Australian Adventure Day 1 & 2

Well we have begun the journey to Australia. It started with the group and their families meeting at the Bangor International Airport at 9:30 am this morning. I was lucky enough to also be able to see my oldest son, Joshua, who is home on leave for a week. He came to the airport, along with my middle son, Joe to see me off. The delegates brought along their family members as well. The delegates brought along their family members as well. It was a sizeable group. We had only one delegate forget his name tag. Everyone else seemed to have everything else in order.

We made it through the ticket line quite quickly and headed upstairs to get ready to pass through the security checkpoint. A last minute photo in front of the troop greeters wall was taken to memorialize the moment and hugs and kisses were given as we packed up our carry-on luggage and headed off through the checkpoint. Leaving from Bangor does have its perks! We made it through the security checkpoint with only one bag search and in pretty good time.

The flight from Bangor to Philly was pretty uneventful and we had about a 2 1/2 lay over n Philly, to eat and relax before heading off on our last US leg of the trip. we were able to get the delegates seated together on this flight, in groups of three, making it a little more fun for them. We expect to meet up with the rest of the delegation by 7 pm pst and have about 2 hours to get to know each other before starting the long flight to Australia.

We arrived at LAX, tired and hungry and very excited. After finding our way through the terminal we were met by a greeter and walked to the international terminal. Once there we grabbed a bit to eat and headed to meet the rest of the delegation. The rest of the group was already downstairs at the gate getting to know each other. The leaders introduced themselves to the group. We hung out for another 40 mins or so then boarded the flight.

The flight was long, but thankfully there was plenty to do on the plane. Everyone got some sleep, ate a couple decent meals, watched movies or played video games and even chatted seat to seat (yes digitally). We filled out our customs forms and anxiously waited to exist the plane. Once we landed and headed through customs, we grabbed out luggage, having to wait a bit longer for one suitcase which took a later flight, and headed off on our Australian Adventure!!

Sydney:

We hit the ground running!!After meeting our delegation manager Kerry and the bus driver mark, we boarded the bus and headed to the Sydney Cricket Grounds. The delegates got their first lesson on playing cricket. It was clear that we have some natural players in the group. The delegates learned all about rugby and Aussie Rules football before heading back to the bus.

Next we boarded the captain Cooke Harbor Cruise for a seafood buffet dinner and cruise around Sydney harbor. The weather predictions included some pretty strong winds so we were a bit worried that is might be rough seas. Instead it was a gorgeous afternoon for a boat ride. Students sauntered up on the deck, while others took the time to sit inside and get to know each other. The leaders and delegation manager took a few minutes to discuss the up coming events.

After the harbor cruise, the delegation want back to the hotel to check-in, wash up and prepare for dinner. Dinner was at Nick's at Darling Harbor. The delegation took the time to walk from the Travel Lodge to Darling Harbor, walking over the Darling Harbor Bridge. There was a chance to try kangaroo, and many of the delegates took advantage of it. The meat was cooked pretty rare and was a bit tough to cut through, although it had a wonderful flavor, in part because of the marinade? desert was served and it quickly became apparent that everyone needed to get to bed soon! It was a relatively short coach ride back to the hotel, yet several delegates had already fallen asleep or were fighting it, unsuccessfully. After a short meeting everyone went to their rooms and within 40 mins room checks were done and everyone was headed off to sleep. We had a big day planned for Wednesday. The delegation was heading into the Blue Mountains to spend the day with the Full On Crew!!

The 5:45 wake up call came way too early!! We had a 6:30 breakfast time and we due to be on the bus by 7:15. While we were headed to our destination we heard from Kerry that the Full On facility had suffered from the storm the night before. they are about 4 hours north of us in the Blue Mountains. there was a significant winter storm with gale force winds in excess of 100 kpm. The facility lost their power and cell phone service, making it unsafe for us to venture there for the day's activities. We spent a little time regrouping, then headed on a tour of Sydney. The program office, Kerry and Mark immediately found alternate activities for us to do including a trip to Bondi Beach!!

While we were waiting to hear about the alternate activities Kerry and Mark took us on a tour of the Rocks, one of the oldest parts of Sydney. The delegates learned that at one point the City Counselors wanted to demolish all the old buildings in this part of town, but thanks to a grass roots effort, it was stopped and no demolition or construction of skyscrapers or modern buildings can take place in that section of town. In addition to visiting the Rocks, the delegation took a tour of the former location of the oldest harbor master home. Kerry is a wonderful delegation manager. She is knowledgeable about the area and is able to take us to some interesting locations.

Once we got the ok to head off to Bondi Beach, we loaded the bus and left the Rocks district. As we proceeded along the coast, Kerry told us that this is when the humpback and minke whales are migrating north to give birth. She mentioned that we might be lucky to see them as we pass along the cliffs. Mark stopped in a location where whales had been recently spotted. It was absolutely beautiful. It reminded me of the cliff off Cutler in Maine. After watching the water for a while, someone shouted "I see one!" referring to the water spout whales make when they blow the water from their mouths. Unfortunately, the spout was to far off for us to actually make out the whale, but it was clear from the multiple times we saw the spout, that it was a whale, or maybe two?

We continued to make our way to Bondi Beach where the delegates were challenged to build the tallest sand castle!!