Epilogue - A time to remember

     I reach home to find a new calender on my writing desk, a bamboo fibre face towel with a small note in the bathroom, Old Chang Kee curry puff in the kitchen, and to the racous chirping of Friday (my parrot) in the living room. How much I am reminded of this family I have, and this bond we share. As I am typing this, my 海宝 lies resting on my lap.

     Today, we leave our friends in Tasmania and bid farewell to those we've shared our rooms with for the past two weeks. Before we reflect and share our experiences of our trip in Tasmania, let us take this time to appreciate our families, our parents. Let us remember that we could not have embarked on this journey without their consent and support.

     I hope we can all sit down with our families and have a nice meal with them tonight, without distractions from your handphones and computers, without the tele disrupting a proper conversation. And perhaps, we could share a bed with them tonight, sharing with them our tales from Tasmania like bedtime stories.

    Tonight, take time to thank your parents. Take time to share your experiences with them, show them the pictures you took, the souvenirs and food you bought.

     To all parents, thank you for all your love and support. Thank you for your worrying for our safety, for keeping us in your thoughts, for longing for our safe return. We sons want to appreciate that, so if you're reading this, take this time now to spend the time instead with them.

     Have a nice long rest tonight and happy holidays to all.

Hwa Chong – Hutchins Exchange Day 11

                  Chilling out at long beach - by Ee Rei

Hi there parents! This will be the last blog post for this trip. This is the last day of our trip in Hobart and it was a beautiful day. We had decided the previous day that we will be going to Long Beach and have a picnic lunch there.

In the morning, after breakfast, we gave a token of appreciation to Adam the chef. We then walked down to middle school to give tokens to our buddies. At 9:30, we set off for the beach. It was a rather long walk and we finally reached Lipscombe Larder and bought ourselves some lunch. We then walked a little more a reached the beach. We took out our lunch and started gobbling our food.

We then went to play, but because of the sun, we all turned pink after all that fun. We then had our final debrief.

I feel that this trip to the beach was an amazing experience for all of us as we got to bond together as a group.

When we reached back, we had a farewell from the headmaster of middle school. We then had Christmas dinner. It was a pizza party! The food was absolutely delicious!

I feel that through this trip, all of us have had a wonderful time as our buddies were very kind and made this stay a very memorable for all of us!

Day 11 - Bruny Island

Hwa Chong – Hutchins Exchange Day 11

Bruny Island

Hello Parents! Welcome to yet another post on our exciting exchange :D Today was a very special day for us, one that we will gladly share with exuberance and excitement. I will keep this entry as short as possible :)

Breakfast today was not bread, butter and jam. Thanks to Mr. Teo’s generosity, we got to try 5 different types of cheeses. They were a gift from Ms. Michelle, who accompanied us for a few days. The cheeses were namely Cheddar, Triple Cream Brie, Lancashire, Rubicon Red and something else (my memory is failing me)…

So we left at 8am sharp, on a 45-min drive to the ferry terminal. The ferry is one that you can drive and park your vehicle on. After a 30-min ferry ride, we made our way to the terminal to board the Bruny Island Eco Cruise. And we stopped at The Neck along the way to snap a few scenic shots after climbing around 200 steps :D

We began boarding the Cruise which left at 11am on a voyage to Antarctica. Just kidding lah, although we did experience the choppy waves of the Southern Ocean :D We spent the first hour attending the Captain’s lessons on Geology and Marine Botany, studying the rock formations, kelp (which were used by the Aborigines many years ago) and lichens.

Since this year is the year of the Water Dragon, we did actually come close to one which blasted water at us :P

The next moment was simply magical for some of us. We saw a Humpback Whale together with its calf! It took us a long time to wait for them to resurface for oxygen.

Afterwards, we came close to some Fur Seals, including some males who were engaging in a wrestling match :D

Here are some more pictures and videos!

After the whole cruise ride which lasted an exhilarating 3 hours, we stopped by a Tasmanian Fudge Shop, and the Bruny Island Cheese Company where we bought rich, creamy, heavenly chocolates, and tasted exquisite and artisan cheeses.

We returned a little tired, but this day was indeed a great one, where we had an eye-opening experience unlike any other :D I am sure you will hear much more from us as each of us had our own unique experience…

Cheers,

Ming Xuan ^ - ^

Day 10 - UTAS

Day 10 - UTAS

It was Day 10. We were read the day’s plans last night. Classrooms Observations from 0830-1030 hours, followed by lunch, a tour to University of Tasmania in the afternoon, and joining the middle school assembly session.

WE ARE UNDER THE GREAT SAGE!!!

Darren and the Octo-copter

The classroom observations today were the last of the trip. Unlike our first Classroom Observation, we were now much closer to the Australians.  Lessons were interesting and there was much to take home from them, both memories and lesson styles.

