Travelog for: Kamie

Hey everybody,

I'm Kamie, the curious little duck. Since my mum has told me about toy voyagers and that she wants me to see many places where she can't go, I'm sitting on my suitcase, ready to go!
I was very disappointed -quack-  when my mum told me to be patient for another few days until she has organised me some places to go.

Yieeha, I'm getting excited!
My mum and I were looking for hosts and the first invitation is from Australia! Wow, that'll be nearly on the opposite side of the world. But before I go there my mum wants me to visit her friend in Bremen and gets to know the university in Bremerhaven. We are waiting for an answer from her, otherwise I'm ready to go to Australia!



Later tonight:
Everything is organized, I'm going to leave tomorrow and stay a few days with my mum's Friend MoNi- in Bremen before I hit the road for Australia!

I'm on my way!
I've left my hometown today and now I want to see the world! First station is Bremen. My mum has told me a lot about MoNi- and her pets, that'll be a fun time.



Don't worry, I won't travel with this big suitcase

Soooo... Moni is finally (!) updating Kamie's travellog! ;D

Kamie is a very kind duck. We went through the city center of Bremen and to the so called Waterfront (big shopping mall). She is always interested in everything and everyone! ^^ I like it.
It was a sunny day that day and so it was much fun to take pictures, though it was late already and the sun was very low. But I think the pics are nice. ^^ Kamie enjoyed the little site seeing tour with me and my boyfriend Thomas.


the cathedral of Bremen


the Bremen Town Musicians in the background


the Bremen Town Hall


Kamie playing "the fifth Town Musician" ^^


Where is little Kamie? Oh, she sailed away!


in the background: the Waterfront and the river Weser


"What a huge chain!"


Waterfront Logo

EDIT: I found two other pictures of the Waterfront! Kamie visiting the fountain in front of the Waterfront entrance:

~ Kamie visiting Moni's pets (the three fancy rat boys and the four gerbil ladies) ~> done
~ Kamie visiting the nice library of the University of Bremerhaven ~> done
~ Kamie visiting the University of Bremerhaven ~> not accomplished
~ Kamie visiting hte library of the University of Bremen ~> not accomplished
~ Kamie site seeing the city center of Bremerhaven ~> not accomplished

--------

Hey, I write something again! The second half of Kamie's visit in Bremen:

While Kamie's stay at my home, she visited my pets. We gave home to four Gerbil ladies, which haven't got names, because they all look the same ^^, and three fancy rat boys named Tacko, Matz and Gordi. The boys are lazy... soe it came that Kamie only got to know Gordi, the smallest of them. The others were asleep... lazy folks.


Gordi is curious...

Gordi thinks some other stuff is more interesting...

Kamie and one of the ladies

again...

Oh, yes, and Kamie found my flowers!


Now, as I was not allowed to take pictures in the library of Bremerhaven there are only these two of Kamie in the library...


The library staff was looking very pissed off. XD But, well, I was not making any noise at all, so... ;D No need of beeing angry. ^^

So, this was Kamie's visit in Bremen, Germany. Her next host is in Australia! I'm excited what Kamie will get to know there. =3

I have arrived in Australia! It's very warm here today... I got to meet a whole bunch of other toyvoyagers that Sara is currently hosting as well... it's going to be fun! I'll write again soon! <3

Today was a nice day, much cooler than the past days so Sara decided to take us all to the park... she went to a park that wasn't as full of people since they stopped off at Cook Park and it was packed because of a wedding so we went to a much smaller park called Memory Park... Sara swore it was called Moulder Park... but apparently not... it's really nice and green isn't it?


...we also got to see some strange looking beetles... they kind of look like they have a tribal shield thing on their back don't they? Well, they're harmless so we left them alone... :-)


I've only been here a few days but sorry for not really updating earlier, Sara's been trying to get over this cough she has so all of the toyvoyagers are staying together and just having a chat and resting a lot... it seems a bit too hot to do much else... but Sara says were going to be going to Dubbo next week, and then Sydney the week after... it's going to be a busy next few weeks... write again soon mom! Miss you!

