Bendigo and Some Great News too!

Not too much exciting to report this work week.  Outside of work I had a small "tip over" on my bike on Monday morning while trying to clip out of my pedals at the top of a hill.  Thankfully the only person that was around to witness it was a nice looking gentleman in a car, who happened to also be a cyclist.  He shared his story of "tipping over" in front of his friends at a cafe.   Anyhow, on to the weekend.

This weekend we had another ITF exchange weekend but this time in Bendigo.  Bendigo is the third largest city in the state of Victoria and another former gold town like Ballarat.  I left work Friday afternoon and headed to Southern Cross to catch the train to Bendigo.  I managed to catch a pretty direct train and so I was there by a bit after six pm.  Jodie, my host of the weekend, along with Hamish, another exchange teacher, were waiting for me at the station.  We headed back to Jodie's house where we chatted, enjoyed some wine, and had a fabulous meal.  Jodie loves to cook so Hamish and I received the royal treatment.  THANKS AGAIN JODIE!   Jodie went on exchange a few years ago to Canada so she has a liking for Canadians (heck, what's not to like RIGHT??).

Saturday morning I was up early with an attempt at a run.  I didn't sleep well the night before and I wasn't feeling all that great so my sixty minute planned run was more like twenty with a lot of walking.  I went from Jodie's house to Lake Weeroona and back.  While at the lake I took a  couple of pictures including one of the local black swan and her babies.

Lake Weeroona

The black swan with her babies.

After a quick shower Jodie took Hamish and I to Bendigo Pottery, Australia's oldest working pottery.  I inquired about shipping some of it home but the cost was insane so I bought a few smaller pieces instead and  hopefully I can get some help bringing it home to Canada (Nancy B? Tammy ? Nancy H? Mike? Judy?)

A demonstration at Bendigo Pottery

From the pottery we made a quick stop  at Lake Weeroona for coffees before meeting up with the ITF group at a local restaurant.  As usually it was a loud bunch as we chatted and caught up with one another.  After lunch we went on a walking tour of Bendigo.  I learned a bit more about the city and its buildings.

Camp Hill Primary

(what a cool looking school eh?)

View from the tower.

At the end of the tour I headed over to the Golden Dragon Museum.  I spent a bit of time wondering the museum and its gardens.

Jodie then picked up Hamish and I and we headed to Dan Murphy's for wine and then to the grocery store.  Jodie again offered to cook (which neither Hamish or I refused) so we watched her choose what she needed for dinner and we paid for the groceries.  We had a wonderful thai salmon dinner.  Once we were good and full so we headed to the main event for this Bendigo weekend - the "Bush Dance".  The best way for me to describe bush dancing is to say that it's like square dancing except there usually isn't a square.  At the beginning of each dance we were clearly told what we needed to do.  It was a total hoot except for the fact that I was getting some really bad pain at the back of my head.  I ended up taking part in just two dances but I enjoyed watching everyone else.  I also met a lot of people.  There were a few couples there that are going on exchange next year as well as some other people that have already been on exchange.  I met a nice girl named Naomi and she lives in Melbourne too.  Hopefully we'll get together here in Melbourne.  

A bush dance.

Madeline (from Ontario) and I

(Madeline attends the yoga in Camberwell that I've been going to when I'm in town)

Proof that I bush danced too.

(You can see a bit of the live band in the background)

Me bush dancing with Tom and Bridget (from Winnipeg)

We ended up staying at the bush dance until the very end, and helped with clean up before we headed back to Jodie's.  It was a great night.

The next day Jodie, Hamish, and I met up with Jodie's friend Mel and her adorable ten week old daughter Tahlia for brunch.  After a wonderful brunch Jodie took us wine tasting (see she was the BEST host).  We visited three wineries and I managed to keep the Bendigo wine community happy.  We also took an outside walking tour of her school along with a visit to the part of town that was affected by the terrible bush fires back in February.

 

Mandurang Valley Winery

(This man is a retired principal)

The view from Balgownie Estate

Jodie and Hamish having some hot chocolate 

while I was busy tasting Lynnevale Estates wine.

At this point in the day I needed to get back to the train station to catch my train to Melbourne.  After some sad goodbyes I was heading back to Melbourne.  It was a really great weekend  and Jodie was an excellent host.  She's also getting into cycling and if I can swing it I'd like to come back to Bendigo to go for a ride with her.  Obviously a coffee stop would be part of the ride, and after the brunch we had this morning we might have to get back there too.  Now I just need to figure out if I can make it work.  (Plus Jodie is going in for knee surgery Tuesday so she maybe out of commission for a few weeks).

And finally the GREAT news.  I don't know how I forgot to mention this a couple weeks back but.... I received a full refund for my original medical bills. It was close to $2,400 CDN so I'm so glad to be reunited with my money.  Unfortunately I doubt I'll see any more from them since my condition has gone from "emergency" to "chronic".  But I'm happy to see what I've seen.

Oh, and before I close this out my assistant principal has taken another job in the district so my THIRD assistant principal will start term three (or sooner if they can be hired quickly).  In case you're keeping score with my school year here by the time my one year is over I will have gone through THREE principals AND THREE assistant principals.  Needless to say the teaching part of this exchange is the part I've been the most disappointed with.  But I do like my class and I think that there are some incredible teachers at this school - it's just too bad I needed to be thrown into this year of transition and change.  It wasn't quite what I had signed up for and it sure makes me miss my school back home - A LOT!