These Australians like to drive. First of all, Australia is the size of the continental U.S., but there is less than one-tenth of the U.S. population. So, people pretty much live in a ring around the coast, with the interior deserts largely open and uninhabited. Albury to Deniliquin would've been a 2-ish hour drive, but we went through Wagga Wagga (because it is on the way - yeah, right) which increased the entire drive time to almost 7 hours. It was ok though, because there were many interesting things along the way. But still, it is not unusual for an college administrator to drive 1000 kilometers in a week just for work. Not to mention that many people live far from where they work (50-100 K).

The TAFE schools were having their end of the year awards ceremony and I was invited to attend, the ceremony was in Wagga Wagga. The highlight of the trip to Wagga was a stopover at a small primary school near the town of Tumut, actually it is near a small small small town called Brungle. The town is largely an aboriginal community, so the school population reflected that. But, this school is really unique, because it is touted as a "community school", where the entire community is involved in the operation, goals, and focus of the school. As a result, the school focuses heavily on aboriginal tradition and has a big focus on the relationship between humans and nature. When we arrived at the Brungle Public School, the children were singing a rousing rendition of The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which was not exactly what I expected. However, as soon as we entered, the children quieted down and the teacher (there are only 2 in the entire school) asked who would like to be our tour guides. Every hand in the room shot to the air, and 6 children were chosen. Apparently a focus of the school is that all children are able to communicate with adults, and this really showed. The campus tour was great. The children highlighted their gardens (telling us what the plants were used for), their sports fields (a Frisbee field in the shape of Australia with cities marked as goals), and their cultural grounds (including traditional housing and tools). They explained what new projects they were working on, and were a very respectful, cheerful group of children. It was a pleasure to meet them. You can read more about the school here: www.brungle-p.schools.nsw.edu.au It's a really neat website too...

While at the school I saw a shield tree. The indigenous people used some of the eucalypt trees for making shields. This isn't strange. But what IS strange is that they didn't cut the tree down. They just carved the shield out of the living tree and the tree would heal around the opening left behind. So as you walk around, you can find trees where things as large as canoes were carved out of trees and the trees have survived. It is crazy. I tell you, this vegetation is amazing.

After the awards ceremony I continued my trek to Deniliquin, a.k.a The Flattest Place on Earth. It is so very perfectly flat. Deni is a community of 10,000 people that was very affluent due to the sheep and wool industry around the turn of the century. However, that collapsed and now it is known for growing rice. This is a strange industry for this area, because it really is quite dry and NSW is amidst a long drought. But, who am I to point any fingers at water wasters, I live in Phoenix. I was well informed, there are absolutely no rocks in Deniliquin. I know, because I looked. I never found one. Deni is also known, because it holds the Guiness Book of Records for the Most Registered Utes in 1 Location. A ute is a small utility truck (a pick-up), and it is quite popular in rural communities. So, every year, Deni has the "Ute Muster", a large gather with bands and carnival rides, and breaks its own record (currently at 3418). You can read more about the Ute Muster here www.utemuster.info. It is held every October and sounds like a hoot.

Aussie Slang = tea.
Tea can mean:lunch, dinner, or tea. If someone says, "What do you want to have for tea?" That means dinner, usually. This is confusing to the newcomer who might think that tea is an aperitif BEFORE the proper dinner, or just a cup of tea. So, you don't fill up on tea while waiting for dinner (probably thinking, "wow, that's a lot of appetizer"), not realizing that tea IS dinner. You won't go hungry, because the Aussies eat all the time, but you may miss a dinner if you weren't clear on this one. (I actually turned down "tea" because I wasn't that hungry. They were surprised. I was surprised later when I realized that dinner wasn't following on later.)