We had an exciting morning tour of Inco- Nickel mines for an underground tour! It was kind of scary to be going down into the mine shaft 3450 feet below the earth. It was fantastic how they take down all the heavy equipment apart and send them down on the elevator and re -assemble underground in the Garagemahal as they call it. We are enjoying the unique activities ( highlights) of the various towns visited besides the vocations too.
The Pisew falls and the other amazing natural wonders of Canada are fantastic.
Soon it will be time to leave Canada. How time flies when you are having the time of your life. To Fred and the kids I will be home soon. Nohonga kite mamao.
Hilda
SI - GSE Team member
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Pictures speak a thousand words!!
Thought I would add a few more photos of our journey as they really do speak a thousand words and depict the wonderful time we are having. (These are much better to view than my face pulling as well! Am sure my mum will be proud of me!). How fantastic is the photo of Hilda - it's great! Sorry I haven't written any comments about the photos, I am still working out that bit of technology!!
Bec
Wednesday in Thompson
Hello all, thought I would put some photos up and show you just some of the things we are up to.
I went and visited a mine site this morning and meet up with the head of OH&S training (Risk Management), very interesting when you are dealing with 10s of people over a km underground compared to our OH&S training were a paper cut is a serious problem! Again it was great to talk to people with similar jobs to me, and find out we are having the same challenges as back home. I then meet up with a heavy Earth machinery contracting company that crushes gravel for roads and for the local nickel mine. I was taken to a quarry and given a tour, though they wouldn’t let me near the explosives….
In responses to Bec’s critique of my dancing I thought I did a great job, considering I didn’t know what I was doing, and just trying to do it like everyone else, while Bec sat down and watched eating dessert!!!
We are getting used to very patch mobile coverage, they don’t have anything like Telstra’s Next G network (gratuitous plug) over here. So we are looking forward to Thursday when we should hit coverage, and meet up with many of the people we have meet on our journey so far!
Anyway we’ve had so much fun over here and have plenty more to come, here are some photos!
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The team with Heather at Heather and Mac's place in Dauphin
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Bec in Dauphin at a national park (can't remember what it's called)
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Matt and Lisa in The Pas doing ‘Rick’s Balloon Challenge’
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Lisa at Pisew Falls
I went and visited a mine site this morning and meet up with the head of OH&S training (Risk Management), very interesting when you are dealing with 10s of people over a km underground compared to our OH&S training were a paper cut is a serious problem! Again it was great to talk to people with similar jobs to me, and find out we are having the same challenges as back home. I then meet up with a heavy Earth machinery contracting company that crushes gravel for roads and for the local nickel mine. I was taken to a quarry and given a tour, though they wouldn’t let me near the explosives….
In responses to Bec’s critique of my dancing I thought I did a great job, considering I didn’t know what I was doing, and just trying to do it like everyone else, while Bec sat down and watched eating dessert!!!
We are getting used to very patch mobile coverage, they don’t have anything like Telstra’s Next G network (gratuitous plug) over here. So we are looking forward to Thursday when we should hit coverage, and meet up with many of the people we have meet on our journey so far!
Anyway we’ve had so much fun over here and have plenty more to come, here are some photos!
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The team with Heather at Heather and Mac's place in Dauphin.JPG)
Bec in Dauphin at a national park (can't remember what it's called).JPG)
Ukrainian Catholic Chapel in Dauphin
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Bec and Lisa in the Legislator building in Winnipeg-singing the National Anthem
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Bob at the Cell Phone (Mobile Phone) olympics - doing his bit for Queen and country
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The team at Clearwater Lake view where the ice had pilled up.
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Me at the Lake!.JPG)
Matt on a Quad bike at Clearwater Lake- The Pas, I want one!!
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Matt and Lisa in The Pas doing ‘Rick’s Balloon Challenge’.JPG)
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Lisa at Pisew Falls
The Pas and Thompson
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Bob and Lisa overlooking ice-covered Clearwater Lake.JPG)
The team at Pisew Falls near Thompson.JPG){kind=spacer}
Hilda holding some of the 10 miles of ice still covering Clearwater LakeIn the past few days we've certainly experienced what Canada has to offer in the great outdoors in the spring.
We hit The Pas and explored the museum which presented many interesting facts about the wildlife and the history of the area.
Rick and Fran hosted me at their lakeside home and Rick introduced Bec and I to the adrenaline rush of catching lake trout on an ice covered lake! Rick introduced Matt and Bob to the joy of sitting in the boat and trying to catch trout on an ice covered lake!!
