ENJOY!
Friday, October 21, 2011
Thursday, October 20, 2011
An Unexpected Vacation
After we bid our goodbyes to the cattleranch in Cairns, AUS, half of the group traveled to the coast to a small touristy beach town called Port Douglass for the weekend. (The other half stayed back at Wetherby to finish research projects). We arrived on Fiday and had until Tuesday morning to do whatever our little hearts desired. I don't know how it happened, but somehow, we ended up in paradise. No class, no field books, no tests--nothing but a coastal beach town full of amazing opportunities. This unexpected short vacation had the marks of becoming quite a highlight of the trip.
As soon as we arrived to the hostel, we put on our swim suits and headed to the beach, which was only a short and easy 10 minute walk. We literally spent all day lounging on the beach and basking in the warm Australian sun, soaking up life. Many of us learned the value of sunscreen that day, and it is a lesson we will never forget. The Australian sun isn't messing around, it means business. The water as you may imagine was unbelievably warm, but not by any means unpleasant. It was of gorgeous blue tint and extremely flat. It felt as if we were jumping into our own personal gigantic pool. A pool however, where encountering crocodiles would not be a rarity. Yes, you heard me, crocodiles. As if sharks and jellyfish weren't enough, lets throw in aggressive territorial reptiles into the picture! I'm not going to lie, though we were told they wouldn't actually be where we were swimming, it was quite an odd feeling being in an ocean and fearing a croc. ::sighs:: Only in Australia...
On Saturday, our day was very similar to before. We ate, swam, and toured the town. Port Douglass is your typical beach town. Touristy gift shops all up on and down a main street interspersed with high-end shopping and of course pubs. We were blessed in the afternoon with a standard rainforest rainfall. The first of the wet season here in Australia.
Sunday, however, was probably the most incredible day that I have ever had in my entire life and I say that without hesitation. It was a day to scratch off an item on just about every person's Bucketlist. We had the privilege of scuba diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. It was simply surreal. The company boat Calypso took us to 3 different sites where you could choose to either snorkel or dive for a solid hour. The colors were remarkably vivid. Several times I had to convince myself that what I was seeing was actually through my own eyes and not a TV screen. It was like having scenes from Planet Earth playing only meters in front of me. So many incredible sea creatures, fishes, giant clams, sea cucumbers etc we saw it all. My underwater encasing for my camera proved to be an extremely worthwhile investment. As you can see here:
As soon as we arrived to the hostel, we put on our swim suits and headed to the beach, which was only a short and easy 10 minute walk. We literally spent all day lounging on the beach and basking in the warm Australian sun, soaking up life. Many of us learned the value of sunscreen that day, and it is a lesson we will never forget. The Australian sun isn't messing around, it means business. The water as you may imagine was unbelievably warm, but not by any means unpleasant. It was of gorgeous blue tint and extremely flat. It felt as if we were jumping into our own personal gigantic pool. A pool however, where encountering crocodiles would not be a rarity. Yes, you heard me, crocodiles. As if sharks and jellyfish weren't enough, lets throw in aggressive territorial reptiles into the picture! I'm not going to lie, though we were told they wouldn't actually be where we were swimming, it was quite an odd feeling being in an ocean and fearing a croc. ::sighs:: Only in Australia...
On Saturday, our day was very similar to before. We ate, swam, and toured the town. Port Douglass is your typical beach town. Touristy gift shops all up on and down a main street interspersed with high-end shopping and of course pubs. We were blessed in the afternoon with a standard rainforest rainfall. The first of the wet season here in Australia.
Sunday, however, was probably the most incredible day that I have ever had in my entire life and I say that without hesitation. It was a day to scratch off an item on just about every person's Bucketlist. We had the privilege of scuba diving and snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. It was simply surreal. The company boat Calypso took us to 3 different sites where you could choose to either snorkel or dive for a solid hour. The colors were remarkably vivid. Several times I had to convince myself that what I was seeing was actually through my own eyes and not a TV screen. It was like having scenes from Planet Earth playing only meters in front of me. So many incredible sea creatures, fishes, giant clams, sea cucumbers etc we saw it all. My underwater encasing for my camera proved to be an extremely worthwhile investment. As you can see here:
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Goodbye Wetherby!
