Basketball - Sophie

Sophie played a great game yesterday against a good team that contained a couple of strong players. Sophie has to take the MVP Award for her team, She played her heart out throughout the match and they only went down by 4 points.

For more photos of the match.

CLICK ON THIS LINK

Basketball - James

The boys looked a bit tired yesterday. They are in a difficult position as they are way better than any of the other teams in the group, winning by large margins each week.  Motivation becomes an issue and they were playing the bottom team.  While it was an easy win, the boys were not pushed to those moments of brilliance  that we love to see in their game.

Sophie - Environmental Leader

Sophie has been elected as an Environmental Leader at her school and today in Assembly she was presented with her badge by the School Captain, Patrick! it is wonderful to see her taking on responsibility and learning leadership skills in the school.

Football - James in the Finals

James and the Jets are in the finals and with a good win (80 - 52) over Montrose yesterday, the boys have moved one step closer to a medal.
James had a great day. Early on he kicked a goal along the ground before the opposition could get near the ball.

Throughout the match he blocked the opposition and assisted his own and generally drove the opposition mad.  He was always in their way!  His work earned him plenty of fans around the ground.

 For more photos of the game, click on the following link

Photos of Jets v Montrose

Netball with Ebony and Holly

It has been a while since we have been able to see Holly and Ebony play but today was the day.  Holly was up first and being a new team they are still working on their skills but Holly had a good game.

Ebony has been in training as an Umpire and now has qualified to officiate her own matches which we were able to see today.

Ebony played in a match a little later and she is certainly becoming a very handy member of the team. We watched her dominate her much taller opposition player with her speed and agility.

Volcanoes of the South West

Our first visit today was to the Mt Eccles National Park and its crater, now Lake Surprise.

 After seeing Lava Blisters in a local field we we were able to see the huge impact the eruption of Mt Napier had on the local landscape as lava flowed from the volcano across the landscape to the sea near Port Fairy.

As the lava flowed, it formed tubes which now form caves when some of the upper cover collapsed.  We managed to see a few examples of these caves.

Next stop was the Mt Rouse volcano that overlooks the town of Penshurst.

The crater is small and forms a small lake.

Last stop was the Hopkins Falls near Warnambool formed as the river flows over a basalt shelf.

Off to Yambuk

We left Terang and headed for Yambuk dropping in to the crater of Tower Hill along he way.

Yambuk is on the coast but for some obscure reason we found very few in the water.

The monster slide in the dunes is the big local attraction.

Of course it was conquered with ease.

There are some beautiful wild rocky sections of the coast. This photo is from Crags Lookout.

We are currently camped overlooking the inlet and looking forward to exploring the area further.

Terang and the Volcanoes

The landscape around Terang and Camperdown is amazing. The volcanoes can be seen all around.  The Mt Noorat crater is huge extending below the level of the surrounding landscape.

Some of the old craters have become lakes.

The stone from the eruptions is being used for buildings and roads all around the area.

The dry stone walls from the 1860s on are still in evidence (although they do need maintenance).  Camperdown is full of old buildings made of the local basalt.

The local church in Terang, the largest in the area, is a huge monument made of the local stone.

Visiting Victorian Volcanoes

There are a surprising number of ancient volcanoes around the Colac area of Victoria. We saw the Red Rock area near Alvie on our way to Terang today.

The landscape is pock marked with ancient vents and cones. We intend to see more.
We decided to stay in a central location at Terang. It is a quaint town that has seen better days.

A classic old arcade in the middle of the town stands empty.  It is very much a symbol of a changing social landscape.

Brett's Birthday

Brett is now seriously close to middle age.  It comes as a shock to everyone but the occasion had to be celebrated.  The photos suggest there is a bit of a "Taltarni" theme running for the feast.

Orchid Whispering

It is evident that the key to orchid production is to leave them alone. The sort of gardening we like. It produces great results.

Rennovations Continue

We have finally got the connections sorted to the new viewing room.  It is all working well except for the link to a laptop computer. More problem solving!

Football - Jack

The Jets played Glen Waverley today and although they were undermaned, they played well. The ball hardly came near Jack for half of the match but he got a few touches.

In the last quarter Jack had to play on the Glen Waverley team against his mates. In fact his good mate Clay, goaled for the opposition.

Jack spent some time sorting his "mouthguard face".