This was followed by quad bike riding (where I spotted a rarely sighted Timberwolf) and a short bushwalk to the caves and a lookout point over an expanse of ice that took our breath away.
We then farewelled yet another group of friends and headed to the northern-most point on our trip ... Thompson. On the way we visited the beautiful Pisew Falls and Paint Lake, where at Pisew Falls we not only saw a spectacular cliff of snow slowly melting in the spring weather but also the impressive suspension bridge built by the Thompson Rotary Club.
Today we each explored our vocational interests with me spending the morning with the local newspaper editor Donna and visiting the residential care unit. As a fundraiser it was interesting to chat to someone on the "other side" of community fundraising ie. a local media service, as our media supporters on the Sunshine Coast help us so greatly in the work that we do. Donna is also on a committee setting up the local hospital foundation so we chatted about fundraising events that we've both worked on.
Tonight we present to the club at a bbq and tomorrow we head one kilometre underground at the local nickel mine and visit the hyrdo plant at the dam. There may even be a spot of fishing tomorrow night while we search the skies for the beautiful northern lights. It doesn't get dark here until around 11pm so there's lots of time for night time activity, which is unusual for us ... but great as the days still aren't long enough.
So the adventure continues with one more week to go. On Thursday we embark on a 9 hour drive to Saskatoon where we'll attend the District Conference and reunite with a lot of friends made along the way.
Lisa
We hit The Pas and explored the museum which presented many interesting facts about the wildlife and the history of the area.
Rick and Fran hosted me at their lakeside home and Rick introduced Bec and I to the adrenaline rush of catching lake trout on an ice covered lake! Rick introduced Matt and Bob to the joy of sitting in the boat and trying to catch trout on an ice covered lake!!
This was followed by quad bike riding (where I spotted a rarely sighted Timberwolf) and a short bushwalk to the caves and a lookout point over an expanse of ice that took our breath away.
We then farewelled yet another group of friends and headed to the northern-most point on our trip ... Thompson. On the way we visited the beautiful Pisew Falls and Paint Lake, where at Pisew Falls we not only saw a spectacular cliff of snow slowly melting in the spring weather but also the impressive suspension bridge built by the Thompson Rotary Club.
Today we each explored our vocational interests with me spending the morning with the local newspaper editor Donna and visiting the residential care unit. As a fundraiser it was interesting to chat to someone on the "other side" of community fundraising ie. a local media service, as our media supporters on the Sunshine Coast help us so greatly in the work that we do. Donna is also on a committee setting up the local hospital foundation so we chatted about fundraising events that we've both worked on.
Tonight we present to the club at a bbq and tomorrow we head one kilometre underground at the local nickel mine and visit the hyrdo plant at the dam. There may even be a spot of fishing tomorrow night while we search the skies for the beautiful northern lights. It doesn't get dark here until around 11pm so there's lots of time for night time activity, which is unusual for us ... but great as the days still aren't long enough.
So the adventure continues with one more week to go. On Thursday we embark on a 9 hour drive to Saskatoon where we'll attend the District Conference and reunite with a lot of friends made along the way.
Lisa
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Dauphin - The Sunshine City!
Hello from Dauphin!
We have now arrived in Dauphin after our day and a bit rest. Our rest days were great with a lot of sleeping, reading and "team building" occuring. The fact that the pub and bistro across the road from where we were staying was the only thing open due to Victoria day was very convenient to say the least! The waitress knew all of our names by the end of our stay!
So, we arrived in Dauphin to yet another warm welcome. Our trip to Dauphin was interesting to say the least with a new Rotarian to Dauphin, Kirk, sharing his thoughts and conspiracy theories with us! Although very entertaining and interesting, it has gotten Lisa concerned and thinking about the possibilities! Needless to say, that trip passed by quickly! The afternoon was then spent in the backyard of Kirk and Michelle's sampling some of Kirk's fine home brew! Us Aussies sure did feel right at home!
Our first night in Dauphin was spent at another beautiful house on the Lake. Club President Heather and her husband Mac welcomed us into their home and, in true Canadian style, feed us a wonderful supper (aka dinner / tea! We are getting into the Canadian terms!). A fantastic evening of fine food and fellowship. We were fortunate to catch up with Carrisa and Diane from the inbound team. It was lots of fun chatting and swapping stories. It was also the evening the big city escape to Winnipeg was planned! Thanks to excellent planning and manoeuvring, we have managed a day trip to the "big smoke" on Friday. We are all very excited about this, more so the ladies as we will now get the important culture experience of...shopping!