As you may or may not have known Sara took us all to Dubbo today for a whole bunch of jobs she had to complete. She did it today instead of Friday, in which it was originally planned for... they decided after they got the jobs done to go to the Old Dubbo Gaol which she had never been to before... so this was totally new to her... it's quite a historic little piece of work right in the middle of town... so it's time to go and find out what this little (or not so little) museum is all about...



After Sara paid for our admittance into the museum (thankfully it didn't cost anything for all of us to come along - although we stayed in the bag most of the time... Sara will show you what we saw along the way... here I am with the map of the gaol and the self guided tour information was on the back... I'll read it out to you as we go through the gaol...


Once we entered the main gate we turned around and got a photo, it's called the "West Main Gate", this is what the self guided tour map and information told us about it...

This section was completed in 1887. The main timber gates are the original gates and many of the wooden pavers are original. Note the small gate within the iron gate. This is where prisoners and visitors would have entered the Gaol until 1929 when it was replaced by the Eastern entrance.

...The guy in the office told us to first go to what was called the "Infirmary" or the hospital of the old gaol, when we walked in we heard this voice... it was an old goast of the gaol he told us about the gaol and what we can find there... it was really interesting to learn about it... kind of freaky too..


When we turned we saw there were some paint scrapings... so what is the significance of that you may wonder? Well, they scraped away the paint to show the original paint, which was the orange/red colored paint, then through the years they painted it the other different colors than you can see... this is what that sign says next to it...

Paint Scrapings were carried out to identify previous colour schemeds used in the Gaol. Peeling back the paint has revealed the following sequence of colours and possible dates.
1970's Pale Green
1940/50's Pink
1930's Emerald green above and below a cream line
1880's Red and Orange with a stone color above a black line

Next stop off was the Vegetable and Food store, which was right next to the infirmary...

In 1885 the prison diet consisted of wheat bread, an overcooked mixture of maize meal, vegetables and meat juices, known as hominy. As a minor gaol, prisoners at Dubbo were allocated a different diet to those of the larger labour prisons with less meat (1/4lb on Wednesdays and Sundays served with rice). Prisoners also received a ration of salt, sugar and soap. Bread and water was considered a low diet and issued for punishment or when ill. From the late 1890's the produce from the vegetable garden was storedhere for use in the kitchen next door.


This area originally housed the Gaol's kitchen. There were two prisoners who worked as "Cooks Assistants" under lock and key. All meals were prepared here and then issued to prisoners in their cells.

Finally out of the first area of the gaol, it's time to move onto the more interesting areas of the gaol... we got to see the original gaol bell, which is located on the northern end of the building. When the gaol was closed in 1966 the bell was used at Newnes Prison Farm. It was returned in 1974, restored and re-erected in it's original place...


Next stop is the prisons well, this was used by on average 2-4 prisoners at a time that were responsible for pumping and distributing water throughout the gaol... this is what the plaque said right above the well...

In 1865, when the gaol was a 'holding lockup', consisting of a construction of some eight cells, the prisoners had no water supply in the existing gaol and were obligated to borrow water from a property close to Dubbo, hauling the barrels by bullock dray. However, due to severe drought, the property owner objected to supplying water as there was insufficent quantities for his own use. The then Member for Dubbo, Mr. George W. Lord, wrote to the Minister for Public Works, requesting a well be sunk in the gaol yard.

Now the next stop on the self guided tour was something that was originally not part of the Dubbo Gaol, but something that was used during the time that the Gaol was opened, and it is dated back to the early 1900's it's the portable cell...

Originally from the Pilliga region, this is a typical example of the portable cells that were commonly used across the state, particularly in the far western areas. This size is also similar to the original first lock up in Dubbo in 1848.

Right next to the portable cell was a washtub and a vegetable garden...

Prison reforms in the late 1890's resulted in the development of prison vegetable gardens and farms at most NSW prisons. They were part of an agriculture training program designed to give prisoners a specialised skill for later employment. This garden is a reconstruction of where it is believed once stood the original vegetable garden. There is also a suggestion that area outside of the walls was also converted for vegetable production.