So the first part of our second course, "Coastal Forest Ecosystems" (CFE) is over! And what an amazing experience it was! We slept in tents on a gorgeous cattle ranch where we ate to our stomach's content the most delicious meals, we witnessed sunrises and sunsets from the tops of granite mountains, saw animals that some people can only dream about seeing (ie. the kangaroos, wallabys, peacocks, geckos, platypus, etc), toured ancient underground limestone caves, ate kangaroo and crocodile meat (surprisingly delicious by the way), explored the different types of forests and woodlands that exist in this continent, learned about Australia's flora and fauna in contextual detail, and best of all spent an incredible 10 days in the Australian rainforest with really supportive and overall very fun TAs and professors. After our exam on the final day, we concluded the course with a campfire/talent show. We shared many glasses of wine and laughed and reminisced about the trips.The talent show was entertaining to say the least. Some of us actually performed and sang and played the guitar quite impressionably, while others made up parodies. For example, Katie and I were just DYING to share our love for buttress roots that we decided to create and original rap to the tune of "Baby Got Back" You can only imagine how that went down.. "I like big buttress roots and I cannot lie, you Eucalypts can't deny when a tree walks in with an itty bitty trunk and big roots in your face you get... " and so on and so forth.
Needless to say, we were all very sad to say goodbye to Wetherby and the CFE staff.
Needless to say, we were all very sad to say goodbye to Wetherby and the CFE staff.
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Home Sweet Wetherby
And we're off! After a long taxing week at the University of Queensland sitting in a classroom for 8 hours day after day exploring the field of "Coastal Resource Management," our Australian outdoor adventure has officially begun! With a 5am wake up call, all 47 of us groggily packed, got on a bus, and headed to the airport where we were greeted by our travel chaperone, Billy (whose real name is apparently Vincent....not sure where the Billy comes from). We were headed to Cairns, a city in the rainforest of northern Queensland for our next class "Coastal Forest Ecosystem: Terrestrial". From past Stanford students, we have heard that this part of our abroad adventure is by far one of the best experiences we will ever have in our entire life, so our expectations were indubitably very high. However, little did we know of what was to come.
We were picked up at the airport by 8 safari style Land Cruisers each driven by our professors and TAs.
We drove through the woodlands and then eventually into the rainforest. Destination: Wetherby Station, an eco-tourist Cattle Ranch resort. We were greeted by our professor, Clare Baker (who is casually one of the coolest people I've ever met. She helped film parts of Planet Earth and is buddies with the one and only David Attenborough). She welcomed us to the Station and then handed us over to the owner, a lovely old farmer man who has dedicated his life to agriculture science and now to eco-tourism.
We were then shown our accommodations for the next seven days. At first glance, we see a row of about 28 tents all lined up at the top of a hill. So naturally I though, awesome we're camping! I wonder if they'll supply us with a sleeping bag!! To all of our surprise, however, upon opening the tent we came to the realization that we were about to get spoiled for the next week and a half. All that was missing was a chocolate on our pillow.
Our terrestrial adventure has begun. Wetherby Station will serve as our home base and throughout the day we'll take several field trips to learn about the flora and fauna in the rainforest/outback of Northern Australia. Looking forward to it! Next stop Chillagoe!
We were picked up at the airport by 8 safari style Land Cruisers each driven by our professors and TAs.
We were then shown our accommodations for the next seven days. At first glance, we see a row of about 28 tents all lined up at the top of a hill. So naturally I though, awesome we're camping! I wonder if they'll supply us with a sleeping bag!! To all of our surprise, however, upon opening the tent we came to the realization that we were about to get spoiled for the next week and a half. All that was missing was a chocolate on our pillow.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Never thought I'd see the day...
....but it is actively down pour RAINING in the sunburnt country. TORRENTIAL rain descended on my head as I walked home from the bus stop. They weren't kidding when they said that Australia is a land of extremed! I could now use a nice fireplace, hot chocolate, and perhaps a blanket. Coldest and gloomiest day yet, and what IMPECCABLE timing!!! We have our first exam tomorrow on "Coastal Resource Management."
For my avid followers, soon after my exam tomorrow I will be sure to post a dense description of what this past week has looked like. I apologize for it being so long since I've posted; it has been quite a jam packed week with VERY little down time.
cheers,
MB
For my avid followers, soon after my exam tomorrow I will be sure to post a dense description of what this past week has looked like. I apologize for it being so long since I've posted; it has been quite a jam packed week with VERY little down time.
cheers,
MB
Monday, September 26, 2011
A trip to Surfers Paradise!
