Shannon in Australia & New Zealand

NZED Part II

2009-12-21T07:28:00.001-08:00

Jon and I if only we had a VW to drive around

I have officially been back home in the United States for a full week now. It was very ready to come home after being away for four months and living out of a backpack, but after just a week I am already anxious to go back to New Zealand.
First of all, Jon and I went on the ultimate tramping and road trip adventure once we parted ways with our school group. Once we said our farewells to our fellow comrades we jumped on a bus and headed straight for Queenstown, the main adventure sports hub in the world more or less. This was our jump off point, and from here we began our three day, 32km, NZ great walk known as the Routeburn Track. This isn't quite as challenging and lengthy as the more famous Milford track or Kepler Track but we surely enjoyed it. Our first day it poured buckets but luckily we were decked out in our rain gear, which included ponchos ofcourse. The next two days turned out to be absolutely gorgeous and sunny, providing great views into Aspiring National Park and Fiordland National Park. The hardest part about this hike was carrying all of my gear, but I eventually got used to the weight of my large pack. Upon conclusion of the hike, we decided to take a side trail and go up to Key Summit for some more spectacular views. Surprisingly we ran into two of our friends, Eric and Dierdre (who also decided to stay and travel on the South Island), at the top. We caught a left from them, and we headed down to Milford Sound solely for the experience of the drive down through the picturesque mountains and to see Mitre Peak. We then headed as a foursome back to Te Anau.

1st leg of the hike in the pouring rain

Day 2

View down on Lake Mackenzie

Lake Mackenzie at dusk

Mitre Peak, Milford Sound with Eric and Dierdre

The next adventure for the two of us was to go sea kayaking in the fiords. We went with a group of seven others to Doubtful Sound to spend two days kayaking and a night camping along the secluded fiord. We thought Doubtful sound would provide a better venue for this activity because it is more remote, with less cruise boats and tours everyday. It is also more difficult to get to because their isn't direct road access. Sure enough, we saw penguins and dolphins swimming around and playing in their natural habitat. Nevertheless, countless waterfalls spilled over the cliff edges, which towered hundreds of meters above the surface of the water. It is undoubtedly one of the most unique places in the world.

Kayaking in Doubtful Sound

Dolphin! One swam right under my kayak

Once we returned to civilization, Jon and I rented a car in Queenstown in order to begin our journey back to the north. We went back to Wanaka, one of our favorite places, making stops along the way especially at the iconic Cardrona Hotel for some beers. The next few days included hiking in Wanaka to see Mount Aspiring tucked inside the Southern Alps and driving up to Christchurch to catch our flight to the North Island. We went to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens that were surely enjoyable, yet Christchurch itself didn't exactly suit our fancy.

Queenstown

In Wanaka

Lake Wanaka

Mount Aspiring as seen from atop Mount Roy

On the North Island, our main goal was to go to White Island, a breathing Volcano that sits forty something kilometers off the northern coast in the Bay of Plenty. We were suppose to go here during our geology trip but the weather was less than desirable to boat over to the island. Luckily for us, the weather was just right for this trip. We spent two hours walking around the island observing the bright yellow sulfur deposits and fumaroles. It was quite stinky there, but the gas masks provided by the tour group were unnecessary except for picture taking.

White Island!

Crater

The next few days, our last few days, included driving along the Bay of Plenty to Tauranga for a night, and then to Cathedral Cove and Hot Water Beach. This beach has two hot water springs that sit right under the sand. During low tide you can dig out small pools that fill with hot water, and viola! a DIY spa for the evening. This was quite the popular attraction in the area. Our next two days were spent hiking near Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula, out to see large volcanic plugs protruding the landscape of the Kauaeranga valley. We spent the night in a hut out there, unfortunately with 60 middle school/high school kids. It was still a fun way to spend two days out in the bush.

Hot Water Beach, the middle was too hot to walk on!

Pinnacles summit

The last two days were composed of our commute to Auckland and a day trip to Rangitoto Island. Rangitoto is a 600 year old volcanic island, a shield volcano, which sits in the Huaraki Gulf in Auckland Harbor. It was a short walk to the summit, yet we took advantage of our time their by crawling all the way through lava tubes and walking over lava flows. It was a much better alternative to spending the day in the busy city.

