The Adventures continue...

Here we are with great anticipation for the exciting jet boat trip ahead of us…. We were primed to wear every bit of warm clothing because it will be cold and wet. Eli warmed up for the trip by being seasick on the bus…. Charlie was excited by the prospect of being moved by 750 horses….. Off we go! The girls get some screaming practice when the cool pilot puts the boat at right angles to the water. We cruise down the coast. We see some brilliant ancient seafloor bedding and columnar jointed dolerite…. very famous along the Tasmanian coast. [Ed: Can you tell there has been a change in the authofor today’s blog? Guess who?] There were numerous caves and arches in the rock. [Ed: Can you tell there has been a change in the author for today’s blog? Guess who?] The water spray is both common and cold as are the complaints from Martin and Abba about having to sit in the back with the seasick prone teachers. 

We saw a small pod of dolphins and some New Zealand fur seals. The wind gets stronger and the waves get bigger as we round off into the great southern ocean. We go across to Tasman Island and see more seals, this time Australian fur seals, which are bigger than their neighbors. We learn about the highest lighthouse in Australia with a unique loading and landing system. We changed places so Abba and Martin could get wet and plough through the big waves of the Southern Ocean. We learn some cool things about conservation, kelp forests and albatrosses. Some more thrilling sharp turns where we can look sideways to the water and then its back to port. We did have to wake up Mrs Xeros and Riley who were fast asleep at the back of the boat, obviously they were not as excited as the others. Now it is off to Port Arthur….

Guess who….?

Mr Gilmour put on the film “For the Term of His Natural Life”, as background for this part of our journey. Our guided tour of the grounds was very informative. It was strange to consider that such a pretty place was such a place of torment and punishment.

It's been a 'big day'…. make that a 'big week'!

Back to 'Blue Lagoon' to catch a bit of the sun's last ditch efforts for the day. We had another amazing day of blue skies and NO RAIN!

The 'giant' slides

The evening talent quest was amazing. Who will forget Rod’s impersonation of Saemogol. Singing by Ellie and Alycia was X Factor standard. And what can I say about the two Georgias and Melissa, it is in their DNA. But Mr Gilmore brought the house down with his song “Where’s the snow, I don’t know” [….. the one from the movie Frozen] but some of his lines were inaccurate; Riley didn’t eat junk food [Ed: that’s a matter of opinion!] he ate energy food to keep up with all the activities such as….well…. sleeping, and throwing up, and going down slides head first!

 What a great way to finish off a fantastic day…..