Just got an "Exit Form" in my mail from Emmanuel. Saaaad.
The weather is absolutely perfect now...you can wear pants or shorts during the day (it is kind of chilly in the shade and in class, but very warm in the sun) and it cools down a lot at night, but not uncomfortably. It's kind of cold in the morning, but I can't complain. The sun has been shining nonstop for weeks, and it's incredible.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Byron Bay
Best place ever!! I was just there Friday-Monday. We took a 2 hour bus on Friday afternoon, and got there around sunset. We walked along the beach up to a lookout point on the rocks and took tons of pictures - see Facebook. It was absolutely gorgeous. After that we got some din din (kebabs) and gelato, then I hung around in the town with my friend Mackenzie and we listened to some street performers. Then we hung out in the hostel (which was really nice) for a while and I hit the bed early because I was exhausted, and we signed up for a bus tour for Saturday and I wanted to be well-rested.
Saturday - Grasshopper bus tour to Nimbim. I was really hesistant about it because I wanted to spend the day on the beach at Byron, but I'm so glad I went! Nimbin is about an hour and a half away, so they take you there, hang out for an hour and a half, drive to a BBQ area by some nice lakes and where you can do a nature walk, then drive to waterfalls where you can jump off the rocks (I didn't!). All the driving time was beautiful - we drove through farms and forests and pastures the whole way. It was really fun and amazing...one of the best trips yet. On Sunday we just spent the day laying out on the beach and doing a little shopping around Byron - the beach was amazing and totally different from Surfer's Paradise, where I went at the beginning of the semester. Surfer's is all high rises and really commercialized, and Byron is very low-key hippie town. It kind of felt like a beach town in Maine...except bigger, and in Australia.
So now I am back, and have 4 papers and a presentation to do over the next 2-3 weeks. And I'm going to the Whitsundays next weekend, so obviously no time to do work then. So, it's time to buckle down (and not spend time blogging...woops).
Saturday - Grasshopper bus tour to Nimbim. I was really hesistant about it because I wanted to spend the day on the beach at Byron, but I'm so glad I went! Nimbin is about an hour and a half away, so they take you there, hang out for an hour and a half, drive to a BBQ area by some nice lakes and where you can do a nature walk, then drive to waterfalls where you can jump off the rocks (I didn't!). All the driving time was beautiful - we drove through farms and forests and pastures the whole way. It was really fun and amazing...one of the best trips yet. On Sunday we just spent the day laying out on the beach and doing a little shopping around Byron - the beach was amazing and totally different from Surfer's Paradise, where I went at the beginning of the semester. Surfer's is all high rises and really commercialized, and Byron is very low-key hippie town. It kind of felt like a beach town in Maine...except bigger, and in Australia.
So now I am back, and have 4 papers and a presentation to do over the next 2-3 weeks. And I'm going to the Whitsundays next weekend, so obviously no time to do work then. So, it's time to buckle down (and not spend time blogging...woops).
A few things, I'm surprised I haven't mentioned so far...
STARBURST BABIES - Only in Aus, so funny. Apparently they have ones that explode. Who would think to make food shaped like babies?!
TIM TAMS - Best chocolate biscuit thing EVER. They have tons of different flavors, but original is probably the best. The thing to do is the TIM TAM SLAM - bite off both ends of the Tim Tam, then use it as a straw in coffee or hot chocolate, and melted chocolate comes through. Mmmm.
KEBABS - They are everywhere here! And they are called ke-BABS, not ke-BOBS. They are basically like grilled wraps with a ton of stuff in them...and lots of sauces....I'm not a huge fan (I get falafel) but apparently the meat ones are pretty good.
TIM TAMS - Best chocolate biscuit thing EVER. They have tons of different flavors, but original is probably the best. The thing to do is the TIM TAM SLAM - bite off both ends of the Tim Tam, then use it as a straw in coffee or hot chocolate, and melted chocolate comes through. Mmmm.
KEBABS - They are everywhere here! And they are called ke-BABS, not ke-BOBS. They are basically like grilled wraps with a ton of stuff in them...and lots of sauces....I'm not a huge fan (I get falafel) but apparently the meat ones are pretty good.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Break, continued.
P.S. The manta ray was probably about 25 feet across or so, in case anyone other than my mother was wondering. Effing incredible.
