I Come From a Land Down Under

The never-ending Journey comes to a close

2011-04-23T17:56:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

So when I last left you I was headed up to the Great Barrier Reef and Cairns I believe. After arriving Cairns, it was mid-day and the day was pretty much left to touring the city. After encountering large cities, going into Cairns with no building over like five stories was rather interesting. It seemed to be reminiscent of Hawaii, Maui in particular, but still clear blue waters, mountainous lush mountains and rainforest's, it truly was remarkable. On the second day, I traveled up to Port Douglas, to on the Northern most cities along the coast near Cairns and took a catamaran out to one of the Reef sites. After three hours of travelling we arrived at the sight. Looking out in all directions was the site of turquoise water as far as the eye could see. After wet-suiting up and putting on flippers, I jumped into rather warm water, which was surprising, but better than freezing as I began snorkeling around the reef. After a few hours out on the Reef we were brought in and boated back into Port Douglas and then back into Cairns. Tired, sore, but amazed at what I had just saw, the remainder of the day was spent waking around the city. The following day, I boarded a small 717 jet and flew out into the Outback - destination Ayers Rock. From the air, vast land began to turn red with sand and nothing but flat land, but in the distance a big and bold rock. When we landed, I came to the realization of why we were in such a small jet. The runway was so small, that once we landed, the plane turned around and taxied back along the runway into the terminal, which might I add has two gates. Excited and ready as ever, I got off the plane, and was immediately confronted by thousands of flies and nats buzzing and sticking to my face. Not what I was hoping for, but I had been told it was expected. During the first day, we arrived at the resort, bought some fly nets, since the flies were so bad and then walked out into the outback onto a sand dune and looked out at the rock. After a brief day due to our flight time, we called it an early night and the next morning we woke up a bit after 6 a.m. to catch the sunrise and an eventual tour later that afternoon. By the afternoon, I was still amazed with the rock, however, nature inclined me was getting a little impatient and getting to the point where I wanted to get out of the city. haha As I call it, been there, I had done it, and now, I needed to get away from the bugs haha, not to mention the spiders were massive and abundant all over the place. It was still an amazing two days and truly remarkable sight. After a day and a half, we jumped onto a plane and headed back to Sydney for our last stop on this remarkable adventure.

Upon arriving, I immediately took my family down to the Harbor to see the Opera House and Harbor Bridge. Other than that, the first day was spent more getting settled, having dinner and seeing some of the sights. The second day was spent more of as a catch up day, giving them a tour of my campus, since they had to see where I have been the past few months, haha and then most of the day was spent watching my parents shop for souvenirs and the like. By Friday, we had recovered, however it was apparent that my legs, as well as my parents were beginning to drain. We had walked practically everywhere and used very little other means of transportation and had racked up probably over 60 miles of walking in the course of a week and a half or so. We continued trekking onward though, going to the zoo, aquarium and the observation tower. These were just as remarkable as I had hoped and the sights from the tower were amazing. On the final day, we walked across the Harbor Bridge, toured the Opera House and just relaxed.

So after all of this I left my parents, and came back to my dorm, thus concluding the remarkable journey. As for now, the parents are currently flying home, it is Sunday Morning and I am confronted with all the work I left behind, so I should probably get back to that at some point, but that's is all for now.

Hope all is well with everyone!

Cheers!

Jeff

Mid-Semester Break in Australia Part 1

2011-04-14T04:02:00.000-07:00

G'day Mates,

Over the past week or so, life has been hectic and busy in the best way possible. It all began on a Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. I awoke at this time to catch a train into downtown Sydney and then transfer to the airport to catch a 7:30 a.m. flight to Melbourne, after accumulating about two hours of sleep, deciding last minute that an all-nighter may not be best. In case you haven't guessed, it is my mid-semester break and yes I am finally travelling after being here for two months. After a whopping one minute security check and realizing that the guard was travelling to San Antonio next year, sorry random side tangent, I boarded a plane which flew me to Melbourne, where I met my parents for the beginning of my Australian Excursion through the central and East Coast of Australia. Although, I had previously been in Melbourne for Orientation, this time was different. First off, I was staying in a much nicer hotel, which I later found out provided free food, dessert, and open bar to make one's own drinks: you name it, they had it. It almost seemed worthwhile to stay in the hotel and take advantage of that, however, sightseeing was a must haha.