Rangitoto

Lava tubes

Kiwi Christmas Tree

After a quick 16 days, Jon and I were headed to the airport before we knew it. We hoped on board Air New Zealand and snoozed right through the 12 hour flight to LA. Within no time we were back in the states. The only downfall to that plane ride was that I lost my iPod. That would happen because I didn't even use it on the flight and I needed it to get through the next 10 hours of travel.
It was quite nice being home for the first few days until I realized that the bitter cold weather makes it hard to do outdoor activities, which I was so used to doing EVERDAY in New Zealand. It is also hard getting used to it being pitch black outside by 4pm! Jet lag was pretty bad and was amplified by the fact that I wasn't burning any energy during the day. Now I am back to normal, and ready to head back to school.

Welcome home from Mr. Briggs

Hmmmmm I love New Zealand. The mountains, the green, the sheep, the people. It is beautiful I will definitely be going back if I know what is good for me.

NZED part 1

2009-11-24T19:59:00.000-08:00

Kia Ora. It has been just over two weeks since I have arrived in New Zealand. Time has seriously flown right by. Believe it or not, our program is completely done tomorrow and I will be saying farewell to everyone. For the past two weeks, the Union/HWS group has traveled all over this super green and mountainous country. We spent the first week traversing the North Island, stopping off at numerous geothermal spots and learning about the active volcanism. We completed the Tongariro Alipne Crossing, which was one of the most challenging yet amazing hikes I have ever done. The weather here is unpredictable and it rains so much! Luckily the clouds parted and the sun shone through for this phenomenal hike that we did.
The second week was spent touring the South Island. Starting in Christchurch, we made our way through Arthur's Pass through the Southern Alps and across the Alipne Fault zone. Here our main goal was to observe the metamorphic rocks, as opposed ot the igneous rocks in the north. After glacier walking in Franz Josef, we then continued south along the west coast to Wanaka. This was one of the most beautful drives I have ever experienced. The southern Alps are just out of this world. We are now spending our second night in Mount Cook Village. Mount Cook is the tallest mountain in all of NZED, standing at three thousand something meters. Quite spectacular.
Tomorrow, Jon and I are parting ways with our comrades to head even further south to Fiordland. While everyone ventures back to Christcurch to catch an airplane, we are traveling on. We are basically buying a tent, hitting the hiking trails, and going where ever the road takes us. Well, we do have somewhat of a schedule but we are trying to keep it open in case some opportunity presents itself. We will tramp around for 10 days in the south and then spend another week up on the North Island. No pictures still. Sent the camera cord home a few weeks ago.
It is also strange to think that we will not be spending any more time with the people we have lived with for the past 2 1/2 months. On the bright side, it will be nice not to have any work to do and to venture out on our own. Until next time, bon voyage!

Highlights:

Wai-o-tapu: geothermal activity in Rotorua

Mount Ngauruhoe, a.k.a. Mount Doom

Ruapehu

Ngauruhoe as seen along the Tongariro Crossing

Geo students and Holli! Representing Union College

Franz Josef Glacier

Kea, alpine parrot

Fiordland Crested Penguin

Lake Wanaka

Mount Cook, tallest in NZed

Hooker Glacier with Shabs!

My week off...Pops pays a visit

2009-11-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

Just a quick update. For the past week my dad had been visiting. We spent our first three days up in Cairns, Australia in order to experience the real tropical north Queensland and to see the Great Barrier Reef (my second time). I was so nervous to go scuba diving the second day we were there but I finally did it! And I absolutely loved it! We went diving on Hastings Reef and we saw a ton of gorgeous coral but not too much wildlife other than fish. We did see a hawksbill turtle however. The next day we went up to the Daintree rainforest for a guided tour. We saw two saltwater crocodiles on the Daintree River and went on several rainforest walks. We also spent some time on the beaches but NO SWIMMING because the box jellyfish were beginning to occupy the warm coastal waters. They can easily kill you. After a day or two of travel and some time in Brisbane, I finally said farewell to Australia and made my way to New Zealand.