A formal garden also existed outside the hospital block. Both were maintained by prisoners as part of their daily work.

Next were ready to get into the more interesting areas of the gaol, the actual cells and dark rooms, and all that interesting stuff... welcome to the male division...

The entrance of the cellblock is the oldest portion of the gaol. It was built in 1871 and initially housed the warden, his family and four cells. The building now comprises 14 cells of differing sizes and two dark cells, used for solitary confinement.

Next stop were the dark cells, or also known as the solitary confinement cells... they were totally black, even the walls were painted in black and there was a sound of some chains dragging along the ground when you walked in there... really quite eerie when you think about it... this is what it looked like by using the flash... Sara read a plaque that said that prisoners that were put in solitary confinement for as much as 21 days let out once a week for a nice meal before being put back into the dark cells. It also said that prisoners would tear off a button and throw it against a wall, and then search around in the pitch black cells to find it, and then throw it again as a game to keep themselves from going crazy...


The use of the solitary confinement in dark cells was officially discontinued in 1896. However, there is evidence that it, and the use of the mouth gag, was still practiced in 1900 in Goulburn Gaol despite being considered inhumane.

As you enter the long hallway with all the cells, the first cell on the right side was known as the Condemned cell...

In this cell there was an animatronic character that was called Thomas Moore, who was one of the prisoners that were convicted and put to death at this gaol. His death was actually one of the deaths that was quite memorable for the people witnessing, he was 67 when he was executed and it was said his head was "removed" from his body when he fell through the trap door of the gallows. Quite shocking.

There were three cells that showed normal prisoner conditions during the times that the gaol was opened, there were times that the gaol was so full that they had three or more prisoners in each cell...

...in this picture you only see one prisoner, but there were two others in the corner and three beds side by side. The beds were literally just wooden planks, and quite uncomfortable I'm sure...

In the next cell was something they commonly used as a punishment (one of the many forms) used mainly during the 1880's... the whipping stool... there was even a painting above it representing the times it was used...


The whipping stool was used in both regional and city gaols throughout the nineteenth and early part of the twentieth centuries. The prisoner lay across the stool and his wrists and ankles were manacled to the device. This prevented the prisoner from moving or resisting the punishment. Prisoners were then flogged using a leather tawse. Flogging could occur as part of the punishment issued by the courts or be inflicted for misbehaviour once inside the gaol.

The next cell over was the one padded cell in the whole gaol, at least that's still as it was when the gaol was opened...

The padded cell was added in 1886 and was used to house violent and mentally ill inmates, known as lunatics. Records indicate that a 68-year-old labourer was imprisoned at Dubbo Gaol for over a year suffering from melancholia, an illness currently known as depression. By 1904 official documents noted that the "system of dealing with lunatics in goals was (still) unsatisfactory.

As were leaving the male division of the gaol you could almost miss the next exhibit, it was known as a watchman's telltale...

The small green metal Watchman's Telltale, located on the outside wall of the male cell block, was used as a security device. Wardens inserted a key into the aperture and wound up the spring within. If this procedure was not repeated on the hour, the spring unwound and set off an alarm bell, alarming the watch officer that either the warden had come to harm, or that he was not doing his duty. These were also located at the western end of the block, and the remand yards and outside the former library.

Throughout the museum if you look along the edges of the gaol, you can see statues of prisoners trying to escape over the walls of the prison...


...although that wasn't the best place to escape, as right near it was the Watchtower...

The watchtower dominates the north eastern corner of the Gaol. Wardens entered this tower from a flight of fifteen wooden steps outside the Gaol wall. Use of the tower was discontinued in the early part of the 20th century. Another watchtower existed in the southeast corner of the Gaol in the 1890's but all traces of this bulding have vanished.

...next stop is the much smaller female division...

The small female area comprised of an exercise yard, covered shelter, clothing store, ablution block (bathroom), kitchen and two cells. The display shows the maximum capactiy of the female prisoners.

