Tasmania

Hello from Tassie!

  Last Saturday, the 3^rd of March, I packed up all my gear and said a heartfelt Good-bye to Jagumba and all of my friends both animal and human. 

Saying Good-bye to Sambo

Receiving farewell kisses from Bouncer and Brownie,
the two Kelpie puppies that are almost grown now.

Kathrin drove me down to meet with my friend Caitlin, who had graciously agreed to drive me down to Melbourne, where I would catch a plane over to the island state of Tasmania.  During our five hour trip, Caitlin drove on parts of the old highway that passes through all of the small towns.  Many of them have been there for decades and have some interesting histories.  We stopped by Glenrowan and saw the statue of the famous outlaw Ned Kelly.  Glenrowan was where Ned Kelly has his last stand against theVictorian police. 

Statue of Ned Kelly in his homemade armor.

Caitlin’s parents and most of her siblings live in Melbourne and I had the great pleasure of spending the weekend getting to know them and the city of Melbourne.   When we arrived, Caitlin’s parents, Dennis and Roxane, showed me around their lovely garden and Dennis even coaxed the Rainbow Lorikeets out of the trees with some bird seed. 

Rainbow Lorikeets

We had a wonderful BBQ dinner at the home of Caitlin’s older sister, Emily.  I was able to meet all of Caitlin’s nieces and nephews.

Roxane with daughters Caitlin and Emily

Me and one of Caitlin's nephews.

   The next morning Roxane agreed to take Caitlin and me on a personal tour of Melbourne.  Roxane is a native of the great city and was able to tell me all about the different buildings and all the stories behind them. 

Exhibition Hall

 We saw the Exhibition Hall, and part of the Melbourne Museum.  Then we walked through the downtown area.  We went into St. Patrick’s Cathedral. 

St. Patrick's Cathedral

The inside is absolutely beautiful with stain glass windows, impressive statues and a huge main altar.  Along the back wall behind the altar are special altars and tombs for the past Archbishops of Melbourne. 

A beautiful altar erected in memory
of a former Archbishop

  We walked down past large public parks and the Church of England Cathedral.  We saw the huge Central train station and the tallest building in Melbourne behind it. 

Central Station in Melbourne

We walked past the Parliament building, and took a bus down to the entrance to China town.  We saw the oldest Catholic Church in Melbourne which was founded in 1841.  We also saw the old jail house where Ned Kelly, the famous outlaw, was eventually convicted and hung. 

Old Melbourne Jail

We ended our tour of the city with a stroll along the board walk at Port Philip Bay.   

Port Philip Bay with Melbourne in the background
and the parachutes from parasailers in the sky.

    The next morning Caitlin dropped me off at the airport, and I caught an hour long flight over the sea to Tasmania.  Luckily, I had a beautiful day for viewing the coast of the island as we came in to land. 

First view of Tasmania

    While I am in Tasmania I will be staying with families that give traveling helpers room and board in exchange for daily work on their property.  I was met at the airport by my first hostess, Charmaine.  Charmaine and her husband, Wayne, live near the little coastal town of Burnie.  As we drove back from the airport, Charmaine gave me a short biography of the town.  Originally the town made its money by turning lumber into paper.  But the paper factory is closing down and being outsourced overseas.  Brunie also has a milk processing factory and there are many local dairy farms.  Most of the milk is used to make milk chocolate.  As we drove through the higher country, Charmaine pointed out the recently harvested poppy fields.  The poppies here are grown for morphine.  There are also a number of cattle farms, potato fields, and some paddocks are filled with the plants from which insect replant is made.  On their property Charmaine and Wayne have over 10 acres of rhododendrons and rare conifer trees.   



Rhododendron blossom

Charmaine gave me a tour of the property with the help of their labradoodle, Toby.  The smell of the pine trees reminds me of home.

   On Tuesday of that week, Charmaine and I spent the morning baking cookies and cooking homemade tomato soup.  In the afternoon, we went into town to pick up another helper.  Viola is from Germany.  She has traveled over quite a bit of the world.  Her mother is from Taiwan.  Viola speaks German, English, and Mandarin. 

  Wednesday morning, I helped Charmaine out in the garden.  We planted two new rhododendrons and pulled out bracken fern, which grows voraciously here.  

Charmaine planting a new rhododendron while
Toby tries to distract her with his pine cone.

