Bert Olson, 5610 GSE Coordinator
Well, we've made our list....actually a lot of lists....and are checking all of them once, twice and maybe three times. Receiving our itinerary from District 9790 was a real treat. District 5610 GSE Coordinator, Bert Olson, says it's probably one of the most thorough and well done itineraries he's ever seen. And the man in Victoria who's responsible for ensuring that this itinerary was accomplished in record time, including all the host families' names, their addresses, telephone numbers and e-mail, is Don Hamilton. We communicated regularly and I'm looking forward to meeting him.
Don Hamilton, District 9790 GSE Coordinator
In the recent weeks, the state of Victoria has been ravaged with bush fires. Over 200 people have died as a result of these fires and almost 2,000 homes were lost. A massive federal effort coupled with private donations is aimed at the rebuilding effort to follow. Meanwhile, the fires are still underway in this state that has experienced years of drought plus record heat this summer. If you happened to view the Australian Open on television, you may recall that they even closed the roof of the Rod Laver arena. To give you an idea of where the state of Victoria and District 9790 is in Australia, this map identifies this area. It's the highlighted area in the lower right hand corner of the map.
It's been six days since I started this blog and I've been monitoring the fires in Victoria on a daily basis. The temperatures have been in the nineties plus the winds are blowing more than they even blow in South Dakota. (Even when the legislature is in session!!) Seriously, the state continues to face one challenge after another and one wonders about their resiliency and the ability to continue to fight the battle. But, they are hardy souls and no doubt up to the obstacles before them. We haven't had our itineraries changed yet, but that could certainly be expected given the circumstances.
Speaking of changing itineraries....our return flight from Melbourne to Sioux Falls has been adjusted a bit and O'Hare in Chicago is now the route that we'll be taking. Sorry Denver. We still go up and down in Sydney and Los Angeles (Yea!!)....we change planes although the flight numbers remain the same. This should be interesting! To Rotary International Travel Services's credit, they've been really good about keeping us up to date with these last minute changes....at least three days before we leave seem like a 'last minute change' to us.
I was pleased to receive an e-mail from one of my host families, Bob & Pam Chaffe who live in Alexandra, Victoria, northeast of Melbourne. They can see the fires from their home....about ten miles away. Pam is a retired teacher and quilter whose former school was destroyed by the fire; students and teachers have died plus I believe the whole town of Marysville (south of Alexandra) is pretty much gone. Bob is an avid duck hunter and fly fisherman plus along with a fellow Rotarian he just competed in the World Championships of the Flying Fifteen Racing class racing yacht (20 feet long with a fixed keel.) I look forward to meeting them and learning about their ordeal.
After the umpteemth change to our presentation, we're on the final leg....with hours to spare. Janet Nicolaus at Mitchell Tech and her Computer Software students have really been patient and diligent in completing this for us. They even found a video of some 'moving ocean water' that yours truly wanted for 'effect.' We look forward to finishing this.
And I'm looking forward to sharing this 'blogging' adventure with the rest of the team as we get nearer to departure day. I'll know they have a lot to share with you about their perspective of their travels to 'down under.'
