Lyn (Professor of Australian Life and Culture) came to pick us all up this morning at 8AM. We were heading to Tenterfield which is a little town in New South Wales about 2.5-3 hours away. We all piled in and were off, making one stop at a McDonald's and then continuing on. Lyn played us Australian music and movies along the ride. We arrived at noon at the Golfers Inn Motel where we found beautiful and new cabins. The girls got all the new ones which had two rooms--one with a queen, and another with two twins, a kitchen, living room with a wrap around couch, and a bathroom. There was something very unique about the bathroom though---the shower consisted of a shower head inside the bathroom with a drain in the center of the bathroom. I guess this is very European but quite unusual to me. The shower is not enclosed in anything and just stands alone. Showering in it was different, very open, but a lot of space.
The owners of the motel feed us lunch---some sandwiches and juices and then were off for a day of adventure. The first stop was Thunderbolts Hideout. This is an Australian bushranger who committed over 200 crimes by stealing from people and hiding in this rock formed hideout. We went and sat in his hide-out which was neat.
The second stop was the WWII tank trap which were used to stop the Japs from bring their tanks across the fields.
The third stop was Bald Rock. Right before we began to climb--we spotted our very first Kangaroo!!!! We were all so excited! We hopped out of the bus and ran over to get pictures. He/She was very photogenic---he/she hopped off as we left--so cute!! Lyn lead us all the way up the path, across large rocks, gravel path, and through trees and plants. It took us about an hour but we made it to the top of Bald Rock (3Km). The view was magnificent and breath-taking. We took a little time walking around and then had to walk the path down. This time however, Lyn took us downhill on a rock. This was a challenging downhill trip---but we just went on a diagonal or slide down--it was hard trying to fight the momentum. But we all made it.
The fourth and final stop was a Deetswood Winery where we walked among the grapes and vines. We even got to taste a grape off the vine! Mmmmm delicious! Then went inside to see how wine is produced and bottled. We were shown all the equipment and then got to taste test some of the wines too. We learned how to taste and swish wine and tried Semillon, Un-wooded Chardonnay, Kitty's Sweet Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shirax, Merlot, Cabernet Merlot, Platypus Sweet Red, and Platypus Port. Everything had very distinct flavors.
Then we went to the Motel for dinner---chicken kebabs, corn, asparagus, french fries (hot chips) and then ice cream sundaes-with strawberries. Then it was time for the talent show----we were responsible for making our own show. Some students sang, did a stomp routine on kitchen pots, some girls from Australia played guitar and sang (they were really good), Carlo and I did a hiphop number, and closed with the an Australian Day rap. The show was very impressive and a lot of fun to put on!!
What a great day and night! Time to shower ---early morning tomorrow so then it was bedtime!
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