What one can learn on an Aussie Roadtrip!

My blog today is in honour of 2 topics close to my heart. I have just returned from a 6 day Roadtrip, traveling south to Melbourne. It’s a long one, but cramming everything in I hope that is well worth the read.

Let’s get started .. the blog covers

• Supporting communities where they are doing it tough in today’s dry weather conditions
• P-Tech, Internships and Grads in IBM Ballarat

Road Trip – visiting the small towns in southern NSW and Northern Victoria

As drought cripples many rural communities around our country, I feel living in the City that it was important to drive, rather than fly, and hit the open road. Traveling this way gives you a real sense of the country we are blessed to be living in, to appreciate the history in the little townships, and to see first hand just how dry it is out there.

But to visit these towns, one must make a conscious effort, and drive off the freeway into these communities, to enjoy a beer and food at the local pub, and rather than going to one of the large fast food chains, book some accommodation, walk the streets, eat in the cafes and take a look at the boutique shops, or just be there immercing ourselves with the locals.

It’s not just about spending money, it’s about supporting, talking, asking and most important a big morale boost to rural communities and it’s people … taking an interest where we can.

So let me entice you, share the history of the towns where we stopped that you might consider for your next holiday:

• Yass, NSW: The Yass area was first seen by Europeans in 1821, (an expedition led by Hamilton Hume) and by 1830 settlement had begun. There is an impressive and historic main street, with well-preserved 19th century verandah post pubs. One of Australia’s best-known poets, Banjo Patterson arrived in the district in 1871 aged 7, and as an adult he did not move to far from there. Yass was a clean town, with the locals at the motel and cafe we visited very friendly.

• Holbrook, NSW: This little town has apparently changed its name at least five times, with the last change in 1915 to Holbrook after Submarine Commander Norman Douglas Holbrook. The first resident at Ten Mile Creek, the first name of this town, was German born shepherd Johann Pabst. Pabst arrived in Australia in 1825, to work for the Australian Agricultural Co. founded by John Macarthur. Today, Holbrook, a farming community 400 kms from the nearest seaport has a life-size submarine. There is a fascinating story behind this little town which can be located here. For details on the town, the sights, this is also a good weblink. We loved wandering around the sights that are well maintained, and yes a little strange to see a submarine in a town that is not near the ocean, but very cool history as to why it’s there.
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• Glenrowan, VIC: Ned Kelly’s Last Stand. Ned, not even 26, was the leader of the Kelly Gang in this area in 1880, a foreman of sleeper cutters gang whom cut sleepers to be laid on the Northern Eastern Railway. A 12 hour siege confronting the Victorian Police after several events leading up to the fateful day of the siege where Ned and the gang were gunned down after being out numbered on 28 June 1880. The town provides cool landmarks for you to walk the shoes of Ned and the gang to their final hours.
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• Woodend, VIC: a quaint and pretty little town, with some history and sights such as Hanging Rock and Ash Wednesday.
  In 1983, Victoria and South Australia were devastated by some of the biggest bushfires in their history. The towns of Woodend, Macedon, Melton and Riddell’s Creek were among those evacuated in the Mt Macedon area. Even today, 35 years on, you can still see the scarring in these areas being a reminder of the bush fires that devastated the area.
  Woodend was first surveyed in 1836 by Major Thomas Mitchell, who opened it up for settlement. When gold was discovered in the area (towards Bendigo and Ballarat), Woodend became the main thoroughfare through the Black Forest, and accommodated many gold-diggers and their families. Hanging Rock, not to far from the Woodend town, is a distinctive beautiful geological formation and is a former volcano, lies 718m above sea level. Known also for an Australian historical fiction novel Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay. Set in 1900, it is about a group of female students at an Australian girls’ boarding school who vanish at Hanging Rock while on a Valentine’s Day picnic, and the effects the disappearances have on the school and local community.
• Mt Macedon, VIC: a beautiful drive, with a touching story. At the summit of Mount Macedon is the Memorial Cross which commemorates those who gave their lives in the 1914 – 1918 war. In addition to desiring to honour the war dead of World War I, William Cameron wanted to create employment during the Great Depression for those returning soldiers, to give them hope and a sense of purpose.

• Daylesford, VIC: Daylesford is a town in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range of Victoria, Australia. It’s known for its natural mineral springs. A beautiful town, with so much colour and character, and quirky shops. I particularly loved the book shop and the retro bric and brac shop.