In the afternoon I helped on sanding down the outside of some of the windows.  Wayne is in the process of re-painting the house.   Charmaine is an excellent cook.  Every night we have something different and homemade.  Charmaine and Wayne are originally from South Africa and moved here over thirty years ago to raise their children in Australia. 

Protea blossom from the garden
The Protea is the national flower of South Africa

 Charmaine has a great love for the amazing animals that inhabit the plains and jungles of Africa and she also has a great respect for the native animals that live on their property.  Later in the evening, Charmaine took Viola and me on a night time tour of the gardens.  After sunset the grassy areas are full of wallabies, bandicoots, possums and occasionally Tasmanian devils (although people hardly ever see the devils).  We also stopped by the water dam to look for platypus, but we didn’t have any luck. 

    The next morning was a bit overcast, so Charmaine took Viola and me into town with her.  On our way, we stopped by a little natural area that has a river running through where people often see platypus.  The area is beautiful with ferns and trees shading a path next to the river.  We unfortunately did not see any platypus. 

Fern Glade

Once in town we stopped off at the local visitors’ information center, called the Makers’ Workshop.  Inside was information about the history and sights of the local area as well as local artists exhibiting their crafts.  I enjoyed looking at the paper sculptures and the hand crafted violin that has dolphins for “f” holes.    Viola and I spent the rest of our time in town walking around looking at the different shops. 

Sculpture made out of paper

Hand crafted violin with dolphins

    In the afternoon, we all set out to help clear away brush and weeds from underneath a portion of the rhododendrons. 

Tangle of brush and bracken fern that needs to be pulled

 It was not very difficult work.  But since this section of rhododendrons grow on an incline, I had to be careful where I stepped so as not to over balance myself and end up sliding down the hill. 

Working at clearing underbrush

  Friday morning was special because Viola and I were recruited to help with the preparation for a catered luncheon at the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden, of which Charmaine is a member.  We helped the Rhododendron society (who was hosting the meal) arrange the settings on all the tables and clean up the after the lunch was over.  While the actual lunch was in progress, Viola and I were free to roam around the gardens looking at all the different rhododendrons and other plants from around the world.  The garden is arranged so that each area of the world has its own section to display its native rhododendrons.  I think Japan was my favorite area with a reflection pool and covered bridge.  I had a wonderful time trying the different settings on my camera.  I took pictures until the battery eventually died.

Viola and me with the Japanese covered bridge
in the background.

Beautiful flowers from the gardens

  On Saturday morning Charmaine took Viola, me, another helper, Yan, and Charmaine’s adult son, Collin, to the famous Cradle Mountain.  Yan is helping at another property not too far away.  She is originally from Hong Kong.  Cradle Mt. was beautiful.  We had a perfect day to be out walking about.   We walked around Dove Lake which sits at the base of Cradle Mountain.  The sun was shining and we had a lovely light breeze.  The scenery was absolutely breath-taking. 

Me, Charmaine, Viola, and Yan at Cradle Mt.

The old boat house on the shore of Dove Lake

Me, enjoying the beauty

 On the way back from Cradle Mt. stopped by a small town called Sheffield. Sheffield is famous for the many murals that adorn almost every wall in the city. 

My favorite mural

  Sunday morning we once again picked up Yan and headed out on another day trip.  This time we headed west to the coastal town of Stanley.  The town is famous for the large rock jutting out into the ocean that looks like a large nut.  From the top a person has an amazing view.  To reach the flat top you can either pay for a ride up the chair lift, or walk up a very steep trail.  We walked. 

View of the "nut".  We hiked all the way to the top.
The view was fantastic.

After our hiking adventure, we ate a lunch of fish and chips in Stanley and walked around the town.  Yan and I stopped in at the house where Joe Lyons was born.  Joe Lyons, as we learned, was the first Prime Minister of Australia to be born and raised in Tasmania.  Yet, I thought that Mr. Lyons wife, Enid Lyons, was actually more interesting.  As a child her mother made sure that she had a good education, which included elocution lessons.  Enid Lyons had twelve children and she became the first woman to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives.  She was an advocate for women’s rights and the family. 

House where Joe Lyons was born in Stanley

   On the way back to Burnie, we stopped by Rocky Cape National Park.  We were able to hike up a small trail and see an aboriginal trail.  And we also stopped by Circular Point to see the old lighthouse that still stands there.

