Freya is leaving us to travel through Asia for the rest of the school year – what a fantastic adventure. We hope she will keep in contact through her blog. Have a wonderful trip, Freya; you will be missed! When she returns, Freya will be going straight to high school.

On her last day, following our new tradition, Freya got to be “Queen of the Chair” – that means she got to sit in the recliner whenever she wanted to. She made herself a crown and generally did whatever she wanted (within reason, of course! Freya was Queen of the Chair but Mrs C remains Queen of the Classroom!)

Picture from Classroom Clipart

I headed off to Tasmania with my family. People over there kept telling us that it was very dry and that they, too, were short of rain, but it was so very green that sometimes it was difficult to believe! Here are a few photos from my favorite places: down in the very inappropriately named Dismal Swamp, the Newdegate Cave near Hastings and the sea cliffs off the Tasman Peninsula.

Dismal Swamp is in the north west corner of Tasmania. It is a 40m deep sink hole with a beautiful Blackwood forest growing in it, undisturbed except by crayfish that churn the soil and help the plants to regenerate. It’s easy to get around on the raised boardwalks so you don’t disturb the environment and your shoes stay clean too!

The Newdegate Cave near Hastings is a rare dolomite cave, the largest known in Australia open to tourists. A guide takes you through the cave pointing out features and explaining how the caves were formed and how they are still changing. It was quite wonderful to see the huge stalactites and stalagmites and other interesting formations throughout the cave.

My favorite thing we did was a cruise from Eaglehawk Neck to Port Arthur, half way around the Tasman Peninsula and alongside the Great Southern Ocean. Our guide was a crazy man named Damian – he was funny but very knowledgeable about the area, especially the animals. We saw a variety of birds, tuna fishermen, abalone divers, dolphins and seals by the dozen. We also cruised right up to 300m sea cliffs, apparently the highest in the Southern Hemisphere.  We got wet and windblown and it was fantastic!

Grade 5/6, consider your favorite holiday activity or place that you saw these holidays (even if you didn’t go anywhere special, something interesting must have happened!) and share your thoughts and even some pictures on your blog. Add a comment here to tell us when you’ve done it and what your post is about.

We’ve had more messages from Cointha, our travelling class member. She’s in Rome, and sent these comments (follow the link and scroll down) as well as the email we read in class. She has visited the Colosseum, pictured here, as well as many of the other amazing sights of Italy.

In the last couple of weeks Cointha has been in Paris, Tuscany, Florence and the Cinque Terre, as well as a host of other places.  Soon she and her family will be heading to Pompeii and Sicily. Have a great time Cointha!

Later update: Cointha is now blogging her adventures directly – see the link on our Student Blog page or click HERE!