Deon to Australia: Random Memories

This post will be a series of random photographs and memories. I am leaving out a lot of lovely people and events because I won't have time to write about them. So far in this trip, I have stayed with 8 families, with one to go. I have met with about 10 CWA of WA groups to talk about the Illinois Association of Home and Community Education and to share ideas. I have also been taken on multiple tours of local sites by friends of my hosts. This has truly been an amazing trip!

The smaller communities are far apart and have a lower population. In small towns, I saw buildings like this, which house the local fire brigade and/or the local ambulance. Since fires in the farming areas can be started by lightning strikes or a spark from a machine, not only are the firefighting volunteers on alert, the farms and stations usually have filled water tanks at the ready. When the word goes out that there is a local fire, all hands rush to fight it. One fire in the Esperance region was so severe that several lives were lost as well as many buildings.

Local schools in these small communities might only have 50 students, preschool to Level 6. Students are thereafter sent to a regional middle and high school or sent to a private school in Perth. Often two or more levels are taught in the same room. I met a principal of one of these schools. Not only did he have the duties of his job, but taught classes also. There is a lot of community support for these schools and the level of education these students get is high.

This is Frenchman's Cap in the Cape La Grande National park. It is so named because it was thought the peak looks like...a Frenchman's Cap! At the peak there is a cave that can be explored...if you don't mind trekking up the ridge of the peak. That experience was offered to me, but since I have to stop and rest climbing a long flight of steps, I declined!

Remember the pair from an earlier post on the beach of Lucky Bay? Well, they needed a little rest after all of their publicity shots. These allowed people to pet them.

At Wharton Beach, I was able to dip my feet in the Great Southern Ocean. Brrrr! We came across people swimming in the ocean in various locations. They reported that it was quite bracing!