Aboriginal cave

Lighthouse

  Sunday evening another helper arrived.  Nirose is an Australian man of Sri Lankan descent.  He is taking a year off of work to travel around Australia. 

 Monday morning we finished working on cleaning out the underbrush from the section of rhododendrons that we had started on Friday.  It took all day, but by the end the difference was definitely noticeable.  After dinner Wayne took Viola and I down to see the Blue Fairy Penguins at the city beach.  Blue Fairy Penguins are the smallest penguins in the world.  Most of the penguins we saw that night were less than a foot long.  They are called “Blue” because their feathers have a bluish tint.  The penguins were very cute, but extremely noisy.  Their call starts with a rolling guttural sound that turns into a high pitch squawk.

Blue Fairy Penguin

On Tuesday morning I assisted Viola in making a delicious German dessert called Donauwelle.  It is named after a river in Germany, because of the chocolate on the top that spreads out like waves on the top of a river.    The foundation of the dessert is a marbled vanilla/chocolate cake.  The cake is topped with cherries and then baked.  After the cake has cooled, a layer of vanilla pudding is added and then a layer of melted chocolate is poured on top to complete the taste.  After the cake was done, Viola and I helped out Charmaine by cleaning part of the house, while she went out to buy groceries for dinner.  We had guests for dinner: Jill and Graham who have been good friends of Wayne and Charmaine and have met all the helpers who have stayed with Wayne and Charmaine.  Dinner was wonderful and dessert was fantastic. 

Viola's Dessert

   We spent most of Wednesday clearing out weeds from one of the beds of rhododendrons next to the drive way and burning off all the plant waste and branches that had been trimmed from the trees.  It was a very warm day. 

Burning off the underbrush we cleared out

And after spending most of the afternoon feeding a roaring fire, Viola and I were looking for a way to cool off.  So Charmaine packed us with Toby into the car and took us to the beach.  The water was lovely and cool.  The temperature was not as cold as I thought it would be.  And I made several laps out and back from the shore. 

Toby ready to go to the beach

Me comtemplating a dip in the sea

Thursday we were suppose to visit a neighboring property to see them extract the honey from their bee hives, but we got rained out.  Viola and I woke up early to sit near the water dam and see if we could spot a platypus.  We waited for well over an hour but still had no luck.  Eventually we were forced to retreat into the house because of the rain. 

Waiting for the platypus

 Nirose volunteered to take Viola and I down to one of the small neighboring towns called La Trobe.  We also picked up another helper from France, who is working on a neighboring property.  Even though it was raining, we had an interesting time walking up and down the streets looking in the different shops.  The most unique shop was Reliqueware, which was stuffed full of old dolls, costumes, jewelry, and other novelty items in over fifteen rooms.  The shop literally had something to interest everyone.  They even had a small room devoted to the British TV show Dr. Who.  On our way out of town we stopped by Anvers Confectionery Chocolate Factory.  We were treated to different chocolate samples and able to watch through windows the workers as they made the chocolate.  While we were three I bought some hot chocolate, and it was the creamiest and richest hot chocolate I have ever tasted!

Watching the workers at the chocolate factory

  That night I made an all American dinner for my hosts.  I cooked American hamburgers with fries for the mail course, and for dessert we had homemade pumpkin pie with fresh pumpkin. 

Friday morning was rainy once again.  But the sky cleared in the afternoon, so we quickly rushed outside to do a bit more work.  We raked up leaves and pine needles from the yard to use for mulching for the different plant beds.  After we finished, Viola and I once again spent some time down at the water dam looking for the platypus, but we didn’t even see any suspicious ripples in the water. 

  This Saturday, Viola, Nirose, and I went with Wayne to the local farmers market to buy fresh produce.  There were stalls and tables full of different kinds of homegrown/homemade foods.  There were stalls with tomatoes, onions, corn, potatoes, leeks, broccoli, and other stalls filled with fresh bread, pasta, honey, and preserves.  Many of the people browsing would greet each other with a G’day, and stand chatting. 

Bread Maker's stall

After the market, Wayne drove us up to an observation point where we could see the whole town of Burnie.  It was beautiful view. 

View of Burnie

And from there we continued driving inland to Guide Falls.  The falls were in rare form today due to the recent rain. 