The trip down was fairly easy. We caught a bus to a train and then another bus to the beach! The sun was out, the sand was gloriously luscious- perfectly soft white spherical crystals, and the water was absurdly cold. Some of us dared to swim, but I however chose to nap :). Pretty standard. We spent the entire afternoon there basking in the sun and of course taking a bunch of pictures.
Once the sun began to set and the nightly chilled wind picked up, we left the beach and walked around the city. We window shopped a bit exploring your standard beach gift shops, and then we ate some Fish and Chips, which is apparently an absolute must down in the 'Coast. It was a unanimous consensus that the fish and chips at this small restaurant called "Bens" were the best we have ever had. Absolutely delicious!!! With our stomach's full and sunburnt cheeks, we decided to call it a day and retreated home. Like before, the journey was long, but simple. Bus>train>Bus. (Though for some of the people in the group the journey home was not so easy.) Nevertheless it was a glorious day in coastal Australia.
Until next time!
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Learning the Aussie ways
**Long post. Have been drafting it for a few days now, finally had some down time to do it! ENJOY:)**
After a long weekend of traveling from all different parts of the world, all 48 of the students in my group safely touched down in our final destination: Brisbane, Australia. By late Sept. 18th (Sunday evening) we had all arrived to the Benson Court Motel eager eyed and open minded, anxious to learn what the following 3 months held for us. That day, however, was a bit anti-climatic. Not that we weren't extremely excited, it just felt that we had arrived unnoticed. Though come to think of it, it may just be that we are all just so spoiled from the traditional Stanford opening day welcoming committee that we come to expect the same theatrics every where we go (::sighs:: #stanfordproblems). Regardless, sunday was a very low key day. We got a little taste of Brisbane. We walked around a well known shopping mall and then were able to find some dinner at a Thai restaurant, not that it was difficult because it seems like Thai restaurants here are like Starbucks in America-- they are literally at every corner. After that, most of us retreated back to the hotel. Some people went out to a pub near by for an hour or so but I unfortunately didn't have it in me to leave the motel, so I was out by 9pm.
Monday: We wake up to a homey continental breakfast. Many of us, including myself, venture to try the infamous "veggiemite." Though I'm usually pretty open to new foods, this popular spread that our Aussie friends are so fond of, is actually quite foul. Well at least I can say that I tried it. After breakfast the International studies liason of the University of Queensland and several other important people that have made this program possible met us at the Motel. (And received our welcome that we were all hoping for the day before). They took role and introduced themselves as they began the treacherous task of learning all 48 of our names. They then introduced the transportation system. Very important!! because the next couple of weeks will greatly depend on our ability to move around the city using the public services with ease. The transportation system of Brisbane as I have now come to see is phenomenal. The "translink" services include buses, trains, and a ferry. Yes, a ferry. You see, Brisbane is built on/around the Brisbane River, an extremely windy body of water that is quite central to this Australian city. The buses/train services are pretty standard. There are bus stops absolutely everywhere. Here in Brisbane, however, you must "hail" the bus, much like you would a taxi. Which means that you must know what route you want depending on your destination before you get on a bus. For example, here at my homestay, I take the bus 209 all the way to University of Queensland. The ferry works pretty much the same way, though there is only one route-- up and down the river. Though there are many stops along the way, the ferry is not ideal if your final desitnation is far into the suburbs. Even so, the ferry actually moves surprisingly fast, and during sunset hours its quite nice to be able to be on the water en route home or simply to enjoy the ride. What is so great about this system though is that one price fits all. The Program gave us all a pre-paid "go Cards" (which many of the locals have) with enough money to transport us to and from school for the next few weeks. We simply "touch on and then off" whether we're using the bus system or the ferry. Its quite convenient and easy! After only a few days we have all began to master the Brissie transportation system with only a few hiccups here and there :).