Within the female division was an area where you heard about the hangman, who had no nose, and the 8 men that were condemned to death at the Dubbo gaol, it was quite intereseting to listen to... next were going into what is known as the gallery of the condemned. This is where they have information about the men that had died, age, date of death, date condemned to death and the date they were executed with information about their crime...



...and there was information about the gallows that were used...

Eight men were hanged for murder in Dubbo Gaol between 1977 and 1904. One or two appear to have been ruthless and calculating murders. Others claimed to have killed in self-defence or in passion. But under the law at that time, no mitigating circumstances were recognised; the penalty for murder was death.

But was the penalty applied equality to all? All the hanged men were poor and uneducated; most beloged to minority groups, and prehaps it is no coincidence that they were often those most generally disliked at the time - Irish Catholics, Aboriginal people and the Chinese. They struggled to survive on the harsh margins of an alien society, with no influential friends, no money and no resources. Some may have been mentally ill.

Would they be convicted of murder today? The evidence against many of these men was only circumstantial - one was found with a dead man's possessions, another was the last man to be seen with the victim. There were rarely any witnesses, and community feeling ran high against them. In one case the policeman chose to pursue the offender rather than seek medical assistance for the victim. As a consequence the victim died adn the offender was charged with murder. Interestingly, in at least two cases, the community at the time thought that the punishment was unfair, and sought to save the condemned man. Today men and women are still found on Death Row all over the world. Do you think their deaths serve a worthwhile purpose?

Going back outside again, we got to see the exercise yards that were mentioned earlier in the self guided tour...

Male prisoners only used these yards. They were rquired to complete 1 hour of exercise per day and were separated by classification of crime and sentence. From 1934 prisoners were required to do their own laundry in exercise yard 1.

Another part of the museum that was hard to see unless you were really looking, the roll call lines...

The two red lines painted onto the cement near the south eatern end of the male cellblock were used as the assembly point for the daily roll call of prisoners.

Now something a bit more eerie, but quite interesting to actually see... the Dubbo Gaol Gallows...

These were erected for each execution. When not in use they were stored under the courthouse. Like the hangman's kit, the gallows are unique to Old Dubbo Gaol. It is not known when the gallows were first erected or when they were dismantled, but they were in use over a period of more than 30 years - from the 1870's to the early part of this century. The gallows are approxmiately 16 feet high, with a base of 12 feet by 9 feet. The top bar is 10 feet wide and there are 13 steps up the platform from which the felons "took the drop".

Here's a plaque showing the names and dates of the men condemned to death, and the date they were executed...


Nearing the end of our tour, was some original artifacts from this time, from this gaol and from other gaols in the area at the time. This is known as the "hangman's kit"...


The hangman's kit displays the ropes, nooses, and other tools of the trade used by the State Executioner to preform his macabre duties. The items in this display are all original artefacts that were used by the hangman and his assistant.

Right near the area with the hangman kit was a covered area that was known as the prisoners labour area of the gaol...

Male prisoners were kept occupied with labour such as woodcutting, gardening, book binding, and tailoring. These tasks were also designed to retrain inmates with a more useful trade to take up upon their release.

Last thing to see as your ready to exit the gaol and onto your way was the pillory...

The item was donated to the Gaol many years ago. Although this form of punishment was not standard practice for prisons, it makes for a great photo opportunity!

Well, we just had a really long day and we got to see and learn a lot of things about Australian prisons, especially back in the day, which was really interesting especially since that is what Australia is known for, when England sent their prisoners to Australia as a form of punishment... very interesting... I hope you enjoyed that mom! I'll write again soon, Monday were off to Sydney...

Today we were taking another trip, this time to Sydney... we stopped off quite a bit to get some nice photos of whatever we could along the way... Sara decided first stop would be Bathurst, we would see if we could spot some kangaroos... and we did... sadly when I tried to get in front of the camera the kangaroos bounced off... they didn't seem to want any of that...




...as you can see they saw Sara get close with us, and got a bit spooked so moved on back... we'll try again on Wednesday when we're going to Bathurst for a longer trip... we'll see if we can get in the photo this time! :-) There is more to come... just hang tight! :-)

Next stop was Lithgow, which was about an hours drive from Bathurst... honestly, there's not too much there, but Sara decided to show us something she's always liked for part of Lithgow, which is the Lithgow's Miner's Lamp... here I am in front of it...