Anywho, back to Thursday, 16/4/09.
Got up early to run again, and ran to the other side of the island and saw the second most amazing sight of my life....a whole nest of baby turtles making its way to the ocean. They usually only move at night when it's cool, but these guys went down after sunrise! It was so so amazing - the sun had just rose, and ~100 turtles were making their way down the beach to the water. They were trying to climb over some rocks, so they would climb up and fall over on their backs (and they have little white tummies), then roll themselves over and try again. It was sooooo amazing. I think I have to put it second to the manta ray though, because that was just too good to be true.
After breakfast that morning my group did some work measuring distances between corals, which was pretty fun. We did another boat snorkel too - amazingness. Let's just say, I found Nemo. There were two clownfish swimming around in an anenome - I mean, come on. I probably watched them for about 5 minutes. On the way back to the boat I saw a really cool squid too. And obviously tons of other amazing fishes. Bomb.
We did some more data collection after lunch, had dinner, and then had a talk by one of the research station staff about turtle conservation. He told us that we could pick up the baby turtles as long as we directed them back toward the ocean with our lights, so OBVI I went out immediately after and held one!! (See facebook pictures.) They are the cutest things ever, it's disgusting. After playing with turtles, I saw out and stargazed for a while. The stars there were the second best I've ever seen (number 1 - Belize).
Friday, 17/4/09.
Woke up at 5 30 for the sunrise and brought my camera this time for pics, but it wasn't as good as the first two days, unfortunately (photos are on facebook). So basically I have to commit the good ones to memory, which is already starting to be unsuccessful. After breakfast we worked on our presentation, then basically had the rest of the day free. I sat out by the ocean for a while, and we went on a mini snorkel on the reef flat in the afternoon. There were some HUGE fish, and my friend Sarah saw an ~7 ft shark! We also saw a few sting rays - so scary, but so cool. We had to do presentations at 3 30, then we had a mini slideshow, dinner, and then another night snorkel!! We only saw one turtle, two cuttlefish, and a squid, BUT we jumped off the jetty, and it was SO much fun. I went once before the snorkel, and twice after. I could have done it like 10 more times. Stargazed again afterwards, and stayed up way too late, but it was worth it for the last night!
Saturday, 18/4/09.
Woke up for bfast, then a cleaning of the station. We ended up having a lot of time before leaving for the ferry, so we chilled on the beach and went to the gift shop at the resort on the island. I bought a few postcards, a shot glass, and this little sand-filled turtle - he is my new favorite thing, and his name is Ned Plimpton. (It is one of the weirdest things I have done, but I don't care, I love him.) Anywho, he is the best. The ferry was supposed to be at 1, but it came late and we didn't leave till probably 1 45. So that took 2 hours, then got back and took the bus back, stopped for din part way, and got back around 11 30 pm. Long freaking day. I rested (aka attempted to nap) the whole way back, so I didn't think I'd sleep that much, but I ended up sleeping almost 11 hours! It was madness. So I finally got to all my emailing and crap yesterday, and started studying for my MARS exam that I have on Thursday (aka sat by my friend's pool and read my notes, completely ineffective).
So that's it. I wish my pictures showed more of my adventure, but I didn't want to obsess over taking photos while I was gone. Hopefully that long-winded summary described my break somewhat well. I'll just say - those two trips were freaking amazing, probably two of the best I'll ever take in my life! Now it is back to reality (kind of). I am planning a trip to Byron Bay for this weekend, and have one planned to the Whitsundays for next weekend. Can't waaaittt. More stories to come!
Anywho, back to Thursday, 16/4/09.
Got up early to run again, and ran to the other side of the island and saw the second most amazing sight of my life....a whole nest of baby turtles making its way to the ocean. They usually only move at night when it's cool, but these guys went down after sunrise! It was so so amazing - the sun had just rose, and ~100 turtles were making their way down the beach to the water. They were trying to climb over some rocks, so they would climb up and fall over on their backs (and they have little white tummies), then roll themselves over and try again. It was sooooo amazing. I think I have to put it second to the manta ray though, because that was just too good to be true.
