There was no stopping for the boys: in they jumped despite the rather brownish colour of the water after all the rain. The girls just got one leg wet but all had a go at steering the boat. Well done everyone!

Sensei Mick gave a tour of the surroundings and introduced his students. Our Japanese visitors gave wonderful presentations on Japanese culture and showed off their amazing English language skills. The Australian students taught them drama games and involved them in circle discussions. It was a great day for everyone.

Experiencing school in Australia close to nature and looking for …… and finding the Kangaroos hidden in the bushes! Part of school life at Noosa District State School!

It was a jam-packed day interacting with animals from all over the world including the new African section with giraffes, cheetahs and more! They also got to meet and cuddle Koalas, Kangaroos and many other native Australian animals. Looks like they had an amazing time! Crikey!

The local supermarket was a welcome change to the classroom at Coco Bay resort and students were busy answering Quiz questions and talking to local customers.

Back in the classroom we had a real hands-on-lesson: Student Master chefs created Scones, Anzac Biscuits, Lamingtons and Cupcakes for an All Australian Afternoon Tea. Teachers Mayuka and Shinji acted as judges! The verdict: “Yuuuuummyyyy!!!!

There was chocolate cake, tim-tams, lamingtons, shapes and chips to celebrate a traditional Australian birthday. As you can see from the pictures, the Chiyoda HS students seemed to enjoy the party!

Each team had to think of an English word to call their team. We had the Kangaroos, WII Masters, Tiger and Tiger 2. After some spares and awesome strikes… it was looking like Tigers had eaten up the competition. That is till the very last throw when Tiger 2 striked three times to win by only 2 points! Now it was the Tiger 2 team against each other. Whoever got the first strike out of Koshin, Takashi and Koki would win the competition and a free surf lesson. Congratulations to Takashi who struck a strike on the first throw!

The students were very keen to meet locals and tourists visiting Noosa. As you can see from the photos below, they are anything but shy when it comes to social situations and making new friends. I’m sure the boys will go home with some very interesting pictures to show their friends and family!

All the students were given bright yellow life jackets as there was a strong wind and a strong current. Once safe it was time for our lesson! World surf champ Merrick showed us how it was done by demonstrating on the sands of the river bed.

The students firstly paddled out on the water on their knees before coming ashore for the stand up demonstration. Easy enough on land……now for the rocky river! We pushed out on our knees and placing the paddle carefully in the centre of the board we had to try to stand up. Although this looks easy enough the choppy current made it difficult.

Some of the boys practise paddling on their knees before attempting to stand up.

Atsushi gets the hang of stand up paddle boarding and Rena survives a little wobble on the board and keeps her balance! Great effort!

The guys at Nomads Noosa!

On a really hot summer afternoon we went to Nomads Hostel to play some volleyball and have a swim. When we got there the students had a few arguments about who was going in who’s team but we eventually settled on two teams of eight players each.

The energy was high and they played very well. Each team scored some excellent points accompanied by great screams from each team and soon after we had started the teams were changing and everybody was throwing themselves at the ball to try to win.

Playing on the hot sand, directly underneath the sun was tiring and the girls soon decided to take a dip in the pool to cool down where they found another ball and volleyball net and continued to play their own game in the rather cooler water.

The boys on the other hand were running around and playing their own games of volleyball, hide and seek and one game where they began by lying on their stomachs and then pushing up to turn around and chase each other to an obstacle.

All in all the students had a very active afternoon in one of Noosa’s popular spots had some well earned relaxation in the hot sun.

The girls relaxing after enjoying a swim and the boys exhausted after playing volleyball and running around.

When we arrived we hopped about on the boiling hot tar mac trying to get changed into the school’s bright red tops. We were then given our surf boards (smaller than the last lesson because we had improved so much) and marched down to the beach.

Here, surf instructor Alex practised his Japanese and went over the three step approach to standing up. The students tried really hard and many laughs were had as they practised on the sand. Now it was time to test the waters (literally).

The instructor showing everyone how to stand up!

The students were so, so excited that they ran into the sea with some so excited they forgot to put their leg rope on! Once in the sea they played and paddled and caught those waves! Despite being on harder board the students were fantastic! Everyone tried so hard and everyone did really well. The instructors were so impressed!

After a long few hours in the water we waved goodbye to the waves taking with us some awesome memories of Noosa’s surf!

Waka and Yuki Surfing Noosa style!