Sunday, April 12th, 2015 at 2:04pm
Hey peoples! I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been very very busy. I hope everyone had a nice Easter! Also, don't buy Olympus "waterproof" cameras. Long story short I'll be buying a new camera soon. Thankfully they are the same price AUD here as they are USD back home which means the same camera is cheaper here with the current currency exchange rate.
I went to the Orpheus Island Research Center for my coral reef class over Easter break. I skipped my class on Thursday and went on the first trip. We left at 5am and arrived at the island around 9am. After getting settled in our rooms and going through a safety debriefing, we changed into our wetsuits and spent the rest of the day snorkeling out on the point. We collected competitive interactions data on our coral species (ours was any porites massive species) and the TA's taught us how to identify different coral species in the water. After a shower and dinner we had a quick meeting and looked at the competitive interactions between the corals in the aquariums and then we all crashed for the evening.
The next day we spent the morning learning about all the research projects taking place at the center and took a tour of the center. We spent the afternoon in the water collecting abundance and competitive interactions for our species again. We finished our data collection early and spent a good amount of time relaxing a looking around. It was beautiful, too beautiful for words. I've never seen so many species of coral and fish in the wild before. After a while my partner was getting tired and wanted to head in so one of the TA stayed in the water with me. I was heading out to the edge of the reef to find one of our coral colonies that had grown to over 10m across but the TA stopped me because the currents from the incoming tide were getting stronger. As he came over he had a baby fish following his hand. When he came near me the fish started swimming in front of my hand. Then a second fish joined the first one. The entire way back the two fish swam just in front of my hand. If I lowered one hand they swam over to the other. If I lowered both hands then they swam over to the TA and then back to me when I put my hand back up. When we got closer to another group they swam over to them. At this point I was pretty tired from swimming against the current so I decided to head in. As I swam into the shallows the two little fish popped up in front of my mask and started swimming in front of my hand again. When I sat down they perched by my knee and when I cupped my hands in the water they perched in my hands. It was an amazing experience. That night we presented some of our findings, helped clean up the center and then went to bed. We got up at 5:30am on Saturday to take the boat back to the mainland and then the 2 hour bus ride back to campus. I grabbed some lunch and then took Saturday and Sunday off to recover. We had Good Friday as well as Easter Monday off so I spent Monday working on my lab report. I also had a movie night with some friends that night as well.
As you can probably guess from above, my camera broke from a faulty waterproof seal. Thankfully my memory card survived and I have a card reader on my computer so there are a few pictures posted. I didn't get pictures of the deeper areas where there was a lot more coral so the few pictures I have definitely do not do the area justice. I'm hoping to get some sunset pictures on my second trip there because I have never seen more beautiful sunsets than the ones I saw there.
Yesterday we went to Reef HQ for my reef fish class. We did dry runs of the surveys we'll be doing on Orpheus Island in a couple of weeks. The nice thing is that we don't have an assessment/field report for that trip so it should be relatively relaxed. Anyways, we did species censuses, cleaner wrasse behavioral observations and feeding behavior observations.
That's all for now. The posts will probably less frequent for a while because sadly I have to actually focus on my academics now :p I have a major report/project due every week until finals pretty much so I won't be going out as much. That being said, I should be going to Crystal Creek with some friends next weekend which should be fun :) We were going to go today but I have a major paper worth 20% of my grade due Friday that I need to focus on. Welcome back to the real world :p
Later peoples!
Life in General
Tuesday, March 24th, 2015 at 10:51pm
Hey peoples! How's everyone doing? I hope Miami peoples are enjoying their spring break so far!
By this time I've settled into my weekly class schedule quite nicely. Tuesdays a proving to be the most tiring. I have 6 hours of lectures and labs with no breaks in between. I don't even get lunch most Tuesdays. Instead I just make sure to eat a big breakfast before my 9am lecture.
