Six Months

Sam's crazy athletic week began on Monday with a special assembly to present the uniforms. The uniforms are new and are a big source of pride for the school. Ben Creagh, a professional rugby player for the Illawarra Dragons was on hand to help present them. Rob Hegyi is one of the coaches. There was also new uniforms for the CC team and Sam got to get special attention recieving it also.
This is Josh, Jackson and Sam before they ran their cross country event. There was probably about 1,000 students there, ages 8-12. The hats are special momentos to keep for being a sports representative of the school.
This is Sam in the middle of a footy match. He plays winger and does a lot of tackling. Sam is the tall one in the middle. He wears a foam helmet, mouth guard and foam shoulder pads which is not a lot of protection from the full-on tackles.
Sam and his mates after the 1st win!

We celebrated our 6 month anniversary on Sunday, May 18. We were invited to a barbecue at Sue (Helen's twin sister) and Alastair's house. We had a great time. John and Alistair jammed together with the guitar and tin whistle. Helen, Sue and I had a very competitive game of scrabble. The kids played Cricket in thier yard. I should have taken pictures--but I didn't.

We had a crazy week. I should say Sam had a crazy week. I had written that he is playing rugby(really it is called footy here as he plays for rugby league vs. rugby union). Our typical week is practice on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons and games on Saturday.

Because he got 3rd in his age group at the school cross country carnival, he was able to represent St. Francis Xavier at the all diocese cross country meet. He has been practicing on Tuesdays and Thursday at 8 am, prior to school. They have been running a 2+K on the beach and around the lighthouse. What a great way to start the day. The "GALA" day or CC meet was on Tuesday in Nowra (about 2 hours south). It was a very tough course and I was proud he finished. I was able to be a course marshall. Instead of a golf cart coming to get the injured children, it was a Landcruiser with a cattle prod rack on the front. It was rough terrain. There were about 130 kids and Sam finished 96th. He still made it to footy practice on that afternoon

He also was able to represent St. Franny's for footy. So he has been practicing for that team on Wednesday afternoons. On Thursday this week, he got another day off of school to go to a diocese GALA day. They played 3 footy games between 9:30 and 2:00. It was a busy day. Sam came just short of scoring a try(goal). At 4pm he was back out on the field practicing with his club team. They, the Collegians, had a game today. They played the highest ranked team and ended the game in a tie.

I know he did all of the running and tackling but John and I are bushed!!! Thankfully he only has his Collegian Club footy.

Kait is still in her Drama class and is preparing to put on a play. She has the part of Alice in Wonderland in a play about Humpty Dumpty. I am assured it is a comedy! It will be in a few weeks --hopefully I will get some good photos.

Saturday Sydney

We went to "The Rocks" area of Sydney. This is the historical part of the city. Cadman's Cottage is one of the original buildings.
Everyone appreciated Sydney's history by having a beer in a historical pub.
We went to a ballet at the Opera House. It was really great. The Opera House is huge and beautiful. After the show and dinner, we took a ferry from circular Quay to Darling Harbour and then walked to Central Station and took the train to Wollongong. We were all exhausted.

Saturday Sydney

Saturday morning we walked through Hyde Park. We looked at the Anzac Memorial
St. Mary's Cathedral and the Botanical Gardens were some of the things we stopped to see.
This is an aboriginal who was playing the digerredoo and posing for photos with tourists.
Everyone was tired but, we had one more thing to see.

Friday Sydney

We took the Darling Harbour to Circular Quay.
That took us under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and past the Opera House.

We went past Luna Park, an old amusement park, on the harbour.

Then, we took the Manly Ferry to Manly Beach. This was a great way to see the actual size of the Sydney Harbour and the city of Sydney. It was dark when we returned and the city lights were very pretty but, none of our night time photos turned out well.

We had dinner in the Spanish Quarter. We had great paella and lots of Sangria!