The first two days of the trip were just city tours and sightseeing. The third day was filled with one stop after the next. From wine tasting, to a chocolate factory and finally to a beach and watching penguins march up the hill in the hundreds at a time, it was an eventful day. Sadly, I was not allowed to take any pictures or videos of the penguins for the protection of them from going blind as we were told. On the fourth day, I awoke bright and early and boarded a bus that took us along the great ocean road, similar to that of Malibu and Santa Monica on the west Coast of California, however, the beaches are much more scenic and amazing to watch compared to those. Along this tour, we stopped and I had my first encounter Vegemite Chocolate. To say the least it was chocolaty, however, for those of you that do not know what Vegemite is its a yeast paste that is really salty, so me being me, I had to try this funky concoction. It was having slightly salted chocolate, but it wasn't half bad. I was too afraid to try the Vegemite Ice Cream, however, so the mystery will be left unsolved. Continuing along the Great Ocean Road, we made our last stop at the 12 apostles. The 12 apostles are these large rock formations in the water that just stick out of the ocean, probably easier to just view my pictures, but it was truly magnificent to see. After concluding an almost 15 hour day travelling, I returned to the hotel, enjoyed my last night of the open bar and then woke up at 6 a.m. the next day and jumped onto a flight to Brisbane, which is to the North in the state, Queensland. Melbourne is in Victoria and Sydney is in New South Whales, just a quick geography lesson. Ayers Rock is in Northern Territory.

Brisbane, to say the least much bigger than I first expected. The first day in Brisbane was just sightseeing and of course for my parents shopping, so not much to talk about there. The next day, however by far has been the highlight of my trip so far. After getting to sleep in and catch up on sleep for once, our afternoon tour took us to a Koala Sanctuary. Walking in, the reserve allowed you to walk into large parklands full of roo's and Koala's. To make it even better, the directors of the sanctuary explained that you could hold a Koala, which is unique because it is one of the few places throughout Australia that you can actually do so. They were much heavier than I thought they would be and their claws were so sharp that when the director placed him on me, his claws dug into my shirt and actually punctured one to two holes, but it was by far the shortest minute, but most memorable minute of the trip and one of the coolest things I have done in Australia. After the Koala section of the sanctuary, I proceeded over to the Roo area and walking through the gates, there had to have been hundreds, hopping around and laying under trees. We were told that they were all trained so we could approach them, feed them, have them lay with us and so on. This was incredible and it was amazing just to get so up close and personal with these animals, however I did not see any Joey's :(, but that's ok. Joey's are baby Roo's that are in their mothers pouches. Besides the Roo and Koala encounters, I was able to see the infamous Tasmanian Devil, a Platypus, some Dingo's, a Wombat and more. The tour was concluded with a scenic view on top of Brisbane's largest mountain which overlooked the city. This was by far and is still the highlight of my trip.

Tomorrow, I am waking up and flying to Cairns and snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef, continuing on to Uluru and Ayers Rock and finally finishing up in Sydney. I just wanted to make sure that I documented what I have done so far before I forget, but I will keep you all posted on further excursions as I round out my trip.

Til then Cheerio!

Jeff

April in Australia

2011-04-03T03:20:00.000-07:00

G'day,

So after I last wrote, my adventures in Sydney died down a bit. Over the past two weeks, I have been quite busy with some midterm exams and term papers. Up until this weekend, nothing to interesting to write about had occurred. Classes are going well, not too difficult, just a bit more work-load than I had originally planned for.

Yesterday, some friends and I went to one of the local Sydney beaches: not so local as it took us about an hour and a half to get there, but it was well worth the commute. Maroubra beach is a small beach located just outside of the downtown area. It is a relatively small beach, however on both sides of the inlet, there are places to climb rocks and watch the waves as they crash on shore, so that was pretty cool. The weather here has been pretty overcast, and rainy. It really wasn't until today that the sun was out for an entire day. Other than that, the beach was awesome, some swimmer actually split her leg open from the surf blade and was taken by an ambulance right next to where our site was set-up, so that was interesting.

Today, some friends and I went to go see an AFL match. For those of you that do not know what AFL is, its the Australian Football league. Unlike Football, it combines the elements of soccer and football, however tackles cannot be made from the shoulders up in most cases and the players do not wear padding, so its a subdued version of Rugby, but still pretty intense and awesome. We saw the Sydney Swans and Essendon Bombers (Melbourne Rival team). The game was actually one sided for the first half and in the second half the crowd got really into it and the Sydney Swans came back from a 25 pt. deficit to beat the Bombers by 5 points. so a good day in Sydney for sure.

