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Australia 2023
  • Bill Bates
  • Bill Bates

Australia 2023

20 Pinewood Jr. High students and 3 teachers bead to Australia for an adventure of a lifetime! Internet connection is poor where we will be traveling. I’ll post when I can. 🙂 Les mer
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  • Reisens start
    15. februar 2023
    Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Gathering at SFO!

    15. februar 2023, Forente stater

    Our flight was at 11:20pm and we needed to arrive at SFO at 7:30. We got a good group shot before checking in, grabbing dinner, and boarding the flight. We got off on time and were brimming with excitement!Les mer

  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    In the air

    16. februar 2023, Forente stater

    The flight was a good one. Pretty uneventful. Some turbulence around Hawaii, but nothing we couldn’t handle.

    The kids were really well behaved, which is not surprising, but still appreciated! The flight attendants were very happy with us! 🙂Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    We made it to Brisbane!

    17. februar 2023, Australia

    We made it to Brisbane without incident. Everyone even got plenty of sleep, even if it was broken sleep.

    Not many great pictures yet. As I collect more from the kids, I’ll add to the posts.

    Why the picture of the sign? They thought it was funny and looked like the person was being attacked. They wanted me to post it. 🤣Les mer

  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Arrival at Base Camp

    17. februar 2023, Australia

    The ride from the airport (BNE) to the Rustic Pathways Base Camp was about 90 min, with traffic. The kids are rockstars and didn’t blink at having to sit again for an hour and a half.

    Base Camp is on the Sunshine Coast. The weather is beautiful! In the mid 80’s and sunny. We are going to power up and then head to a cultural tour of the Aboriginal people.

    Our two guides for the trip, Alycia and Charlie are super nice and have already connected well with the kids. I look forward to our time with them.    Les mer

  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Cultural Tour with Travel Link

    17. februar 2023, Australia

    The first stop on our adventure was to learn about the native Australian people, the Aborigines. We went to a cultural center where we met Bailey, a 19 year old Aboriginal man who told is stories of his history and culture. His people have been in the land that is now Australia for 75,000 years.

    He showed us traditional paint, by mixing up crushed rock and water, called Ochre. Many if the kids and adults had fun letting Bailey paint us.

    We then went on a walk through the local bush (wilderness) and he let us try many edible plants. The berries and plums we had were flavorful, but sour. We also saw the homes of trapdoor and funnel spiders. Dangerous critters, but we were safe! 🙂

    We ended the nature walk with a sampling of alligator, emu, and kangaroo. The kids were surprised by the kangaroo, but our guides told us they are like deer in the US.

    We had a great time and it was wonderful to be moving around and stretching our legs after a long flight and car ride.    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Glass House Mountains

    17. februar 2023, Australia

    The Glass House Mountains were named by Captain James Cook, however the area has been significant for the Aboriginal people for tens of thousands if years. The area is considered spiritually significant with many ceremonial sites protected today.

    There are eleven peaks, but the three we saw are called mouther, father, and child by the native Australians. They are in an area called The Hinterlands. We stopped at a good vista point on the way back to base camp.    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Back at Base Camp for the Night

    18. februar 2023, Australia

    We came back to base camp and our guides made us a wonderful dinner! We hung out together for a shot bit and went to bed early. In bed by 9pm and lights out by 9:30pm. I am sure some stayed up and talked for a bit, but our guides said it didn’t take long for everyone to fall asleep! 💤

    Wake up call is 7am!    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Eumundi Markets

    18. februar 2023, Australia

    We started the day with a pancake breakfast and Vegemite toast made by our wonderful guides!

    We then packed up our stuff and headed off to the Eumundi Markets. It is an open air market with over 600 stalls of food, crafts, and other specialty items. It reminded me a lot of the various art and wine festivals in our area. It was super cute and we shopped and had lunch there.

    Mr. Riches and I got the potato slinky. It was AMAZING! Basically, a spiral cut potato on a stick fried to crispy awesomeness! 😁

    We were treated to some live music while we ate. The gentleman playing said he has been to San Francisco a few times and loves the area.