I can't believe I've been taking classes here for over 4 weeks now. Which means I've been in the country for about a month and a half. Time is going by so fast, especially because I've been doing things every weekend. This past weekend was my first weekend off since I've arrived. I needed a bit of time to rest. It was fun though because on Saturday I was talking to my friend Peter at lunch and I mentioned that I was thinking about watching Tangled that night. Later that afternoon I got a text from him asking me what my favorite ice cream was. After dinner he surprised me with said ice cream and we watched Tangled together. Little hint for you boys out there, the best guy friends are those who are not ashamed to watch Disney with their gal friends. And if you bring ice cream that's even better. Just saying ;)
Here at JCU they have a lot more hands-on practicals/labs. In general I really enjoy and appreciate that. Although last week was... a trial... to say the least. In lab we had to dissect a fish head to look at the bone and muscle structures. That wasn't bad. The trial came after the lab, later that night. We had to take the fish head home and take all the bones out. Because my lab partner and I didn't want to stink up any common areas in the college and the sun set so we couldn't keep working on it outside, we ended up spending 5-6 hours taking the head apart on my balcony. Yup. My room smelled like fish and formaldehyde for several days after that. The next night we had to clean the bones and I got stuck dealing with the brain. For your sake I won't go into detail. Thankfully because my balcony is in the sun most of the day my lab partner is in charge of changing the water for the rotting process (the remaining flesh rotting off the bones in a sealed pale of water). In a few weeks we have to reassemble the main bones of the skull for assessment. That doesn't bother me. The process leading up to that, however, was definitely a test of patience, stomach strength, and mental stability. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if they had given us time to do it all in the lab but in the end you just have to put your head down and do what you have to do, right?
I'm discovering that you don't get to sleep much on Friday nights in Uni Hall because of all the noisy drunks in the beer garden outside my room until midnight and then because of all the noisy drunks returning from the pubs between 2-4am. It's too hot to close the window.
Next week on Thursday I leave for my first field trip to Orpheus Island to study coral which I'm super excited for! Definitely looking forward to that!
Lastly, I kind of have my senior year at Miami planned out. I will for sure be a full time student next semester but with minimum credits and minimum academic classes. I would be graduating at the end of fall semester except the last class that I need for my thematic sequence isn't offered until the spring. So I will be a part time (instead of a full time) student and a part time employee spring semester.
Overall I'm doing well and I absolutely love it here. Honestly I would not be surprised if I ended up living in Australia for a while sometime in the future. I guess we'll see where life takes me. As far as my collarbone is concerned, there have been no signs of returning infection and the scar is still red but has thinned out a lot where the second surgery was done. It still gets a bit sore when I sleep in one position for too long so I still wake up a couple of times every night but it's getting better as I slowly work on strengthening the muscles around it.
That's about it for a life in general update from me. As a concluding note, I saw this online yesterday and it really caught my attention. I wanted to share:
Hey peoples! How's everyone doing? I hope Miami peoples are enjoying their spring break so far!
By this time I've settled into my weekly class schedule quite nicely. Tuesdays a proving to be the most tiring. I have 6 hours of lectures and labs with no breaks in between. I don't even get lunch most Tuesdays. Instead I just make sure to eat a big breakfast before my 9am lecture.
I can't believe I've been taking classes here for over 4 weeks now. Which means I've been in the country for about a month and a half. Time is going by so fast, especially because I've been doing things every weekend. This past weekend was my first weekend off since I've arrived. I needed a bit of time to rest. It was fun though because on Saturday I was talking to my friend Peter at lunch and I mentioned that I was thinking about watching Tangled that night. Later that afternoon I got a text from him asking me what my favorite ice cream was. After dinner he surprised me with said ice cream and we watched Tangled together. Little hint for you boys out there, the best guy friends are those who are not ashamed to watch Disney with their gal friends. And if you bring ice cream that's even better. Just saying ;)
Here at JCU they have a lot more hands-on practicals/labs. In general I really enjoy and appreciate that. Although last week was... a trial... to say the least. In lab we had to dissect a fish head to look at the bone and muscle structures. That wasn't bad. The trial came after the lab, later that night. We had to take the fish head home and take all the bones out. Because my lab partner and I didn't want to stink up any common areas in the college and the sun set so we couldn't keep working on it outside, we ended up spending 5-6 hours taking the head apart on my balcony. Yup. My room smelled like fish and formaldehyde for several days after that. The next night we had to clean the bones and I got stuck dealing with the brain. For your sake I won't go into detail. Thankfully because my balcony is in the sun most of the day my lab partner is in charge of changing the water for the rotting process (the remaining flesh rotting off the bones in a sealed pale of water). In a few weeks we have to reassemble the main bones of the skull for assessment. That doesn't bother me. The process leading up to that, however, was definitely a test of patience, stomach strength, and mental stability. It wouldn't have been nearly as bad if they had given us time to do it all in the lab but in the end you just have to put your head down and do what you have to do, right?
