The guidelines were to dress as an Eric Carle character. We had caterpillars, beautiful butterflies, one pickle, a brown bear, a ladybird, a seahorse, a strawberry, a blue horse, a penguin, a goldfish and, most astonishing - a very busy spider (Sarah) who abseiled off the roof of the library!

- Geri Coughlin - Teacher-Librarian

Dingo Art

Immigration Museum

On Monday 29th November, after many failed attempts at an excursion due to what felt like endless lockdowns, 3/4x and I finally headed into the Big Smoke to visit the Immigration Museum.

We had been looking at migration to Australia all year and were particularly keen to see some of the special items that migrants brought with them to Australia on their perilous journeys.

The day began with our own journey, although I can't say it was perilous, and to be fair, it came with muesli bars and biscuits, so a pretty tidy affair really. We got a lift to Riddells Creek train station and then boarded the train to Southern Cross. Excitement levels were high, and it was as if we felt the freedom of catching public transport seep into our fidgety bodies! We found our seats, noted with small grins the slightly alarmed look on faces as 14 bouncy kids skittled into the carriage and sat down. Uno was played, giggles erupted and feet got relocated back to the ground each time they floated up to the seat.

We got to Southern Cross, meandered across the station and out into blazing sunshine.

"Spring, is that you? Have you finally decided to grace us with your presence?"

We quickened our pace and headed down Spencer street to Flinders. We looked up at a wild array of colours and shapes, shadows of sky scrapers, old hotels with charmingly peeling paint and alleyways dark and dingy, with secret coffee windows begging for customers. I thought to myself quietly that migration wasn't just a concept we would learn about the museum, but it was all around us, every step. We were marinating in sounds and senses, a gloriously bright headscarf, a father telling his son a secret in Urdu, a Chinese dumpling shop sign. Every inch of the CBD is painted with migration stories, and it was so great to walk amongst it.

We arrived at the museum and Ramen, our lovely visitor guide, gave an introduction, paid special tribute to our first peoples and sent us exploring. We saw a powerful but hard hitting video, looked at many of the old posters advertising for migrants and felt cross about the propoganda used during the gold rush and world wars. The students pointed out various things we had already seen over the year in our online studies and took their time looking carefully at the various treasures people had carried with them on their journey to Australia. We finished off learning about Cuc Lam and her wonderful red suitcase, a story we had already fallen in love with this term.

Then it was all too quickly time to head out for lunch, and hit the road back to the station. We stopped for ice-cream, perched on the grass knoll of the Age building and gave away our last icy pole to some lucky city slicker.

It was a fantastic day, not only to be out and about but to really relish the small freedoms we've missed so much. Melbourne, in the eternal words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, we'll be back!!!

- Written By Nat Banks

Sensory Garden in progress

A few pictures of the new sensory garden that Wendy is creating, looks like it's coming along beautifully.

Visit to the Dingo Sanctuary

The conditions that greeted teams on the first day were extraordinary. The mountains were sprinkled with snow and the sky was bluer and clearer than we imagined possible after a weekend of wild weather. With beaming smiles, teams set off excitedly along the fabled Razorback Ridge towards Mount Feathertop.

A sprawling snowgum marked the junction of two tracks leading to the Ovens River valley, and teams took the path less travelled. While traversing around the steep western slopes of Mount Feathertop, they enjoyed expansive views toward Mount Buffalo - the place we planned to camp the following afternoon. Getting there required a gruelling descent via the infamous north west spur.

The following morning involved an equally demanding 1000m climb up ‘The Big Walk’ to the Mount Buffalo Chalet, and then on to the campground at Lake Catani. Getting to the walk involved a ‘relatively flat’ 25km ride from Freeburgh via Bright to the base of Mount Buffalo. On their own, each of these days was massive. Tackling them on consecutive days required superhuman powers, which fortunately each team was able to summon for the occasion.

