Aussies live by the motto: Have a go and No worries! Your supposed to try everything and not stress. It's really a great way to live and being here is really refreshing because you can see that everyone really does live that way and it's relaxing!
Instead of saying thanks and in normal conversation they always say "no worries" and its definitely worn off on all of us!
You don't say trash, its rubbish! When you say trash, someone may over here you and get upset because it's a word you don't want to be called!
Birds squawk here!! They don't do a pretty tweet like our birds, they more sound like dying children! but they are really pretty
A jetty is like a pier where boats dock
They do say g-day mate and good on ya which is used when you say a joke to someone and they take it well or when someone does something you can say that. (it's hard to explain but once you hear it a couple times you get it and start saying it too)
They call us yanks!
They say bugga or bloody a lot. Like... "Aw bugga I got bit by another bloody mosquito!"
People from New Zealand are called Kiwi's
They eat the same food we do but cook it different. Like the bacon is never crispy it looks like uncooked ham!
Everything is much more expensive especially with the currency change, BUT they include taxes into the prices so when you see that a shirt is $20 you actually pay only $20.
Alcohol is really expensive especially vodka!
Instead of a $5 footlong at subway its $7 AUD so like close to $10 US
They don't have fountain sodas anywhere! It's all can or bottle and at home I can get a can of coke for 75cents but here I paid $3.50 AUD!!
I have only seen frogs on Orpheus island so I'm very lucky....knock on wood!
Sea gulls eat baby sea turtles if they hatch during the day...didn't know that till I saw it happen. Very depressing!
Dugongs are manatees with a dolphin shaped tail and much more afraid of people and also endangered
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Pictures!!
Finally have internet!!
After over a week I finally have internet and its free!!!!! Soooo much has happened again since I was last able to blog that I don't even know where to start! Right now I'm on Orpheus Island at their research center and it's our last island so after this we go to Cairns where we have no school work! (not like the stuff we do on the island is even really school work) But since the last time I was able to get on I've also been to Heron Island which I have to say is my favorite island!! It was the most gorgeous place I have ever seen! I can't even begin to give enough detail but the beaches were white and the water was so clear and blue! We did lots of snorkeling and I saw sooo many different things such as: manta rays, sand sharks, reef sharks, jelly fish, tons of tropical fish and different coral, sting rays, barracuda and sea turtles! We actually got to see some sea turtles hatch and I held one (which your not supposed to do but I just couldn't help it) but it was really sad because they are supposed to hatch at night and these did during the day so pretty much all of them got picked up by sea gulls. We went on a night snorkel one night and that's when we saw the barracuda and sting rays which was pretty scary, but then I also got to dive down and pet a large sea turtles shell while he was sleeping so that was pretty excited! While on Heron my group decided to do our research on the amount of sand to coral coverage in the different reef zones. Conclusion: pretty obvious, sand decreases as coral increases the further you get off shore. It was pretty hard to collect our data because we had to take a tape measure of 20m out to the reef crest and swim along and measure the coral and with the tide it kept pushing us away. But once we got that done we didn't have a whole lot to do so everyday I got to spend a couple hours laying out on the beach!! The last night after presentations we went out and celebrated on the Jetty which was a ton of fun and a few of us even ended up jumping in :)
After we left Heron we had a 2 day trip to Orpheus. We stopped in Rockhampton which is the beef capital of Queensland so yes I had a steak for dinner, it was good but not as good as Jerry's steaks on the smoker :) The hotel-motel we stayed at there was a really hold historical one that was really spooky and had no elevator so I had to carry my luggage up 2 flights of stairs so it definitely was an adventure! The next night we were in Townsville which is a pretty big city so all of us girls got dressed up to go out while on the guys went to a movie. What we thought was going to be a great night out on the town turned to be horrible. It was a monday so no one was out and this drunk guy at a bar with 5 other people wouldn't leave us alone so when the manager asked him to leave they got in bar brawl! It was interesting for sure!
The next day we finally made it to Orpheus and it's gorgeous here! It has a lot more jungle and the bathrooms aren't quite as nice because the toilets don't flush but it's really not too bad. EXCEPT, they have frogs!!! I saw my first frog yesterday and it was ok but I was ready to leave right away. But I'm toughing it out and its not too bad!
I have sooo many more stories but I don't even know how to tell everything so if you have questions please let me know because sometimes that's easier!!
O I almost forgot! On are way to Heron we stopped at 2 more beaches and got to hike and then lay out at these beautiful remote beaches. It was heaven!! Then at one of our stop overs we went to this place at Tin Can bay where every morning they have 1 or 2 hump back dolphins swim in to get a fishy snack! I got less then a foot away and it was really cool!
