Since coming back from Japan we have gone through another Melbourne winter and welcomed spring and daylight savings with open arms. Our days have been filled with great food, games nights, small adventures and time with friends.
Way back in July we celebrated Canada Day in style with a Crokinole tournament, poutine, Ceasers and Montreal smoked meat sandwiches. Michael and I were crowned Crokinole Champs and won the tourney.
Right after Canada Day we headed to Far North Queensland for some sun and sand. We flew in Cairns and rented a car to drive further north into Cow Bay and Cape Tribulation. We stayed at the same bnb as 6 years ago up in the rainforest. What was different this time around was seeing so many cassowaries! The coolest dinosaur looking creatures you’ve ever seen.
From Cape Trib we picked our way back down to Port Douglas where we bought the freshest prawns off the boat and enjoyed some beautiful water coloured sunsets.
Our last stop was the cutest beach cabin in Ellis Beach. Waking up to the ocean and going for walks along the shore was a fantastic way to recharge our batteries.
The rest of winter back in Melbourne consisted of Christmas in July, various outings in the city, the annual Science Morning Tea at work, Book Week and a few other fun experiments with my classes.
Term 3 (July 21-Sept 19) is a slog but ended on a high with Year 9 Expedition. I was back up north with the kids for an eight day camping trip for the last week of term. We spent 4 nights on an indigenous home land and 3 nights in Cairns. Spending time with the traditional owners was a beautiful experience. I was immersed in culture and nature and met some amazing people. I was given the language name Yanggaa translating to green ant. I also had the honour of trying sea turtle and getting to know Richard and Lillian, our traditional owners.
Our last three days of expedition were in Cairns. From Cairns we visited Fitzroy Island and snorkelled on the outer Great Barrier Reef. I came home absolutely exhausted but proud of my contributions to camp. Term 4 holidays were very well deserved (I feel like after 8 days 24/7 with the kids I really earned my salary and holidays haha).
Just over 24hrs later I was full-swing into holiday mode, unpacked, repacked and back on a plane headed to Canada!
With love,
Alex & Michael
