Between January and April 2004, I took the opportunity to spend a  Long Service Leave in Australia. My obligation was to do eight weeks of voluntary work at three different placements (which I did not consider an obligation but rather a unique opportunity to get to know the world outside class rooms, to immerse into new situations and not least to meet new people).

Greenpeace Australia / Pacific, Sydney
First, I volunteered at the Greenpeace Australia/Pacific Headquarter in Central Sydney. I contributed to different campaigns, for instance on the preservation of Rain Forests, and I had interesting insights into living conditions of young urban Sydneysiders.

www.greenpeace.org.au/
  
http://weblog.greenpeace.org/tasmania/

www.wilderness.org.au/
campaigns/forests/tasmania/styx/
 

Australian Nightlife
(Quelle: Eine Postkarte)

Woods Point, Victoria
Then I worked in a remote mountain village named Woodspoint (population 40), a former gold mining town that 1939 was nearly completely destroyed by the Ash Friday Bushfire.
I stood at the home of a very nice couple and helped to clear  bush for walking tracks and to put up a local museum hall.

 

www.arts.monash.edu.au/
ncas/multimedia/gazetteer/
list/woodspoint.html

http://abc.net.au/blackfriday/
map/woodspoint.htm
 

80 k’s gravel road away
from the next towns to
the North, West and South:
These two Woodspointers
(Bill and Dusty)
just love their place!

Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, Victoria
At my third volunteer placement, the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, I lived and worked  together with other international volunteers.
Dressed in a historical outfit, I helped out in different shops, held school lessons in (my sort of) English and was engaged in an inventory project.
I got to know very special people!


 

www.pioneersettlement.com.au/
(Dieser Link funktioniert am 12.11.05 nicht mehr. Welches ist die neue URL?)
www.walkabout.com.au/
locations/VICSwanHill.shtml

www.murrayriver.com
.au/regions/swanhill/default.htm
 

Emphasizing on the
 harsh living at the Murray river
The Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement.doc
(1.57 MB)

______________________________________________________________________
 

Involvement Vounteers Association Inc.
I organized the Greenpeace placement myself (with the help of the WWW and the search expression +greenpeace +australia).
The two other placements were offered by a Melbourne based organization called Involvement Volunteers Association Incorporated or just IVI (+volunteer +australia).
IVI organizes volunteer stays worldwide, so have a close look at that website (and send my greetings to its founder, Tim Cox).
 

www.volunteering.org.au/
australia_p.html
 

Why not volunteering
 yourself?
Get in contact with IVI
 founder Mr. Cox, your
 volunteer work will be
 highly appreciated!
You will get in contact
 with interesting people,
and you can talk about
 our country. You will
 hardly be able to travel
 Australia in a cheaper
 and more interesting way!
 

There are many volunteer organizations in Australia. Maybe your next interesting and cheap working weeks abroad begin with a visit to their websites!

www.acfonline.org.au/asp/
pages/home.asp

www.greenreserve.com.au/
7.1.07

www.planetedu.com/listings/
educationaltravel/6680/x/x/
study/in/australia:5:13:d

Website einer Vereins von Schweizer
Heimweh-Australiern
www.australia
-feeling.ch/

______________________________________________________________________
 

Australia - General Resources

Australian Bureau of Statistics:
Population, Economics, Politics, Statistics by region, and much more.
 

www.atn.com.au/contents.htm

Australian Tourism Net:
Australian Town Index
Everything about all major Australian towns (and everything else you expect from an Australian Tourism Net website).

www.atn.com.au/contents.htm .

.

Australia: 20 Mio.,
Europe: 350 Mio. inhabitants
(Quelle: Eine Postkarte)
 

And much Geographical material from famous German Klett Verlag (Terra-Alexander-Datenbank):
All material you need for successful lessons about Australian Geography
(in German, of course).

www.klett-verlag.de/klett-perthes/
sixcms/detail.php?template_i
d=1639&query_id=0

I surely was
 down-under !
(Quelle: Ein Souvenir)

 Donnerstag, 4. Januar 2007