I am already in love with New Zealand. It is so much greener that Australia, with rolling hills and endless sheep and cattle grazing the fields. It is quite beautiful. My dad and I weren’t sure what to do over the two days we had here together so we just hit the road. We drove down to Waitomo, home to the infamous glowworm caves. We spent the night there and woke up the next morning very ambitious. We booked a three-hour tour of the caves with the Black Water Rafting Company. Basically, we went caving and tubing underground in complete darkness for a few hours. It was unbelievable! Although I had already seen glowworms before, I wanted my dad to see them because they are so spectacular. Sure enough, the caves were completely lit up by their bioluminescence. It was one of the coolest things I have done so far. I loved it.

Now I am sitting in the hotel and it is Thursday. This afternoon I am reuniting with the group to begin our kiwi adventures exploring all New Zealand has to offer for geology. I am not entirely sure where we are headed to begin with, but the trip as a whole will without a doubt be an amazing trip. I will not be updating the blog for quite some time and no pictures until I get home unfortunately. I am stoked for the road ahead and looking forward to living the kiwi lifestyle for the next month. Ciao!

Saddler Springs and the Outback....and I don't mean the restaurant

2009-11-01T03:16:00.001-08:00

I am so sick of bus rides. The thing is, the only way to get to the most amazing places in Australia is to take a bus. Our last field trip of the program commenced with a 10+ hour bus ride that was brutally cramped and boring; however, after leaving at 7am on Monday from Brisbane, we arrived at Saddler Springs station in central Queensland by dusk. We spent 4 days in the rural outback living in bunk houses, hiking, and hanging around camp. And despite the isolation, we somehow still were fed the most amazing food.
Going into this trip, I thought that we would have to endure brutal heat and aridity that the outback is known for. To my surprise, it rained pretty consistently for two days. I enjoyed it for the most part because it felt like and smelled like fall. It even kind of looked like fall because the tree leaves were all dried up from a fire that swept through about one month ago.
Our first day was spent walking around in bush and looking at Aboriginal rock art. It is pretty cool to see these simple pictures covering massive rock faces because they have significant spiritual and religious implications in the Aboriginal community. The rock faces were used a community notice board for all of the different tribes occupying the region or tribes that were passing through. They often convey messages about the land, indicating how the land played an integral role in their culture. All in all, it was a unique experience being able to see such artifacts. The landscape was quite beautiful as well with giant sandstone formations towering over vast grasslands. Kangaroos were frequently seen hopping around with their joeys at foot.
It was pretty wet the second day, but we were all still determined to go on a hike. We walked out about 5-7km to a cliff face known as Battleship Spur. The view from atop the spur is quite spectacular because you look out over the entirety of the Carnarvon Gorge valley, with the Carnarvon Creek white sandstone cliffs sticking out like sore thumbs. On the way back, it down poured and I realized that my rain jacket no longer works. I was super wet by the time we returned to camp. I suppose it time for a new one! That night was fabulous a) because i was able to take a hot shower and b) we had the ULTIMATE feast for dinner. By that I mean, we had sausages, steaks, kangaroo, potatoes, and veggies. No one went hungry that night, except for the vegetarians maybe. Another great thing about the rain is that we were able to have campfires. For about 4-6 months up until now there had been an absolute fire ban in all of Australia because it has been so dry. We were lucky enough to bring rain with us, therefore we enjoyed to pleasure of a campfire.
The third day was pretty low key. We played a Hobart William Smith versus Union cricket game which was so fun! Obviously Union won because we are awesome and more athletic, haha. HWS took the loss pretty hard. You just can't beat talent. The rest of the day was spent going on mini nature walks and finishing up work in our field books. We had another feast of roast for dinner that night, and then learned some astronomy. Just about everyone slept out under the stars that night as well. I made Jon wake up with me at 3am to check out the Milky Way. Just gorgeous. Once we awoke at the crack of dawn to get ready to head back to Brisbane, we were already amdist out 10+ hour bus ride before I knew it. It just topped it all off to get back all of our papers from our teachers on the ride home. Thankfully I did pretty well or else it would have been a long, grueling sulk all the way back.
Last night was Halloween! The evening started off with a delicious Thanksgiving dinner prepared by Shabana's host mom. Pumpkin pie and all! Who would have thought, two holidays in one. Overall, it was probably the best night out that I have had since being in Australia. I somehow came across a $4 Santa Clause costume, so that was my disguise for the night. I thoroughly enjoyed creeping up on classmates that I met at the bars and teasing them, until the figured out it was me. I sure gave them quite the scare. Ha. Once we met up with everyone in the city, our whole group got our groove on. It was about time that I was able to bust out my dance moves. I was in dire need of a dance party and I was going through ozone withdrawal.
Now I am left to study. Study, study, STUDY. I hate studying! I have one day left until my last two finals...Australian Culture and Terrestrial Ecology. Then I am done! It is really weird to think that my term abroad is already coming to a close. It is one of those things that everyone tells you is a once in a lifetime, life changing experience...and its just about over for me. Ironically enough, I am ready to get out of here. I really want to get away from the craziness of the city, the buses, the uni, and everything else. Thankfully I will be in New Zealand in just over a week. Before that though, my dad is coming! Yay! I am so excited. We are leaving for Cairns to see tropical north Queensland and the reef. I will undoubtedly show him a fabulous time.
I need to stop writing. I need to go study.....