Friday Sydney

We got back to Wollongong on Thursday night. We quickly re-packed our bags for our trip to Sydney. Only this time, we only took a backpack for us and Mom and Dad took a backpack. We took the Southcoast train from Wollongong to Central Station in Sydney. We were able to check in to our hotel and set off to see the sights. We stopped at Darling Harbour first.
Had an outdoor lunch along the harbour.
Sam found a boat that runs on solar energy.
We went to Sydney Wildlife Museum to see kangaroos, koalas, emus and other Australian animals.
This aboriginal man graciously gave us a didgereedoo lesson. John is hoping to learn to play one of these before we leave.

Thursday--Leural Falls and Lyre Glenn

We spent the night at a mountain cottage retreat with beautiful views. Once we got going again we did quite a bit of hiking. This was amazingly beautiful spot, Leural Falls. This is at the bottom of the first set of falls. It was a long way down--lots of steps.
Behind Mom and Dad, you the falls as they cascade down and down. Dad is trying to push Mom in the water.
Another waterfall at Lyre Glenn. I am only getting parts of these fall in the picture, most of them fall from really high places. Honestly though, I don't think any of us want to see more waterfalls, rocks or steps for a while!

Wednesday--Scenic World Blue Mountains

This picture was taken on the rail car down to coal mine area.
Here is the entrance to the coal mine.
A group shot!
If you make this larger, by double clicking on the photo, you can see the tram we took back up the mountain.

Wednesday--Blue Mountains

On Wednesday morning we got up early and drove to Katoomba, NSW. The Blue Mountains are beautiful and breathtaking. Between Kait and Dad you can see the famed Three Sisters rock formation.
Sam and Mom look down--it is a long way down and it plays with your heard when you get close to the railing.
We took a path that led to a lookout and stairs down to the base of the first of the Three Sisters.
Sam and Dad climb up to the top.
I am on the lookout--looking down and zooming in as far as the camera could go to see John, Kait, Sam and Dad at the base of one of the three sisters. Of course, there was a sign saying if you have breathing, or heart problems please do not go down the stairs.

Tuesday at Canberra--The Nation's Capital

Tuesday we went up and over the escarpment again, this time to Canberra. We passed a varied terrain. This photo is of Lake George and dry lake bed that is huge. It took us about 3 hours to get there.
This is a eucalyptus tree behind Dad, Kait and Sam.
We are at the Australia National Museum. We did drive around Parliment and a bit of Canberra. The museum is a great synopsis of Australian history and culture. We learned alot about the aboriginees and the effects of the Europeans arrival.

Monday at Minnamura Rainforest and Kiama Blowhole

Double click on the image if you want to see it bigger--you might on a few of these. We are at the Minnamurra Rainforest on Monday afternoon.
This is a large strangler fig. It was a huge tree!! A stangler fig actually is a tree that begins to grow in the top of another tree. It grows down and around and eventually stranglers the host tree.
This is a beautiful area with large ferns, meandering streams, large boulders, water dragons and lyrebirds.
On our way back to Wollongong, we stopped in the small town of Kiama to see the blowhole.
It was a place with barren volcanic rock and crashing waves. Such a contrast to the lush green of the rainforest and the beauty of the waterfalls.

Monday--Waterfalls, waterfalls

This is Fitzeroy Falls.
It was a bit chilly--about 60 degrees F. We hiked around in the woods and saw the Twin Falls too.
We drove a while to get to Carrington Falls.
We thought these were beautiful!!

Sunday at the Rock Pools

Later in the afternoon, we explored the rock pools.
They found shells, sea anemones, fish, sea stars and other treasures by the sea.

Mom even swam in the salt water pool.

Sunday Dad Surfing

Dad got pressured by Sam to give the board a go. John borrowed one from Chris at work. So Dad had no choice!
John is giving him a few pointers as they head out.

I think Dad is wondering--How do I get on this thing??? He got a ride in!
And he is going back for more!!!