...since this is the backside of it you can't see it all that well... it doesn't look much different, although this is what it looks like from the front...

...not much different as you can see... but you can see the windows at the bottom... there's a little bit of cloth thats is lit by an orange lamp and a little fan to make it look like a flame... kinda cool... :-) Otherwise Lithgow there isn't much to see... we're only at the half way point of Sydney now... watch for more updates. :-)

Next stop was in Sydney's Blue Mountains... they're in the outskirts of Sydney, a lot of people don't really think much about the outskirts, let alone thinking there is a huge mountain range that goes through before you get to Orange, Bathurst and even Lithgow... well, welcome to the Blue Mountains... it was time to visit one of the big tourist spots for people visiting the Blue Mountains and Sydney... the Three Sisters... a huge rock formation...


...can you see it? It's behind some trees, but Sara had to take photos in an odd spot as it was quite full near the view point so she didn't want to loose any of us... so she then walked over and got a proper photo of it... isn't it pretty? Also you can tell in the distance why they call it the Blue Mountains... :-)


The Three Sisters comes with an old aboriginal legend... this is what it is:

Long ago in the Blue Mountains there lived three little Aboriginal sisters. They were Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedoo, whose Witch Doctor father was called Tyawan.

Only one creature was feared by all – the Bunyip who lived in a deep hole. When Tyawan had to pass the hole, he would leave his daughters safely on the cliff behind a rocky wall. One day, waving goodbye to his daughters, he descended the cliff steps. On top of the cliff a big centipede suddenly appeared and frightened Meehni, who threw a stone at it. The stone rolled over the cliff and crashed into the valley.

Birds, animals and fairies stopped till as the rocks behind the three sisters split open, leaving them on a thin ledge.

The angry Bunyip emerged to see the terrified sisters. In the valley, Tyawan saw the Bunyip close to his daughters, so he pointed his magic bone at the girls and turned them to stone. The Bunyip then chased Tyawan, who found himself trapped, so he changed himself into a Lyre Bird. Everyone was safe, but Tyawan had dropped his magic bone. After the Bunyip had gone, Tyawan searched and searched for his bone – and he is still searching.

The Three Sisters stand silently watching him from their ledge, hoping he will find the bone to turn them back to Aboriginal girls.

As you look at the Three Sisters, you can hear Tyawan – the Lyre Bird – calling his daughters as his search for the lost bone continues.

Here are some of the views around the Three Sisters... it's quite beautiful isn't it?




Well... were almost in Sydney now... just a bit longer... sadly we weren't able to see any of the big famous things like the Harbor Bridge or the Opera House but you can see what Sydney looks like at least... :-) Write again soon!

Well... we were finally there... well no, not really Sydney is a HUGE city full of smaller suburbs, the actually city of Sydney is pretty small which is just the CBD, which is what everyone sees, the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, all that fun stuff... lots of huge buildings and very expensive shops... :-) Kind of like Rodeo Drive in Hollywood... lots and lots of expensive shops and tourists...


Sadly, we weren't able to visit that - Sara and Daniel had an appointment at a dietician and allergist for their son Andrew at the now famous hospital RPA (Royal Price Alfred Hospital) - why is it famous you might ask? Because it's got a TV show on every Thursday... Sara enjoys watching it... it's got some pretty crazy stuff from what I've seen of it... lol...


...that's mainly what a lot of Sydney looks like, very similar to Orange actually... very old looking buildings... Sydney is a mix of old and new buildings... as you can see...


...we were also very very close to the Sydney CBD, we got to see the Sydney skyline while we were driving but it was quite hectic driving around Sydney, especially this close to the CBD, you take one wrong turn and your in a different suburb and lost...



...now, you might wonder what that strange looking tower is in between the bigger buildings... it's called the AMP Tower, also known as the Centerpoint Tower, it's right in the middle of Sydney... you wouldn't have any idea, but people walk along the top of it, it's called the Sydney Skywalk... Sara honestly thinks people are crazy, there's a part with a walkway that's clear so you can look straight under you... so creepy! Then again, Sara's not fond of heights...