• Seymour, VIC: This small town is a historic railway township, one of Victoria’s first ‘Railway Towns’. What interested me was the Vietnam Veterans Commemorative Walk which was opened in 2013, the only one of its kind in Australia dedicated to Vietnam Veterans. The Walk was created using symbolic elements of Vietnam and over 60,000 names of every serviceman & servicewoman who served in the conflict are listed. It is simply a must see!

• Gundagai, NSW:Few people know that in 1852 Gundagai was hit by Australia’s most deadly natural disaster. The local Aborigines had warned the early settlers that the Murrumbidgee floodplain was prone to serious flooding. The settlers took no notice and the first settlement was built beside the river. By 1843 the town was prospering. It was an important river crossing point. Streets were named after famous poets, there were four hotels and a post office. A year later the river, fed by waters from the Snowy Mountains, broke its banks. Today you can see many of the signs of the flood, the rebuild, and where they have tried to retain the history. I stood under the old wooden bridge spanning 800 metres being the longest wooden bridge in the Southern Hemisphere; I drove up to the lookout to see the beauty and peace of this area.

This marker shows the floodings recorded with 1853 being at the top of the marker

The longest wooden bridge spanning 800m in the Southern Hemisphere

One pic to show how dry the rivers and creeks are .. this is just one of many that we either saw low in water, or completely dry.

The Aussie Golden Hills .. most of the trip we saw how dry the land was.

Each of these towns we explored, we either stayed a night, had a meal or 2, we talked to the locals, brought a souvenir .. either way it was about acknowledging these small towns, spending a little money to support their local economy, and sharing their history and beauty to you all in the hope that you too might visit one day.

Visiting IBM Ballarat

Now, the other story I wanted to share with you all was our trip to Ballarat, which was in between our visits to the other towns.

Working for IBM, I thought since I was in the area I would take a little time to visit the IBM site at Federation University. IBM Ballarat is known for the P-TECH program (the first City to implement the program outside of the US), and being a site where grads and interns are hired.

So for those that are not sure, the P-TECH program is an important program that provides students with the skills and support required to successfully navigate the transition from school to work or university. Students leave Federation College as skilled candidates for jobs or further education. The P-TECH pilot is run as a successful partnership between Federation College and IBM. Since 2016, a number of students from Federation College have participated in authentic project-based learning, both at school and in the workplace.

Another program that was shared with us was the Neurodiversity@ IBM. Neurodiversity is a concept where neurological differences are recognized and respected as any other human variation. One of these variations is autism.  IBM Australia has recently launched a program to support hiring people on the autism spectrum. IBM offers candidates the opportunity to become part of our family in a variety of Application Development and Testing roles at the Client Innovation Centre (CIC) in Ballarat.  For more information on this program, click here.  Here is a 3 minute video providing more details.

So the visit to the IBM sites at the Fed Uni was the most interesting couple of hours where we met so many talented young people, and passionate IBMers guiding these young people. I heard about the history, and got the royal tour like no other.

Meeting Steve Davies, the location Executive, was an absolute treat as he showed us around, introduced us to so many people from all backgrounds and experience. I met young grads such as Michael, Jess, Pheobe, Libby, listened to their stories, and saw each one of them so energetic, and grateful for the opportunities they were getting as they were completing their degrees at Uni, in particular the soft skills they were learning. Their stories had a common theme, they felt they belonged and that they were encouraged to be who they are. I saw signs of innovation, history, opportunities.

I also met Belinda, whom is supporting the Neurodiversity@IBM Program in Ballarat, and Pearl, whom is instrumental in helping to organise another key program, also close to my heart, the EXCITE Camp ( EXploring Interests in Technology & Engineering). These camps are designed to inspire Years 8-10 High School girls to explore the world of STEM. Click here to read about the September 2018 EXCITE Camp.

A big thank you to everyone in making the experience a memorable one. Here are some pics taken of our morning.

One of the IBM sites on Federation University campus

IBM Reception

A P-Tech project .. IBM Technology Museum provides grads and interns an insight as to how far technology has come

Selfies with Steve and Belinda, and grads Jess, Pheobe, and Libby.

Other websites:

https://www.ptech.org.au/

https://www.ptech.org.au/ballarat-partnership/

https://www.thecourier.com.au/story/4273822/futures-stem-from-p-tech/