After lunch we visited UTAS Sandy Bay campus, which was next to Hutchins School. We were greeted Rebecca, a year one student in the University. She brought us to a small little room . In the room was full of remote controlled helicopters or planes. Interestingly, the remote controlled vehicles were not toys, they had very powerful cameras attached to them that was capable of taking extreme high resolution aerial photos and piecing them together to form a map.

Darren was the one introducing the gadgets to us. He informed us of the upcoming mission to map an area of the Antarctica.  We were all impressed by the Octo-copter, an 8-propellered helicopter that could tilt itself back in position when facing strong winds. What was inspiring was that Darren told us that his current researches and success all came from a simple passion for these gadgets. It proves that if one follows his heart, he is bound to find success in life and be satisfied.

Giant Organ (Looking at it makes u feel confused enough:P)

Other parts of the tour in UTAS were 1 of the 6 libraries in the campus, an Auditorium with a giant organ, a few pieces of very large ores of minerals that were put on display, and a huge display of a periodic table that had the real elements in the display! We took a group photo in front of a Confucius statue.

 Thereafter we joined the middle school for their assembly session after lunch. It opened with a performance by the Middle School Symphony Orchestra. Ming Xuan went up to give his presentation on Hwa Chong Institution and Singapore. It was meant to persuade the students to come to Singapore next year while we host them. Everyone was listening attentively and apparently someone begged Ryan to take him to Singapore .



Symphony Ochestra



Ming Xuan's great presentation:)



Surprise after dinner! It was 2 nature trails a stone’s throw from Hutchins School. The Lambert trail and Bicentennial trail. It was more of a trip to hear the birds but Trexel saw a hare and some of the others found a Pademelon, a small kangaroo.

Day 10 has ended. With effectively 3 days left in Hobart, what else can we do but to treasure our time here?

Written By:

James Soh Weng Kit

Lambert  Trail

Bicentennial Trail

Evening sky from Lambert Trail

Pedemelon (I wonder why it did not run away)

Day 9 – Port Arthur

            We started out our morning with a scrumptious breakfast with the students at Hutchins. After that we met at the lobby of the boarding school to collect our packed lunch, which includes wraps, chips, cookies and blackcurrant juice. Thereafter we proceeded to Port Arthur with some Hutchins buddies, which took a considerably amount of one and a half hours on the bus.

            On the bus, most of us were sleeping as it was still early in the morning, while some others were playing a game called “sweet and sour”, which they made up. It is played by two or more players. Basically, you have to get as many pedestrians to wave back at you when you wave at them, as possible. We even joked that this would be not possible in Singapore as people here are more friendly. However, we got to a rural area and there was not many people to wave at so we decided to end the game.

            After a tiring trip there, we got out the bus and immediately felt the cold wind blasting at our faces. Even the windbreakers were of little use for the cold temperature. It was absolutely freezing.

            We then proceeded to the gallery of Port Arthur to look at some facts about the prisoners living there. We found out that their lives were hard. Normally, as once they come to Port Arthur, they would have no chance of leaving even though their sentence was only seven years as they would have no money for the trip back, thus it would be considered a one way trip if you get sent to Port Arthur. They also had very difficult living conditions like not allowing to talk to each other in some cases.

            Then, we went for a ferry ride around the islands and saw some amazing view of the surrounding islands. It was chilly as the ship goes considerably fast and we had to stay below decks for some of us.

            After that, we went around the old buildings of Port Arthur, that had survived the fire that left most of the buildings dilapidated. It was a fun and interesting experience for most of us as it was a first time experience for us to go to a historical site in Australia.

Day 08 – We are the kings of the world

Day 08 – We are the kings of the world               Photos later  :)

Today, we became the king of the world by getting to the top* of Mt. Wellington.

In the morning, we woke up much earlier as compared to the past 2 days as we had to go for classes with the Aussie buddies. There wasn't much to say as this is not the fun/exciting part.

After class, we rushed back to the boarding house to change to clothes suitable for climbing a mountain. After that, we collected the packed lunch which we had for every lunch except for the weekends. Soon, we were on our way.

It did not take long for the bus to reach the bottom of the mountain. We got off and started our ascent. At the start, we were very enthusiastic and we went up the mountain with quick steps. Not long later, we all got very tired. We wanted to rest, but the idea of being able to climb the mountain made us continue.

As I was at the front, I didn’t notice much of what was happening at the back. After a while into the climb, we heard Bin Hui shout something. We stopped and waited. Soon, we seen a really tired Ryan followed by an equally tired Ee Rei walking towards us. A while later, Ming Xuan and his camera appeared. He was constantly stopping to snap pictures of the flowers at the side of the pathway. After all the waiting, we were pretty much recharged and we continued with a quick pace. During the climb, we found many sticks which we used as trekking sticks.

