Muggins

That’s me, it’s tattooed across my forehead, I’m sure of it! I hadn’t had enough of helping out at school following the 2+ week long creation of the great artwork, “Ascending Angels”, so I volunteered for another “outing”.

Today, after sitting up to watch Australia play Italy in the World Cup last night (got to bed around 2.30am) and witnessing a truly spectacular sky this morning, I accompanied the Year 2s at H’s school on an excursion to the Australian Museum of Childhood (AMOH) and on a dolphin spotting cruise on the Port River. After H’s 3.5 years there, it’s my first excursion.

3 teachers, 6 parents (mums) and around 45 children piled onto a bus and headed to Port Adelaide. The AMOH contains around 14,000 items, from photographs to toys, to technological wonders, all from the past, some dating back 150 or more years. It was quite fascinating seeing toys and items that were around during my childhood, and rather scary too that I was more than familiar with many things. The kids had a ball in a very much hands on way – why did I not take my earplugs?

After lunch, we boarded the MV River Princess for a 90 minute dolphin spotting cruise on the Port River. There is a pod of dolphins that call this industrial area their home and they have done for longer than anyone can remember. It is quite rare to see them in such an environment.

The children let out squeals of delight every time one was spotted. If you were to ask them, they would probably tell you there were about 105 dolphins in the Port River!

The biggest thrill came after the boat had turned around to make the return trip. A tug overtook us and the dolphins were having an absolute ball frolicking in the bow wave. This was made even better when a second tug followed along a few minutes later.

After we docked, we all piled back onto the bus for our return journey to school. After a fun filled day some children were more than ready for a snooze, and I’m sure the Mums were too.


Monday 28 June 2004

AC3 – Day 13

The lump next to my tooth seems to have gone down considerably tonight, phew!