I'm discovering that you don't get to sleep much on Friday nights in Uni Hall because of all the noisy drunks in the beer garden outside my room until midnight and then because of all the noisy drunks returning from the pubs between 2-4am. It's too hot to close the window.
Next week on Thursday I leave for my first field trip to Orpheus Island to study coral which I'm super excited for! Definitely looking forward to that!
Lastly, I kind of have my senior year at Miami planned out. I will for sure be a full time student next semester but with minimum credits and minimum academic classes. I would be graduating at the end of fall semester except the last class that I need for my thematic sequence isn't offered until the spring. So I will be a part time (instead of a full time) student and a part time employee spring semester.
Overall I'm doing well and I absolutely love it here. Honestly I would not be surprised if I ended up living in Australia for a while sometime in the future. I guess we'll see where life takes me. As far as my collarbone is concerned, there have been no signs of returning infection and the scar is still red but has thinned out a lot where the second surgery was done. It still gets a bit sore when I sleep in one position for too long so I still wake up a couple of times every night but it's getting better as I slowly work on strengthening the muscles around it.
That's about it for a life in general update from me. As a concluding note, I saw this online yesterday and it really caught my attention. I wanted to share:
Something to ponder.
Later peoples!
Welcome to Sydney!
Wednesday, March 18th, 2015 at 3:09pm
Hey peoples! You know you live in north Queensland when you're relieved that you need long sleeves to keep warm in Sydney. Also it's only 88 degrees F today which is a nice change of pace. I actually was able to use the sheet on my bed the past two nights without over-heating! It's all VERY exciting... Now to the real reason you're reading this:
Sydney was amazing! I'm not a big city person by any means but I absolutely loved traveling around Sydney for the weekend. Fun fact Sydney has 4.576 million people living there which is still only about half the size of New York but it's larger than our second largest city, LA, by almost a million people. Anyways, just some perspective there. I stayed at a hostel while I was there. Another fun fact, hotels are ridiculously expensive there. The hotels that I would consider middle of the line back home were around 400-450 AUD a night to be near the city center. It was a nice hostel though. I have never stayed in a hostel before but in the end I didn't really mind it all too much. I was rooming with three other women and the bathrooms were community bathrooms by gender like they are in most college dorms. It was clean and comfortable and the best part was it was only 50 AUD a night to stay in the city center right across the street from the central train station. I met some very nice people as well. One woman was from Holland but moved to Australia when she was young and then she moved to somewhere in Asia to teach English. Another woman was from Melbourne. I didn't get a chance to talk to the last two women because they came in late at night (only the woman from Melbourne was there both nights).
On Saturday I got up at 4am to catch my 6am flight to Brisbane and then to Sydney. Because of the time change I arrived in Sydney around 11:45am. I hopped the train to central station and checked into my hostel. Another fun fact, transportation in Sydney is really expensive. $17 AUD for a 15min train ride from the airport to central station. After that I walked over to Darling Harbour where the aquarium was. Turns out that Sea Life, the same company that owns the aquarium in the MOA, has locations worldwide. When I got there I saw that the dugong exhibit was closed which was the entire reason I wanted to go to the aquarium but I decided to go anyways cause why not? The first thing I saw was a platypus!!! I've always wanted to see one! So cute! And they had little penguins (actually called little penguins) which you don't see very often in the states. Anyways so I'm walking through the aquarium and get to the place where it looks like the dugongs would be and guess what? The dugongs were out!! Another animal that I really wanted to see and I was super happy that I decided to take the risk of not seeing them. After the aquarium I walked another 20mins or so to Circular Quay also known as Sydney Harbour. There I spent around two hours or so walking around and taking pictures of the Opera House. The entire area was so beautiful. At 5pm I took an hour long tour of the Opera House which was very enjoyable. My guide was really great. I will say the inside was a little more plain than I thought it would be but the theaters were stunning none-the-less. After that I found a spot along the water to watch the sun go down and see the color reflect off of the white pannels of the Opera House. They had wi-fi there so that's where I was when I posted that picture on Facebook. I hopped the train back to my hostel and had dinner at the cafe there then went to bed.