until next time!

Aboriginal rock art at the "Art Gallery". This is the only who body painting in the world.

Savannah

Marlong Arch

Sandstone

Blood...actually the sap the seeps out of the wounded tree is bright red just like blood

Wild roos

Hiking through the grassland

View from Battleship Spur, looking out over Carnarvon Creek

Prickly Pear cactus, was an invasive species but is now under control

Ancient cycad, older than the dinosaurs

Paul the station manager at Saddler Springs. He tried to teach us how to crack the whips

John Hall standing on a termite mound

Horses

Union v. Hobart William Smith Cricket Game. Brian up to batJon smacking one far out into left field

Katie Bus bowling with instruction from Bill Casey, our Australian Culture teacher

Hanging with Susie, Paul's dog. Brigg's temporary replacement

Sleeping out under the stars, silliness with Gill and Jake

Bundled up in sleeping bags with Jake and Shabana

Last morning at Saddler Springs, people still sleeping outside. That is the hut where we hung out and ate our meals.

Fraser Island, the ULTIMATE adventure!

2009-10-21T03:32:00.000-07:00

When we set out on planning a trip over our 5 day weekend, Jon and I decided we wanted a small group of us to head to Fraser Island. So myself, Jon, Joe, Mike, and Shabana set out on an unpredictable adventure to Fraser island in order to get away for a short while. I was a bit hesitant to go because we had a ton of work due right when we got back, but that was not a good enough reason to stay behind. We didn't really know what we were getting into but the trip was booked and all we had to do was show up to the hostel at Hervey Bay on Friday night and be ready to go early Saturday morning. We met a group of Swedes in addition to two Canadian girls and a random Austrian weirdo we dubbed as monkey man. Our group of 13 loaded up two 4x4 Land Cruisers with all of our gear for 3 days, including food and booze of course. It was a 3 day and 2 night self-drive tour, and Jon and Joe (& the Austrian dude) were able to drive us around this pristine island. They were the only ones older than 21 who could successfully operate a stick shift left-handed.
Fraser Island. Largest sand island in the WORLD. There is more sand on this island than the SAHARA DESERT. With that said, we knew that the trip would be quite the epic journey but also, that there might be a few bumps along the way. Sure enough, there is little to no development on the 1840 square km island and that means no real roads. Just sand. It was super fun riding through the rain forest but a ton of cars got stuck. Jon was able to get us through without any problems though. He was obviously the best driver. Basically the whole trip consisted of driving up and down the coast and through the forests, swimming in unbelievably crystal clear creeks and lakes, eating bland food purchased on an extreme budget, camping out in tents, and getting drunk. Everyone here loves to slap the goon (gnarly wine made with milk and fish eggs as ingredients), and sure enough we discovered a new found love for it too. Not that I didn't already appreciate slapping cheap bags of wine. And whiskey of course. You can't camp without whiskey.
We met a plethora of interesting people along the way. Our first camp site was on aboriginal land, and we met Nick who is of aboriginal descent. He showed us pictures of aboriginal ghosts that hang out around the camp and showed us around the property. He also brought us to his house where we were able to meet a full blood aboriginal. It was pretty awesome to meet such a person; however, they were trying to con me into buying one of their unique homemade baskets. It seemed as if they just wanted my money, but that didn't happen. They did indeed have interesting things to say though. We also met Joe Wold's significant other. By that I mean a cattle rancher who was also a park ranger and loved to fish. They were soul mates. Haha and we met him by means of a certain unfortunate event...
The MOST interesting part of the trip happened on the second night we were there. During the afternoon, the pretty blonde Swedish girls heard that there was a beached wale up at Waddy Point, just north of Indian Heads, while they were learning to fish from some older gentlemen. Mostly everyone was eager to see this so we hopped into the cars and headed up there. On 'accident' one of the cars drove through a large puddle of water. Sure enough, they engine completely flooded and the car immediately died. We were not even close to where we were suppose to be. A huge gang of older guys stopped and helped us try to restart the car. Surprisingly it worked and we were able to get it to the campground. Although the intinerary was shot for the rest of the night and the next day, we lucked out with the whole situation. Basically, we screwed a 60,000 car, which now required a new engine (big bucks $$$). I felt super bad for the guys that run the tour company and had to come over to the island to tow the car out. Thankfully we were fully insured for any accidents, and luckily the company that we booked the trip through is the only company that has full insurance to cover situations like this. Looking on the bright side, everyone was safe and we made it home on time and all in one piece. Shit happens I guess...