Today was spent on a tour around the city and a visit to the site of the very popular Country Music Festival. Similar to the Gympie Music Muster at home. This event raises an amazing amount of money that goes back into the community and is all organised by volunteers! WOW! Our afternoon was spent on vocational visits. I went to a small school about 20 minutes from Dauphin, called Ochre River, where my host families daughter teachers a year 7/8 class. I had a great time answering many questions about Australia, including a question about whether we had Lions roaming through our backyards - I politely pointed out that that was probably Africa he was thinking of and that we have more friendly creatures such as Kangaroos and Koalas! I believe I have convinced some students to travel "Down Under" when they leave school. The most exciting part of the visit was gaining a fantastic resource that I will take home and use with my year 9 English classes. Deanne developed an awesome unit based around a novel unit which is mostly independent / self paced work for the students, so naturally I was only too eager to ask for a copy of the unit. The most amazing thing was that all her students submitted the assignment and were very proud of their work. Lets hope my own students will be that enthusiastic and involved in the unit! Our education systems are very similar, as are the students we teach...!
Tonight we were treated to a tour of the old Ukrainian Church of the Resurrection. A beautiful old church that dates back to the 1930's. Afterwards we headed across the road to our Rotary meeting, traditional Ukrainian supper and presentation. Before the presentation we were fortunate to have some traditional Ukrainian dancing. This, I believe, leads us to the most priceless moment of the trip - Matt participating in the traditional dance! He truly looked marvelous dancing; reminded me of a Fairy actually! He pranced and danced like a true professional! Lisa also performed for us, but was a natural at it! To all of Matt's family and friends back home - you need to ask for a special show of this talent, and if he refuses, I have the evidence on video!!
Well, that about sums up our fantastic journey so far. Stay tuned for a blog about our exciting, off the cuff, trip to the the big smoke of Winnipeg where I am sure we will encounter more adventures! We will endeavour to put some photos of Matt's dancing on the blog soon!
A big hello to everyone back home!
Take care, Bec
We have now arrived in Dauphin after our day and a bit rest. Our rest days were great with a lot of sleeping, reading and "team building" occuring. The fact that the pub and bistro across the road from where we were staying was the only thing open due to Victoria day was very convenient to say the least! The waitress knew all of our names by the end of our stay!
So, we arrived in Dauphin to yet another warm welcome. Our trip to Dauphin was interesting to say the least with a new Rotarian to Dauphin, Kirk, sharing his thoughts and conspiracy theories with us! Although very entertaining and interesting, it has gotten Lisa concerned and thinking about the possibilities! Needless to say, that trip passed by quickly! The afternoon was then spent in the backyard of Kirk and Michelle's sampling some of Kirk's fine home brew! Us Aussies sure did feel right at home!
Our first night in Dauphin was spent at another beautiful house on the Lake. Club President Heather and her husband Mac welcomed us into their home and, in true Canadian style, feed us a wonderful supper (aka dinner / tea! We are getting into the Canadian terms!). A fantastic evening of fine food and fellowship. We were fortunate to catch up with Carrisa and Diane from the inbound team. It was lots of fun chatting and swapping stories. It was also the evening the big city escape to Winnipeg was planned! Thanks to excellent planning and manoeuvring, we have managed a day trip to the "big smoke" on Friday. We are all very excited about this, more so the ladies as we will now get the important culture experience of...shopping!
Today was spent on a tour around the city and a visit to the site of the very popular Country Music Festival. Similar to the Gympie Music Muster at home. This event raises an amazing amount of money that goes back into the community and is all organised by volunteers! WOW! Our afternoon was spent on vocational visits. I went to a small school about 20 minutes from Dauphin, called Ochre River, where my host families daughter teachers a year 7/8 class. I had a great time answering many questions about Australia, including a question about whether we had Lions roaming through our backyards - I politely pointed out that that was probably Africa he was thinking of and that we have more friendly creatures such as Kangaroos and Koalas! I believe I have convinced some students to travel "Down Under" when they leave school. The most exciting part of the visit was gaining a fantastic resource that I will take home and use with my year 9 English classes. Deanne developed an awesome unit based around a novel unit which is mostly independent / self paced work for the students, so naturally I was only too eager to ask for a copy of the unit. The most amazing thing was that all her students submitted the assignment and were very proud of their work. Lets hope my own students will be that enthusiastic and involved in the unit! Our education systems are very similar, as are the students we teach...!
