Heart

With a Grateful Heart - Thanksgiving Day in Australia

Hello Elementary Friends,

I will forever remember Thanksgiving Day in Australia.  It was definitely different from any I have experienced in 60 years.  Today I rose as on any other week day and headed to work!  I took 54 children for their swim school.  I then taught a math class, an art class, and read a chapter of Pippi Longstocking.  Mitch showed up at school at 12:00 with the food that we prepared for our friends at Beaumont Road for a Traditional American Thanksgiving Day Luncheon.  He set up most everything due to the fact that I was teaching.  At 12:40 I took 22 students with me to the staff room where they read silently while Mitch and I continued preparing for the luncheon that would commence at 1:00.  As a reward for sitting quietly while the preparations were being conducted, my students were rewarded with a "Lamington" (traditional chocolate coconut sponge cake) to have with their lunch.  

We then put on some dinner music on Pandora on Mitch's computer and transformed the Staff Room into (as close as we could) a family dining room in the USA.  My mom had sent me some Thanksgiving Napkins from "Tuesday Morning" so I was good to go!  We spent the previous two evenings cooking roast turkey, sweet potatoes (doctored up, of course), Louisiana Dirty Rice Dressing, New Zealand Honey Butter, Cranberries, a few salads, rolls, and apple and pumpkin pie.  Whew!  

At 1:00 the staff began arriving for the feast!  They were all so appreciative, but eagerly asking questions about the origins of Thanksgiving and how it is traditionally celebrated.  I have to admit that my knowledge of the holiday was based on what I learned as a child - ie:  "The Pilgrims and the Indians sat down together in "Thanksgiving" for a bountiful harvest!"  Here is the history that we shared with our Aussie friends:

History of Thanksgiving in the United States

Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a public holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. It originated as a harvest festival. Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 1789, after a proclamation by George Washington. It has been celebrated as a federal holiday every year since 1863, when, during the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens," to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November. Together with Christmas and the New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.

The event that Americans commonly call the "First Thanksgiving" was celebrated by the Pilgrims after their first harvest in the New World in 1621. This feast lasted three days, and—as accounted by attendee Edward Winslow—it was attended by 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims. The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating "thanksgivings"—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

Americans commonly trace the Thanksgiving holiday to a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season. Autumn or early winter feasts continued sporadically in later years, first as an impromptu religious observance, and later as a civil tradition.

Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them. Squanto had learned the English language during his enslavement in England. The Wampanoag leader Massasoit had given food to the colonists during the first winter when supplies brought from England were insufficient.

The Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621. The exact time is unknown, but it is common knowledge that "The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11, 1621.  It included 50 persons who were on the Mayflower (all who remained of the 100 who had landed) and 90 Native Americans. The feast was cooked by the four adult Pilgrim women who survived their first winter in the New World (Eleanor Billington, Elizabeth Hopkins, Mary Brewster, and Susanna White).

Here are some photos of the luncheon at Beaumont Road Public School celebrating a 

Traditional American Thanksgiving

My wish is that your Thanksgiving was filled with happiness and gratitude.  May we all carry these sentiments into the remainder of the holiday season and throughout 2017!

Kiama, Illawarra, Minnamurra, and Bombo?

I Will Never Tire of the Names of the Places in Australia!

On Tuesday we put Katie on the plane to head back to Colorado.  She was in charge of hosting 13 people at her house for Thanksgiving, so she had to get over her jet lag quickly!

I do want to tell you about last weekend, however - we had a great time visiting all of the places named above!

We rented an Air BnB in Kiama - a beach resort about 2 hours south of Sydney.  Here is a bit of information on Kiama:

Kiama is a township 120 kilometres south of Sydney in the Illawarra, New South Wales, Australia in the Municipality of Kiama. At the 2011 census, Kiama had a population of 12,817 people.One of the main tourist attractions is the Kiama Blowhole. The seaside town features several popular surfing beaches, caravan parks and numerous alfresco cafes and restaurants. Its proximity to the south of Sydney makes it an attractive destination for a large number of day trippers.