...but it was one of the best trips ever!

Oh and the whale, it was dead and rotting away. I didn't really care to see it in the first place, but it was fascinating to see how big they really are. We also didn't have any real dingo encounters, which are known to eat small children. They were seen by one Swedish girl eating off of the whale early in the morning however.

Sand dune

4x4 stuck in the sand

Ship wreck- what remains of the largest passenger boat in the world before the Titanic.
Cruising down the coast
Mike and Jon hanging out on the roof rack1st Night around the camp fire
The Pinnacles (Sandstone formation): Aboriginal women's land

My favorite- Eli Creek, crystal clear waters. The water is so pure because it filters through the sand. You can drink right from the creek.

More cruisin'

Large puddle

Dead, beached whale. Smelly, but huge!

Me on sand dune

On our way back to the ferry...

Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef

2009-10-20T05:01:00.000-07:00

Heron Island. Great Barrier Reef. Unlike any other place on earth. We arrived here on October 5th after a long and grueling 7 hour bus ride, followed by a 2.5 hour ferry ride. The initial view of the island was totally worth the trek. The turquoise blue water was crystal clear and teeming with life. Within moments of stepping off the boast we saw our first shark! The island itself is entirely made up of coral with some vegetation, mostly casuarina trees. Although it is extremely isolated, the island is home to the Heron Island Research Station run by UQ and the Voyages Resort. Basically, our week long stay consisted of snorkeling. That about covers it. We were swimming around with everything from green sea turtles and eagle rays to black and white tip reef sharks and tons of fish. Everything was extremely colorful and full of life. It was unbelievable. When we were not snorkeling, we were most likely eating or relaxing on the beach. Quite the life. We did in fact create and carry out a research project over the course of 3 days. My project involved observing cleaner wrasse fish, the tiny fish that cleans parasites off of larger fish. It was quite fun because we were able to do even more snorkeling than other groups. The only down side is that I now have to write a scientific report on the research, which is due in 2 days. Lovely. I also have a marine ecology test on Thursday, covering all of the information we learned in lecture on Heron. Even better. Blah!

Despite the beauty of the reef and the relaxing atmosphere, there was one incident that really grinded my gears during our stay. I had been looking forward to scuba diving on the Barrier Reef ever since i signed up for my certification class last winter! We were told that there would be opportunities to dive while were were on Heron; however, every opportunity I had to dive was denied by the resort. The resort runs dive trips everyday, four times per day, and there was supposedly slight buoyancy problems with the first group of 4 students that went. A couple of Germans that were on that trip complained directly to the resort and resort guests take TOP priority. Therefore, we were cut off completely from any possibility of scuba diving. Of the ~16 dives that were run over the several days we were there, there was not a single time when we were allowed to participate. I think that this was a major flaw in the program because all of the certified divers were completely led on about the diving experience in Australia. I kind of question why I spent the time and money to get certified when I wasn't even able to dive once while on this trip.
I was extremely upset with the situation mostly because it was the only opportunity for Jon and me to dive together. We are both going to Cairns over our break with the intent to scuba dive; however, we have separate itineraries. This was very upsetting and I am still a bit riled up about the whole situation.