On Sunday I woke up at 6:45am to catch at 7:25am bus tour. It was a FANTASTIC tour. To start, the bus had a glass roof which was really cool and the guide was awesome. In the morning we went to the other side of Sydney Harbour and took some pictures there. Then we stopped at a national park that overlooked the entire bay area to take some pictures. After that we stopped at Manly Wharf/Beach for about an hour to grab some morning tea and walk around. It was there that a girl from India about my age who was on the tour with her older brother came over to where I was sitting along the beach and we talked for a little while until the bus was ready to leave again. After that we went to King Street Wharf/Darling Harbour where most people had a lunch boat cruise. The few of us that didn't had two hours to walk around on our own before the afternoon tour started. I had lunch at a sit-down Italian restaurant by myself which I have to admit was an odd feeling but I really really wanted Italian food and they were having a lunch special. They seriously do not eat enough Italian food/pasta in general here in Australia. After that I spent the rest of my time walking around and playing with my camera. The afternoon tour consisted of a stop near the Royal Botanical Gardens from a different side of Sydney Harbour for some pictures, a 45min stop at Bondi Beach to walk around and driving through several different districts throughout the city. I got back to the hostel around 6-7pm, had dinner at the cafe again and then took some time to talk to my hostel mates before going to bed. The next morning (Monday) I got up and caught my flight back to Townsville, took a cab back to JCU, ate some lunch and caught my 2pm lecture (busy busy).
Overall I really enjoyed Sydney and even more so I enjoyed doing everything on my own. It was a bit intimidating at first I will admit but once I got my bearings and found my own rhythm I felt like I was on top of the world. I got to take so many pictures which is something I have a passion for but don't always have the time or opportunity to do. Traveling alone also made it possible for me to meet heaps of different people from all over the world. They all were very nice to me and seemed to really respect me for traveling alone at this age. The bus tour guide was especially kind and offered to take pictures for me (of me) if I wanted them seeing as I didn't have anyone else in a group to do so. I highly recommend taking a trip by yourself at least once in your life. It's such a fantastic experience and you learn a lot from it. I wish I had more time in Sydney. There was so much more I wanted to do. And I've decided that I want to see a ballet in the Opera House at some point. I think that would be an amazing experience. On a last, kind of separate note, I was amazed by how clean the city was, especially the beaches. They were pristine! Not a single piece of trash to be seen. I'm really hoping to go back some day and spend some more time exploring the city and maybe taking a day trip to the Blue Mountains that I heard so much about while I was there.
That should be plenty for now. If anyone would like to know where I stayed or which tours I took, etc. I'd be happy to send links and recommendations. Pictures have been posted. Warning: there are a LOT. Later peoples!
Hey peoples! You know you live in north Queensland when you're relieved that you need long sleeves to keep warm in Sydney. Also it's only 88 degrees F today which is a nice change of pace. I actually was able to use the sheet on my bed the past two nights without over-heating! It's all VERY exciting... Now to the real reason you're reading this:
Sydney was amazing! I'm not a big city person by any means but I absolutely loved traveling around Sydney for the weekend. Fun fact Sydney has 4.576 million people living there which is still only about half the size of New York but it's larger than our second largest city, LA, by almost a million people. Anyways, just some perspective there. I stayed at a hostel while I was there. Another fun fact, hotels are ridiculously expensive there. The hotels that I would consider middle of the line back home were around 400-450 AUD a night to be near the city center. It was a nice hostel though. I have never stayed in a hostel before but in the end I didn't really mind it all too much. I was rooming with three other women and the bathrooms were community bathrooms by gender like they are in most college dorms. It was clean and comfortable and the best part was it was only 50 AUD a night to stay in the city center right across the street from the central train station. I met some very nice people as well. One woman was from Holland but moved to Australia when she was young and then she moved to somewhere in Asia to teach English. Another woman was from Melbourne. I didn't get a chance to talk to the last two women because they came in late at night (only the woman from Melbourne was there both nights).
