Kennedy's Birthday - I am Canadian!

Kennedy celebrated her 9th birthday on April 4th. We had her party at the end of March because her birthday actually fell during the school holiday. It was a beautiful sunny day which was a first for us. Her birthday is early enough in April that the weather is still a bit chilly and maybe even rainy. The temperature was in the 20's so we were able to celebrate outside. This also made it easy for clean up as you can leave all the crumbs for the birds!!

This year she chose a Canadian theme for her birthday. Yes, it is a bit cheesy but it certainly was easy! I just bought everything in red and white. Some of the kids even dressed in red and white.

They had a great time outside snacking on chips, pizza and koolaid. The koolaid was a first for the Aussie kids and was received with mixed reviews. The cake was a masterpiece ( I can say that since I made it) and came out fabulous.

The kids ran around the yard, played a few games, opened gifts and ate cake. I think it was a success over all. Kennedy was really pleased with how it all turned out and that's all that matters - right?

Kennedy's Birthday - I am Canadian!

Kennedy celebrated her 9th birthday on April 4th. We had a birthday party at the end of March for her and some friends. She decided on a Canadian theme. Yes, it seems like a cop out but it's what she wanted. And I must say that it was pretty easy because we just bought everything in red and white.

It was a beautiful day so we had the party outside. That was a change for us because in early April at home it is usually still too chilly to be outside. It makes for easy clean up too, just leave the crumbs for the birds!

The kids ran around, played some games and had a great time. The Aussie kids had their first taste of Koolaid ( with mixed reviews) and ate some pizza and birthday cake. It was a good day.

Going to see the Gov'nah

It all started in late February when a lovely piece of mail {almost the only piece of mail} showed up in the mailbox. It was addressed to Steve, had no return address and in place of a stamp it said "Government House". Inside was an invitation to see the Governor of Victoria at Government House during education week.

In fact, the invitation said "The Governor and Mrs. Jan de Kretser request the pleasure of the company of Me at a reception at Government House". Notice that he is the Governor and she is Mrs. Jan de Kretser, kinda funny, don't ya think?

On March 3, 2009, off to downtown Melbourne Steve did go, in his dress pants, dress shirt, tie and dress shoes {oh yeah, socks that were not white!}. Alas, no shorts or Hawaiian shirts did he wear!

It is a small house, only seats a few, and is in dire need of updating!!! WOW. What an incredible place to visit. Apparently the house is only open 1 day a year to the public, Australian Day {January 25th}. The Governor regularly hosts events 2 - 4 per week however these are only for "important" people. Two weeks before the International Education Gala, Princess Anne spent 4 days at the house - just thought that I would share that with you. The only way in to the Governors house and property is by invitation and there are guards to the entrance. The house was built in the mid 1870s and once served as Australia's capital until Canberra was created and built.

There were about 350 visitors in the hall

See: dress pants and shirt and tie. The others are international students and a teacher.

A brief ceremony was held, one by a pair of Aboriginals, a sign of good graces and a proper welcoming. One played a didgeridoo while the other presented every visitor with a Eucalyptus leaf, a sign of a proper introduction, good health and a proper greeting. The governor then spoke as did the minister of education. The whole ceremony was scripted down to the minute and took a total of 37 minutes.

This is the Governor, notice his wife right beside him, oops sorry, she is not allowed on the "throne"
The governor spoke to as many people as possible. He is an amazing man, ~ 70 years old and does not appear to be over 50! he is very well travelled and spoken, he spent ~3 years living just outside of Seattle. He and his wife attend 4 - 8 functions per week and he chats to everyone! His wife is also an amazing person, she likes to visit with people as well. She is very down to earth and said that she prefers if the governor gets all the limelight.


After the ceremony, the gardens and a partial section of the lower level of the house were opened. Everyone got to tour the house and could stay until 1 pm sharp. Food and drink were served during this time, the food was amazing: meat pies, mushroom and feta tortes and some other appies, not sure what most were!

Just a small dining room, only seats 30 per side, 6 silver candelabras and 2 fireplaces

See, I really did meet and chat with the governor.

There is a fountain in the "corner of the terrace section". The fountain is ~ 15 feet in diameter. The second level of the house has ~ 37 rooms, most of which the public will never see. Every where that the governor or his wife went, they had a personal aide and a police officer{s} or guard{s} was not far off.

As I toured parts of the house, most of the furniture was from the early 1900s, a band was playing in one room - there were about 100 people in this room, but that could have been easily doubled, a huge entrance, probably only 60 x 20 feet, a monster desk, it was ~10' x 10' x 3' made of solid oak!