The beginning of the week was basically your typical orientation. We met all the staff members that made this program possible as well as the professors. The professors all gave their preliminary intro lectures which only further heightened our excitement for the quarter. The UQ staff involved in our program are absolutely wonderful. The professors are engaging and appear to be truly dedicated to giving us the best educational experience we will ever have. The Uni (short for University of Queensland) itself is beautiful. We have all enjoyed our daily dose of such a gorgeous international campus. It is centered around a giant grassy quad that they call the "Great Court" much like Stanford's "Main Quad." On our way to class, we pass several lakes where all different types of animals roam freely. And when I say animals, I don't just mean your standard pigeon, or squirrel, I mean wildlife!! Just to name a few (I only know most of these thanks to my wonderful peers and their stellar zoology knowledge) : Ibisis, the ducsk, egrets, geese, water dragons and even fresh water eels!!! The wildlife as you can see even in the University is unbelievable down under. I am also constantly impressed by the way that the students/aussies respect these animals as much as they do. So much so, that the ducks and friends all around the campus feel extremely comfortable approaching us.
Anyway: in order to give you a quick rundown of how my week has been I will list some of my favorite things about Brisbane /obvious differences between America and Australia:
1) It may just be that we spend most of our time at an International University, but people here dress so TRENDY and extremely nice all the time! During out scavenger hunt that our professors organized for
us we were told by locals that it was very easy to categorize us as Americans as we roamed around campus looking for the different site on our hunt. Wearing running shoes and t shirts while not at the gym, traveling in large packs, and being extremely loud were among the things that gave us away...
2) Like our British counterparts, Aussie's drive on the LEFT! This comes as a problem for several reasons. A) Every time a car makes a right turn, my heart skips a beat because all I see is cars in MY lane, and this of course just leads to unnecessary anxiety. B) As a pedestrian with a mind and body accustomed to driving in America, life is ROUGH people! All those years of ingraining in your head to look left and THEN look right before crossing the street, gone, vanished- NOT HELPFUL! Here in Australia, you must look right first or else suffer a less than ideal consequence.
3) Brisbane is perhaps one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen. Granted it is fairly new, but I am still so impressed by the clean sidewalks, streets, and FRESH air. Littering just does not seem to be a problem, one of the many examples that Aussie's do a lot more to take care of their environment on a day to day basis than most Americans.
4) On that note, practically all Aussie homes have a double-flush option. Not quite sure what the technical term for that is exactly, but basically you conserve water by using the "liquid" only flush vs "solid" (when applicable of course). They also have switches on each outlet so that when that outlet is not being used you can simply turn it off. Small simple steps that can make a difference.
5) CHANGE is actually worth something here. They have a dollar and even a 2$ coin!! So we've been having to get used to hanging on to our loose change. It's sort of odd though, because the 2$ coin is the smallest and the 20cent one is the biggest. Ironic? Speaking of money, the bills are so pretty!! They feel like fake monopoly money too. But don't be fooled, because it is worth more than our own American dollar...
We had an amazing weekend! So that post will come soon too :)
Cheers!
After a long weekend of traveling from all different parts of the world, all 48 of the students in my group safely touched down in our final destination: Brisbane, Australia. By late Sept. 18th (Sunday evening) we had all arrived to the Benson Court Motel eager eyed and open minded, anxious to learn what the following 3 months held for us. That day, however, was a bit anti-climatic. Not that we weren't extremely excited, it just felt that we had arrived unnoticed. Though come to think of it, it may just be that we are all just so spoiled from the traditional Stanford opening day welcoming committee that we come to expect the same theatrics every where we go (::sighs:: #stanfordproblems). Regardless, sunday was a very low key day. We got a little taste of Brisbane. We walked around a well known shopping mall and then were able to find some dinner at a Thai restaurant, not that it was difficult because it seems like Thai restaurants here are like Starbucks in America-- they are literally at every corner. After that, most of us retreated back to the hotel. Some people went out to a pub near by for an hour or so but I unfortunately didn't have it in me to leave the motel, so I was out by 9pm.