After breakfast that morning my group did some work measuring distances between corals, which was pretty fun. We did another boat snorkel too - amazingness. Let's just say, I found Nemo. There were two clownfish swimming around in an anenome - I mean, come on. I probably watched them for about 5 minutes. On the way back to the boat I saw a really cool squid too. And obviously tons of other amazing fishes. Bomb.
We did some more data collection after lunch, had dinner, and then had a talk by one of the research station staff about turtle conservation. He told us that we could pick up the baby turtles as long as we directed them back toward the ocean with our lights, so OBVI I went out immediately after and held one!! (See facebook pictures.) They are the cutest things ever, it's disgusting. After playing with turtles, I saw out and stargazed for a while. The stars there were the second best I've ever seen (number 1 - Belize).
Friday, 17/4/09.
Woke up at 5 30 for the sunrise and brought my camera this time for pics, but it wasn't as good as the first two days, unfortunately (photos are on facebook). So basically I have to commit the good ones to memory, which is already starting to be unsuccessful. After breakfast we worked on our presentation, then basically had the rest of the day free. I sat out by the ocean for a while, and we went on a mini snorkel on the reef flat in the afternoon. There were some HUGE fish, and my friend Sarah saw an ~7 ft shark! We also saw a few sting rays - so scary, but so cool. We had to do presentations at 3 30, then we had a mini slideshow, dinner, and then another night snorkel!! We only saw one turtle, two cuttlefish, and a squid, BUT we jumped off the jetty, and it was SO much fun. I went once before the snorkel, and twice after. I could have done it like 10 more times. Stargazed again afterwards, and stayed up way too late, but it was worth it for the last night!
Saturday, 18/4/09.
Woke up for bfast, then a cleaning of the station. We ended up having a lot of time before leaving for the ferry, so we chilled on the beach and went to the gift shop at the resort on the island. I bought a few postcards, a shot glass, and this little sand-filled turtle - he is my new favorite thing, and his name is Ned Plimpton. (It is one of the weirdest things I have done, but I don't care, I love him.) Anywho, he is the best. The ferry was supposed to be at 1, but it came late and we didn't leave till probably 1 45. So that took 2 hours, then got back and took the bus back, stopped for din part way, and got back around 11 30 pm. Long freaking day. I rested (aka attempted to nap) the whole way back, so I didn't think I'd sleep that much, but I ended up sleeping almost 11 hours! It was madness. So I finally got to all my emailing and crap yesterday, and started studying for my MARS exam that I have on Thursday (aka sat by my friend's pool and read my notes, completely ineffective).
So that's it. I wish my pictures showed more of my adventure, but I didn't want to obsess over taking photos while I was gone. Hopefully that long-winded summary described my break somewhat well. I'll just say - those two trips were freaking amazing, probably two of the best I'll ever take in my life! Now it is back to reality (kind of). I am planning a trip to Byron Bay for this weekend, and have one planned to the Whitsundays for next weekend. Can't waaaittt. More stories to come!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Mid-Semester Break: Fraser Island and Heron Island
I'm back!! Break was absolutely incredible - I wrote about mostly everything in my journal, so I'm going to use that to write this entry, since my memory is forever failing me.
Thursday, 9/4/09.
Woke up at 6 am to go to Fraser Island. It was really stupid because we had to be at the bus stop at 7 and we didn't leave until 8, and it didn't take nearly an hour to pack up the 4WDs. Anywho, we drove all morning, with 2 stops - one at a rest stop and one before we got on the ferry so we could let air out of the tires for beach driving. I think we finally got to Dilli Village on Fraser around 3 pm, and we were all exhausted! We had free time for the rest of the day, so we walked to the beach and played frisbee and stuff. It was pretty sweet. I skipped trivia and went to bed realllyy early that night, so I could get up early and run the next morning.
Friday, 10/4/09.
Woke up at 5 45 to run on the beach with my friend Sarah. It was mad hard but really good. We got out just after sunrise, and it was beautiful. After breakfast we went out in project groups to do a beach transect...so we basically just had to identify plants and record our data. Not too bad. We went back for lunch, then drove for a while to Eli Creek. We went to a ship wreck on the way, which was really cool. The creek was pretty but we were disappointed because we were expecting a good swim and it wasn't exactly conducive to swimming...but it was alright. So basically it was an afternoon of mostly driving around in the 4WDs, getting bounced around in the backseat.
Saturday, 11/4/09.