Tonight we were treated to a tour of the old Ukrainian Church of the Resurrection. A beautiful old church that dates back to the 1930's. Afterwards we headed across the road to our Rotary meeting, traditional Ukrainian supper and presentation. Before the presentation we were fortunate to have some traditional Ukrainian dancing. This, I believe, leads us to the most priceless moment of the trip - Matt participating in the traditional dance! He truly looked marvelous dancing; reminded me of a Fairy actually! He pranced and danced like a true professional! Lisa also performed for us, but was a natural at it! To all of Matt's family and friends back home - you need to ask for a special show of this talent, and if he refuses, I have the evidence on video!!
Well, that about sums up our fantastic journey so far. Stay tuned for a blog about our exciting, off the cuff, trip to the the big smoke of Winnipeg where I am sure we will encounter more adventures! We will endeavour to put some photos of Matt's dancing on the blog soon!
A big hello to everyone back home!
Take care, Bec
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
SNOW, WORSHIP AND REST
Our arrival at Nipawin was probably the highlight of my trip as I get to feel and touch snow for the first time in my life.
We had a fantastic reception and presentation on Friday evening. Our hosts were fantastic. Jacqui and Tom were the perfect hosts and they made my first snow encounter possible even thought it meant lots of questions to find out where we can still find some left over snow.
I had the opportunity also to have sabbath worship at Nipawin SDA Church and met lots of wonderful people however it was sad that there was no youths in church ( probably gone for the long weekend). The sunset though was at 9:35 pm on Friday so it was the longest Friday ever and the longest sabbath.
Sunday and Monday was fantastic as we had the opportunity to rest from all the travelling and basically let our hair down in the Evergreen Hotel . The team did some evaluation and picked up some recommendations on what the next team strategy will be. It was fantastic.
My vocational experience too was excellent so I learnt some helpful tips to help me in my vocation back home in the Solomon Islands.
Thanks alot to the Rotary Club of Honiara for sponsoring me to be on this GSE trip, to all the host families from Regina up to Nipawin. A big thanks and uma to my family, Fred for being a patient and loving husband, Sophia, Paul, Tatiana, Morgan and Reagan for standing by me all the way and for being patient and accepting that I will be away from home for 6 weeks. I love you all and I hope to see you all soon in 3 weeks time.
likem u pela tumas !
Hilda Tango
GSE Team member- Solomon Islands and PNG
We had a fantastic reception and presentation on Friday evening. Our hosts were fantastic. Jacqui and Tom were the perfect hosts and they made my first snow encounter possible even thought it meant lots of questions to find out where we can still find some left over snow.
I had the opportunity also to have sabbath worship at Nipawin SDA Church and met lots of wonderful people however it was sad that there was no youths in church ( probably gone for the long weekend). The sunset though was at 9:35 pm on Friday so it was the longest Friday ever and the longest sabbath.
Sunday and Monday was fantastic as we had the opportunity to rest from all the travelling and basically let our hair down in the Evergreen Hotel . The team did some evaluation and picked up some recommendations on what the next team strategy will be. It was fantastic.
My vocational experience too was excellent so I learnt some helpful tips to help me in my vocation back home in the Solomon Islands.
Thanks alot to the Rotary Club of Honiara for sponsoring me to be on this GSE trip, to all the host families from Regina up to Nipawin. A big thanks and uma to my family, Fred for being a patient and loving husband, Sophia, Paul, Tatiana, Morgan and Reagan for standing by me all the way and for being patient and accepting that I will be away from home for 6 weeks. I love you all and I hope to see you all soon in 3 weeks time.
likem u pela tumas !
Hilda Tango
GSE Team member- Solomon Islands and PNG
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Food and Fellowship
I just can't get over how well we are being treated here in Canada. At all of our presentations and cultural visits everyone is so interested in what our visit is all about. Our evening last night was fun with a wiener roast followed by some singing and the music was by the Nipawin Rotary club members band. The Ausies sang the national anthem followed by Hilda and the Solomon Islands anthem,followed by Iuri (Brazil. Exchange). The Exchange students we have met so far are so interesting and such good fun also. Today and tomorrow are free days, so will do some walking . Hope all our readers are well. Hi to my kids,grandkids and partner Denise. Love you all. Bob Ward
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