Guide Falls

  Today I helped Charmaine make mulch out of leaves and pine needles we had collected earlier in the week.  We used a machine to turn old leaves into beautiful mulch. 

Mulching machine to the left, mulch pile in from,
and the pile of old leaves to the right

This evening, Wayne BBQed special sausages from South Africa for dinner.  The sausages were a combination of ground beef and pork.  They tasted rather good.  

Wayne chatting with Viola while BBQing,
with Toby standing by in case some sausages should drop
to the ground.

My Hosts: Wayne, Charmaine, and Toby

 
I will be spending at least another three weeks in Tasmania and I will be sure to write another update soon.  Just after leaving New South Wales, the country side was inundated with enormous amounts of rain.  Many of the towns near the rivers and on the flat lands were severely flooded.  Please keep these people as the start the recovery and rebuilding process in your thoughts and prayers. 

   Hana

Last Week at Jagumba

Hi Everyone,

  This week has been very wet.  We have been given over six inches of rain in the last three days.

Home grown watermelon

Kathrin arrived home safely last Saturday evening.  She was very happy to see me and the wonderful American candy I had brought back with me.  That evening we had Ben, Barry’s nephew, and his family over for dinner.  Their daughter, Rachel, may borrow on of Barry’s mares to use during Pony Club this year.  While they were hear looking at the mare, Rachel got to ride on the mare’s foal, which is almost eight months old.  She was just the right size jockey for the little horse. 

Rachel riding giving the foal his first ride

Sunday morning, braving the threatening looking sky, Kathrin and I moved the spider fence in the horses’ paddock.  We then spent some quality time training two of the new brumbies, Marvin and Amber.  Amber is about two years old, while we think Marvin is only a baby at one year old.  I got to work with Marvin.  We started out with a join up.  During the join up, I stand in the middle of the yard with a stick that has a plastic bag on the end and let the horse run around me.  Since the horse wants to get away, it runs in a circle around by the fence.  When the horse gets tired of running, it will usually stop in a corner.  If the horse puts its head in the corner and its rear toward me, I shake the bag and make noise the horse doesn’t like, this is something we call “pressure”.  If the horse turns its head toward me, then I stop making any threatening moves or noises and take a step back.  The horse will usually look at me for a few moments and then try to turn away.  As soon as the horse turns its attention away from me, I apply more pressure.  Pressure can be anything that makes the horse uncomfortable.  By using a pressure and release technique, I am teaching the horse which of its choices bring it the most comfort and which choices bring it the most discomfort. 

Kathrin giving me a few pointers with Marvin

  After awhile the horse eventually realizes that if it stands facing me, then it doesn’t have to work or be uncomfortable.  Then I work at having the horse move itself so its head is always following me.  I do this by slowly walking from one side of the horse to another.  The horse will generally follow me with its head.  When I reach a certain point, the horse has to move its rear end away from me to keep following me with its head.  This is one of the first lessons we teach a horse, to always keep its rear end (the end that likes to kick people) turned away from us.  I start my half-circles out away from the horse and then I slowly work my way toward the horse, generally with my shoulder toward it rather than straight on, until the horse will allow me to touch it.  Then I start with lots of rubbing on the neck until I can work my way down the horse on either side.  On some horses it is best to do this kind of rubbing with the end of a stick first, so that way if there is an especially sensitive spot and the horse tries to bite or kick at what is touching it, the object touching the horse is not my hand.  From there I work up to putting on a halter and then teaching the horse how to yield the front and hind quarters. 

  Marvin was a new challenge, since he had not been handled as much before as the other horses I have worked with.  He ran off on me a few times, but persistence makes all the difference. 

While we were working with Marvin and Amber, we also brought Rosa and her new foal, Banjo, into the yards.  Kathrin separated Banjo from his mother, and then rubbed him all over and got him used to being touched and being a bit apart from his mom. 

  Later in the afternoon, Kathrin and I went out for a ride on the motor bike.  We went down past the cabin to the river and collected some edible mushrooms to have with our meal.  The mushrooms are very good sautéed in butter.

Kathrin and Spike picking mushrooms

Edible mushroom

  Monday morning arrived with fog, wind, and smatterings of rain.  It was cold for what was supposed to be a summer day.  Kathrin and I rode around the goat fence on horseback.  We had to pull two goats out of the fence. 