But thats all for now I guess, and like I said ask questions!! Love you all!!
After we left Heron we had a 2 day trip to Orpheus. We stopped in Rockhampton which is the beef capital of Queensland so yes I had a steak for dinner, it was good but not as good as Jerry's steaks on the smoker :) The hotel-motel we stayed at there was a really hold historical one that was really spooky and had no elevator so I had to carry my luggage up 2 flights of stairs so it definitely was an adventure! The next night we were in Townsville which is a pretty big city so all of us girls got dressed up to go out while on the guys went to a movie. What we thought was going to be a great night out on the town turned to be horrible. It was a monday so no one was out and this drunk guy at a bar with 5 other people wouldn't leave us alone so when the manager asked him to leave they got in bar brawl! It was interesting for sure!
The next day we finally made it to Orpheus and it's gorgeous here! It has a lot more jungle and the bathrooms aren't quite as nice because the toilets don't flush but it's really not too bad. EXCEPT, they have frogs!!! I saw my first frog yesterday and it was ok but I was ready to leave right away. But I'm toughing it out and its not too bad!
I have sooo many more stories but I don't even know how to tell everything so if you have questions please let me know because sometimes that's easier!!
O I almost forgot! On are way to Heron we stopped at 2 more beaches and got to hike and then lay out at these beautiful remote beaches. It was heaven!! Then at one of our stop overs we went to this place at Tin Can bay where every morning they have 1 or 2 hump back dolphins swim in to get a fishy snack! I got less then a foot away and it was really cool!
But thats all for now I guess, and like I said ask questions!! Love you all!!
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Finally some pics!
Living in a Zoo!!
Wow so my blog hasn't let me log on since I got to this island and for some reason it decided to corporate today so yay I'll try to fill everyone in as much as possible and as short as possible!
Last I blogged I was in Brisbane and had just done my shark dive! The next day we went kayaking on the Brisbane river and it was a blast! It was my first time and I loved it. We played games and had lunch next to the river, it was really cool.
Then we headed over to Stradbroke Island or Straddie as the locals call it. We have been here for 5 nights and tonight is our last night. We have been staying at the research center here which is actually pretty nice. We go to 3 different islands and this is where we do our school "work." It's not really work at all it's actually a lot of fun! The first day we were here we went out during low tide on the rocky headland then over to the mud flats. Our instructors, Doug and Glen who is from Australia (both are sooo awesome I must say) would just pick up creatures in the ocean and tell us what they were and give us facts then later in the lab we had to draw pics of them and right down a few facts from the wild guide. It was really interesting especially since marine biology is what I want to do. Then the last couple of days has been our time to do our own research projects. I was in a group with 5 girls and we decided to do our project on sea cucumber sediment processing rates. So we went out into the ocean and collect several cucumbers from 2 different species. We then put them in tanks and for 24 hrs every 2 hrs we had to collect and weigh their poo!! It's not a gross as it sounds, its just a worm looking line of sand. What they do is they feed on sand removing the organic material for food and then break the organic matter down into more simpler compounds. Then new cucumbers eat that and it keeps continuing until the sand is so fine that it degrades in the water and plankton and other organisms can eat it. So what they do is actually really important! So the whole time we just keept making jokes about sea cucumber poo! Everyone else just did projects on fish and crabs so ours was pretty unique :)
After everyone presented we all went down to the local ships club which is pretty much a bar. It was such a blast! We were playing drinking games with out instructors and it was hilarious! Doug is pretty quite and the only time he really talks is when it's something genius or absolutely hilarious and i'm guessing he is in his 70s so to play games with him was quite funny! Then Glen is very outgoing and he is probably in his late 30s or 40s and since he's an Aussie he likes to drink! It was a really great experience to just kick back with everyone and drink and play games! Then we also had this local old creeper join in and play games with us and he loved us! He said he likes our ways haha!
Another thing I got to do was take my first ocean boat ride and go searching for dugongs! Dugongs are just like manatees but with a dolphin shaped tail and they are much more shy. When we went out he told us we may see them or we may not and we ended up getting close to quite a few which is pretty rare! It was so great to get a chance to see them especially because they are endangered and only live around this area. While on this boat ride we also saw lots of sea turtles and a few of us got to jump on them from the boat and try and catch them! I was one and I didn't get close enough because he dove deep and they are pretty fast! But still it was awesome!