Woke up again at 5 45 to run, but it was raining a little bit so I decided not to. We had breakfast at 7, then headed out for another morning of work. My group went to the schlerophyll forest to do pollination/dispersal stuff. I ended up finding flower and bud samples with Brynne and Sarah, which wasn't too hard. We had about a 3 km walk to the forest, which was really pretty. Afterwards we came back for lunch and then set out for a 6.3 km walk to Lake Boomanjin. We thought it would be a decent walk and we would have a lot of time to hang out at the lake - WRONG. We walked for probably an hour and a half, and the tutor who led the way was absolutely booking it. We got to this place where there was a HUGE sand dune and we weren't sure if it was the way to go, but the tutor said he thought it was so we all climbed up (which basically meant falling all over yourself in the sand on the way up) and it was really cool, but not the way to the lake! Basically it was a huge expanse of sand dunes. So we climbed back down, and had to walk a bit farther to the lake. We finally got there, and it was kind of grassy/again not conducive to swimming, so another disappointing afternoon. I walked back to the car park with our tutor and we had to wait probably an hour for my professor and some other people to come back from playing on the sand dunes, because they had all the car keys! In the meantime, one kid from our group tried to break into the cars to get afternoon tea (he managed to get into about half of them). Also, we saw a bunch of Australians that were shitfaced and camping by the lake - three of them were dressed as the Village People, and a bunch of kids from our group were hanging out with them and had them sing the YMCA. They were so drunk they could barely sing it. It was pretty hilarious. When Steve (our prof) finally got back, we had a nice, long, bumpy drive back to Dilli.
Sunday, 12/4/09.
This was my group's day for rainforest work. We had a long, bumpy drive out to the rainforest where we did some work with arthropods. Basically we looked for spiders and trapped ants using tuna and honey as bait. It was really pretty out in the forest, and the work wasn't too bad. We went back for lunch and then headed out for Lake Birrabeen - which was finally the kind of lake we expected! The water was really nice so we swam for a bit and then layed out - it was incredibly nice. Unfortunately we weren't there for that long, but it was sweet anyways.
Monday, 13/4/09.
Had an earlier wake-up than usual, and it was rainy/yucky. I couldn't be mad about it though, because we lucked out with weather for the rest of the time we were there. We had to pack/clean up our rooms after breakfast, and then we headed to Lake Wabby. We had yet another long, bumpy drive there. We expected to be at the lake when we got there, but alas, we had a 1.8 km walk from the cars. It was really nice though - we walked through some forest and then some sand dunes. Finally got to the lake, and it was gorgeous - Sarah and I ran down the dunes and dove in the water, and it was perfect temperature and just amazing. It was one of my favorite things I've done since I've been in Aus. It rained a little bit while we were in the water, and it made the coolest noise and looked really cool splashing in the water. After, we went back to Dilli for lunch, then left about 1 pm and drove to the ferry, and a bit after the ferry we got to switch to a bus! Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic, and we got home around 7 30 pm. I was absolutely exhausted, and had to pack for trip #2. We had to be at the bus stop at 11 30 pm for the next trip, but some people were late so we didn't leave until about 12 30 am. Apparently some of them thought we were leaving the next day....So it was a long night of travel.
Tuesday, 14/4/09.
On the bus from about 12 30-8 30 am. We had to wait for the ferry for about 2 hours, just laying in the wet grass outside...and it was really buggy. Not the greatest time of my life. We got on the ferry at about 11 am and it took about 2 hours. It was a really nice boat and really comfortable, unlike the bus! We got lunch at the research station when we got there, and it was pretty good. After lunch we got fitted with our snorkel gear and went for our first snorkel! It was awesome, even though I was exhausted. We came back for dinner, and a bit later one of the tutors took us out to look for baby turtles on the beach. We saw a bunch, and they were sooo cute! I went to bed really early, and it was really nice to have a bed to sleep in...
Wednesday, 15/4/09.
