Day 18 : Travel Home

Wake up call this morning was 2:30am and we got the kids on the bus by 3:15. Many of them stayed up all night having a blast with their new friends on their last night. Only one room slept in & woke up to their room check knock at 3:05. We made it to the airport in Cairns for our first flight in plenty of time. We listened to our "day song" one last time which is something we did every morning on the bus. It was "Run to Paradise" by the Choirboys. 

Said our goodbyes to Dion & Brett as we had our first flight down to Brisbane. This flight was only two hours or so and here, we had to go through customs as we exited the country and got to the international terminal. Our 12 hour flight across the ocean was long, but they really try to keep you entertained and full. We had lunch, then at least four snacks and finally breakfast. 

Once in Los Angeles, we again had to do the customs thing and since we all had to declare our farm stay this took a bit longer than we expected. We said goodbye to the Washington group as we parted ways. 

From LA we traveled to Dallas (roughly 2 hours). Here we had a five hour layover so we got cozy at our gate after feeding the kids dinner. We were waiting, waiting, waiting for boarding to start when it dawned on us that the gate might have changed. Sure enough, our gate was moved from D40 to D6, so we had to run to make our final flight! 

It was 10:45pm before we were on the ground in Milwaukee, making it 1:45pm on Friday in Australia. So a day that started with that 2:30am wake up call on Thursday, ended roughly 35 hours later. In Cairns we watched the sun start to rise in the east, and on the flight to Milwaukee we watched the sun set in the west. 

Day 17 : Last Day in Cairns

"Where the rainforest meets the reef"

Traveled along the James Cook highway which was named most beautiful route in the world. Along the way we passed the Coral Sea where a major battle between the U.S. and Japanese took place. We went to the Mossman Gorge and had a walkabout with an Aboriginal guide named Roy. We went through the oldest rainforest in the world and learned about how the aboriginals lived off the land throughout their history. 

We started our walkabout with a smoke ceremony to welcome us to the country and protect our travels. Roy spoke in his native language as we passed through the smoke as part of the ceremony.

As we walked through the rainforest, Roy shared many things about the land. He talked about a variety of plants, some that heal and some that hurt. 

He also talked about the shields that his people used to trade with other tribes for supplies. Up north where we were, people did not use didgeridoos or boomerangs. He showed us how they would call out to others in the forest using the trees and a rock as well as talked about how the berries and nuts were important to their culture. 

After the walkabout we traveled back to Cairns and went to the Sky Rail. This gondola takes the trip up to the top of the rainforest covered mountain with a few scenic stops along the way. Once at the top we had some free time to shop in the town before loading a bus to head back down.

Our last dinner tonight was really great and kids were able to try kangaroo if they wanted to (I had the lasagna option). We also had the traditional Aussie dessert, pavlova. We then had one last shopping outing at the night markets.

Day 16 : Great Barrier Reef

A perfect weather day for us to head out on a boat to the Great Barrier Reef. The sun was shining, the winds were mild and no rain in the forecast as we boarded a hour and a half ferry with the Cairns company Reef Magic. The ride out was still choppy though, they had workers standing ready with barf bags. Out on the reef they have a large platform stationed so we docked there and began out visit to the reef.

Our group had a Marine Biologist, Maya, assigned to us. She organized glass bottom boat tours, guided snorkeling tours and scuba dives for our group. We were on one of the 2904 named reefs that make up the Great Barrier Reef. There are also many unnamed reefs as well.

The glass bottom boat was a great first look at the reef. Our guide explained the various colors of reef and how important dead reef can be to the ecosystem. We saw quite a few fish and had a quick glimpse of a small shark. 

My guided snorkeling tour was shortly after the boat trip. This time she was swimming with us around the reef pointing out various fish along the way.

We also spent time exploring on our own. This reef has a "mascot" fish who hangs around and is very comfortable with people. His name is Wally and I need to look up what kind of fish he is. He would come swim up next to people and even get on the steps of the platform.

Dinner was just at the hotel tonight and tomorrow is our last day in Australia! 

Day 15 : Travel to Cairns

Today woke up at the farm stay, packed up yet again and had a quick breakfast. We said good bye to the Lyons family and headed out on the road again. On our way out of their 10 mile driveway we spotted many kangaroos, cattle and one of their camels.

Our day today is a driving day to our final destination on Cairns. Lunch was on our own in the capital of Queensland, Townsville. And we made a few short stops along the way. Lots of sugarcane and bananas on this leg of the trip.

We arrived in Cairns around 6:45 and had a hosted dinner by the local Girl Guides (think Girl Scouts). We were all extremely happy to find out they switched their meal plan from BBQ to Mexican. We've had tooooo much beef on this trip and all had been craving Mexican and Italian foods. The girls were great and had a trivia game planned for us to play. We then headed to our hotel for the rest of our trip. Three nights in Cairns before heading back to the U.S. 

