Two days of volunteering at Cohunu.

 

I fed lots of interesting animals and cleaned up koala poop!  It was cool (except the poop).  I got to hold a young koala.

In the morning the koalas are very active and want their fresh eucalyptus branches.  They want to climb up your leg and you have to hurry with the branches.  After they eat, they sleep and sleep and sleep like below!

Scarborough beach.

Scarborough beach is about a 10 minute bus ride from where I am staying now.

The water was really clear this day.  I played in the waves for a long time.

Spent one night at Cottlesloe Beach Hotel between homestays.

It was heavenly to be at the ocean at sunset.  The Cottesloe lifesaving team was finishing up training sessions for the night here and they were fun to watch.

I won't be posting much this week due to internet issues.

Maybe better internet options at my next homestay next week.

Update

Much has happened in the last week and I don’t have internet access at my present homestay so I’ll summarize.  Sunday I moved out of my homestay with Gavin and Joyce with the intention of working at a wildlife park for awhile.  My new homestay was south of the river, but too far for a reasonable commute to the wildlife park. (walk, train, bus, walk, hot, too much!)  I volunteered for only two days and started looking for a new homestay that was nearer the city and the ocean as a plan B.  I am now staying in a nice condo/house very near the ocean.  The beaches are so beautiful here that I can’t seem to stay away from them for long, and the weather is still unseasonably HOT so beaching is perfect.

Perth Concert Band at the Quarry Amphitheater

I took a couple of photos at the afternoon rehearsal.  It was all lit up with stage lights and full moon when we performed.

Koondoola kids preparing for Asazu multicultural performance.

More Koondoola photos

Some of the kids in the music room.

The kids begin their day at the white board with their teacher, Mrs. Snyders (or Mrs. Cotton).

The kids are hiding good-bye cards for me behind their backs.  Cute.

 

I spent a lot of time with this class.  They are in their first year of learning English.

I spent one class period each day with these kids too.  Most of these kids are about 12 years old and are in their second year of learning English.

I spent once a week in the art class which was fun.  Mostly the kids painted a lot, but this day the kids were making paper dolls for a Harmony Day project.

Marie is the wonderful teacher who gave me rides to school every day.  She is originally from Colorado.

June and I (the art teacher - see next blog) formed this sun with a bunch of paper fibre and glue for a Harmony Day prop.  She made the cardboard base under it.

Dinner and a nocturnal tour of Kenyana Wildlife Center

June is the art teacher at Koondoola school.  She is super nice (hi June!).  She drove me around, took me to dinner and to her house, and she took me to Kenyana for a nocturnal tour.

 

I haven't eaten out much so this was a nice treat.  This is a chicken satay pizza at an Italian restaurant.  Yum.  June is originally from England (decades ago) so I wasn't surprised when she ordered a shandy.  I had one too (it's basically beer and lemonade).

June's sculptures.

 

June's dogs.

http://www.kanyanawildlife.org.au/

Kenyana has several buildings and big cages outside too.  It used to be a girl scout center.  Now it houses an animal hospital and native animals.  There is a nice little lecture room where the introduction was given where I felt like singing Kum Bay Ya.

Echindna.  One of the coolest animals ever.  Rare and unusual.

Blue tongued lizard.  They really do have a very blue tongue and are common here.  Below, night pictures are really difficult under red lights.  The animals can't see red lights but humans can see to feed and visit at night when the animals are active.

  They breed bilbies at Kenyana.  Bilbies look sort of like rabbits.

Rabbits are not native here and they are very problematic and so some Australians prefer to celebrate the native bilbie at Easter instead.  I want a chocolate bilbie for Easter!

Last day at Koondoola is tomorrow. The end of a chapter for me.

Two of the teachers threw a party for me at Koondoola today.  There was a carrot cake and presents and the kids gave me handmade cards that were really special.  My experience at Koondoola has been wonderful.

Ada Street Beach. A tiny beach with a rock in the middle.

 

I didn't swim here as I have at the other beaches, I just sat on the stairs and watched the waves crash into the rocks.

Marmion Beach

Sorrento Beach Sunset

Koondoola photos

 

There is a nature walk in back of Koondoola.  There is some aboriginal art in there.  I love to sit and read in the gazebo in the morning when I get there early.

 

There are no hallways at Koondoola, only sidewalks between buildings.

 

These are some of the kids who I am with every day.  They are having a breakfast unit and get to make and eat breakfast foods on Thursdays.

 

The staff lounge is really big and it has air conditioning which is better than some classrooms.  Dishwasher to wash all of the many the tea cups that the teachers use every day.  Tea break every day at 10:45 is nice.