VanDijkTrack

The Travelodge hotel in Rockhampton was a good experience and the kids kids liked to swim in the swimming pool and especially Jorick enjoyed the breakfast. From this hotel, we also made a trip to Koorana Crocodile Farm. We saw several crocs that were periodically mating and laying eggs for incubation. The young crocs are used for their skin and their meat. There they told us the intriging story about the warning signs that were placed to warn for crocodiles. The signs showed a warning not to swim because of the presence of crocodiles. Unfortunately the red paint with the warning disappeared by the sun and rain leaving only a person swimming (suggesting that you could go for a swim here). Frightened by this dangerous situation, the government tried to remove all the signs but they didn’t remember all locations where they had put them up. Enjoy your swim.

After the tour Nicole and Jorick could hold  a baby croc to show the public. Going to the toilet was another fascinating experience. In the toilet several green tree frogs showed up. You may guess if it was in the women’s or man’s toilet. Yes !  Nicole preferred to go to another toilet, but Jorick could do it standing still 🙂 .

The same day we went to the Dreamtime museum showing and explaining about Aboriginal art. The aboriginal history and art is fascinating and we have seen a lot of it in many cities and it is still interesting. In the museum we had an interesting tour about aboriginal art being a mix of reality, moral based stories, education and some sort of Fairy Tales. We also got a presentations on the Torres Straight Islands, a demonstration in playing the didgeridoo and some lessons in throwing a boomerang. A the end of the day Nicole read a story for Jorick that brought them both in a deep sleep.

The next the day we went early to Yeppoon from where the boat would leave to Keppel Island in the Great Barrier Reef. Before that we arranged some snorkel equipment to see more of the Reef under the water. After arriving on the island we took a tour with a glass bottom boat. This gave us the opportunity to see parts of the reef and the fishes living there. After that we walked to a quiet part called “Monkey beach”. As in a dream we had nearly the whole bay for ourselves. Jan and Anita went for some snorkeling here. The first two times Jan went looking for the Coral Reef he was bitten by some sort of jelly fish (?) causing red strings and irritation on his leg and body. Anita was more lucky and succeeded already the first time. Jan didn’t give up and tried a third time which was successful. It was a special experience to see the coral and the colored fishes swimming around you. When suddenly all fishes got nervous and moved away Jan got suspicious and went back to the beach. There he heard form others that they saw a shark (probably not dangerous, but you never know), got frightened and also went asap to the beach.

After a good night sleep we left Rockhampton after visiting the “Tropic of Capricorn” which is the extreme southern position of he sun in its apparent annual journey (its northern most position is the Tropic of Cancer). Capricornus was , in roman mythology the sea goat into which Pan was changed to escape from the terrible giant Typhon. It is also the name given to the constellation resembling it and when the December solstice was first observed the sun was situated in this constellation, hence this tropic was named Capricorn.

After the Tropic of Capricorn we set our direction to Blackdown Tableland National Park.

Kind regards from us all.

In the weekend we made a beautiful trip to Benarkin State Forest.  Benarkin is a village located off the D’Aguilar Highway with a general store and a population of around 200 residents. Before we went into the Bush the kids had a play in the “First settlers memorial park” after a long trip from Brisbane. Following to that we went into the bush and ended up at a Picnic place where we had a BBQ.

Closer to the city you often find gas-barbeques, but further into the bush often the barbeques need to be burned with wood that you have to take with you or gather it from the bush. So that’s what we did.

When we stated a walk along the Emu Creek Gorge, we saw an exceptional  beautiful environment developed in the humidity of the gorge. We saw many birds, snakes and other animals.

A snake that’s not frightened and doesn’t flee from you is often not a good sign. Nevertheless Anita couldn’t leave the animal before taking a picture. It shows where the snake is watching us with his head hidden under a leaf. After having  seen this and other snakes we continued our walk very carefully.

Overall it was a great walk in a beautiful area, although the combination of a high density forest with the high humidity and the (sounds of) many (hidden) animals sometimes were a bit scary.

Nicole is proud, and so are her parents, that she received a “Head of School Award”. This award is given to her because she already earned 5 Merit Certificates. Taking into account that she started last year 1 month after the start of year 1 AND without speaking any word of English she has done very well. In the past she earned the following Merit Certificates:

1) “Excellent progress with learning a new language – English ! (28 May 2008)

2) “Good progress in Reading” (24 June 2008)

3) “For beautiful, neat handwriting when copying from the board.” (28 July 2008)

4) “Outstanding homework” (27 October 2008)

5) “Being an excellent helper during our art lesson.  Encouraging others. (2 March 2009)

Besides this she got a certificate for good behavior and several reading awards. Although this “Head of School Award” one of the most important ones and is showing good performance, we are confused by the honoring system. We are positive about the fact that the school tries to stimulate kids with this type of tools. However, sometimes it is confusing (for kids and parents) to see all kind of different awards, certificates, medals, stamps, etc.

Warm regards from us all.