Kathrin pulling a goat out of the fence
while the audience watches with intense interest

Then we worked with Marvin and Amber again.  It was amazing to see the progress the horses had already made after just one day of training.  Then Kathrin had me start teaching Banjo how to lead on the end of a rope.  First I rubbed Banjo all over and get him used to being touched.  Then I put on a little foal halter.  Next came the hard part.  All Banjo really wanted was to return to his mom, so I had to move him around in circles, teaching him to yield to the pressure of the halter, so that he would get used to following the instructions I was giving him as I applied pressure through the lead rope and halter.  Soon Banjo would turn complete circles when I pulled him in that direction and from there I was able to lead him a few steps forward before he would try to pull back on the halter rope.  It is important to get young foals used to people and yards, so that when they are older, they are not so afraid and panicky. 

Me and Banjo

In the afternoon, Kathrin and I picked some of the ripe cherry tomatoes and then made a tomato and zucchini mixture with them.

Kathrin in the garden

Pomegranate blossom from a bush near the cabin

Tuesday morning arrived with pouring rain.  It started in the very early hours of the morning and didn’t quit until late in the afternoon.  So Kathrin and I spent most of the day inside working on different computer projects and house hold chores.  When the rain let up in the afternoon, we had another session with Marvin, Amber, and Banjo. 

Wednesday morning was overcast and chilly, but with little rain.  That was fortunate since we had a beef group meeting that day, and part of the meeting was to be held outside.  The meeting was held at the farm just down the road that Barry’s father used to own when Barry was a kid.  It now has different owners, but it is still cattle land.  As we were about to leave, Kathrin received a phone call from the farm we were suppose to visit.  One of their cows had stumbled down a hill, through the fence, and was lying in the road.  We hopped in the car and rushed down to see if there was anything Kathrin could do for the poor cow.  Kathrin did try to help the cow revive by giving it some liquid formula of glucose, magnesium, and calcium through an intravenous injection.  Unfortunately, it did not help the cow much.  She died shortly after.  Kathrin checked the tongue and found that there it was swollen with small pustules on the underside.  These symptoms pointed toward snake bite. 

Kathrin doing what she can for the sick cow

  Well since the road the cow died on is the only road into the farm we were visiting, all the other members of the beef group meeting stopped to watch and offer aid.  After the cow had been checked and it was found nothing could be done, everyone headed up to the house so the meeting could begin.  After the introduction of the topic, beef fat, had been introduced, the whole group adjourned outside to take a look at some cows and learn how to tell what fat score the cows would fall under when sent to the market to be sold.  It is important to know the fat score of a cow because the fat on a cow determines the chances of that cow getting pregnant, and cows with more fat often sell for more money.  We learned that to tell the fat on a cow, there are certain areas on the cow’s body where there will be no muscle, and any soft flesh will be fat.  By looking, you can tell how fat a cow is by how large and round the brisket, or front jowl, of the cow is, by how much fat is around the cow’s tail and ribs.  After feeling the cows to try to judge their fat scores, the farmers then took an ultrasound machine that would measure the depth of the fat between the skin and the muscle at the point where it was placed.  Most cows need to be at least at a fat score of three with 7-12 mm of fat in order to be bred or to bring money at the market. 

Learning where to look for fat on a cow

Beef group members comparing the fat on different cows

One of the group members using the ultra sound machine
to check the thickness of fat

  When we returned from the beef group meeting in the afternoon, Kathrin and I worked with the brumbies again.  They were much quieter and more willing to move around as we directed. 

Thursday was the day of rain.  It started raining Wednesday afternoon and did not stop until late Thursday evening.  Kathrin and I watched two movies and stayed inside most of the day.  In the late afternoon, we thought we had found a break in the storm.  So we rode on the four-wheeler up to the goat paddock so we could check the goat fence.  By the time we reached the top of the hill it had started pouring again. 

Riding the motor bik in the rain

We pulled one goat out from the fence.  I was completely soaked by the time we made it back down the hill.  While we were out and wet anyway, we decided to ride down by the river.  The water was rushing down in a torrent and muddy water was submerging rocks that were normally above the water.  The bridge over the river was flooded with rain water that had run down off the hill. 