Despite the diving incident, I was still able to enjoy the peacfulness and isolation of the island. One afternoon I was able to escape to the beach at Shark Bay and just read a book. Doesn't get much better than that.

P.S. I have yet to receive/upload the underwater pictures.

View coming in on the ferry

Beachrock around the coastline

Sea hare

Jetty

Sunset on the jetty

about 5 minutes later

Touch tank at the research station

Colorful clam

Costa del Sol and other adventures

2009-10-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

For the past two weeks I have been stuck in Brisbane taking mid-terms, classes, writing paper after paper, and doing research. Despite this long stretch of dreadful school work, some of us were able to sneak away for the weekends. One weekend we took the train to the Gold Coast, an hour south of Brisbane. We only stayed for the afternoon and played on the beach, but the Gold Coast is known for its nightlife and money. It is highly commercialized down there. The following weekend, a good amount of us traveled north to the Sunshine Coast, which is a more chill environment. We stayed in Mooloolaba at a backpacker's lodge and on Saturday we embarked on an unexpected adventure. We hired a Hawaiian surfer as our guide to take us to the Glass Mountains. Sure enough we went there, with many stops along the way. We started off the trip with a 10am wine tasting, followed by some rope-swing/cliff jumping action, mountain lookouts, more wine tasting, and sure enough more cliff jumping off of the waterfalls in the rain forest. Kondalilla Falls was quite the local hotspot, with a ton of people cooling off in the rock pools there. Other than the seven of us who went, everyone was pretty jealous of our day trip. The weekend brought more fun being Katie Bus' birthday. We enjoyed Thai food and our fair share of cheap boxed wine. Doesn't get much better than that.
This past week culminated with a day hike to Moogerah National Park. We hiked up a steep gully on Mount Greville, encountering the usual snakes, spiders, and of course goannas mating in the brutal summer heat. The view of Lake Moogerah was quite spectacular, yet it was a mission to get to the view point. A whole bunch of people were attacked by jumping ants that were climbing into their boots and biting them over and over. They all turned back to our base, but luckily I escaped without any bites and I was able to get there! It was pretty fun and a great alternative to class in a lecture hall all morning.
ALSO, this past Saturday morning I awoke at the early hour of 5am to join my host mom, Elle, in an outrigger canoe excursion. The two of us, along with other Aussies, set out on the Brisbane River and paddled as we watched the city come to life in the morning. Elle does quite a bit of boating and her specialty is dragon boating, a Chinese sport. It was pretty intense, considering the people that joined us in the outrigger were avid paddlers. The whole Brisbane River Dragon club seemed to be quite the organization. I surely enjoyed it, yet my arms were feeling extra sore for the rest of the day!
The time has finally come! Tonight we take off for the Great Barrier Reef. We leave for our 6+ hour bus ride at 11:30pm, followed by a 2 1/2 hour ferry ride. We will be stationed at Heron Island and I plan to finally due some diving, snorkelling, and all that jazz. It's about time! Until next time...

Day at the beach on the Gold Coast

Frogs at Brisbane Forest Park

Cruisin'

