Magnificent Phillip Island

Phillip Island is a fantastic place and we love going there. We had a good run down to the Island, sometimes you can get stuck in traffic and it can be a bit of a drag, but I love it when we go over the bridge at San Remo, it makes the trip worthwhile.

It’s the first time we’ve been down there for a while when it’s been holiday time and you can notice difference, there was a lot more people around. People looked at me funny as Sebastian like taking me around to see the sights. 

When we arrived it was just before it was pelican feeding time at San Remo. I had to make sure Sebastian held on tight because I was worried one of them would mistake me for their lunch. We also saw a huge stingray under the jetties. 

We headed down to the Nobbies for some beautiful views of the rugged coastline and the blowhole was pumping out some great sprays. We even saw a few penguins that were sheltering in their boxes. We also did some rockpooling around the rocks at Surf Beach and Sunderland Bay. The sun was shining and it was hard to keep Sebastian out of the water.

Another first this trip was walking to the shipwreck near Kitty Miller Bay. SS Speck was sailing from Peru to Sydney in 1906 when it hit the rocks. Not much is left but it is a great little walk.

We went on a cruise to Seal Rocks. This was the first for all of us. Even though the Captain said it was a calm day, you really noticed the rolling waves once you hit Bass Straight. There are over 30000 fur seals out on the rocks. The inquisitive ones love to come up to the boat for a closer look. Kylie liked this because she got a few close up pictures. The only bad part was the smell when you got to the rocks, but you soon got used to it. The whole trip took 2 hours. Check out the Seal Rock Cruise website. www.wildlifecoastcruises.com.au

As usual I got dragged around to lots of coffee shops, including the Silverleaves General Store and of course Mad Cowes (our favourite breakfast haunt) www.madcowescafe.com.au We went to Café Blue Bamboo. They had the biggest coffees we had ever seen. 

It was another great trip, wish we could have stayed longer.

A Visitor From New Zealand.

New  Zealand has lots of mountains. New Zealand is very close to Australia. New Zealand has volcanoes, it has earthquakes too. New Zealand has a sky tower in the city called Auckland. New Zealand like's cricket and rugby. In New Zealand there is a mountain higher than the clouds. In New Zealand they do wood carving. My mum and dad have been to New Zealand before. My mum and dad have seen wood carving in New Zealand before. The sky tower is 328 m tall.

The Peak

Sebastian says:

Today I went to the Peak. We had to take a tram up there. There was very good view up there. It's so  big and it is so steep. We could see lots of tall buildings below, birds and Eagles in the sky and th the harbour. Then we went back home and had a good day shopping.

Boris says:

The Peak is so steep that when you come down, you have to sit backwards so that you don't fall out of your seat! The steepest point is 27 degrees... The average gradient of Mount Alp d'Huez, the famous climb in the Tour d'France is just 8 degrees. 

In the olden days, they used to carry people up in carriages on poles that men lifted. Imagine that! We got lucky today with a clear day. Often The Peak is lost in the clouds and you cannot see that far. 

London to Dubai to Hong Kong

Today we took  two planes one to Duabi and one to Hong Kong. Hong Kong is very busy. Milana and I had a good experience. It is very colourful when it's dark. We went to MacDonald's for dinner. I felt very sick on the plane. I did a lot of stuff on the plane.

Answers for 1EL - Transport

Hello everyone,

The fairytale day sounds like fun and some of the photos we saw on Facebook looked cool. I bet the biscuits were delicious! We haven't eaten much gelato since we left Italy, Hudson. We had crepes in Paris and stroopwafels and poffertjes in the Netherlands. Poffertjes are mini pancakes just a little bigger than a fifty cent piece! I had icing sugar on mine, but Ivar loves his in syrup!

We have been on a lot of different types of transport on our holiday. We've caught buses and trams in Rome and Florence, a hire car in Tuscany and so many trains, Caitlyn, that we've lost count! 

We've been on metro trains in cities, regional trains between towns and four fast trains that got up to 300km/hr! Not to mention all the aeroplanes. Guess what? The air host asked us if we'd like to go into the cockpit to where the pilots sit! It was really, really AWESOME!

We've been in Vaporetto, or water taxis in Venice and of course, the gondola! In Amsterdam we rode the canal boats, but that was a tourist boat, like the talking tram in Bendigo. We rode on bikes everywhere (and a tiny bit in the car) in Holten. Maddi, we've seen the double decker buses- they're EVERYWHERE, but the London Underground train system is easier. We can't forget our own legs... We've done soooo much walking everywhere! 

Today is our last day in London... And Europe. 😞 Tomorrow, Hank and Aliza, we start to come home, but we are going to Hong Kong first. Hong Kong is in Asia. It has been really nice weather in London still, Miss Lewis. We can wear t-shirts still because it's sunny and about 20 degrees. Mum and Dad just checked the weather for Hong Kong and it will be about 29 degrees! We are not excited about coming home to winter. Is it cold yet? 

A canal boat in Amsterdaam. 

The scenic train to Switzerland 

Riding up the Holterberg to dinner! In Holten, they call this a mountain. Hehe. (I'm in the white jumper).

One of our fast trains in Italy! So cool.

Boris meets Guard

Today Boris met Guard.  Boris and Guard are having lots of fun. Boris and I went on the London eye it was so big. I went to Trafalgar Square and had a photo with the lions. We went to Big Ben. Big Ben  is so big. Big Ben is not the tower. It is the bell in the Queen Elizabeth tower. Big Ben has 334 stairs to the top. Right now Boris and Guard are having a sleep. 

We also shopped in Portobello Road. Milana and Mum had fun. It was really tiring. 

A Dutch School

Sebastian and Boris say:

Today we went to a Dutch school. They don't wear a uniform, but we do. There was a party in Elin's class for her teachers. She is the same year level as me. I helped give out lollies. The children gave the teachers presents that they made.  The teachers hid presents for each other and some children helped to hide the presents. Milana and I helped too.

Then we went to Viggo's room. He is in the same year level as Milana. Lots of his class mates laughed  because he was very shy to talk up the front of his class. He introduced us and told them about us in Dutch. The children asked us questions in Dutch and Viggo helped us answer them. 

Then we quickly saw Ivar's class practising for their performance. He is in what we would call pre-school. He goes to school until lunchtime every day, but preschool is done at school. So, children in the Netherlands have eight years of primary school, instead of seven years, but really, it is just the same. 

It was a really fun morning.