It was an amazing experience. I am one of the few teachers at Maroondah Secondary College to ever be invited to an event at Government House. All of the teacher exchange teachers were invited to this event. It is a very humbling and amazing event to partake of, I have never been invited to the Premier of B.C., the Parliament buildings or any other government function back in B.C. It made me realise how interesting, extensive and powerful this whole teacher exchange is. I was originally thinking that I would meet a few people from the district, however never in my life did I think that I would meet the Governor of Victoria.

I have been invited to the Educational Board Office of Victoria to meet the "powers that be" and have experienced amazing treatment by: Maroondah Secondary, the board office and the Government of Victoria. They all have made me feel very welcome and appreciated, it makes me wonder and hope that the same is occurring for all the exchange teachers back home.

Twilight Fete

On March 13 we attended the Twilight Fete at the girls school. This was possibly the most fun at a school event that I've ever had! The fete is a fund raiser that almost every school in Victoria puts on. In talking to the Vice Principal we learned that the evening would bring in almost $10 000 to the school. One evening!!!!! It was truly a family event with people bringing their lawn chairs and blankets. Everybody gathered on the basketball courts to enjoy the fun.


Each grade decides on a theme and then sets a booth up. The grade ones had the Lolly and Glow Stick booth where I put in an hours time and met many, many parents and kids. It actually turned out to be really enjoyable. The preps were selling the art work that they had made in class, you even had the option to get it framed for an extra $10. There was face painting, fairy floss and fresh fruit. There was some yummy food for sale - hamburgers, sausage in bread and baked potatoes. It was all at a very reasonable price and smelled heavenly! Most of the booths had some sort of community sponsorship as well, to help offset the costs.


The booth that made us stop in amazement was the beer and wine one. At a primary school function!!! For $2 you could choose from 6 different beers or white or red wine. You could also bring your own food and drinks (including alcohol). Honestly, that booth still makes us laugh when we think about it.

Throughout the night there was music playing. In the weeks leading up to the fete the kids had been filling out ballots to vote for their favorite songs. One of the teachers compiled the results and played the Montrose Top 100 for all to hear. The kids danced and sang all night long!! Kennedy even won a prize for being able to name a song and artist during a contest.





The evening had started at about 5pm and by 9pm we were exhausted and very grateful that we had only a 30 second walk home. The kids were really disappointed to leave they had been having so much fun. Steve and I were chatting about whether something like that would be possible at home. No food safe and alcohol for sale at a school event - not likely.

There were cars parked for blocks and blocks around the school.

Lost in Translation

One would assume that since both Canada and Australia are both English speaking countries that everything you read would be straight forward. we have found a few signs that have left us wondering as well as a few that are pretty clear.

Bob Jane - tires, batteries and other car stuff - who'd have guessed?

This is one of the more straight forward ones.

Forget mittens, stick your hands inside a roll of toilet paper to keep them warm in the winter.

Steve thinks this is the funniest sign.

They sell tires people, only tires.

It's kind of like the moose signs on the highways in BC.

Nope, not fast food. It's a bottle shop (liquor store). Just pull up and they come to the car to take your order!

After you're done at the bottle shop, right next door is...

This one makes me think of Harvey Korman ( the guy from the Carol Burnett show) and he was really funny.

Sells computers, printers, etc but I've never seen anybody there that looks like that!






See they're every where!

I wonder if any nice people shop here...

We just thought this would give you a taste of what it's like to shop here. No Home Depot where you know what they sell - stuff for your home. It's more like "head toward Nunawadding, turn left at Harvey Korman, past Keith Fagg and Bob Jane. You'll see the Total Tools on your right!" Huh????

Second Time Around

One of the first Friday drives we took in Australia was up past Healesville towards Alexandra and Marysville on February 6. I remember that it was the 6th because the next day was "Black Saturday" when the bushfires swept through all the areas we had driven through the night before. From a previous post you may remember the photos of beautiful green trees and lush rows of grape vines, it's a beautiful area that we have really enjoyed exploring.

Last Friday we decided to go for our weekly adventure somewhere along the same roads we had travelled Feb. 6th. We were curious about the extent of the damage and wanted to see for ourselves. It has also been one of our favorite areas to explore. Healesville is about 20 -30 minutes from where we are here in Montrose. During the time of the fires we could smell the smoke and had days of smoke filled skies. The girls even had a couple of extra days off school due to the increased risk of fire.

The area around Healesville remains beautiful. It's just in a different way. Now you can see how nature has chosen strange paths to travel. We didn't see any burnt houses but instead saw how the houses remained untouched while the fields and trees around them were burnt. We saw cars and sheds that were destroyed and huge fields that were completely untouched. It was interesting to make the comparisons to what we had seen the first time we had been through the area.

All I can think is how incredible mother nature is that she is starting to "rebuild" already!