Joe with our personal guide/driver, Colby

Glass House Mountains

Winery

Flame Tree

Quite the popular swimming spot. Awesome rope swing here

Rainforest

Kondalilla Falls Rockpool. Not us pictured here but we did it

Looking out over the rainforest

Tree
The actual Kondalilla Falls
Geology Field Trip
Moogerah Lake

Platypus! Compliments of Jon

Lamington National Park

2009-09-18T17:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was enjoyed by going to the Brisbane River Festival in order to view the phenomenal display of fireworks. It was without a doubt the best fireworks show I have ever seen. They were going off left and right from the tops of city buildings, bridges, and barges out on the water. Nevertheless, the F111s lit up the sky by releasing their fuel above the river.
Once Monday rolled around, instead of going to UQ for classes, the gang loaded up on the bus and began our journey to Lamington National Park. We stopped along the way to view Mount Warning, as seen below. It is the ancient center of a volcano that was formed by Australia moving over a hotspot. We were able to see the remnants of the caldera and the flanks of the volcano, which consist of basalt and rhyolite. Upon our arrival to Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, we unpacked our belongings into the 9 person bunk rooms, compiled of 3 triple bunks. With the evening approaching there was no time to waist. We immediately jumped into one of our many hikes through the rainforest. Throughout the week, we probably hiked over 20 miles. My feet were surely tired, but it was entirely worth the treks because we were able to see some of the most spectacular views of the Australian rain forest. There are enormous trees wrapped with spiraling woody vines, steep waterfalls trickling with fresh water seeping out from the basalt bedrock, and the peaceful bird calls echoing throughout the valleys. I thought Tarzan and Jane were going to swing by me on a vine at any given time.
One of my favorite days at Lamington began with a 5am wake up call. Half of the group rose early out of bed in order to hike out to Bellbird Lookout in the dark. There we sat in silence and listened to the bird calls while simultaneously photographing the picturesque sunrise. Later in the afternoon, some of the boys and I decided to hike some more. We trekked down to Gwongoorool Pool to go for a swim. We were warned about a giant eel living in the swimming hole down there, and sure enough we found him. He is not very shy, considering the instant we arrived at the site, he swam right up to the surface of the water to check us out. I quickly jumped in despite this--It was pretty warm out that day. We continued to venture further up stream in order to find another swimming hole, and sure enough we were able to jump in and cool off without the fear of getting chomped on by an eel.
The experience at Binna Burra and Lamington was nothing less than awesome. We were all immersed in the rain forest environment, and we were able to learn so much about how this ecosystem works. Our tutors undoubtedly added to the experience here, providing insightful knowledge about the terrestial stuff, but also about all the insects that live in the area. In addition to our tutors from Straddie, we were joined by another entomologist by the name of Claire Baker. She did research on glow worms for her PhD and was the glow worm specialist that worked on the set of Planet Earth. She is the go to girl for glow worms. Just out of this world! It was awesome having her with us.
To conclude our trip, we had a campfire on Thursday night at the Binna Burra cottage. We shared our American tradition with the Aussies by roasting marshmallows. Yum! Shabana also serenaded us with her amazing voice and by playing the guitar. Before we headed home the next day, we made a detour to Natural Bridge. Here there is a waterfall that flows down into a cave, and in the cave are thousands of glow worms. Claire Baker led our group quietly and carefully down to the cave in the dark. Once we were inside, it was a magnificent sight. It appeared as if you were looking up at the stars during a crystal clear night sky, but the sky is only 6 feet above your head. They were beautiful.
Now I am back in Brisbane for about 2 weeks before we take another field trip, which is to Heron Island on the Barrier Reef. We have midterms this coming Tuesday, which is dreadful. Who wants to study while in Australia? Definitely not me. On the bright side, I do indeed have some travel plans for the near future, which include a possible day trip to the Gold Coast for some surfing and a weekend trip to the Sunshine Coast to dive. We'll see what happens!

Brisbane River Fire on South Bank, ferris wheel at night

Mount Warning, Lamington National Park

Binna Burra Cottage

Sunset view from the Lodge

Coomera Falls

Strangler Fig Tree

5am wake up- beautiful early morning sky
Early morning hike out to Bellbird Lookout, spectacular view down into the valley
Sunrise at approximately 6am
Shabana posing with a giant tree
Jon taunting a large eel at Gwongoorool Pool

Playing around in streams, Gwongoorool Pool

The roots and base of a giant tree that had fallen over

Looking out over the valley of Lamington National Park

Campfire on the last night
Carpet snake, right outside of the Binna Burra Cottage

Natural Bridge with a waterfall through the center of it. Fabulous glow worm sightings in the cave!

North Straddie!