On Saturday I got up at 4am to catch my 6am flight to Brisbane and then to Sydney. Because of the time change I arrived in Sydney around 11:45am. I hopped the train to central station and checked into my hostel. Another fun fact, transportation in Sydney is really expensive. $17 AUD for a 15min train ride from the airport to central station. After that I walked over to Darling Harbour where the aquarium was. Turns out that Sea Life, the same company that owns the aquarium in the MOA, has locations worldwide. When I got there I saw that the dugong exhibit was closed which was the entire reason I wanted to go to the aquarium but I decided to go anyways cause why not? The first thing I saw was a platypus!!! I've always wanted to see one! So cute! And they had little penguins (actually called little penguins) which you don't see very often in the states. Anyways so I'm walking through the aquarium and get to the place where it looks like the dugongs would be and guess what? The dugongs were out!! Another animal that I really wanted to see and I was super happy that I decided to take the risk of not seeing them. After the aquarium I walked another 20mins or so to Circular Quay also known as Sydney Harbour. There I spent around two hours or so walking around and taking pictures of the Opera House. The entire area was so beautiful. At 5pm I took an hour long tour of the Opera House which was very enjoyable. My guide was really great. I will say the inside was a little more plain than I thought it would be but the theaters were stunning none-the-less. After that I found a spot along the water to watch the sun go down and see the color reflect off of the white pannels of the Opera House. They had wi-fi there so that's where I was when I posted that picture on Facebook. I hopped the train back to my hostel and had dinner at the cafe there then went to bed.
On Sunday I woke up at 6:45am to catch at 7:25am bus tour. It was a FANTASTIC tour. To start, the bus had a glass roof which was really cool and the guide was awesome. In the morning we went to the other side of Sydney Harbour and took some pictures there. Then we stopped at a national park that overlooked the entire bay area to take some pictures. After that we stopped at Manly Wharf/Beach for about an hour to grab some morning tea and walk around. It was there that a girl from India about my age who was on the tour with her older brother came over to where I was sitting along the beach and we talked for a little while until the bus was ready to leave again. After that we went to King Street Wharf/Darling Harbour where most people had a lunch boat cruise. The few of us that didn't had two hours to walk around on our own before the afternoon tour started. I had lunch at a sit-down Italian restaurant by myself which I have to admit was an odd feeling but I really really wanted Italian food and they were having a lunch special. They seriously do not eat enough Italian food/pasta in general here in Australia. After that I spent the rest of my time walking around and playing with my camera. The afternoon tour consisted of a stop near the Royal Botanical Gardens from a different side of Sydney Harbour for some pictures, a 45min stop at Bondi Beach to walk around and driving through several different districts throughout the city. I got back to the hostel around 6-7pm, had dinner at the cafe again and then took some time to talk to my hostel mates before going to bed. The next morning (Monday) I got up and caught my flight back to Townsville, took a cab back to JCU, ate some lunch and caught my 2pm lecture (busy busy).
Overall I really enjoyed Sydney and even more so I enjoyed doing everything on my own. It was a bit intimidating at first I will admit but once I got my bearings and found my own rhythm I felt like I was on top of the world. I got to take so many pictures which is something I have a passion for but don't always have the time or opportunity to do. Traveling alone also made it possible for me to meet heaps of different people from all over the world. They all were very nice to me and seemed to really respect me for traveling alone at this age. The bus tour guide was especially kind and offered to take pictures for me (of me) if I wanted them seeing as I didn't have anyone else in a group to do so. I highly recommend taking a trip by yourself at least once in your life. It's such a fantastic experience and you learn a lot from it. I wish I had more time in Sydney. There was so much more I wanted to do. And I've decided that I want to see a ballet in the Opera House at some point. I think that would be an amazing experience. On a last, kind of separate note, I was amazed by how clean the city was, especially the beaches. They were pristine! Not a single piece of trash to be seen. I'm really hoping to go back some day and spend some more time exploring the city and maybe taking a day trip to the Blue Mountains that I heard so much about while I was there.
