Blog for children at Christ Church

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To children at Christ Church
I am writing this message to you all from Melbourne which is about 10552 miles away from you!
Last month I left Cairns where I had been working and living for a few months and started travelling down the East Coast in a camper van. First I did a skydive on to the beach. It was very scary jumping out of the plane but exciting too. Next I went sailing around the Whit Sunday Islands. The sand was sparkling white and the views were beautiful. I also went snorkelling and saw lots of brightly coloured fish and coral too. A few days later I went to Fraser Island which is a big sand island. I could not take the campervan to Fraser Island because you have to travel in big coaches with 4 wheel drive or you might get stuck in the sand! At Fraser Island I swam in a fresh water lake called Lake McKenzie.
It is very different driving in Australia because the country is so big. Sometimes I did not see another car for 20 minutes or more and there is mile after mile of bush land with no shops or other buildings. One day a kangaroo bounced straight out in front of the campervan. Luckily he was very quick and managed to get to the other side of the road safely. It took me 10 days to travel from Cairns to the next big city called Brisbane. The day before I arrived in Brisbane I went to ‘The Australia zoo’ that Steve Irwin (The Crocodile Hunter) built. Some of you might have seen The crocodile hunter or his family on the television. Sadly, he died a few years ago but his family are still work hard to raise awareness of the dangers of crocodiles and to protect them too. I saw the crocodile Hunter’s children Mindi and Robert at the zoo.
I explored Brisbane for a couple of days before flying to Alice Spring which is in the centre of Australia. It was very, very hot! I went on a trip to Ayers rock, Kings Canyon and the Olgars. I went on several long walks and everyone in the group had to drink 3 litres of water to stay hydrated whilst we were walking . There are not many hotels or houses at the red centre so I camped whilst I was there. We didn’t have tents so we slept in swag bags. I was a bit scared but really enjoyed it. It is very dark at Ayers Rock because there is no light from street lights like there is at home so the stars were very bright and I felt like I was sleeping under one million stars. I thought of you all when I was there and wished that you could see all of the stars.
Next I flew to Melbourne where I am staying now. It is similar to London on a summer’s day. On Thursday I am flying to Sydney to meet my friend. I will stay in Sydney for Christmas and New Year. The Christmas decorations are staring to go up but it feels strange because the weather is still very warm and the sun is shining brightly.
I hope you are all still working hard.
Lots of love
Miss Balchin x

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Photos

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Camper van

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Whit Sundays

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Miles of nothing

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Brisbane

568
Kings Canyon

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Around the camp fire

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Too hot