Besides that, I can't really think of too much here that is new, I am sure in my next blog post there will be much more since Mid-semester break is next week for me. I am going to be travelling to Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns (Great Barrier Reef), Uluru (Ayers Rock) and Sydney for the last few days, but it should be a lot of fun, especially since the parents are coming out for the two weeks. Other than that some funny pronunciations of words that I have picked up over the past month or so:

aluminum = al - u - min - e - um

Mazada car = Mazda stressing the first A

Verizon = Var - i - zahn

Nissan = Nissen

An elevator = a lift

An exit = way out

That is about all I can think of, off the top of my head, but I will write about all my eventful excursions in a few weeks when I return, but as for now I have to bury my head in the books and continue studying for midterms.

Cheers and hope all is well with everyone,

Jeff

March Madness in Sydney

2011-03-19T07:40:00.000-07:00

G'day,

So not too much has progressed since I last wrote as far as travel. School has picked up the pace and has been taken up a bit of my time, needless to say, I have a decent amount of free time to explore the city and such. Over the past week or so, I have just been hanging out, eating lots of food, putting on approximately 10 pounds, and just hanging around with friends.

The most exciting portion would probably in the past few weeks, would be this past weekend. I went to my first Rugby game, the Waratah's vs. Cheetah's, and although arriving practically after halftime, once we caught all the right trains and buses, it was very entertaining, brutal and exciting. I can't wait and hopefully will be able to attend a few more before I leave. I will be posting pictures later this week. I am pretty wrapped up with a presentation and midterm on Monday, so keep an eye out for Tuesday or Wednesday of this upcoming week.

Also, St. Paddy's was this past Thursday, and I can't say it wasn't fun. Downtown Sydney, pub hopping from one to the next, a bit pricey, but still an exciting night. Surprisingly, I finally found a beer that I somewhat liked: Franziskaner Weissbier. It was a German beer: maybe a sign of acquiring a taste, but probably not. We will just have to see haha. Besides that, some of the St. Paddy's photos have been posted by some of my friends, don't look the greatest in all of them, but it is all good, all that matters it was good while it lasted ;)

As far as events coming up in the next few weeks, my workload practically dies out, so we will see where things go. I am planning on going to a cricket game next Saturday, get my need for a sport similar to Baseball, let me tell you withdrawals are tough. Baseball is almost obsolete here, but hopefully I will still be able to follow it, through fantasy leagues and the web.

As far as some weird phrases that I have thought of I am coming to the end I think:

Mandatory = Compulsory

Spaghetti and Beans are common breakfast foods at least on my campus

Pavlova - Cream fluffy pastry with berry sauce on top (Really good)

Other than that, pretty quite on the Australian front. I will post before I take my spring break trip in 2 and 1/2 weeks and then obviously, my next blog post will have all the information on my excursions through Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns, the Great Barrier Reef, Ayers Rock and Sydney. So Excited!!!

Anyways I hope you are all well and talk to you soon!

Cheers mates!

Jeff

As Summer Ends in Australia

2011-03-06T00:34:00.000-08:00

So where did I leave off, I believe it was around where my school was starting, and my vacation was over. As with anything enjoyable, all good things must come to an end. After being in Australia for about a month now, classes have begun and I just finished my second week of university.

It is different here however. In each of my classes, you have a 2 hour lecture once a week and a tutorial session once a week for an hour. These tutorials are classes of up to 25 students, similar to office hours at Trinity. You work in groups or discuss your readings, however and other than the mid-terms and finals, all assignments and group work due is presented and graded in these once a week tutorials, not to mention, midterms and finals account for about 60-70% of your grade in almost all classes. The other 30% is either through a term paper, which seems to be a joke, since they say no more than 2000 words, however I have been told the difficulty of it is making it concise and dense enough with information to receive the appropriate grade, so we will see how that goes. Besides a term paper, it may be group presentations, especially in my business classes. Besides that, workload is at a minimum, so wouldn't you know, I was off on an excursion this past weekend and just returned, beaten and tired.

