Remaining days in SYDNEY

From Springwood to Katoomba, Blue Mountains… After saying our goodbyes to our host families, off we drove for Blue Mountains.  Thanks to Bob and Janet Templeman and Warwick Harrisson for driving us.  We arrived at the designated meeting place, Alpine Motel, owned by George and Libby Bubalo at around 9:30 a.m.  We were met by our new hosts, Pres. Kerry McGill (Lorna and Rucel), Malcolm Nicholson (Arleen) and of course, George and Libby (Ben and Chris).  As it was still early, and it was also our free day, the group decided to have a meeting in preparation for our final presentation on April 5.  It was very gracious of Pres. Kerry to offer his place for us.  Wow, it turned out to be a "picnic" lunch for us, with Malcolm bringing chicken and Kerry buying bread and cheese, cold cuts.  Initial preparation for our presentation was made and after agreeing how it will be done, with the 2 boys in-charge,  off we (Arleen, Ben and Chris) went  home to our respective hosts.

Dinner of barbie and salad, wines was a feast for us, Arleen, Lorna and Rucel with our hosts, Kerry and Anne, Malcolm and Move at McGill's place.  Ben and Chris had their share of great dinner too with George and Libby.

Katoomba, Blue Mountains is our second to the last stop place.... (Arleen)

Captivating Katoomba. (March 31) Woke up to a misty morning - It was so hazy that it feels like I was seeing things in a dream.  As if everything was trapped in one big cloud. And I guess everything really was.

Then, came a visit to the Blue Mountains Heritage Centre where we met the GSE Team from Taiwan for a tour of the Blue Mountains National Park. From two amazing Lookout Points, the George Phillip’s Lookout and Govett’s Leap, we saw the majestic view of the Blue Mountains scenery. The experience? Transcendental!

A quick trivia. Pres. Bob Reid of RC Upper Blue Mountains Sunrise, gave us a quick lecture on the amazing flora of the park, such as the Mountain Devil (some sort of a mascot of the Blue Mountains Region), the Wattle (Australia’s National Flower), and the Waratah (New South Wale’s State Flower).

We then went to Echo Point, where we saw another breath-taking scenery, particularly the “Three Sisters,” which is a group of rock pillar formations famous for the local legends. This was followed by a tour of the Scenic World, a former coalmine-turned-tourist attraction. There, we got a ride down for a better view of the former coalmines on the world’s steepest railway, nowadays known as the Scenic Railway, and riding back up through the Cableway car.

The day was concluded with us attending a joint club meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Katoomba, Sunrise, Central Blue, and Blackheath. It was a fun, fun night with the clubs and the Taiwan team, but if I have to choose a favorite scene… it’ll probably be two. One was with the Taiwan team presenting themselves, not as themselves now, but who they’ll be in 30 years (they showed pictures of their moms. Great going, guys!). And second will be our presentation of the song entitled, “No Other Love” with Malcolm Nicholson (keep that inner kid, with you, mate! You’ve been really fun!).

And that’s the end of day 1 in Katoomba. (Chris)

IT’S ALL ABOUT ENERGY. On Friday (April 1) all members of the team were up early with full energy and excitement for the day’s itinerary. All in Kerry McGill’s Pajero, team members were brought to Airly Mine, Glen Davis Road , Capertee where Centennial Coal Mining was. As we arrived in the place where Taiwan GSE Team also were, Graham Prayor, the operations manager of the mining oriented us all about the Centennial Coal operation and background. After the briefing, all were geared-up as a safety procedure for our visit in the mining site underground.

                

As we enter the dark, 35 meter squared panel, mining engineer Andy led us inside chasing through 

the beam of flashlights that each have on our hardhat. After about 45 minutes walk, we reached about half a kilometer inside, 145 meter underground. While inside, we saw for ourselves the activities of the miners especially loading coal mines fresh from the crusher to the conveyor. We finally headed back out of the tunnel after almost 3 hours inside. After fixing ourselves, we took our lunch prepared by the staff for us. 

From Centennial Coal Mining, we then were brought to DELTA Power Station at Mount Piper . Both teams had a tour in the power plant, and were lectured with the technology involved in generating electricity from coal. Together with our host families, we ended the day with a dinner at Megalong Valley Community Hall.

 

April 2, 2011. Rotarians from Katoomba made our last day in their place more meaningful as they brought us to Jenolan Caves. We were astonished by the huge, beautifully sculptured cave by nature. We couldn’t help but adore the enormous chamber with fabulous mineral formations called stalagmite and stalactite beneath the mountainous rock covered by various types of eucalyptus trees. The team spent the whole morning within the cave and came out for a lovely lunch at Caves House.

From Jenolan Caves, we then headed to ----- National Park for a fellowship and a Barbeque Dinner jointly sponsored by the Rotary Clubs of Katoomba. During the fellowship, we took the chance to say words of thanks to our host clubs and did a simple presentation.

April 3, 2011. hawkesbury RIVERSIDE ACQUAINTANCE in Richmond. The joint Rotary Clubs of Hawkesbury warmly welcomed us and the Taiwan GSE Team through a lovely BBQ lunch at Hawkesbury River, (thank to Bob Bailey) In the same event, District 9690 GSE outbound team for Philippines lead by Ian Jordan joined for the first time with a rotary club gathering since they arrived back from the Philippines. District Governor Marilyn and her husband were also present.

Everyone enjoyed the party and were able to get acquainted with each other. (Ben)

April 4, 2011. A Few More Days to Go, Lots More Places to Go To. 3 days left in our trip. But the Combined Rotary Clubs of the Hawkesbury area isn’t ready to let our excitement wane just yet.