Monday: We wake up to a homey continental breakfast. Many of us, including myself, venture to try the infamous "veggiemite." Though I'm usually pretty open to new foods, this popular spread that our Aussie friends are so fond of, is actually quite foul. Well at least I can say that I tried it. After breakfast the International studies liason of the University of Queensland and several other important people that have made this program possible met us at the Motel. (And received our welcome that we were all hoping for the day before). They took role and introduced themselves as they began the treacherous task of learning all 48 of our names. They then introduced the transportation system. Very important!! because the next couple of weeks will greatly depend on our ability to move around the city using the public services with ease. The transportation system of Brisbane as I have now come to see is phenomenal. The "translink" services include buses, trains, and a ferry. Yes, a ferry. You see, Brisbane is built on/around the Brisbane River, an extremely windy body of water that is quite central to this Australian city. The buses/train services are pretty standard. There are bus stops absolutely everywhere. Here in Brisbane, however, you must "hail" the bus, much like you would a taxi. Which means that you must know what route you want depending on your destination before you get on a bus. For example, here at my homestay, I take the bus 209 all the way to University of Queensland. The ferry works pretty much the same way, though there is only one route-- up and down the river. Though there are many stops along the way, the ferry is not ideal if your final desitnation is far into the suburbs. Even so, the ferry actually moves surprisingly fast, and during sunset hours its quite nice to be able to be on the water en route home or simply to enjoy the ride. What is so great about this system though is that one price fits all. The Program gave us all a pre-paid "go Cards" (which many of the locals have) with enough money to transport us to and from school for the next few weeks. We simply "touch on and then off" whether we're using the bus system or the ferry. Its quite convenient and easy! After only a few days we have all began to master the Brissie transportation system with only a few hiccups here and there :).
The beginning of the week was basically your typical orientation. We met all the staff members that made this program possible as well as the professors. The professors all gave their preliminary intro lectures which only further heightened our excitement for the quarter. The UQ staff involved in our program are absolutely wonderful. The professors are engaging and appear to be truly dedicated to giving us the best educational experience we will ever have. The Uni (short for University of Queensland) itself is beautiful. We have all enjoyed our daily dose of such a gorgeous international campus. It is centered around a giant grassy quad that they call the "Great Court" much like Stanford's "Main Quad." On our way to class, we pass several lakes where all different types of animals roam freely. And when I say animals, I don't just mean your standard pigeon, or squirrel, I mean wildlife!! Just to name a few (I only know most of these thanks to my wonderful peers and their stellar zoology knowledge) : Ibisis, the ducsk, egrets, geese, water dragons and even fresh water eels!!! The wildlife as you can see even in the University is unbelievable down under. I am also constantly impressed by the way that the students/aussies respect these animals as much as they do. So much so, that the ducks and friends all around the campus feel extremely comfortable approaching us.
Anyway: in order to give you a quick rundown of how my week has been I will list some of my favorite things about Brisbane /obvious differences between America and Australia:
1) It may just be that we spend most of our time at an International University, but people here dress so TRENDY and extremely nice all the time! During out scavenger hunt that our professors organized for
us we were told by locals that it was very easy to categorize us as Americans as we roamed around campus looking for the different site on our hunt. Wearing running shoes and t shirts while not at the gym, traveling in large packs, and being extremely loud were among the things that gave us away...
2) Like our British counterparts, Aussie's drive on the LEFT! This comes as a problem for several reasons. A) Every time a car makes a right turn, my heart skips a beat because all I see is cars in MY lane, and this of course just leads to unnecessary anxiety. B) As a pedestrian with a mind and body accustomed to driving in America, life is ROUGH people! All those years of ingraining in your head to look left and THEN look right before crossing the street, gone, vanished- NOT HELPFUL! Here in Australia, you must look right first or else suffer a less than ideal consequence.
3) Brisbane is perhaps one of the cleanest cities I have ever seen. Granted it is fairly new, but I am still so impressed by the clean sidewalks, streets, and FRESH air. Littering just does not seem to be a problem, one of the many examples that Aussie's do a lot more to take care of their environment on a day to day basis than most Americans.
4) On that note, practically all Aussie homes have a double-flush option. Not quite sure what the technical term for that is exactly, but basically you conserve water by using the "liquid" only flush vs "solid" (when applicable of course). They also have switches on each outlet so that when that outlet is not being used you can simply turn it off. Small simple steps that can make a difference.
5) CHANGE is actually worth something here. They have a dollar and even a 2$ coin!! So we've been having to get used to hanging on to our loose change. It's sort of odd though, because the 2$ coin is the smallest and the 20cent one is the biggest. Ironic? Speaking of money, the bills are so pretty!! They feel like fake monopoly money too. But don't be fooled, because it is worth more than our own American dollar...
 |
| A few of us on the ferry on our way to class!! |
 |
| View of beautiful Brisbane from the ferry on the river. |
We had an amazing weekend! So that post will come soon too :)
Cheers!
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