Tuesday 26th May - Dubbo

Tuesday 26^th May

On Tuesday we packed up and drove to Dubbo to see the R.F.D.S (Which is the Royal Flying Doctor Service.) We got to see the flying doctor planes.

We got to watch a video about R.F.D.S. I learnt that the $20 dollar note has all the things that started the R.F.D.S.

After the video about the R.F.D.S we bought a book of games for me and a put together your own card board aeroplane for Caleb.

Mum's note:
On the way out of Peak Hill we stopped to look at the tourist gold mine. This gold mine differs from previous sites we have seen, in that it is an open cut mine that has dug out the site of an original underground mine.

Peak Hill tourist gold mine.

At the RFDS I was impressed to find that the local community makes and donates children's quilts, and every child who flies with the Dubbo RFDS is given a quilt to keep.

We were also reminded that it was an Adelaide lad, Alfred Traeger whose inventions altered outback communications. Firstly he came up with the morse code typewriter....

.... then he invented the pedal wireless. This second invention revolutionised communications in the Outback. Isabel is not convinced that having to pedal to create electricity to talk to her school teachers would have been a good thing though!

After Dubbo we stopped at the Terramungamine Aboriginal grinding grooves. This is a site along the Macquarie River where the local people sharpened their axes and spears, and sometimes ground seed.

Terramungamine Aboriginal grinding grooves.

We finished the day by arriving in Coonabarabran.

Monday 25th May - Peak Hill

Monday 25^th May

On Monday we drove to Peak Hill. When we got to Peak Hill we didn't know where we could stay. At the Information center we bought some yummy Anzac bisckits. At the Information we also found some where to stay. The place we stayed at is called Peak Hill caravan park.

This a big fish in the fossil hut.

Mum's note:
Peak Hill caravan park has a small attraction called the Big Fish Fossil Hut. It is a small building with a number of fossil replicas inside, the best and obvious being "the big fish". There were also a couple of bird aviaries that the kids liked.

Sunday 24th May - The Dish

Sunday 24^th May

On sunday we went to church. After church we went to the Dish. The Dish uses radio to listen to space. I learnt that an apple tree is called Isaac. I also learnt that there is a light year a light year is how far light can go in a year. At the Dish we had fun time playing with a model black hole.

This is me playing with the black hole.

This is the Dish.

Mum's note:
The apple trees at The Dish are grafted from the tree that grew at Isaac Newton's house. The original tree is thought to be the tree that dropped an apple on Newton's head.

Newton's apple trees.

We had fun imagining playing cricket in the dish of The Dish. We listened to pulsars and talked to each other at the whispering dishes.

Caleb at the whispering dishes.

Saturday 23rd May - Greenbah Creek

Saturday 23^rd May

On Saturday we went on a Bush Walk up a big hill on the Bush Walk we saw a yellow toadstool that looked fluffy.

On the way down I jumped over planks of wood. After the bush walk we made a camp fire and we cooked damper on the fire.

This is us having a camp fire.

This is us cooking damper.

This is a cheeky wallaby.

Mum's note:
Greenbah Creek campground is in Goobang National Park. On the way into the park yesterday evening we saw an echidna, and also glimpsed a swamp wallaby as it dashed across the road.

In the camp ground there are lots of red-necked wallabies, most of which just ignore the humans and eat the campground grass unless you get too loud or frightening, but there is one cheeky male who is always on the lookout for a bite of something more interesting to eat.

Got something for me?

Adding to the cairn at the top of the bush walk.

Some of the view from the top of the Burrabadine Peak walk.

Friday 22nd May - Greenbah Creek

Friday 22^nd May

On Friday we went to the World Peace Bell. This is me ringing the World Peace Bell.

After the World Peace Bell we went to the Age of Fishes Museum. Which is 1 out of 2 museums on fishes in the whole world! At the Museum we got little audio things because if we saw a numbers on the walls, signs or fossils we could type it in and watch a little video. After we had gone to the fish museum hopped back in the car to go to a little town where a couple of BushRangers got their loot and then took it in to the mountains to bury it. Caleb and I were hungry so we got to choose between a lolly snake or a packet of chips. I chose a lolly snake and Caleb chose a packet of chips. After we them we hopped back into the car and drove to Greenbah Creek Campground.

This is a fish trying to eat my head.

This is us playing fish and fishing rods.

this is Caleb and I sticking our heads through the holes

Mum's note:
The World Peace Bell is in Civic Square in Cowra. We learned that Peace Bells are cast from melted coins and medals donated by countries committed to world peace. Australia's is the only World Peace Bell not in the host country's capital city.

The Age of Fishes Museum is located in Canowindra. Canowindra hit the fossil world map when a bulldozer building a local road unearthed a fossil bed full of ancient fishes. The bulldozer driver saved the unusual and sizeable slab but it went forgotten for a long time before it was brought to the attention of a palaeontologist, and then its enormous significance went unnoticed for another extended period. The local people have since been very instrumental in retrieving the fossils, particularly in supplying and funding the earthmoving equipment. Much of the fossil bed still remains buried under the road awaiting funding to be dug up one day, however, digging up roads doesn't come cheap, and it is a credit to the local community what has been achieved to date. There is a sufficient abundance of fossil specimens such that they allow you to inspect them very closely with magnifying glasses.

Slabs of fossil bed full of fish fossils.

The town with the bushranger history is Eugowra. Eugowra is about 5km from the largest bushranger heist at Escort Rock. Some of the gold was never retrieved and is rumoured to be hidden in the local mountains.

A massive and very well done bushranger themed mural.

There are a number of great murals in Eugrowra, and a friendly local even tipped us of to look for Wally in this one!

Where's Wally? Found him!