Woke up at 5 30 am to go running on the beach with Sarah. It was kind of a failure because the sand was really soft and hard to run on, but it was worth it because the sunrise was amazing. There wasn't really anywhere good to run on the island - it is such a tiny island there isn't really anywhere to go. I didn't realize just how small it was until the last day I bought a postcard that shows the island from above, and I could see part of the beach I had been going to most days was on the opposite side from where I thought I was. Madness. Anywho, we had time to go for a nice walk in the woods before breakfast as well. After breakfast we had some free time, then went for a boat snorkel at 10 am. They boated us out pretty far and dropped us to snorkel for about an hour - it was AMAZING. After we were out there for at least a half hour, one of the staff people started screaming MANTA RAY!!! So everyone swam out to where it was, and I swam my ass off to catch up to it - it was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I followed it for a bit, but it was going really fast. It was so freaking cool. I didn't see any turtles and some of the kids in my group did, so I was kind of disappointed, but I'm just so glad I saw the manta it doesn't even matter. So we went back, had lunch, then went out for a reef "walkel"...walk/snorkel. Basically we just walked on the reef flat and used our snorkels to look at stuff - I thought it was a lot of fun, but most people didn't really enjoy it (probably because most of them cut themselves on the coral). I found a bailor snail, which was basicaly a snail that was as long as my tutor's forearm - it was sooo cool. Google image it or something. We also saw some sea hares, which are really cool/cute. On our walk back to shore, we took a "new" way, which was probably the worst idea ever because people were stepping all over the coral. My heart died a little inside. We saw a sand shark on the way back, and it was really sweet. You could barely see it because it camouflaged so well. After the walkel we made our project groups, then I went out and watched the sunset. I put some photos on facebook...most of them are very similar, sorry, but I did cut out a lot! After dinner everyone went on a night snorkel, but I skipped out because I wasn't feeling very well. Apparently everyone saw lots of turtles and it was a lot of fun, but I got to do one the last night so it wasn't such a big deal I missed it.
Thursday, 16/4/09.
I am mad tired, and going to finish this some time tomorrow.
Thursday, 9/4/09.
Woke up at 6 am to go to Fraser Island. It was really stupid because we had to be at the bus stop at 7 and we didn't leave until 8, and it didn't take nearly an hour to pack up the 4WDs. Anywho, we drove all morning, with 2 stops - one at a rest stop and one before we got on the ferry so we could let air out of the tires for beach driving. I think we finally got to Dilli Village on Fraser around 3 pm, and we were all exhausted! We had free time for the rest of the day, so we walked to the beach and played frisbee and stuff. It was pretty sweet. I skipped trivia and went to bed realllyy early that night, so I could get up early and run the next morning.
Friday, 10/4/09.
Woke up at 5 45 to run on the beach with my friend Sarah. It was mad hard but really good. We got out just after sunrise, and it was beautiful. After breakfast we went out in project groups to do a beach transect...so we basically just had to identify plants and record our data. Not too bad. We went back for lunch, then drove for a while to Eli Creek. We went to a ship wreck on the way, which was really cool. The creek was pretty but we were disappointed because we were expecting a good swim and it wasn't exactly conducive to swimming...but it was alright. So basically it was an afternoon of mostly driving around in the 4WDs, getting bounced around in the backseat.
Saturday, 11/4/09.
Woke up again at 5 45 to run, but it was raining a little bit so I decided not to. We had breakfast at 7, then headed out for another morning of work. My group went to the schlerophyll forest to do pollination/dispersal stuff. I ended up finding flower and bud samples with Brynne and Sarah, which wasn't too hard. We had about a 3 km walk to the forest, which was really pretty. Afterwards we came back for lunch and then set out for a 6.3 km walk to Lake Boomanjin. We thought it would be a decent walk and we would have a lot of time to hang out at the lake - WRONG. We walked for probably an hour and a half, and the tutor who led the way was absolutely booking it. We got to this place where there was a HUGE sand dune and we weren't sure if it was the way to go, but the tutor said he thought it was so we all climbed up (which basically meant falling all over yourself in the sand on the way up) and it was really cool, but not the way to the lake! Basically it was a huge expanse of sand dunes. So we climbed back down, and had to walk a bit farther to the lake. We finally got there, and it was kind of grassy/again not conducive to swimming, so another disappointing afternoon. I walked back to the car park with our tutor and we had to wait probably an hour for my professor and some other people to come back from playing on the sand dunes, because they had all the car keys! In the meantime, one kid from our group tried to break into the cars to get afternoon tea (he managed to get into about half of them). Also, we saw a bunch of Australians that were shitfaced and camping by the lake - three of them were dressed as the Village People, and a bunch of kids from our group were hanging out with them and had them sing the YMCA. They were so drunk they could barely sing it. It was pretty hilarious. When Steve (our prof) finally got back, we had a nice, long, bumpy drive back to Dilli.