It's really like were living at a zoo though because in the last couple of days I have seen so much wild life! At tea time the other day (which is my favorite part of the day and were all bringing this back to the states) we were sitting on the patio eating our cookies and drinking our tea when in the bay right in front of us were dolphins! It was amazing! You couldn't see much other then their fin but then today when we went to point look out and we saw more and they were jumping out of the water. I have also seen koalas sitting in a tree in someone's back yard, flying foxes which are fruit bats that sit in several trees in this one area and there is soooo many of them, then there are beautiful parakeets but all the birds here squawk, they don't do a pretty chirp like our birds, then today I saw kangaroos!!!
Today we went to point look out where I saw the dolphins and it's this huge bluff that looks out over the ocean and it's absolutely breath taking! It started pooring down rain while we were there so we took cover at a cafe and had lunch until it quit. After a while the sun finally came out and we walked along the shore and took tons of pictures as we made our way to a swimming beach and tanned and played in the waves! (my first time swimming in the ocean since 7th grade, it's been way too long!!)
I think this is pretty much all the big stuff I've done but there is just so much more I can say!! Hopefully I'll be able to post more stuff now to keep updated so I don't have to do one long blog at a time! If you have any questions or want to know more just ask, I can talk about this place forever! I'm having the time of life and I never would have expected it would be this great and that I would get along as well with everyone as I do!! I may never want to come home! I'm thinking of researching grad schools here instead of in Florida if I can stand to be away from home for 2 years :( But tata for now and miss you all!!
Last I blogged I was in Brisbane and had just done my shark dive! The next day we went kayaking on the Brisbane river and it was a blast! It was my first time and I loved it. We played games and had lunch next to the river, it was really cool.
Then we headed over to Stradbroke Island or Straddie as the locals call it. We have been here for 5 nights and tonight is our last night. We have been staying at the research center here which is actually pretty nice. We go to 3 different islands and this is where we do our school "work." It's not really work at all it's actually a lot of fun! The first day we were here we went out during low tide on the rocky headland then over to the mud flats. Our instructors, Doug and Glen who is from Australia (both are sooo awesome I must say) would just pick up creatures in the ocean and tell us what they were and give us facts then later in the lab we had to draw pics of them and right down a few facts from the wild guide. It was really interesting especially since marine biology is what I want to do. Then the last couple of days has been our time to do our own research projects. I was in a group with 5 girls and we decided to do our project on sea cucumber sediment processing rates. So we went out into the ocean and collect several cucumbers from 2 different species. We then put them in tanks and for 24 hrs every 2 hrs we had to collect and weigh their poo!! It's not a gross as it sounds, its just a worm looking line of sand. What they do is they feed on sand removing the organic material for food and then break the organic matter down into more simpler compounds. Then new cucumbers eat that and it keeps continuing until the sand is so fine that it degrades in the water and plankton and other organisms can eat it. So what they do is actually really important! So the whole time we just keept making jokes about sea cucumber poo! Everyone else just did projects on fish and crabs so ours was pretty unique :)
After everyone presented we all went down to the local ships club which is pretty much a bar. It was such a blast! We were playing drinking games with out instructors and it was hilarious! Doug is pretty quite and the only time he really talks is when it's something genius or absolutely hilarious and i'm guessing he is in his 70s so to play games with him was quite funny! Then Glen is very outgoing and he is probably in his late 30s or 40s and since he's an Aussie he likes to drink! It was a really great experience to just kick back with everyone and drink and play games! Then we also had this local old creeper join in and play games with us and he loved us! He said he likes our ways haha!
Another thing I got to do was take my first ocean boat ride and go searching for dugongs! Dugongs are just like manatees but with a dolphin shaped tail and they are much more shy. When we went out he told us we may see them or we may not and we ended up getting close to quite a few which is pretty rare! It was so great to get a chance to see them especially because they are endangered and only live around this area. While on this boat ride we also saw lots of sea turtles and a few of us got to jump on them from the boat and try and catch them! I was one and I didn't get close enough because he dove deep and they are pretty fast! But still it was awesome!
It's really like were living at a zoo though because in the last couple of days I have seen so much wild life! At tea time the other day (which is my favorite part of the day and were all bringing this back to the states) we were sitting on the patio eating our cookies and drinking our tea when in the bay right in front of us were dolphins! It was amazing! You couldn't see much other then their fin but then today when we went to point look out and we saw more and they were jumping out of the water. I have also seen koalas sitting in a tree in someone's back yard, flying foxes which are fruit bats that sit in several trees in this one area and there is soooo many of them, then there are beautiful parakeets but all the birds here squawk, they don't do a pretty chirp like our birds, then today I saw kangaroos!!!
