Perth Trip Day Two

Immersion Activities - Farmstay @Windmill Farm, Bindoon

Shopping @Harbourtown

Check in to Metro Hotel on Canning

Bang! Bang! Bang! What was that deafening sound? I opened my sleepy eyes and realised we were late for breakfast and Mr Njoo was banging angrily outside trying to wake us sleepyheads! It was such a good sleep, the fresh crisp air and the warm sheets that I was in made me very reluctant to leave them and open the door for our teacher. As it was daylight savings in Australia now, the time in Perth was one hour ahead and we forgot about that and set our alarm wrongly. Anyway, this aside, we were definitely excited about the programmes awaiting us today.

Before breakfast, we fed the kangaroos Mango and Bella and the sheep with milk. They were sucking their milk bottle greedily, like a new-born baby sucking their mother’s milk. Everyone was shouting,’So cute!’ to all the animals. For breakfast, we had normal cereal, milk, sausages, scrambles eggs (yummy) and hash browns, buttered bread with jam (all home-made). Then it was time for the tractor ride! Anxiously, we jumped onto the tractor and set off to the vast ‘grassland’. When we came to a stop, a group of sheeps surrounded us. We took a handful of food and put it in front of the sheep. Many of them would fight to get it first. It would munch greedily and ‘smear’ their saliva all over our hands. Eww… It was just so icky! But in the end, all we could do is laugh. Our second tractor ride was at the orchard. We passed by peach trees, nectarine trees, mandarin trees, orange trees and grape vines! We stopped at every different fruit tree to listen to the owner of the farm, Bruce, explain about it. We were also allowed to buy the different fruits mentioned too. Like typical Singaporeans who love a good bargain, we immediately formed long snake-like queue to purchase the freshest fruits you can find!

The next programme that would make anybody jumped up and down with excitement --- Horse Riding!!! Even though each of us only rode the horse for a small round, it was FUN! Later, as we were feeding the horses with fruits and vegetables, we also got to know more about them. It was a valuable experience. Right as we stepped into the dining area of the farm, the smell of meat rushed to us, Our BBQ lunch! It included, tender lamb meat (no smell at all), tasty chicken wings and sausages. Delicious! Then came the sad part, we had to leave. We bade the animals and the owners of the farm farewell before driving off to Perth City. However, I know that there will always be a place in my heart for them.

million dollar view from our hotel room - well done photographer

Day One Perth Trip

Perth Trip Day One

First Coaching Clinic with Coach Tracey @ Salvado Rd, Wembley

Day one in Perth, Australia. As 14 netballers, 2 teachers, 1 tour guide and I walked out of the airport, the hot sun and cool air rushed out to greet us. Despite the fact that we did not sleep much on the plane (it was a midnight flight), our faces were radiant upon arriving for the 1st coaching clinic by Coach Tracey. Coach Tracey got us pumping by making us jog the entire area (30 over netball courts) as a warm-up. Next, the girls were taught new drills to improve their footwork, agility and ball-handling. Mr Njoo, our netball teacher, was busy trying to take down all the new drills. I'm pretty sure we'll be doing these drills when training starts next year! It was a whole new experience training in Perth. The weather was fantastic...though the Sun was blazing hot, we could not feel it as the air-con like chilly wind kept us cool and we did not even perspire during the whole session!

Immersion Activities - Desert Storm 4WD and Sandboarding @ Lancelin

Next Stop, Lancelin! It was a long journey there. When we reached there, the humongous gigantic Desert Storm 4WD bus caught our attention. The tyres were as big as a human being! We stared in awe...Soon, we were all huddled inside and the ride started. Up and down, up and down we went up the sand dunes, some very steep! The driver purposely stopped at the top of the sand dune and as we tipped slowly down, our hearts stopped like as if we were in a roller coaster...Wheeee....we swooped down the sand dunes at breakneck speed and it felt like we were going to topple but it didn't...the ride then carried on for a couple of times. Not long, we stopped and got out for picture taking. The sight was a joy to behold. We felt like we were in another planet...nothing around us but just the sand and the clear blue sky. It was perfect! Soon, we were taught how to sandboard. The driver brought us to the top of a steep sand dune about 20 to 30m high. Gosh! we are going to slide down with it...It was another heartstopping moment for me as I was the first to slide down. Wheeeeeeeeeeeee...the ride was phenomenal, no words could describe how I feel as I slid down the sand dune. Soon, we were all trying to slide in a variety of ways - sitting down, superman style and even backwards. What other activities could beat this?

Immersion Activities - Farmstay @ Windmill Farm, Bindoon

After a 'high', we proceeded to the Windmill farm at Bindoon to stay for the night. It was beautiful. The only thing we saw were green trees, farm animals and grassland. No tall skyscrapers, traffic jams and people. It was definitely a whole new experience for us. Immediately, when we got off, we were introduced to our hosts and were led to feed the kangaroos, sheeps, cows, chickens and a pony. The rooms we were to stay for the night seemed warm and nice (two huge houses with 3 bedrooms and attached toilets), just like those farmstay you read about in Enid Blyton's storybooks. The food was home-cooked, curry chicken, fried minced duck and mushroom soup (much better than campbells). Soon, we were given a sheep-shearing performance and learnt about spinning wool thread. What a first day! Before I could think of what the next day's programme was, I fell asleep...images of the sheeps and kangaroos in my dreams.

Perth....here we come...

Perth.....here we come!

Ms. Serene Ng, Our photographer of the trip