After a long time (maybe 50 to 60 minutes?), we reached a resting area. It only had a small bench, but the rest of us made ourselves comfortable on the huge rocks nearby. There, we had a small snack on the fruits and the cookie in our packed lunch while waiting for the others who were still climbing. We were so bored there while waiting that James even tried to make fire using just wood!

Just as we thought we were about to continue, we were notified that we are to go back to the bus at the base of the mountain. Everyone was really sad as we spent almost an hour to climb up and we had to give up. Turns out, it was due to Ee Rei not being able to cope well with the physical stress and Mr. Teo wanted him not to stress himself out and “canceled” the climb.

Just before we enter the bus, we had our lunch. Following that was a long ride up the mountain. Soon, we exited the bus and were faced with the strongest wind we have ever met. We first proceeded to the viewing gallery which did help with the extreme cold. Then, we went outside. There, some of us started singing “满江红”. This gave us an idea. We started singing the ProEd song while Mr. Chen recorded the “performance”.

Once we are done, we dashed back to the bus as we could not stand the extreme cold and we proceeded back to the boarding house. From this experience, we have survived the extreme cold, survived the extreme altitude and the extreme physical stress. We have conquered the mountain and we are the kings of the world.

Written by:

Lee Yat Bun

Day 7- Farm Visit

Today we went to a farm, which is owned by Oscar, a boarding house student.

 We took a 1 hour long bus trip to the farm. Unlike in Singapore, the speed limits are really high, so we had an awesome time in the bus with the wind “smashing” our faces. As soon as we reached the farm, we were welcomed by Oscar, his parents… and his dog, Ted. They were all very sociable and we quickly made a conversation about random stuff. Oscar’s father is a really funny guy and a wonderful guide. Oscar’s mum is a really hospitable lady.

 That is the introduction to our hosts. Therefore, we can start on what happened during the farm “excursion”. Firstly, we were shown to the chicken coop. There was a special surprise for us as 6 eggs had just hatched, so we could see the chicks. The hosts had set up a house just for the chicks and their mother hen. We also saw a rooster, which was making noises, thus we all made a mental note that the rooster had no sense of time.

 Then, we went to the pig sty. We were all surprised and overwhelmed by the fact that the 3-5 years old pigs weighed around 300+kg!!! They were so fat that their eyes were just slits across the skin! Despite their size, they were harmless to us and were just snorting lazily. Thus leading to us calling them, “The Gentle Giants.”. They were definitely much bigger than the boars we can see in Singapore.

 

After that, we went to see the calves, which are the offspring of the cows, most of them which were born recently in September. They were considered as really big for their age, thus showing the nutrition the calves get at the farm. Some of us including Mr Teo put out our hands to gesture to the cows to lick us and the cows did! Although the saliva was really slimey and sticky, we found a really exciting experience. Another thing that we observed was the tags placed and the paint put on the calves. Those stuff were put by the government to identify the calves.

We then took a bus ride through the biggest hop farm in the southern hemisphere. Hop is an ingredient for wine. They are a climber plant thus resulting in a lot of strings put up in the farm, which makes the view really blurry. XD. Oscar’s father told us about the native hens, which he called “The Stupidest Bird in the world” and “Kamikaze Hen”, because they loved to run in front of vehicles.

We then went to the farm building where the sheep were sheared. Once we were in the building, the “Mmmmm” sound of the shears and the bleating of the sheep filled our ears. We were all very excited and upbeat due to the fact that most of us had not seen sheep-shearing in real life before. However, when the shearer started shearing, some of us started to give negative comments of the shearer because he cut the sheep quite often, leaving nasty cuts on the sheep’s body and man-handling them.

 

 

Then came the most exciting part of the trip…… the cow-milking. We were told that even cows could get diseases no matter how strong and big they look. Bacteria could get into the cow’s udders and make the milk bad. Firstly, the cows were herded into the waiting area and thus into the cow-milking machine. I, myself was surprised as I thought that cow-milking was done by hand. However, the process was really fast, but dirty. The cows walked into revolving machine and the farmers put suctions cups onto the cows’ teats and the milk was sucked into a big tank located in another room.  However, some cows did extra work and did their big business while they were getting milked, I was almost hit myself!!! We were also allowed to try putting the suction cups onto the teats. I found this really cool as this was my first time doing this kind of stuff.

After that, we went back to our boarding house with fresh experiences and awesome memories and pictures as souveniers. We are all looking forward to the hike at Mount Wellington tomorrow, where we can enjoy the cool wind at the mountain.