Bridge covered in water

River swollen with all the rain

  Friday arrived with no rain (thankfully).  But the warmth of the sunshine was soon taken by the biting cold of the wind.  The wind blew in large, repeated gusts all day.  Windy weather is not conducive for working with horses, especially young and inexperienced horses.  Horses are more apt to spook when it is windy and they usually spend most of their time trying to keep their backs toward the wind.  It was a good day to be inside.  So I spent most of the day packing in preparation for my trip to Tasmania.  It was quite the challenge to fit all of my necessary junk into one backpack and a shoulder bag. 

Kathrin and I also made one last batch of homemade ice cream. Yum! Kathrin has an electric ice cream machine. The machine turns a paddle inside of the ice cream canister, and we put crushed ice and salt around the outside of the canister to provide the necessary temperature. We freeze the ice in old milk jugs. Then when we make ice cream we use a large wooden mallet to hammer the ice into small chunks to fit around the canister. 

Kathrin smashing up the ice

Pouring crushed ice and salt around ice cream canister

  In the afternoon, Kathrin and I drove down on the four-wheeler to the cabin and around the large paddock behind the cabin as a last farewell ride around Jagumba.  We saw several small herds of fallow deer and some kangaroos.  We also saw one large Samba deer.  I also got to see Jimmy and his foal, which has grown quite a bit in the last few months.  

 

Jimmy's mare (far left), foal, and Jimmy

While we were down at the cabin, we picked some more corn from the garden and checked to see how the tarps on top of the hay were doing with all of the wind.  It was a good thing we checked because the ends of the tarps had been blown back by the wind.  We readjusted the tires and string along the sides and put the tarps back in position. 

Tarp blown off the hay due to high winds

Must run now,

  Hana

Rainy Day

Hi Everyone,

  It is raining and has been raining all morning, so I thought it would be nice to upload some extra pictures for your enjoyment.  Most of these are photos that I have not had room for in previous posts.

Kathrin as a mad scientist with
her magnifying head gear

Australian Magpie

Spike and Chickadee

Sunset

Danny hiding in the hay

Fog in the morning

Timmy

Grasshopper camouflaged in the leaves

 

Wading in the river with the dogs

Lovely view

Sprocket caught in a rare moment of stillness

A Queensland Blue Pumpkin

Banjo (Rosa's new foal) and me

Hope these photos brought a smile to your face.

Hana

Back in Australia

Hi Everyone,

   My journey home was long, but I made the trip without any problems.  I almost arrived back home before I had technically left Australia thanks to the time difference.  Yes, the customs and border patrol agents did let me back into the country, much to my brother’s disappointment.  I spent my first week home visiting friends and family.  It was so wonderful and uplifting to see my home again.  I miss you all terribly. 

My return home

  The next Wednesday, February 8^th, my Mom and I flew across country to attend a scholarship competition at Franciscan University of Steubenville in Steubenville Ohio.  I had a blast.  I have not had the pleasure of meeting that many intelligent teenagers in a long time.  Mom and I spent Wednesday evening chatting over coffee with students we know from the university.  From one of the junior year students I learned about Franciscan University’s nursing program.  I am very interested in the challenging courses the program offers and the ability to graduate with all the skills and fulfilled requirements for becoming a registered nurse.  This summer I will volunteer at one of the local hospitals to explore the possibility of taking pre-nursing my freshman year.  My other choice for a major would be economics.  Most people, when I have informed them that economics would be my choice of study, have commented “how boring”.  Yet an amazing economics class in high school, where we studied not only current economic theory, but also the history and future possibilities of economics, piqued my interest in such a far reaching field of study.

  That Thursday morning, I had an admissions interview with the admissions counselor for my area.  The interview was very helpful.  I not only learned more about the school and the requirements for my major areas of study, but I also got the chance to discuss the different aspects of the university with someone who had firsthand experience as a former student.  I was impressed by the counselor’s obvious affection for his Alma Mater, but also his understanding that choosing a college is a choice that each person must make based on what will be best for their own future.   