    It was a lot of fun! Shopping and food, the kids were in heaven. 😉    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Noosa Heads Main Beach

    18. februar 2023, Australia

    We made it to our first beach and it did not disappoint! Before we got there, we spent time walking around the town of Noosa’s famous Hastings Street. It is an area of high end shops, food places, and lodging. We didn’t spend very long there, because the main attraction was the beach. 🙂

    The sand was soft, the water amazingly warm and calm, and the sunshine was tremendous! Everyone went into the water and it was hard to get them out!

    It was one of the most beautiful beaches I have ever been to! We spent a good amount of time there, but we could have easily spent a few hours more! ☀️

    A note regarding our guides, Alycia and Charlie. The are spectacular! I have been on a lot of trips and they are the best guides I have worked with. Their patients and understanding are epic, as Alicia would say. 😁 Your kids are in very good hands.    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Service Work - Jabiru Bush Camp

    19. februar 2023, Australia

    Today was our first service work. We started by helping make “fertilizer tea,” which consists of cow pies mixed with water and left to steep for a few days. Yes, by “cow pie” I mean cow poop. We gathered poop and mixed it with water. The kids were surprisingly happy about this task, well, not all of them. 😉

    We also fed the cows, horses, and guinea pigs.

    After that, there was a roadway with three downed trees that we had to move without the use of tools. We turned it into a good leadership exercise about not diving right in, assessing the situation, coming up with a plan, and then reevaluating if the plan did not give us the desired outcome. Oh yes, it was a messy experience but a really good one! Cherry, Daria, and Lillian had the successful plans at each obstacle. 🙂

    It was a great but tiring start to the day.    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Afternoon Activities - Jabiru Bush Camp

    19. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F

    Internet connectivity was terrible in the bush, which is no surprise. The post about our first day of service took almost 9 hours to finally upload and post! We are now in a better spot with good WiFi, so I’ll work on my backlog of posts. 😁

    Anyway, after lunch we took part in a number if activities. Traditional indigenous spear throwing, archery, didgeridoo playing, lasso throwing, whip cracking, and boomerang throwing. It was a lot of fun!

    In the evening, we came up with an idea for the rest of the trip. We broke the kids up into groups for cooking, cleaning up, and some other chores (like making sure the bus is clean). We will use these groups for the rest of the trip. This first night, the kids did an excellent job of cooking the meal, under the direction of our incredible guided Alycia and Charlie. 😁

    It was a great day, but boy were we tired! The night ended with an outdoor movie, Crocodile Dundee, but most were too tired to watch the whole thing. Another asleep by 10pm night!    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Jabiru Farewell

    20. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 79 °F

    Monday morning (which was your Sunday afternoon), it was time to say goodbye to Jabiru. We packed up, said farewell to Richard, the owner, and headed out to our next service project.

    For this post, I added pictures of Jabiru Bush Camp trying to give you a feel for the place we called home for a couple of days. 🙂Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Service Work - Queensland Environmental

    20. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F

    Our second service project was working with the local Queensland Environmental Council. They purchased farmland and are turning it into forest. It will become a woodland corridor for local animals to use to get from one habitat to another without having to travel through populated areas.

    It rained a bit, but it was nice because it has been very humid. We planted 80 trees and helped remove the protective covering of a few hundred more. The protected coverings are no longer needed after the tree is around 1 meter taller than the protective sleeve. Yes, we had to teach the kids how big a meter is. 😁    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Link to All The Pictures

    20. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    I like FindPenguins, especially for showing our route, but each post is limited to 20 pictures and 2 videos. I have an album we have been sharing pictures to and it has a web link.

    https://www.icloud.com/sharedalbum/#B0NGIcgc2GH…

    I am trying to get a picture of everyone but I have a couple of kids that actively avoid the camera. I get it and I don’t push it, but I know parents would like to see their children. 🙂 I try to also take big video group shots when I can as well.

    To Australians, kangaroo are like deer. No big deal. However, I think seeing road signs like this are wild!    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Alex Beach Cabins

    20. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F

    We made it to our accommodations for the next few days. Wow!! They are nice! We were so wiped out, I forgot to take pictures of them. I will post some before we check out on Friday morning.

    Our dinner crew made us burritos! They chopped up the veggies, shredded the chicken, cooked the ground beef, made the guac. It was awesome!