...but as you can probably imagine, Sara had a good time navigating their way to Camperdown, without one wrong turn (without using the map even)... then when we got there... we couldn't merge... so we drove into another suburb and got lost... so there was a lot of this:

If that doesn't look scary, I can guarantee you it is... haha... well, I'm back in Orange now, safe and sound it was quite a long day... we're going to Bathurst on Wednesday though for some mystery shopping, and some more kangaroo searching... and maybe a bit more, we shall see won't we? :-) I hope you enjoyed my trip to Sydney! :-)

Today we took another trip to Bathurst it's a 45-minute drive from Orange, and that's where Sara always sees the kangaroos, and where thousands of people flock each year to see the famous Bathurst 1000 races each October... well, Sara decided since we were going in again it was time to visit the famous race track...


So here I am in front of the famous sign (on the side of the mountain) and the entrance of the track, which people can drive on all year round, and actually some people have to drive on to get to their house... funny isn't it? :-)


There was this really strange noise behind us while Sara was taking photos of us in the above photo... then she turned around and there were two magpies making some strange noise... after thinking about it for a little bit she realised it's still around the breeding season for them and they're very good about swooping you when you get close to their nest.. thankfully none of that happened, but it was pretty strange...


Well, there was another thing to see before we drive on the track... something new to the "Motor Racing Museum" right next to the track... it's a statue that's of the late Peter Brock who was famous for driving the track and winning 9 times... he's known as the "king of the mountain"... here's the statue...


...and here we all are in front of the statue...


Well... now it's time to finally see the track for ourselves...




















So as you can see it's quite the track... and to know people go around that at around 200 to 300 kilometres per hours is crazy... especially in that "drop" downhill, it doesn't look like it, but it's quite steep around the mountain... and then the straight at the end, people get really fast up that... there's a speed limit for most people on the track, a lot of people walk the track or ride bike on it every day so you have to be careful around the corners especially... but that definitely was quite the experience... well next thing, were going to have a search for kangaroos...

...there was a lot of the kangaroo crossing signs around...

...but sadly there were no kangaroos to be seen this time... I'm just glad we got to see some on Monday! It was so hot today, it was actually 8 degrees above average for this time of year in this area... so it was extremely hot and apparently the animals thought so too... oh well! I'm glad I at least got to see some while I was here! Well, I hope you enjoyed my trip to Bathurst, I'll write again soon! <3

Kamie arrived in Wellington 2 weeks ago after sharing a trip across the Tasman with Mooey Xmas and KungFu Panda.

Unfortunately not long after they all arrived our camera broke and we were worried there would be no evidence of their trip. It was raining anyway (it's supposed to be summer!) so there wasn't much to see.

Then Sol, the man of the house came to the rescue with an early Xmas present of a brand new camera.



Kamie, Mooey Xmas, and KungFu Panda got to come to work with me to look at all of the decorations and meet the ponies pulling the sleigh. On the way home they got to experience a New Zealand Xmas tree. These trees flower bright red at Xmas time and can be spotted everywhere. It's a real treat!





It was very windy on the Wellington waterfront so Sol had to use his arm to ensure the little guys didn't fly away.





Soon we will all be going up north to Hamilton to celebrate Xmas And then on to Taupo with it's huge lake for New Years celebrations. It's going to be lots of fun!

-Kim

Early on Wednesday the 24th of December we packed up the car and bundled all the toys in the back. They had to sit on top of the presents because we had too much stuff filling the car up.

Because we left early there wasn't too much traffic and we arrive at our destination at 1.30pm after 7 and a half hours of driving.

We were now in Hamilton to spend Xmas with my family and a few extra days of relaxing.

Kamie pretends to be the bird in the tree from the 12 Days of Xmas song.



We had beautiful weather on the 28th of December so went for a drive to and wander around the Hamilton Lake.



KungFu Panda, Kamie and Mooey Xmas enjoy the sun and the ducks.