Eureka!

Standing at 300 meters tall, with 88 floors, as a residential building with 24 karat gold infused windows on the top 8 floors, Eureka Tower is an impressive sight.

Eureka Tower!

As we approached, I thought this was worthy of a panoramic photo. I began to ask myself if I really like heights that much, but I figured it was manageable. We got our tickets, got in the lift up to the 88th Floor and our hosts informed us that there was an optional “edge” experience that you could opt for, this included entering a retractable space that extends out from the building and it completely glass, frosted glass that with the flip of a switch clarifies and you are standing in a glass box 88 stories in the air! I didn’t have the fortitude to take the challenge, but Amy and David both ventured out there!

Amy and David on SkyDeck

I took this picture as I observed from the outdoor observation deck.

The Tower gave a great opportunity to view the city from above everything! The popular sites looked so small! I really enjoyed the experience Philip and Helen of the Moorleigh Moorabbin were our hosts and I thank you!

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Jaw-Dropping Glass and Performance Art

The Rotary Club of Boronia started Tuesday (March 29) off with a bang. We were led by Peter Malden back to his old stomping grounds – the Telsta Global Operations Center. We were lead upstairs where we were presented to a nicely produced video about the products and services Telstra offered. While it was interesting, many of us were wondering where exactly this “operations center” was. With a push of a button, all the opaque glass went clear and we soon realized we were overlooking the center the entire time. The place was really impressive! We learned what each group of rows were responsible for, what the different displays meant and how the warning systems worked. Did you know they maintain a backup site that is an exact duplicate of the GOC and 3-4 similar sites that only four people know the location of?

Next, we went to the Monash Gallery of Art which is in a beautiful space. We met with Shaune Lakin, the gallery director. He explained the history of the gallery and we learned about how it nearly closed. Actually, it did for a month but the public were outraged and protested. That was exactly the kick in the rear the gallery needed and since then they have worked hard to maintain and exhibit a world class collection of photos. Shaun was very candid, which I appreciated, as he walked us through the current exhibit “After Glow” which showcased exhibition and performance art. Then he took us into the storage room and we learned the optimal conditions that photos should be stored at to last (a minimum) of 150 years.

With a pretty busy morning, we were feeling hungry so the Rotarians carted us of to Madeline’s, at Jells Park. The venue and park were beautiful. We each found dishes we enjoyed and closed the mid-day meal off with coffee and tea.

The GSE team all headed back to Richard and Anne-Marie’s place to relax before our cluster meeting in the evening.

Thanks to Peter, Michael, Helen, Eddie, and the other Rotarians for planning and executing a educational and exciting day.

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Making Merry in Marysville

On Wednesday of last week, Fran, Roger, and Allan of Ringwood Rotary took our team to visit Terry and Sharen Donavan of Marysville. They owned a B&B that burned down in the Black Saturday fires but are in the midst of rebuilding and are finally able to laugh about the craziness of the entire situation. Terry showed us some of his belongings recovered from the fire that are now in a mini-museum. Sharen made a poignant comment that day about being a survivor of the fires instead of a victim.

We got a tour of the CFA volunteer firefighters’ home as well as that of the SES (State Emergency Services) and the local newspaper!

David even got to play around a bit in the Tool Library donated by Rotary and Lions’ Club so that residents can continue rebuilding.

 

 

While Aaron snuck off to yet another winery ;), the rest of us met Bruno, an artist who was able to salvage and restore several of his pieces of art (sculptures and paintings). (That’s him with the weeds!) We had his blessing to explore the gardens and have a bit of fun.

10 points to the first person to figure out what’s weird about my pic. 😉  What a good day. Thanks, Ringwood Rotary!

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Puffing Billy – Wandin Rotary Club

We had a great experience riding a historical steam engine train named the Puffing Billy. You get to hang your feet over the edge and take in the country side. It is fantastic. The Wandin Rotary Club John and Claire Sanders along with William Pond hosted us for the day and they were very hospitable. We finished the day visiting the Bulong Winery and sampling some of their wines. And Aaron shared with them some California wine that he brought with him. A good day all in all on the 21st of March. Thank you!