What’s the fastest way to show a group of people the most number of interesting sights in a short period of time?  A bus tour, that’s what. Our coordinator, Colin Taas arranged for a bus tour for us and showed us the more interesting parts of the Hawkesbury town center, particularly the Royal Australian Air Force grounds, the Hawkesbury show ground, the public golf course and driving range, the St. Matthew Anglican church (which I believe was one of the oldest churches in Australia), the Hawkesbury council chambers, the Hawkesbury Regional /Gallery, the Hawkesbury Regional Museum, and the Macquarie Arms Hotel (which is one of the oldest pubs in Australia).

There were three highlights in the tour. Let me share them in detail.

First was the tour of the Ebenezer church, which is the oldest existing church in Australia. Built in 1809 by several pioneering families as a common Christian church, it was ordained as a Presbyterian church in 1824, which makes it the first Presbyterian church in Australia. Most memorable of that part for me was the morning tea on their wonderful patio. Hot tea on serene landscapes in the peaceful atmosphere of the church. Simply refreshing.

Second would be the visit to the Tizzana winery. Yes, I know what you’re thinking… that’s probably the best part of the GSE program yet. Almost, my alcohol-loving friends. Almost. We did have some of the finest wine I’ve ever tasted. Founded by Dr. Thomas Fiaschi in 1887, the winery has survived countless ordeals, including being razed by fire caused by vandals. After being abandoned for a few years, the present owners bought the winery in 1968 and restored the winery. It is now, aside from a winery, a 5-star Bed & Breakfast inn.

Last but not the least is the tour of the Australian Pioneer Village, a village made of “rescued” old houses from all over New South Wales. It was an educational facility to show how settlers first lived in the early years in Australia. Run entirely by volunteers, the place is also recently being used as a studio set for an upcoming Australian Television drama. It was capped by a close encounter with some donkeys, Pintos, and a couple of the biggest Clydesdale horses I’ve ever seen, as well as afternoon tea of damper (pastry of some kind) with cream and ice cream, and real English tea.

After the bus tour, the day ended with the club meeting of the Rotary Club of Richmond, where we performed again our traditional /interpretative Malong Dance. We couldn’t have asked for better audiences, and we felt really fulfilled after the performance.

And there goes another day, a day less in the program. But with what happened today, I’m fairly sure we’re ending the program with a bang. Thank you RC Richmond!

P.S. For the wonderful hosts I’ve had in Richmond, Geoff and Janet, you’ve been really, really swell! Thanks for teaching me how to properly cook a barbecue, Geoff!

April 5, 2011. We all had mixed emotions on this day....  happy, coz we look forward to going home to the Phils. and be with our family, sad, coz we will be leaving the country and the warm people who have touched our lives, excited to share to family and friends the wonderful experiences and memories we have had in Australia, specially in Dist. 9690.

10:00 a.m. With Lorna, Rucel and myself, Ian brought us to a supermarket to buy cheeses to be brought home.  Thanks Ian. After having coffee, Ian brought us to his wonderful home and met up again with Judy.  Then off we went to Derek and Barbaba Scott's place for lunch and stayed til 3:00 p.m. to finalize our group presentation for the night's TRF Alumni Dinner and District Farewell.

5:15 p.m. Had a debriefing with Graham Wilson and David Ross, and the Taiwan Team followed.   It was a night of reunions with host families, rotarians and fellow GSE Teams.  We, (4 teams) also had our share of group presentations, what an emotional time, indeed. After all the "thank yous and promise to keep in touch", with a heavy heart, we left Penrith to go back to Richmond. (Arleen)

April 6 was our free day. While the ladies went down to Westmead Children’s Hospital, Chris and Ben were brought by Derek and Maggie to their other house in AVOCA Beach, about 2 hours away from Richmond. They had a quick glance at the amazingly beautiful beach with world class hotels and resorts around it. At around 2:00pm, they headed back home. Chris was dropped off to his host family. Both host families had their final supper with their GSE member in their respective houses. (Ben)

 

10:30 a.m. It was very gracious of Colin Tass, Christine Anamin and Sue Calphy to bring us ladies to Westmead Children's Hospital.  We were met up by Keith Miller, a volunteer and Angela Burnett, head of the Fund Raising Dept. of the hospital.  With only 2 hours to spare, we were toured to  some of the 150 departments around the hospital, among them were, the Rotary Wing-Turner Ward, Book Bunker-Library for Children, Cardiac Ward (Edgar Stephen Ward-Heart Center for Children),  Orthopedics, Starlight Express Room, Playgrounds. They even have a school within the hospital and a half way house, the Donald McDonalds House with 17 rooms for the families with children who are having longer treatments in the hospital.
  
Had lunch at Sue's son restaurant in Parrammatta then,  back to Richmond for Lorna and Rucel after dropping me off to my relative's place in Blacktown. (Arleen)

 

HOME SWEET HOME AS THEY SAY. As we woke up on the dawn of April 7, 2011 to begin the day, we realized that same morning marks the end of our GSE Journey in Sydney, Australia. Graham Wilson, Colin Tass and Ian Jordan facilitated our departure. Hugs and “goodbyes” in our meeting place at car park in Richmond , where we were picked up by the airport bus, and at Sydney airport were like yellow ribbons tied among host families and the team members which promise continued friendship amidst distance.

Leaving behind Ma’am Arleen to spend more time with her family friends in Sydney, the four of us flew back home via Hong Kong and Manila. It was indeed a long flight. We had half emotions as we reminisced the precious times we spent with the Rotarians from District 9690 while we look forward to meet up with our respective families back in the Philippines .