Sunday, 12/4/09.
This was my group's day for rainforest work. We had a long, bumpy drive out to the rainforest where we did some work with arthropods. Basically we looked for spiders and trapped ants using tuna and honey as bait. It was really pretty out in the forest, and the work wasn't too bad. We went back for lunch and then headed out for Lake Birrabeen - which was finally the kind of lake we expected! The water was really nice so we swam for a bit and then layed out - it was incredibly nice. Unfortunately we weren't there for that long, but it was sweet anyways.
Monday, 13/4/09.
Had an earlier wake-up than usual, and it was rainy/yucky. I couldn't be mad about it though, because we lucked out with weather for the rest of the time we were there. We had to pack/clean up our rooms after breakfast, and then we headed to Lake Wabby. We had yet another long, bumpy drive there. We expected to be at the lake when we got there, but alas, we had a 1.8 km walk from the cars. It was really nice though - we walked through some forest and then some sand dunes. Finally got to the lake, and it was gorgeous - Sarah and I ran down the dunes and dove in the water, and it was perfect temperature and just amazing. It was one of my favorite things I've done since I've been in Aus. It rained a little bit while we were in the water, and it made the coolest noise and looked really cool splashing in the water. After, we went back to Dilli for lunch, then left about 1 pm and drove to the ferry, and a bit after the ferry we got to switch to a bus! Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic, and we got home around 7 30 pm. I was absolutely exhausted, and had to pack for trip #2. We had to be at the bus stop at 11 30 pm for the next trip, but some people were late so we didn't leave until about 12 30 am. Apparently some of them thought we were leaving the next day....So it was a long night of travel.
Tuesday, 14/4/09.
On the bus from about 12 30-8 30 am. We had to wait for the ferry for about 2 hours, just laying in the wet grass outside...and it was really buggy. Not the greatest time of my life. We got on the ferry at about 11 am and it took about 2 hours. It was a really nice boat and really comfortable, unlike the bus! We got lunch at the research station when we got there, and it was pretty good. After lunch we got fitted with our snorkel gear and went for our first snorkel! It was awesome, even though I was exhausted. We came back for dinner, and a bit later one of the tutors took us out to look for baby turtles on the beach. We saw a bunch, and they were sooo cute! I went to bed really early, and it was really nice to have a bed to sleep in...
Wednesday, 15/4/09.
Woke up at 5 30 am to go running on the beach with Sarah. It was kind of a failure because the sand was really soft and hard to run on, but it was worth it because the sunrise was amazing. There wasn't really anywhere good to run on the island - it is such a tiny island there isn't really anywhere to go. I didn't realize just how small it was until the last day I bought a postcard that shows the island from above, and I could see part of the beach I had been going to most days was on the opposite side from where I thought I was. Madness. Anywho, we had time to go for a nice walk in the woods before breakfast as well. After breakfast we had some free time, then went for a boat snorkel at 10 am. They boated us out pretty far and dropped us to snorkel for about an hour - it was AMAZING. After we were out there for at least a half hour, one of the staff people started screaming MANTA RAY!!! So everyone swam out to where it was, and I swam my ass off to catch up to it - it was probably the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I followed it for a bit, but it was going really fast. It was so freaking cool. I didn't see any turtles and some of the kids in my group did, so I was kind of disappointed, but I'm just so glad I saw the manta it doesn't even matter. So we went back, had lunch, then went out for a reef "walkel"...walk/snorkel. Basically we just walked on the reef flat and used our snorkels to look at stuff - I thought it was a lot of fun, but most people didn't really enjoy it (probably because most of them cut themselves on the coral). I found a bailor snail, which was basicaly a snail that was as long as my tutor's forearm - it was sooo cool. Google image it or something. We also saw some sea hares, which are really cool/cute. On our walk back to shore, we took a "new" way, which was probably the worst idea ever because people were stepping all over the coral. My heart died a little inside. We saw a sand shark on the way back, and it was really sweet. You could barely see it because it camouflaged so well. After the walkel we made our project groups, then I went out and watched the sunset. I put some photos on facebook...most of them are very similar, sorry, but I did cut out a lot! After dinner everyone went on a night snorkel, but I skipped out because I wasn't feeling very well. Apparently everyone saw lots of turtles and it was a lot of fun, but I got to do one the last night so it wasn't such a big deal I missed it.