2009-09-06T00:17:00.000-07:00

For the past week I have been studying terrestrial ecology and marine ecology on North Stradbroke Island. It is a large sand island that encloses Moreton Bay just off the coast of Brisbane. The group stayed at the Moreton Bay Research Station, which is run by the University of Queensland. Our fabulous tutors were mostly PhD students from UQ as well.
For the first few days we went on numerous bush walks all over the island with our fearless leader, John Hall. He is pretty goofy, yet extremely intelligent. Quite the character. Our studies with John took us into the heathland and across dune systems. We learned just about everything there is to know about eucalypt, banksia, acacia, casuarina trees and so much more. Basically, all those bush fires you thought were so detrimental to the existence of Australian flora are just the opposite. Fire is essential to the growth and reproduction of numerous trees in the bush. They are well-adapted to withstand extreme heat conditions of fire, and this actually triggers the trees to release their seeds to germinate in the ash beds left behind. With John we were able to see some amazing wildlife. One morning at 6am, a few of us woke up with the sun and went on a bird walk. We saw everything from lorikeets (parrot family) to koalas. One day at Flinder's Beach we also spotted a goanna, which is related to the komodo dragon!
We took two trips to Point Lookout where we saw an insane amount of marine life and picturesque views of the Pacific. We saw humpback whales breaching, dolphins, sea turtles, sting rays, and even a small shark in the tide pools.
Half way through the week we transitioned into marine science mode. Kathy Townsend met up with us and took us out onto the tidal flats to observe some interesting marine life. Everyone got down and dirty in the mud and started flipping mollusk covered rocks. Underneath, we saw an assortment of icky creatures. These included cowries, octopus eggs (but no deadly blue ring octopus unfortunately), sea squirts, sea sponges, sea stars, hairy mussels, oysters, crabs and sea cucumbers (the focus of one of our projects). The tidal zones and rocky shores are bustling with life, you just have to dig for it. Our marine section concluded with an afternoon spent body surfing and relaxing at Cylinder's Beach near Point Lookout. It was a much needed day of fun after a week of field work. The last day of the trip was spent learning about Aborginal culture and art of North Stradbroke. Nevertheless, we got to chuck a boomerang around for a bit before we caught the ferry back to Brissie.
The next week consists of classes at UQ. After that we are back on the road to Binna Burra at Lamington National Park for some more terrestial fun with Mr. Hall. Enjoy the pictures!

Moreton Bay at dusk, right outside of MBRS

Goanna sighting at Flinder's Beach

Hermit Crab

Koalas in the wild

Group shot with John Hall, overlooking 18 Mile Swamp

Large sea cucumber found at low tide

Sea star

One of the views from Point Lookout

1st Week Down Under

2009-08-25T18:21:00.001-07:00

The 13 hour plane ride was not as dreadful as I had expected. After a day in Beverly Hills and LA living the high life, I was much rested and ready for the long journey ahead. I met the group at the airport and before we knew it we were Auckland bound. Most people slept the entire way over, yet I was restless and entertained myself with magazines and movies. We finally arrived in Brisbane at 11am local time. A tasty lunch awaited us at the Women's College, part of the University of Queensland. This is where we spend most of our time on campus.

The next few days were filled with orientation activities and introductions. Our host families showed us the ropes of public transportation and how to get around the city. It takes about 20 minutes to get from my house to school. The most annoying of all tasks was getting cell phones; however, we are all able to communicate with each other now. It is crazy to think about how life was like back before we had cell phones. Aside from experimenting with city nightlife in Australia, one highlight of our first few days was visiting the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary which is home to about 130 koalas and numerous other native Australian animals. The roos were expecially fascinating.
The jet lag is finally starting to wear off. There were a few days when I kept waking up at 5:30 despite what time I went to sleep. By now we are all starting to get into our routines. With that said, our first field trip to North Straddie (Stradbroke Island) is on Friday where we will spend the week learning about local flora and fauna of marine environments. Until next time, enjoy the pictures.

One week to go!

2009-08-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

Exactly one week from tomorrow I will be embarking on my journey to Australia! The plan is to leave on Wednesday for LA to spend a night with Mr. Matt Brady and then meet the Aussie gang for our 10pm flight the next day. I can't wait to spend 12 straight hours on a plane! Yay! The long travel days will be worth it despite my dreading them. I have made a list of things to pack...yet I haven't packed a single thing. Typical.