  After this interview, my Mom and I joined many other potential students and scholarship competitors on a tour of the campus.  The tour was a bit cold (I had forgotten how cold February is!) but very informative and funny thanks to the inserted comments from our tour guides.  It was especially interesting to see the fully operational TV studio in the basement of one of the buildings, where the university records its own shows for EWTN television.  And the huge library on campus would definitely be one of my favorite buildings.  After our tour, we were invited to lunch in the cafeteria.  And it was nice to sit and chat with some of the other scholarship participants who were on the tour.  When lunch was finished, we were given a look around one of the dormitories.  Franciscan University has separate dormitories for girls and boys.  After the dorm tour came the best part of visiting any university: the opportunity to sit in on classes.  I sat in on one of the history classes.  Being a lover of history and anything having to do with classical thought, I usually judge the competence of a university based on the history teachers.  History can be a very boring and unremarkable subject when taught by the wrong teacher.  But if the history teacher can teach a class while capturing the attention of the students, and teach history with a passion for the truth, then the school has done its job in selecting an appropriate teacher.  Dr. Doyle is such a teacher.  The day I sat in on his class we learned about the American Government’s different legal policies concerning the Native Americans, and about Custer’s last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.  Dr. Doyle explained the nature of each of the government policies, while also emphasizing their relevance to American history.  Then we watched a video of Custer’s last battle.  Dr. Doyle explained that this particular video was the most accurate representation of the battle that he had found.  He also gave a running commentary about why Custer had run into such trouble in the first place and how his lieutenant and major failed to come to his aid when he ran smack into the Indian forces armed with superior weapons.  It was a very good class.

  The next class I had the privilege of sitting in on was a session of the university’s Great Books Honor Program.  This class was for the freshman, and the group was discussing part of Plato’s Republic.  For those of you who do not know me very well, I love reading classics. (I know that is weird, but I never claimed to be normal.)  I especially enjoy books about philosophy and works where the author discusses human nature.  I so enjoyed being able to watch this group of students discuss such a work.  I was very impressed that the guys in the class kept the conversation going and gave intelligent input.  Normally in such classes, I never hear one word out of the guys, and the girls end up running the whole conversation.  I have already applied and been accepted for the Honors Program for next year.  I am also highly impressed by the reading list for the whole four year course.  There are a number of authors I have already read and would like to discuss, and there are also many other works that I have not yet explored. 

  After sitting in on classes, all of the students and their families attended Mass in the university chapel.  As the name “Franciscan” might suggest, the school is managed and supported by a group of Franciscan friars.  The friars are teachers, priests, and spiritual leaders on campus.  Another fantastic aspect of the university is the religious fervor on campus.  There are three daily Masses and all of them are full.  I don’t know that I have ever seen that many young people at Mass before.   

  Every family then left to find their own dinner.  We ate at a local restaurant with another scholarship participant and her father.  It was a nice meal and we discussed what we had seen and what we liked so far about the university.  Later in the evening we returned to the school for the welcoming social for the scholarship competition.  That was one of the best parts.  It was amazing to me that there were so many intelligent, Catholic, youth in one place.  Past scholarship contenders who now attend Franciscan introduced themselves and mingled with present competitors to answer questions and talk about life at the university.  It was very interesting to get the opinions and recommendations on classes from current students.  Everyone was extremely friendly and helpful.  I was able to talk with a current nursing student who is taking the Honors Program (the two combined are quite a work load).  She told me not to be intimidated by what others might tell me, the work could be done if I really wanted to take nursing and the Honors Program. It was also neat to meet some of my fellow competitors and ask about what school they went to now, and what area they wanted to study.  Only the top 3% of each year’s applicants are invited to the competition, so naturally I was speaking with the best of the best. I couldn’t believe the amount of work some of the kids had in mind! 

The next morning, everyone arrived early for a buffet breakfast and the beginning of the competition.  All the participants were dress in their best business formal clothes, and everyone was nervous.  It was comforting to know that I was not the only one worried about the day’s events.  But the best part was that everyone had a positive attitude. 

The first event was a panel interview.  The over eighty contestants were divided into groups of twelve and led to different areas to begin.  Each student was given a ten minute interview with a panel of staff and faculty.  The second event was an hour long, timed essay session. And the last event, and by far the most fun, was the performance of a skit.  We were again divided into a different group of twelve, given a bag of props and instructions, and about an hour and a half to make a skit using all of the props.  We then came back into the main room and each group performed their skit for the parents and competition staff.  All of the skits were absolutely hilarious! 