Thursday, 16/4/09.
I am mad tired, and going to finish this some time tomorrow.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
MIA
Tomorrow morning I leave at 7 am for my Terrestrial field trip to Fraser Island for 5 days, and directly after that I'll be going to Heron Island (Great Barrier Reef) for my Marine field trip for the next 5 days. So basically I'll be MIA for about 10 days - I'm not sure how much time I have between trips, but I'm sure it's going to be short. If I can get internet access while I'm gone, I'll be sure to post stories...
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Other weird things...
Side note: events at Emmanuel College. Last Sunday was BGFC, or Big Game Fishing Club, aka the boys get smashed in the afternoon. This also involves: dressing up as girls, drinking goon mixed with cordial, everyone throwing up, in a public park. Then they all come to dinner painted blue and get sent back to their rooms to shower/change, then come back tinted blue and falling over. This Sunday was ECLA, or Emmanuel College Ladies Association, which is similar where the girls drink in the afternoon and dress up in pink, then come to dinner shitfaced. I'm glad I missed it...I saw a girl at dinner fall on her ass. Emmanuel is crazy. And loves to paint everyone blue.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Adventure Weekend
Just arrived home from our Adventure Weekend with IFSA-Butler, and procrastinating studying for my Terrestrial exam so here's an update. We left school around 3 on Friday and got to Binna Burra Mountain Lodge around 6 pm. We picked up kids from Griffith University on the way (they are in the Gold Coast...closer to the rainforest). It was rainy that night and really foggy, so there wasn't much to see, but the forest was pretty sweet anyways. We had a really good dinner and then had a movie night, and we watched The Castle, which is a classic Aussie film and it was hilarious. I highly recommend. After that we went to bed, in safari tents which were pretty nast, because literally everything in them was damp, and if you left your stuff out it got damp too. I was on a top bunk that had next to no space between it and the ceiling, so it was not the greatest. Anywho, got up early Saturday, had brekkie and it was still raining and shitty out. My group had to hike first - it was okay, but we got absolutely soaked and everything in my backpack got soaked too. Oh, and leeches are a huge problem there, so we were constantly having to pull them off our shoes/legs. We were out for around 3 hours and came back to the tents, where my tentmates and I all found leeches on our ankles, and pulling them off resulted in profuse bleeding. It was fabulous - I soaked up a lot of blood with my soaking socks, then put on another pair which also got bloody and soaked back in my shoes, which are basically ruined. In the afternoon we did the flying fox - a zip line. It kind of cleared up for us, and it was a lot of fun. We all got to go twice and go upside down the second time. It took a while for everyone to go (~3 hours), but definitely worth it. After that we had dinner and a trivia night....I am really really bad at Aussie trivia but there was a "physical challenge" for someone to eat a cracker with vegemite on it as fast as they could, and I was quickly the nominee. There was hardly any vegemite on the cracker so it was basically who could chew the cracker the fastest, and unfortunately I did not win. It was fun though. I barely slept at all last night (trying to wean myself off Ambo) but today was still a lot of fun, and I'm still running on adrenaline. My group did the ropes course - I was scared shitless and was on the verge of not doing it but ended up doing all 3 things. Some of my friends took pictures which will hopefully go up soon on facebook. We had lunch there and left at 1 - and just got back about an hour ago. So basically everything in my bag is sopping wet, and I am thanking God that I have my laundry day tomorrow. I just found out that I leave for my Terrestrial field trip to Fraser Island on Thursday at 7 am- and we have our exam the day before! I don't feel like packing for another outdoor adventure, and my shoes need recovery, but I think I'm going to take them out for a run tonight and hopefully the water and dirt will slowly go away. I think that's all the fun from this weekend....basically it was really cool but would have been faaaar better if the weather had been nice yesterday. Not much we could do though. I took a few pictures from the lodge at breakfast this morning, I might post a few later. Cheers!
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