Thursday 21st May - Cowra

Thursday 21^st May

On Thursday we went to Cowra. On the way we stopped at a Japanese Garden. At the Japanese Garden their were ponds with carp in. We were allowed to feed the carp if we bought special fish food. At the first pond the carp were very hungry but so were the ducks too and the ducks like the fish food. The fish and the ducks had a race but the ducks got more food then the fish. 

This is the fish having a race with the ducks.

This is me feeding the fish.

This is me next to a bush that looks like a cupcake with sprinkles on.

This is me with a Japanese vase.

On the way back to the car we stopped to have a photo with a big model rhinoceros.

Mum's note:
The Japanese Garden at Cowra is the largest Japanese garden in the southern hemisphere. It was built here because Cowra is the site of the POW camp that held Australia's Japanese (and Italian, Indonesian and Taiwanese) prisoners during WWII.

Ruins at the WWII POW site.

Japanese cemetery at Cowra.

Unfortunately nearly 1000 Japanese decided to try to escape. This cost many lives, Japanese as well as 4 Australian. However, the locals responded by treating the escapees with kindness as they were rounded up, buried the casualties with respect in the local cemetery, and maintained the graves. This has over time led to very close ties between Cowra and Japan, the building of the Japanese Garden, the only Japanese cemetery outside Japan and the award of Australia's Peace Bell being located in Cowra. We had a walk around the POW site and spoke a little with the kids about Paul's Pop, who had been a POW at the hands of the Japanese.

At the gardens we saw many Japanese artefacts, including several types of pottery, paintings, Samurai costumes, a Japanese house with a furo (Japanese bath), a Daruma doll (Isabel was able to tell me what this was from Japanese studies at school) and Japan's National Anthem Rock.

Isabel and the Daruma Doll for the planting of Sakura (Cherry Tree) Avenue.

The rock that symbolises Japan's National Anthem.

Wednesday 20th May - Yass

Wednesday 20^th May

On Wednesday we we to the Dinosaur Museum in Canberra. There was lots of moving dinosaurs including people sensing dinosaurs.

This is Dad with a people sensing Spinosaurus.

We saw lots of fossilised tree, a big blob of dinosaur coprolite, lots of marine Reptiles, lot and lots of Ammonites and lots of Trilobites.

These are giant Ammonites

This is a Russian Trilobite.

I leant that Cassowaries are practically living dinosaurs because they can use their crest to kill you by scooping out your guts.

This is me riding a Dinosaur.

Mum's note:
We are currently staying in Yass. However, we returned to Canberra for one last day trip. Before we went to the National Dinosaur Museum, we went up Telstra Tower and saw the view.

Telstra Tower

Lake Burley Griffin from the Telstra Tower.

The National Dinosaur Museum was amazing. The Russian trilobite specimen Isabel has pictured above is one of the finest in the world. Someone has extracted it from the surrounding rock so that it just sits on a small pedestal. Brilliant!

Tuesday 19th May - Murrumbateman

Tuesday 19^th May

On Tuesday we went to the deep space commuinycation complex.

This is 1 of the big dishes.

We watched a vidoe on space. We Dressed up like an Astronorte.

This is me dressed up as an asronort.

We also saw a real moon rock.

This is real moon rock.

I leant that gold is used on space iqumentmit.

This is a life size Mars rover.

We saw three giant dishs the dishs talk to deep space.

Mum's note:
Today we moved on from Cooma to Murrumbateman. We are hoping for some warmer nights! It has been nearly -6ºC the last two nights! Brrrrrrrr.
At the Deep Space Communication Complex we also found out that there really is a planet with two suns (similar to the fictitious planet of Tatooine), saw food that astronauts eat

Mmmm. Yummy space food. Just add water.

and an explanation of what happens to human waste during space travel. Apparently this is the single most common question asked about space travel! So, if you don't want to know, look away now......

Tip #1: Don't eat space ice...... Liquid waste is flushed straight out to space where it freezes instantly.
Tip #2: Don't look in returned luggage..... solid waste is bagged and returned to earth. The details are nasty.
Now you don't have to pester those poor astronauts with that question.

Monday 18th May - Canberra

Monday 18^th May

On Monday we went to House of Representatives (which is green by the way and the seats get lighter when they get higher). In the House of Representatives they try to make good lars. But in the Senate they see if they are good lars, bad lars or if they need changing. (The Senate is red by the way).

After Parmdint House we went to a Reptile Zoo. At the Reptile Zoo we saw lizeds , snakes , turtles and crocs. We could pat some reptiles but most of them we couldn't.

Mum's note:
We had a really great tour of Parliament House. After we had seen inside we went up to the roof. We were very fortunate to be there as they changed the flag. Apparently this happens about 12 times a year as the flag gets too wind damaged.

The lift (on the right) rising to the top of the flag pole to change the flag.
It holds 2 people.

No flag.

New flag.

Caleb liked the grass roof - just right for rolling down! Also he liked the Speaker's chair in the House of Representatives. He thought he might like to sit in that one day when he is big!

Caleb wants this chair!

Capital Hill. Capital fun.

Mum liked the portrait that Dame Quentin Bryce chose to commemorate her time as Governor-General and the very very large woven tapestry in the Grand Hall. Dad liked seeing the Magna Carta.

Dame Quentin Bryce opening doors for women and reflecting on her love of nature.

Part of the tapestry of Arthur Boyd's painting, Shoalhaven landscape.

Magna Carta

For the trivia buffs: we learned that the Senate is the only room in Australia that is allowed to have red exit signs (all others are legally required to be green), and that a law had to be passed especially before they could be installed.

At the Reptile Zoo we got to pat a baby Johnson's crocodile. We heard it squeak. This is the call it uses to talk to its mum.
In the evening it was great to be able to meet up with my cousin Rebekah and her two girls. We all had a lovely time.