    As always, our guides, Alycia and Charlie guided the kids. Those two are spectacular!!!! 😁    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    The Austraila Zoo

    21. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    Tuesday we made our way to the Australian Zoo, which was founded by the legendary Steve Irwin. We met Adrian, our Zoo guide. Adrian is in charge of all education programs which includes all volunteers as well. He talked to us about the place of the modern zoo in society, which is far different from animals kept in cages on concrete slabs.

    We had some free time before our service work to check out the animals nearby. Adrian then took us to visit the tortoises, which was AMAZING! It is incredible how large they are.    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Animal Rescue Center

    21. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 88 °F

    The Australian Zoo also has a fully functional animal hospital and rescue center. Adrian showed us the surgical ward. After that we saw the inner parts of the rescue center, but we were not allowed to take pictures.

    There are a number of sea turtles with a bacterial infection that harms there shells, animals caught by hooks, sick kangaroos and koalas, and even a sea snake that was rehabilitating.    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Crocodile Show

    21. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 88 °F

    For lunch we had a classic Aussie lunch, meat pies! It was a photography fail on my part, I didn’t get pictures of it. They are basically single serving pot pies minus the veggies. We had classic meat pies, bacon/meat/cheese, and curry chicken pies.

    While we ate, we watched the crocodile show. It started with many trained birds flying about, which were very cool. However, the star of the show was Murray, the croc! Wow, he was big!!!!    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Service Work - Austrailian Zoo

    21. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ 🌙 88 °F

    For our service work, we broke into two groups. We were in areas of the zoo the public is not allowed and pictures were not permitted. However, the zoo staff I was with allowed me to take a few shots as long as you couldn’t tell where we were. Mr. Riches led the other group and he was with Adrian, the head guy, who was more strict, so he wasn’t able to get any pictures. I guess I am a better negotiator! 🤣😂

    My group was with the Senegalese Elephants. A highly endangered elephant species due to illegal hunting and poaching for their tusks. Part of the mission of the Australian Zoo is to protect endangered species.

    In the pictures you will see a watering hole for the elephants. To clean the water, it moves through a natural earth and sand filter. It is literally an area behind the pen that is a large piece of land filled with sand/earth and plants. The area filters out all of the impurities, the water is collected through a drain and pumped back to the watering hole.

    Over time, the area becomes overgrown with weeds, which hamper the process. We needed to pull the weeds. Some were quite large!

    The other group worked near the African Elephants and did the same thing. They also had to move some logs into the elephant pen.

    It was hot and very humid. We worked for about 90 minutes. Although the kids were hot and dirty, they were in great spirits! We have such a great group of kids with us!    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Zoo Time

    21. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 86 °F

    After our service work, we had a little time to roam around the zoo. It was the end of the day and many animals were packing it in for the night. We’ll have more time tomorrow to explore.

    When you look at the pictures of the koala sleeping, that is how we felt at the end of the day. 🤣😴Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Games Before Bedtime

    21. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F

    After dinner we okayed some games before bed. Alycia broke the group into two teams and lined them up facing each other. Each line had to close their eyes and hold hands.

    Alycia was at the head of the lines holding the hands of the first person of each line. Charlie was at the end of the lines holding a spoon.

    There is no talking and remember, the kids have their eyes closed. Alycia would squeeze the hands she was holding at the same time. Once you felt a squeeze, you would then squeeze the hand of the next person until the squeeze was passed to the last person, who could then open their eyes and grab the spoon.

    The first person who grabbed the spoon would move to the front of the line and everyone would shift down. The game is won when one team gets back to their original order.

    The kids liked it. A good bit of fun before bedtime. 🙂

    Tomorrow (Tuesday morning for us, Monday afternoon for California), we head back to the Australia Zoo for more service work and a surprise for the kids!    Les mer

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  • Bill BatesAustralia 2023Bill Bates

    Wednesday Morning Brekky

    22. februar 2023, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F

    I have neglected to post pictures of our accommodations, Alex Beach Cabins. They are really nice! Here are a few shots.

    I’d show you the inside, but they are a bit of a mess at me moment. 🤣 I’ll take some shots before we check out.

    The kids, led by Alycia and Charlie, made french toast and cut up fresh fruit for brekky. The kids have been awesome about sharing some of the workload!    Les mer

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