We're a Year 7 Geography class at Abbotsleigh, Wahroonga, Sydney, Australia.
Wahroonga is an Aboriginal word meaning "our home" (although not many Aborigines live in this area any more) and Sydney is a city of about 4 million people and the capital of New South Wales (one of the states of Australia)
Wahroonga is the second wettest suburb in Sydney (after Turramurra - which is nearby) with an average annual rainfall of 1400mm - it is never cold enough for snow here although further south (in the Snowy Mountains!) there is a good ski season.
Our latitude is 32 degrees 52 minutes South and longitude is 151 degrees 10 minutes East. We would like to know which schools participating are between us and the International Dateline which will mean that their day begins before ours. Any New Zealand schools will be - are there any? and any others?
Today is really hot and humid and we're all hot and sticky although its still officially Spring - the temperature is probably about 30 degrees Celsius. Outside the classroom we can see the jacarandas are all loaded with beautiful purple blossom and we are practically deafened by the noise of the cicadas drumming. We live in an attractive very leafy, bushy part of Sydney - this afternoon most of us will be looking forward to a swim!
As Sydney is located on the East coast of Australia, our official climate is East Coast Temperate - which means we have warm to hot summers and mild to cool winters. The country areas of Australia are very worried about the El Nino effect on our weather patterns and are hoping they do not experience droughts as severe as in 1981-82. Areas west of Sydney, west of the Great Dividing Range which runs the length of the East Coast are very often subject to drought.
Abbotsleigh is an all girls private school. We wear two different uniforms - most people wish they could wear anything they want to school - we wear a green one generally and a golden yellow one with a white shirt for sporting activities - our school colours are black and gold - so are our track suits. We play a wide range of sports including cricket, hockey, softball, gymnastics, fencing, touch football, netball, basketball, tennis, and others. The school motto is in Latin - Tempus celerius radio fugit - and means time flies faster than a weaver's shuttle! About two thirds of the girls learn at least two musical instruments and we have many different music groups - choirs, orchestras, bands and ensembles. Drama is another very popular activity - each year we produce at least one major production - the last one was a musical (Annie) but the next one is a drama (The Crucible)
The school day goes from 8.25am to 3.30pm Monday to Friday but we have a lot of extra-curricular activities before and after school and at the weekends. We think we are very lucky to be having an indoor aquatic centre built next year! Most of the 1200 girls in the school are daygirls but we have 150 boarders who come from country areas of Australia and from overseas.
The 2000 Olympics will be held at Homebush in Sydney - our athletics and swimming carnivals have been held at the Olympic facilities in recent years - we all go in a huge fleet of buses there and back. The track we use will be the warm-up track for the Olympians. The pool is the actual one which will be used - but when our own aquatic centre is finished, we will use that. Well, just think, at Christmas many of you will be in your woolly mittens, while we go for a dip in the pool! Best wishes to all from some girls in the Land Downunder! Mrs Bliss's Year 7 Geography Class