We had heard about the Kiama Blowhole, and so the very first afternoon Katie and I headed down to see what it was all about.  Not really understanding the concept of a blowhole, we were unsure if it "blows at a particular time or at random times."  I think we were getting it mixed up with "Old Faithful" which is very predictable, of course.  When we there on the first afternoon, it was very calm - there was no indication of it blowing at all.  The people around it seemed very relaxed - just taking in the scenery instead of anticipating a "blow."   We thought about asking, but we were rather embarrassed and reluctant to reveal our lack of knowledge and especially to say, "Could you tell us when this blowhole will blow?"  We walked over to the information center which had just closed, and there was not any information to help us posted on the window.  So, we went back to condo intending to do some internet research on the Kiama Blowhole.  The next morning Mitch walked to the blowhole, and came back to tell us that it was "blowing all over the place!"  It was at that point that we realized the the blowhole blowing has something to do with the ocean tides - duh!

Information on the Kiama Blowhole

The Kiama Blowhole is a blowhole in the town of Kiama, New South Wales, Australia. It is the town's major tourist attraction. Under certain sea conditions, the blowhole can spray water up to 25 metres (82 ft) in the air, in quantities that thoroughly drench any bystanders. There is a second, less famous blowhole in Kiama, commonly referred to as the "Little Blowhole" by locals. It is much smaller than the other (called the "Big Blowhole"), but due to its narrow shape, it is more reliable than the Big Blowhole, and in the right conditions can be equally spectacular.

The blowhole attracts 600,000 tourists a year. Kiama Blowhole is just a few metres beyond the coastline. The "little blowhole" is located at the Little Blowhole Reserve, Tingira Crescent, Kiama, a few minutes' drive south of the main blowhole.

On Saturday (19th) we headed to the markets in Gerringong, and then Katie and I took an afternoon hike in Minnamurra Rainforest (about 30 minutes from Kiama).  Here are some photos of our time together and some beautiful landscape:

Mother Nature truly shines on The Falls walk, which starts halfway through the Rainforest loop at Minnamurra Rainforest Centre.

Amble along the elevated walkway and paved track, taking in the trickling streams, moss-covered rocks and feathered ferns beneath you. Soak up the breathtaking views over the rainforest canopy and canyon and take your time at the viewing platforms at the lower and upper Minnamurra Falls.

There are steep sections along the way, but it’s easy to find a seat and catch your breath in idyllic surroundings. You’ll likely see butterflies, animals and birds in the trees and leaf litter and, if you’re lucky, maybe even a lyrebird showing off his tail.

Just for Katie - a grey kangaroo hopped right out in front of us - we were both so startled that we could not get our cameras up before he hopped off.  It was great, though, because she had wanted to see a "roo" in the wild!

On Sunday (20th) we went to the Seaside Markets in Kiama, stopped at Bombo Beach for some photos, and then made our way to the Ilawarra Fly Tree Top Walk.

Bombo Beach

Bombo Beach (NSW 392) is an exposed 1.2 km long east-facing beach located between Cathedral Rocks and Pheasant Point. While the beach is highly visible from the northern end, it is difficult to access requiring a circuitous drive under the railway, to the car park and amenities on the northern slopes overlooking the beach, with the only other access via a walking track under the railway at the southern end. The abandoned Bombo Quarry dominates the northern headland, with a steep rise to Pheasant Point in the south. A small creek crosses the northern end and the larger Spring Creek drains out against the southern rocks. The beach receives waves averaging 1.5 m, which maintain a rip-dominated surf zone, with strong, permanent rips against each headland and 3-4 more transient beach rips in between. The rips are usually visible as you drive south and probably result in many swimmers continuing on past to safer beaches. The rips and bars however produce the beach breaks for which the beach is well known by surfers.

Because the beach is rarely patrolled, it is not advised to swim or surf there.  We did see both swimmers and surfers while we were there for our short visit:

Bombo Beach - Just North of Kiama

Illawarra Fly Treetop Walk

The Treetop Walk: The 1.5km return walk takes in native rainforest. The steel walkway features two gently swaying cantilevered arms and a central tower raised nearly 50 metres from the forest floor. Positioned 710 metres above sea level, the stunning panoramic views take in everything from the rainforest canopy, coastal towns and out to the Pacific Ocean.

Mitch is rather afraid of heights - the reason he did not climb the harbour bridge with Katie and me - so we told him he had to "face his fears" and do the treetop walk with us.  He really did quite well even though we could feel the platforms swaying in the breeze!

A Really Cool Walk!

We had such a wonderful time with Katie.  When we said goodbye, I knew that it would only be a few weeks until we are home.  We will miss Australia and all of the wonderful adventures that we have had, but we are ready to be on home soil again.

Best wishes everyone as you enter this holiday season - may you experience all that it will have to offer you!