Leaving the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail, teams continued by foot to the Ovens River. Awaiting them there were inflatable rafts, experienced river guides, and 20km of river bends, pools, and occasional rapids. Among the highlights were a metre high drop over a weir, spotting platypus, and the rapid to reach Myrtleford. The final teams were off the water by 5.00pm, making it a near twelve hour day by the time they wandered into town to camp overnight.

Saturday was the toughest day on bikes. Initially following the Barwidgee Creek, a left turn soon led to the steep and sustained climb to Stanley. It was awesome to see the way teams and individuals tackled what appeared to be a never ending, uphill battle. Spirits remained high and eventually riders were rewarded with a gentle downhill run into Beechworth.

An afternoon walk to Woolshed Falls via the Beechworth Gorge was followed by a stunning sunset over Lake Sambell. After five days of adventure, it felt like we had arrived in exactly the right place, at just the right time.

The final day involved a gradual descent from Beechworth to Everton, and a final stretch along the Murray to Mountains Rail Trail to Wangaratta. The earliest riders hit the trail well before 8.00am, while many of the remaining teams united to form a peloton. This festival on wheels reached Wangaratta together - another excellent example of the camaraderie shared by teams.

What a week! An enormous thanks must go to the outstanding bunch of adults who volunteered their time to make or support this journey with three students each, from either Candlebark or Alice Miller. The people who fill these roles never cease to amaze us. They are thoughtful, patient, enthusiastic, generous, and inspiring. They have stories and life experiences to share, and their company is valued and appreciated enormously. It would be hard to imagine a finer bunch of adults for these students to spend a week of their lives with.

Of course, there is also much to be said for the students themselves! We love the fact that they choose to be a part of these adventures, when the more comfortable option might be to stay home. We admire their resilience and their willingness to keep going after often long and demanding days. We love the way they support and encourage one another - both the people in their teams, and the people on other teams. We think these students are awesome people to be around and we thoroughly enjoy the adventures we share with them.

Congratulations to everyone involved with the 2021 Alice Miller and Candlebark Adventure Race! We have already begun to think about future adventure races, so keep in touch and please join us again in 2022!

If you would like to see more photos or share your own, you can use the link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1i3t9AqB9pYilSOLywa8A3VEYMKNcIk9F

Best Wishes,

Sam Ford & John Philip

State Library Victoria visit

We layered up the pit with straw, wood, pots, orange peel, coffee grounds, manure, more wood, lots more wood and some wood. Once lit the fire roared and within an hour pots were glowing gold.

The fire was stoked over the following 3 hours and the temperature reached white hot (close to 1000 degrees) in places. It was fun and satisfying placing logs on the fire to keep the temperature up while keeping the pots safe. It was also lovely chatting with some parents who came to see what their darlings had been up to.

Eventually when the coals were toasty we put some sheets of corrugated iron across the pit to slow the cool of the fire. Once covered with iron the rain that had been threatening all evening started to fall and the sound it made as it sizzled on contact with the hot iron was most intriguing and pleasing.

When we unpacked the pit 2 days later it was still very hot in places.

It was such a delight to take out the treasures from the pit. The clay was licked with oranges, purples, blacks and pinks. We felt like archeologists lifting buried treasures from the deep.

This incredible experience could not have been possible without all the maintenance staff- Sam, Luca, Arthur, Harry, Tractor and Digger!

• Written By Katy Penman

Pottery - By Daisy Canny

Pottery has been such an amazing experience for me and has taught me so much.

Katy is a great ceramicist and her positivity has motivated us all so much.

The sleepovers were fun too!

Lots of late nights talking and being crazy - well maybe that was just me :)

I am so thankful to Katy and Jo for making this possible and teaching us so much

Christmas Picnic

Once again we were all able to gather on the big hill at Candlebark and enjoy some Christmas Cheer. What a joy it was to see all the kids having fun, running around and singing the odd Christmas Carol or two - Merry Christmas one & all.

Community Notices