That should be plenty for now. If anyone would like to know where I stayed or which tours I took, etc. I'd be happy to send links and recommendations. Pictures have been posted. Warning: there are a LOT. Later peoples!
Sunrise on Castle Hill
Thursday, March 12th, 2015 at 10:31am
Hey peoples! Short and sweet blog this time.
This past Sunday Peter, Travis, Mary and I got up at 4am and drove to Castle Hill. Castle Hill is a hill (that's literally a few meters too short to call a mountain) close to The Strand. We walked the main road up to the top and to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately the hike took a bit longer than we thought it would so we weren't able to watch the sunrise from the top but the sky grew lighter as we walked and the view at the top was stunning. It was cool seeing how many people were up walking that early in the morning but I guess it makes sense considering how hot it is here during the day. After our hike we went down to The Strand and had breakfast at the Odyssey (that breakfast place we went to my first Sunday in Townsville. So good :)
Anyways, pictures are posted from the hike so you can have proof that I, Jenna Toms, actually got up at 4am to go for a hike and watch the sunrise. Surprising, right? In all seriousness though, I think it's something everyone should do once in their lives. It was a very refreshing and rewarding experience. Later peoples!
Hey peoples! Short and sweet blog this time.
This past Sunday Peter, Travis, Mary and I got up at 4am and drove to Castle Hill. Castle Hill is a hill (that's literally a few meters too short to call a mountain) close to The Strand. We walked the main road up to the top and to watch the sunrise. Unfortunately the hike took a bit longer than we thought it would so we weren't able to watch the sunrise from the top but the sky grew lighter as we walked and the view at the top was stunning. It was cool seeing how many people were up walking that early in the morning but I guess it makes sense considering how hot it is here during the day. After our hike we went down to The Strand and had breakfast at the Odyssey (that breakfast place we went to my first Sunday in Townsville. So good :)
Anyways, pictures are posted from the hike so you can have proof that I, Jenna Toms, actually got up at 4am to go for a hike and watch the sunrise. Surprising, right? In all seriousness though, I think it's something everyone should do once in their lives. It was a very refreshing and rewarding experience. Later peoples!
DINGO ENCOUNTER!!!! (and other awesomeness)
Saturday, March 7th, 2015 at 7:23pm
Hey peoples!!! *warning do not try this at home* ;)
So today I went back to the Billabong Sanctuary with my lovely friend Jess and we got the absolute coolest opportunity! Because the Sanctuary is celebrating their birthday this month, they did a raffle drawing after each animal show/feeding and guess what I won?! AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE DINGOES!!! They were so incredibly friendly! Two females and one male. We walked into the enclosure with the keeper and they instantly wanted cuddles and pets and they gave us kisses and sat on our laps and it was just the most incredible experience. Now the reason I say don't try this at home is because they are not this cuddly in the wild (obviously) but these guys were raised in captivity and receive walks every day before the park opens. We also go to help feed them. We had them sit down and then we set the bowl in front of them. When we clapped our hands twice they were allowed to start eating. It was adorable! In my pictures the females are the two white ones. They are alpine dingoes and are also sisters. They were so soft!!! The male has the more reddish coat and he's from a desert area making his coat a bit more wiry so he can easily shake off the sand. By the end of the 20 minute encounter both Jess and I were covered in dirt and smiling from ear to ear :)
That ended up definitely being the highlight of the day. However, I also got to hold a koala which was so amazing as well! (I told you that was going to be a thing) And while the keeper got a step stool for the young boy next in line he let me hold on to the koala even longer than everyone else. In fact, we got to hold, feed and pet a wide variety of animals including Tonka, the bare-nosed wombat. All in all an absolutely FANTASTIC day (says the zoology major)
Pictures from today are posted and the direct encounters are currently decorating the side of this blog. Hope everyone is still doing well state-side! Later peoples!