Today we went to point look out where I saw the dolphins and it's this huge bluff that looks out over the ocean and it's absolutely breath taking! It started pooring down rain while we were there so we took cover at a cafe and had lunch until it quit. After a while the sun finally came out and we walked along the shore and took tons of pictures as we made our way to a swimming beach and tanned and played in the waves! (my first time swimming in the ocean since 7th grade, it's been way too long!!)
I think this is pretty much all the big stuff I've done but there is just so much more I can say!! Hopefully I'll be able to post more stuff now to keep updated so I don't have to do one long blog at a time! If you have any questions or want to know more just ask, I can talk about this place forever! I'm having the time of life and I never would have expected it would be this great and that I would get along as well with everyone as I do!! I may never want to come home! I'm thinking of researching grad schools here instead of in Florida if I can stand to be away from home for 2 years :( But tata for now and miss you all!!
Monday, May 23, 2011
Sharkbait whohaha!
So much has happend in the last 3 days since I was last on here! And I don't have a whole lot of time now so I'm going to try to make this as short as possible!
Let me start by saying I love everyone in my group! It's really cool because we all have become instant best friends! As goofy as that sounds it's true because since most people didn't know anyone in the group and if they did they only knew one or two people out of 20 no one could really be shy. We all just started talking and after that it was like we have known each other for years! The second night everyone was here (so last night) all but 3 of us went to dinner for one of the girls 19th birthday. After the majority of us went to a local night club and went dancing and we all had a blast! The high light of the night was when one girl met a cute foreign guy and danced with him then later as she was playing with her hair found a huge wad of gum stuck in her hair!! I was dying! So we walked through downtown back to our hostel with her holding a plate of mayonaise and butter so that she could get it out! No worries she still has all of her hair and it's gone :)
So as lots of people know I got to go on a shark dive! We had a little scare at first that with my asthma history that I wouldn't be able to but I got approved and did it yesterday! We went to Under Water World in Mooloulaba (my new favorite town name) and got a whole tour of the aquarium which was really cool then we went scuba diving without cages in the shark tank! And believe me when I say they are much bigger when your not looking at them through a glass! It honestly was the best experience of my life! We weren't swimming around we just walked along the bottom and stood there as these giant sharks, including a bull shark which are known to be agressive, and giant rays swam past us! Not 1 min after being in the tank I had to duck my head because one of the sharks with hugh scary teeth was swimming right at my head! Not to attack me but they won't move out of the way for anything, they were just swimming us and didn't care if they hit us. We took lots and lots of pics which some are on facebook if you have an account otherwise tomorrow when we go to a new place and I hopefully have internet, I will be on my own computer to post pics on here! But I'm getting ready to go to dinner and out with everyone for our last night in Brisbane so take care and if you want more details e-mail me, call my mom haha or facebook me! Love you all and miss you but not ready to come back yet ;)
Let me start by saying I love everyone in my group! It's really cool because we all have become instant best friends! As goofy as that sounds it's true because since most people didn't know anyone in the group and if they did they only knew one or two people out of 20 no one could really be shy. We all just started talking and after that it was like we have known each other for years! The second night everyone was here (so last night) all but 3 of us went to dinner for one of the girls 19th birthday. After the majority of us went to a local night club and went dancing and we all had a blast! The high light of the night was when one girl met a cute foreign guy and danced with him then later as she was playing with her hair found a huge wad of gum stuck in her hair!! I was dying! So we walked through downtown back to our hostel with her holding a plate of mayonaise and butter so that she could get it out! No worries she still has all of her hair and it's gone :)
So as lots of people know I got to go on a shark dive! We had a little scare at first that with my asthma history that I wouldn't be able to but I got approved and did it yesterday! We went to Under Water World in Mooloulaba (my new favorite town name) and got a whole tour of the aquarium which was really cool then we went scuba diving without cages in the shark tank! And believe me when I say they are much bigger when your not looking at them through a glass! It honestly was the best experience of my life! We weren't swimming around we just walked along the bottom and stood there as these giant sharks, including a bull shark which are known to be agressive, and giant rays swam past us! Not 1 min after being in the tank I had to duck my head because one of the sharks with hugh scary teeth was swimming right at my head! Not to attack me but they won't move out of the way for anything, they were just swimming us and didn't care if they hit us. We took lots and lots of pics which some are on facebook if you have an account otherwise tomorrow when we go to a new place and I hopefully have internet, I will be on my own computer to post pics on here! But I'm getting ready to go to dinner and out with everyone for our last night in Brisbane so take care and if you want more details e-mail me, call my mom haha or facebook me! Love you all and miss you but not ready to come back yet ;)
Friday, May 20, 2011
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