Day 14 : Farm Stay

July 5th was a full day in the farm at Wambiana. I'm warning you now that this one is long but full of interesting information. The day was jam packed full of various activities. The purpose of our farm stay is to really get the kids to understand what life is like on an Australian station. We woke up and had a wonderful breakfast, so much better than the hotel continental breakfasts we've had on the trip. Michael gave us a bit of a tour and demonstrated how the find water sources on the land. Believe it or not, they take two long pieces of metal and when they walk over a water source, the wires will cross. They let us try and see this for ourselves. Water is really important to Australians due to the terrain they live on. As I mentioned yesterday, their number of cattle is down because of the dry season. They need water to grow good grass and without grass to feed on, they can't keep as many cattle. 

At one spot on the land, they are able to pump 440 gallons/hr of water which is completely filtered by the sand. 

They then took us by the orphan calf and let the kids take a turn at feeding it from a bottle. The kids also had a chance to milk a cow and take a drink of fresh milk right from the cow. The kids next learned how to hypnotize chickens. When we asked Conner why they might need to do this, he replied "you wouldn't! It's just for fun!". The kids were taught three ways to hypnotize, and then all took a try at it. 

Next up, the kids had to catch the pigs. Sounds silly, and it was, but they literally just let the pigs out of their pen and the kids chased them down. 

We had our morning "smoko" (tea) during which the Lyons family was sweet enough to bring out a cake for my birthday :)

A little more background on the Lyons family and their time at Wambiana. They celebrated their 103rd year this year and currently Michael and Michelle are the fifth generation on this land. The homes on the property have been taken apart and moved to where they stand today. Besides the cattle, there are about 100 camels on the property to help control weeds. It is only the family who work on the ranch, Michael's siblings are nearby at other properties and can help, it is rare that they hire in extra hands to help and typically that will include a helicopter to help round up the cattle. A veterinarian will come and check for pregnant cows once a year and can check around 1000 cows in a day. This practice of breeding cows is called animal husbandry and was part of the next portion of our day.

Michael had us all load up on the tractor   and took us out to a holding area for cattle. Four kids and one adult volunteered to do the pregnancy test on the cows. It.was.gross. Next we watched as 10 cows were sent through for their tick bath. It was pretty funny to watch because basically the cows have to jump in a pool of water. Some run and dive, others are more timid. Following this, Michael showed this kids how a cow is branded and castrated. Some of the kids even tried "bush oysters" off the grill. Not me.

Following lunch, Michelle talked to us about two really interesting topics, School of Distance Education and Royal Flying Doctors. Schools of distance education - educate kids in rural areas the same as anyone in urban areas would be - Michelle is called a home tutor and spends much of her day working with the kids on their schooling. Thomas is in year 7 and is at boarding school for the first year. He is called a "weekly boarder" which means someone drives him in to town on Monday morning and the he is picked up Friday afternoon. He will do this through year 12. 

Michelle talked about seven distance education schools in the area and how a few times a year the kids go to town for camps and face to face time with their teachers. Unlike online learning in the states, the teachers of these schools work in a school building everyday,  but with no kids. 

Michelle's role as the home tutor is to look at each kid's curriculum for the next day and make up a time table for each kid with when they will do each subject and when they need to be online with an actual teacher. Every session (Australia has year round school where they change grades after their summer break in January) she receives a kit full of lesson books, science experiments, reading books, etc. The families using distance learning have to provide computers, Internet, arts and craft supplies, etc for their kids.

Learning in the bush used to be done by the School of the Air and was completed originally via radio communication. It then switched to telephone conferences and about 4-5 years ago switched to online. 

Like in the states, the students complete standardized testing in years 3, 5, 7 and 9. The family can choose to complete these at home or take the kids  into school on these days. The school will also sponsor sport days for the kids to participate in. There are about 150 students at the school the Lyons kids are enrolled at.

Michelle made it clear that their home is not considered isolated because they're an hour from a town.  Some stations are an 800 km drive to the nearest town or could be shut off from the outside world by road for 3-4 months. The Wambiana Ranch can become isolated a few times a year when the river water gets too high and makes the road impassable.

Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) - stationed around the large country so they are never more than 2 hours flight from stations. As you can imagine, when someone gets hurt on, an ambulance wouldn't get to the station and then to the hospital in time. So most stations have a landing strip for a small plane on their property. Common things that the RFDS will fly in for are broken bones, allergic reactions, snake bites, early labor, heart attacks, etc. You can also call RFDS's non-emergency line for lesser problems and you'll be talking directly to a doctor. In their home, the Lyons have a large green metal box that is kept locked. In this box are many over the counter and prescription medicines that will help in times of need. There is a log in this box to write who prescribed the meds, the dose, etc. There are also stickers on each item with a number so you will not mistake what the doctor is telling you. There is a body diagram that uses letters to easily communicate over the phone where the problem is on a body. This kit is paid for by the government and they will send out refills or non-expired meds when requested. 

The question was raised about babies being born and Michelle explained that pregnant women move into town a month or so before due date to be near the hospital. 

In Australia, you do not have to pay for the travel to get to a hospital. So if you called RFDS or an ambulance, it is all funded by donations. Michelle told us about one emergency situation she faced with her kids and the best option was to meet the ambulance along the road to cut driving time. To ensure safety, when you leave homestead complex you take a 2-way radio with you, there is no mobile service in most of the land.

After lunch, we loaded up the wagon again and headed to the lagoon on their property for the "Outback Challenge." 

Thomas set up the course and got the kids in teams. It was amazing to as how well spoken and responsible the Lyons children were. There were five legs to the race, sack race, Vegemite eating, cow pie carrying, water bucket filling and barrel rolling. The kids had a blast participating. We enjoyed our afternoon smoko down by the lagoon and then headed back to the homestead. 

The kids helped build a fire and practiced for that night's talent show. After dinner the kids got on stage to perform their talents from Vegemite eating to guitar playing to rapping and singing, it was so fun to see these kids shine. It was a perfect ending to our farm stay at Wambiana and a very memorable birthday!

Day 13 : Billabong & Farm Stay

We left our short stay in Airlie Beach and headed northwest to our farm stay. I was a bit apprehensive about this part of the trip, but now think it might be my favorite part. The trip was long, but we had a good three hour stop at the Billabong Wildlife Center to break up the day.

At Billabong, we got to see up close many of the Australian animals. We were surrounded by kangaroos just about everywhere on the grounds. After a quick lunch we went to the crocodile area (I thought we were done with these!) where we watched a "feeding." The reality was that the guide had a piece of meat on a string and teased the croc with it for us to see his moves. After the crocs, we went to the turtles and were able to feed them a snack and then watched a turtle race. 

We went next to my favorite part of Billabong - the wombats and koalas. Tonka the wombat and Mac the koala let us hold them and take pictures. A wombat feels like dead weight, he had been handled so much he doesn't mind people at all. His hair is rough and he is also a marsupial. The koala was what you'd expect - she dug her claws in to hold on and gave a great hug!

After Billabong we went out towards Charters Towers to our farm stay. We stopped in town to use the bathroom quick and we all thought the farm would be right down the road. The reality is that we had about 40 minutes on highway followed by 20 minutes down their driveway before we made it to the homestead. We were staying at Wambiana Station with the Lyons family. Wambiana means kangaroo in the Aboriginal language of the area. Station is what they call farms. So you could have a cattle station or a horse station, etc. Stations in the bush are huge and very remote. Being only an hour from town is actually not that bad we learned. Wambiana is 57,000 acres and they typically have 3,300 heads of cattle, but this is their fourth driest year on record so they are under 2,000 this year. 

We were greeted on the bus by most of the Lyons family including their dog, Little Dude, who jumped right on our bus upon arrival. Michael and his wife, Michelle, manage the farm with the help of John and Ronda who are still involved in the farm after handing it down to the next generation. Michael and Michelle have four kids, Thomas (almost 13), Conner (11), Sophia (8), and Hugh (5). The only other help they have is their governess "govy" Natalie and an international travel student Chloe from France. If Chloe works on a farm in Australia for 88 days she can stay on her travel visa for an additional year in Australia.

We unloaded the bus and the kids got settled into their "White House." The girls were in one side and the boys in the other. All in bunk beds and sleeping bags. It was a good chance from the hotels we've been in. The leaders got rooms with actual beds, whew! It was almost dinner time when we got there, so once the kids got settled we had a fantastic home cooked dinner. 

Following dinner, Conner gave the kids instruction on a few ways to crack a whip. The kids all had a chance to try and some were really good! They then lit a bonfire and we brought out sparklers for the kids to celebrate the Fourth of July. 

Day 12 : To Airlie Beach

Today was a driving day up to Airlie Beach. We stopped a few times along the way, once because the highway was closed. There really is only one major hwy and it is typically two lanes. There are many built in passing lanes, but when an accident happens, the highway closes. 

This happened to us on our trip today. We waited it out for a bit at a gas station, we were told it could be three hours, thankfully it was less than one. Cars could take the back roads, but large vehicles like our bus would be too wide to make it.

We also did a bit of shopping in Mackay and Airlie Beach.