Hey peoples!!! *warning do not try this at home* ;)
So today I went back to the Billabong Sanctuary with my lovely friend Jess and we got the absolute coolest opportunity! Because the Sanctuary is celebrating their birthday this month, they did a raffle drawing after each animal show/feeding and guess what I won?! AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE DINGOES!!! They were so incredibly friendly! Two females and one male. We walked into the enclosure with the keeper and they instantly wanted cuddles and pets and they gave us kisses and sat on our laps and it was just the most incredible experience. Now the reason I say don't try this at home is because they are not this cuddly in the wild (obviously) but these guys were raised in captivity and receive walks every day before the park opens. We also go to help feed them. We had them sit down and then we set the bowl in front of them. When we clapped our hands twice they were allowed to start eating. It was adorable! In my pictures the females are the two white ones. They are alpine dingoes and are also sisters. They were so soft!!! The male has the more reddish coat and he's from a desert area making his coat a bit more wiry so he can easily shake off the sand. By the end of the 20 minute encounter both Jess and I were covered in dirt and smiling from ear to ear :)
That ended up definitely being the highlight of the day. However, I also got to hold a koala which was so amazing as well! (I told you that was going to be a thing) And while the keeper got a step stool for the young boy next in line he let me hold on to the koala even longer than everyone else. In fact, we got to hold, feed and pet a wide variety of animals including Tonka, the bare-nosed wombat. All in all an absolutely FANTASTIC day (says the zoology major)
Pictures from today are posted and the direct encounters are currently decorating the side of this blog. Hope everyone is still doing well state-side! Later peoples!
First Week of Classes, Reef HQ and Travel Plans
Sunday, March 1st, 2015 at 7:56pm
Hey peoples!
I just finished my first week of classes here at JCU. My professors are really cool and I can tell that they are the best of the best in their fields. They also let students volunteer to help them and their graduate students with their research if it's needed. My conservation professor specializes in sea turtles which is awesome! The only thing that will be different this week is that I'll start my last two practicals.
Friday night I went to see Jupiter Ascending with a group of people. My advice? Don't go see it. It was a strange movie with a week plot. But it was nice to go out. We also stopped at a chocolate restaurant before the movie and I had the best hot chocolate I've ever had. On Saturday I went to Reef HQ with Travis and Kat. It has the largest living coral reef tank which is very impressive considering how difficult it is to maintain live coral. Afterwards we had lunch on The Strand which was a lovely break from dorm food. We wandered around for a little bit longer after lunch and then headed back to JCU. After dinner I spent the night hanging out with my friend Peter who is quick to laugh at my "American accent" lol We talk a lot about cultural differences which I find to be a lot of fun. His room also has air con which is a plus lol
A few days ago I finalized my plans to go to Sydney in two weeks! I'm leaving Saturday, March 14th in the early morning and return Monday, March 16th in the morning before my 2pm class. I'll be staying at a hostel in the city center which is also near the main train station. I have a ticket to tour the Opera House on Saturday and I also plan to spend some time at the aquarium that day too. They have dugongs! On Sunday I'll be taking an all day tour of the city and the surrounding area. I'm really really looking forward to the trip :)
That's all I know for now. Later peoples!
Hey peoples!
I just finished my first week of classes here at JCU. My professors are really cool and I can tell that they are the best of the best in their fields. They also let students volunteer to help them and their graduate students with their research if it's needed. My conservation professor specializes in sea turtles which is awesome! The only thing that will be different this week is that I'll start my last two practicals.
