On Our Way to OZ
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Our journey to Perth
began at Changi Airport Thursday morning, as we boarded at 7:50 for the
five hour flight. Eager with enthusiasm, the group managed to settle
into the flight by sharing CD's, watching movies, and chat with the
friendly Quantas flight attendants. They later commented upon what a
friendly group we were and presented each of us with a Quantas pin. An
auspicious start to our journey! Five hours later we arrived in Perth,
ready to begin ten days in the Land Down Under.
The next step in our journey was
auspicious, but not in quite the same sense. After being met by our
intrepid guides Jeff and Alex, we loaded our gear into the trailers and
boarded a van to Dwellingup. About 70 meters into our journey a nut
came off the drive shaft of the van, stranding us in the airport
parking lot. Fortunately, a replacement van was found quickly, and soon
we were winding our way south, toward the Dwellingup Caravan Park. In
the picture to the right, Alex and Jeff survey the damage as the group
heads back into the airport in search of food and drink.
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. . . no t.v., no radio, just the plain outdoors and a
view worth a million dollars! There is nothing to do except lay on the
mats and talk, stare up into the open sky slowly turning orange, to
red, to pink.
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To the relief of many,
"camping" and "roughing it" did not prove to be the same thing; while
we were able to sleep under the beautiful Australian sky, the campsite
at Dwellingup was developed, offering hot showers, and bathrooms. The
food, stored on trailers, was cooked using bottled gas--all the
comforts of home! Students took turns preparing the daily meals,
clearly a novel experience for some. And the food--tasty and hearty
fare.