  After the end of the scholarship events, the former scholarship participants held a pizza party for those current competitors who wished to stay and have some fun with the current students.  I was able to stay and had a great time.  I had the opportunity to experience an overnight stay in one the dormitories.  I stayed with two amazing Franciscan students.  They were extremely friendly and gracious in allowing me to hang out with them for the evening.  Both girls made it very easy to become one of their friends.  In the morning we went to Mass and had breakfast together in the cafeteria.  After visiting several universities around the country, these two roommates made me feel the most welcome and were very understanding and helpful when it came to answering my questions about the college.    

  Mom and I spent the rest of our time at Franciscan that Saturday morning browsing through the bookstore and sitting in the student building chatting with some of the other contestants and their families.  We then flew back home that evening. 

It was a very positive and educational trip.  I did find out the other day that I was not chosen as one of the two recipients of the full tuition scholarships.  It is slightly disappointing, but I am not very surprised after meeting all of the exceptional competition participants.

   I did get a few more days to spend with my family before flying back to Australia, but I probably should have stayed another week.  My poor body clock was very confused over the two weeks of travel.  I arrived back in the island country last Friday (Australian time).  I took a train out of Central station in Sydney to one of the outer suburbs to meet up with Barry.  Barry was working on dismantling some machinery he had bought.  Luckily for me, the daughter of the owner of the machine company, and his secretary, was kind enough to take me out to lunch with her and her family, and she showed me her horses.  That night, Barry and I stayed with a friend near Sydney.  I had a lovely night’s sleep.  I was very tired after the fourteen hour plane flight across the Pacific Ocean, and the time difference. 

Leaving Central Station

  Saturday morning Barry finished taking apart and loading the machinery, while I ran errands with my rescuer from the previous day and her two young daughters.  We went to visit the local museum and I learned all about the Flabbit.  Back in the early 1900s a local politician wanted to attract tourism and people to his small town, so he used his skills with taxidermy and created a Flabbit, a creature with the body of a rabbit and the wings and tail feathers of a falcon.  He sent in pictures of the creature to the Sydney newspapers, claiming that he had seen the wild creature near his home.  Soon he got his wish of incoming people, and the Flabbit lives on in legend to this day. 

  Barry and I arrived back at Jagumba late Saturday night.  Kathrin is currently gone for the week working as a substitute veterinarian.   On Sunday afternoon Caitlin, the young lady who wanted to buy Dakota, came up to go horseback riding.  We had a lovely ride down to the cabin and then up the other side of the river to the camp site.  Caitlin was once again a wonderful friend to have to chat with and take a comfortable ride in the bush.

  Monday morning, Barry and I went to town so Barry could get repair parts for one of the machines and I could stop by to retrieve some things I had left with Desiree and Andreas.  Basil, the kitten, is as lively as ever.  And Teddy was happy to see us as usual.  After lunch, Barry went to work on his machine, while I made pizza for dinner.

The garden beneath the weeds

Tuesday, Barry had to go into town for an appointment, so I worked in the garden and made cobbler out of the now ripe nectarines.  The nectarine trees small lovely and fresh nectarines are absolutely delicious!  I have also had the great pleasure of watching to two new foals that were born while I was gone.  Both are of brumby parentage.  One of the foals is from one of the brumbies Barry originally caught for the brumby catch, (I named the mother Rosa) and the other is from the older black brumby mare Barry caught earlier this year.  I know that the first one is a boy, but I haven’t been able to get close enough to determine the gender of the second foal. 

Rosa and her new foal

The old Black brumby mare and her new foal

  The rest of this week Barry has been gone harvesting trees to use for fire wood.  So I have been left to my own devices.  I have kept busy mowing the over grown lawn down at the cabin, taking down the netting from the nectarine trees, working with horses a bit, making dinners, cobbler, and homemade tomato soup, and other basic house chores. 

Storm clouds rolling in

The week started out cloudy with rain showers, but now it has turned into a very sunny and warm week.  The scenery is as beautiful as ever.  Yesterday Sambo and I rode around the goat fence and pulled two goats out.  And the dogs have been keeping me company wherever I go.  It has been a very restful and relaxing week for me.  Kathrin will return tonight, and this next week we will work on training some new brumbies for another festival show. 

Beautiful mountains in the setting sun

  Thank you so much for all of your prayers and good wishes.  I know that they have been an enormous help and they are greatly appreciated.   I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Love,

   Hana

P.S. I hope you like the blog's new look.