Friday night I went to see Jupiter Ascending with a group of people. My advice? Don't go see it. It was a strange movie with a week plot. But it was nice to go out. We also stopped at a chocolate restaurant before the movie and I had the best hot chocolate I've ever had. On Saturday I went to Reef HQ with Travis and Kat. It has the largest living coral reef tank which is very impressive considering how difficult it is to maintain live coral. Afterwards we had lunch on The Strand which was a lovely break from dorm food. We wandered around for a little bit longer after lunch and then headed back to JCU. After dinner I spent the night hanging out with my friend Peter who is quick to laugh at my "American accent" lol We talk a lot about cultural differences which I find to be a lot of fun. His room also has air con which is a plus lol
A few days ago I finalized my plans to go to Sydney in two weeks! I'm leaving Saturday, March 14th in the early morning and return Monday, March 16th in the morning before my 2pm class. I'll be staying at a hostel in the city center which is also near the main train station. I have a ticket to tour the Opera House on Saturday and I also plan to spend some time at the aquarium that day too. They have dugongs! On Sunday I'll be taking an all day tour of the city and the surrounding area. I'm really really looking forward to the trip :)
That's all I know for now. Later peoples!
Billabong Sanctuary!!
Friday, February 20th, 2015 at 2:19pm
Hey peoples!
I found animals!!! Today I went with the JCU student association to the Billabong Sanctuary! I got to pet a wombat, and a koala and a grey kangaroo. I also held a very large snake (really proud of myself for that, not gonna lie) and a baby crocodile. The sanctuary is really freaking awesome! There are so many wild birds running around and the kangaroos are just hanging out as well. One of them had a joey in their pouch! There was also a dingo, some emus and many very large crocodiles (all of those had their own enclosures). I was kinda sad because we weren't able to hold the koala because our group was to big so I'm most definitely going back so I can hold a koala. This WILL be a thing! :) I saw that they have a lot of hands-on volunteer opportunities so I'm considering maybe trying to volunteer there. I found out that the clubs I was interested aren't here anymore so I'm looking for either volunteer or research opportunities to get involved.
Last night I went with my hall to one of those giant trampoline places. That was fun and I was glad they finally hosted an event that was alcohol free. I also rode in my first Australian car. It was so weird! (before we were in tour buses so it didn't seem all that different) Then afterwards I caught the end of the campus wide party and got to watch some fire dancers. One of the guys had sparklers on the end of his twirling chains instead of fireballs and that was really really cool.
Other than that it's been really really freaking hot out the past two days. Ugh. But hey, the hurricane missed us so I'm not complaining. I'm sad to say though that Brisbane apparently got nailed pretty bad this morning. It was supposed to hit kind of right in the middle between Townsville and Brisbane but apparently it moved much further south than anticipated. Hurricanes (or cyclones as they're called here) are definitely not something I'm used to dealing with on a normal basis.
Go check out my pics from the sanctuary today! The animals are so awesome! (says the zoology major) Later peoples!
Hey peoples!
I found animals!!! Today I went with the JCU student association to the Billabong Sanctuary! I got to pet a wombat, and a koala and a grey kangaroo. I also held a very large snake (really proud of myself for that, not gonna lie) and a baby crocodile. The sanctuary is really freaking awesome! There are so many wild birds running around and the kangaroos are just hanging out as well. One of them had a joey in their pouch! There was also a dingo, some emus and many very large crocodiles (all of those had their own enclosures). I was kinda sad because we weren't able to hold the koala because our group was to big so I'm most definitely going back so I can hold a koala. This WILL be a thing! :) I saw that they have a lot of hands-on volunteer opportunities so I'm considering maybe trying to volunteer there. I found out that the clubs I was interested aren't here anymore so I'm looking for either volunteer or research opportunities to get involved.
Last night I went with my hall to one of those giant trampoline places. That was fun and I was glad they finally hosted an event that was alcohol free. I also rode in my first Australian car. It was so weird! (before we were in tour buses so it didn't seem all that different) Then afterwards I caught the end of the campus wide party and got to watch some fire dancers. One of the guys had sparklers on the end of his twirling chains instead of fireballs and that was really really cool.
Other than that it's been really really freaking hot out the past two days. Ugh. But hey, the hurricane missed us so I'm not complaining. I'm sad to say though that Brisbane apparently got nailed pretty bad this morning. It was supposed to hit kind of right in the middle between Townsville and Brisbane but apparently it moved much further south than anticipated. Hurricanes (or cyclones as they're called here) are definitely not something I'm used to dealing with on a normal basis.
Go check out my pics from the sanctuary today! The animals are so awesome! (says the zoology major) Later peoples!
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