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Use your imagination…

Well, I don’t think I’ll be able to upload photos onto the blog for about a week, unfortunately so you’ll just have to follow the title’s advice for a bit while I describe these adventures down under.

Our GSE team had an extremely busy time last week trying to keep up with these Australian Rotarians, let me tell ya! We’ve hardly had enough time to mention all of the incredible vocational visits and cultural experiences we’ve shared. I can’t express enough the gratitude our team feels with regard to all the hard work and planning that District 9810 members have put into this jam-packed program. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!!!

Very briefly, I’ll try to give you a picture of what last week was like (in hopes that my teammates will add pictures if they are able, hint HINT!!! 😉 ). Members of the Rotary Clubs of Manningham, Box Hill Central, Templestowe, and Forest Hill organized and escorted us to some incredibly educational activities. I’ve visited places, chatted with people, and been privy to information that I haven’t even seen/heard in my own home town. The following are pieces not mentioned in our blog until now…

Monday March 14: Great presentation by Sergeant of Police at Diamond Creek, Wayne Spence, on separation of responsibilities among different branches of emergency response groups. When in doubt, don’t dial 911 here. Try 000 instead!!! 🙂

Wednesday March 16: Manningham City Council Members treated us to morning tea and a few presentations about the responsibilities of Australian government (commonwealth, state, and local), local water concerns, and the fire department. We even posed with the Mayor of Manningham under a pic of Queen Elizabeth II!… Then we went off to visit the dogs at the Victorian Police Dog Squad facility where Matt Steele introduced us to his partner in fighting crime, his trusty sidekick, Nat the Rottweiler…Next off to Heide Gallery for a scrumptious lunch and a bit of culture with some modern art…And last, but certainly not least, a visit to Doncare: a nonprofit dedicated to helping the community in any way it can (after school activities for students, supplemental aid for pensioners, counseling, social support for seniors, and so much more). Thanks to Doreen Stoves and her staff for all they do!

That Wednesday night we gave our first presentation on Australian soil. The first of four Cluster meetings was a great time and the 180-some Rotarian guests were so supportive of our Group Study Exchange program. Thanks to all who attended to make it such a special evening!

Thursday March 17: Our individual vocational days. I visited Strathewen Primary School which had been burnt down in the Black Saturday Fires of 2009, but is now fully functioning and thriving even in spite of so much hardship. I will write more about the fun day I had with students and staff there when (or shall I say, if) I have more time. 🙂

Friday March 18: Off to the farm, the NADRASCA farm, that is. Thanks to Raeoni Turner for showing us around the farm where several developmentally disabled adults come to work and socialize under the NADRASCA group’s guidance. Raeoni also took us to the more industrial site where individuals are full or part-time employees working on packaging, labeling, recycling, or assembling various products for about 200 different companies. The folks at NADRASCA help these sweet and hard-working people gain independence and earn a living for themselves…Afterwords we had another delectable lunch (I think the Rotarians are trying to fatten us up or something!!!) at David Bremner’s house (of Forest Hill) where we received our first Australian banners!! Yay!!! Now we’ll have some to take back to our sponsoring clubs back home. :)…The last stop on Friday was at the Yarra Valley Water (where we encountered some rather green people…literally). Tony Kelly and his staff enlightened us about the infrastructure behind turning on the faucet.

Well now, I’ve only skimmed the surface on these activities, but I wanted to acknowledge all the fantastic and informative visits we had last week. I have tons of photos, but can’t post them right now. It’s a bit like Tantalus and water…ok, that may be an exaggeration. 😉

A new week has begun and there will most definitely be more blogs to look forward to…

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Just Call Us Neo and Trinity

We visited the ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) located at Federation Square. The five of us plus our two Rotarian friends from the Rotary Club of Box Hill Central spent about 40 minutes learning about the history of film and entertainment from early moving images and protected movies to video games on the iPhone. The interactive portion of the Screen Worlds exhibit was amazing and we found ourselves coming back to the participatory pieces again and again.

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