My program and I all took a trip down the coast of Australia to a small seaside suburb called Jervis Bay. It was here that we would camp in the middle of the wilderness for two nights. In the course of these two nights, we learned how to surf: i actually stood up on the board and rode out a few waves, which I was quite proud of. Besides surfing, we had campfires and some of the indigenous folk, told stories of their past and of course great BBQ's of which I had my first taste of Kangaroo. It is a juicy, sweet tasting steak, similar to that of Venison back home, if any of you have had that. Also, in getting touch with nature, I attempted to once again face my fears of spiders, and in doing so got up close with some Kangaroos and visited Hymlay beach, which is known for the world's whitest sand, not to mention all the beaches I visited at crystal clear or turquoise water, which made it even more beautiful. In continuing with the trend of Australian phrases, I have compiled a few more that I will list, as well as some of the food items that cost much more than in the states, just so you all gauge how much import costs, etc. are in this country:

Stubby = Beer Glass in a Bottle Durry Muncher = Chain Smoker

Tallie = 3/4 of a 40 oz. Ruggie/Doona = Comforter

Avro = Afternoon Thongs = Flip Flops, many aussies do not understand what we mean when we say Flip Flops

Prawns = Shrimp (They are confused when you say shrimp a lot the time, depending on the person, obviously some Aussies know what a Shrimp is)

Hungry Jack's = Burger King (same Co., different name)

Hershey's products are few and far between, a delicacy if I might say so

Rubbish or Garbo = Trash

Flano = Flannel Brekky = Breakfast

Fluoro = Fluorescent Meat Pie = Similar to Chicken Pot Pie, but with Cheese,

Skull = Chug a Beer different meats, veggies, etc.

Sunnies = Sunglasses Chemists = Pharmacies

Gum = 3 dollars for a pack of 10 strips

Pop Tarts = 9.95 for a basic package

Candy Bars = 2-2.50 per bar

Gas is by the Litre (4 gallons per litre) - 126 cents per litre, average about 5.25-6.00 per gallon

That is probably about it for now. It is Sunday night and I am pretty beat from the long weekend, but I will update my adventures next week or as I think of stuff.

Hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers! (P.S.) Photo's are being uploaded as I write

Jeff

Now that I am Settled In

2011-02-27T02:33:00.000-08:00

Hey all,

So I know its been awhile, but after 3 weeks of being in Australia, I have finally got settled in. Classes have started, some travelling and first times, have already happened. So as brief as I can be I will try and walk you through my past three weeks.

On February 5th, I departed from LAX airport on my way to Melbourne Australia. Before even boarding the plane, I was security checked and body scanned, which just let my trip start out great. So I was on the plane, Qantas airlines, 15 hours away from my destination. On the morning of the 7th, I arrived in Melbourne, and was immediately placed on a bus and taken for lunch near the ocean. This was my first encounter with the burning hot sun and my first sunburn by the night. Ouch! From here, we cruised along to a kangaroo reserve and got up close in their natural habitat, which was truly magnificent. Apart from that, our program leaders took us to Sorrento, which is a small seaside village, where we would spend the next three days. While in Sorrento, I got to climb onto the furthest southern tip of Australia with the waves crashing which was truly remarkable. Along with all of these, I had my first taste of shark and crocodile, both were unique, but quite tasty. Apart from spending time at the beach, bar hopping, and clubbing those were pretty much the scenic highlights of my trip.

Three days later, on the 10th, we flew into Sydney and I moved into my dorm room. First impressions: a prison cell, small compact, and very little atmosphere to the room. Over the next few days I took the train with the few students that moved in early down to Sydney, which is about a 20 minute ride. The city is clean, clear skies and sunny almost all the time, although we have had a few days of rain, but supposedly that is out of the ordinary for Australia. It is extremely humid here, worst than a Texas summer I would say and their is no air conditioning only fans. O ya, and for all of you that know I hate spiders and large bugs, I have killed multiple and have started overcoming my fear. Most creatures here are deadly, so if you don't kill it, you never know what might happen when you are sleeping. haha. As far as downtown Sydney, it is quite similar to Los Angeles. Apart from the Harbour bridge area and Opera house, large skyscrapers, but work here is different. Most people have 1-2 hour lunch breaks and minimum wage is 15 DOLLARS, granted the food and living is much pricier than the states. Besides seeing the Harbor Bridge and Opera House, I have been to the beach and boy are the swells huge, with strong currents, but the waves are killa.

Last week was our O-week crazy party week and weekend. 7 straight days of parties at night, sports in the day, and social interaction. A week that is definitely worth remembering. I actually did not have my camera, sorry all, but if some of my friends post pics or have pics of me, you may see a stray one pop up here and there. Besides the orientation, classes have begun and they are much different. Two tests, a 2000 word long paper as they call it here all make up your grade and that is it.

The language here is different slightly, they have some odd sayings, which I may come back with.

Box Wine = Goon A pitcher of beer = A Jug A Lot = Heaps

McDonalds = Maacas Bye = cheers Welcome = No Worries

Drunk = Pissed Rooting for a team = Sex with that person

I am sure I will think of others to post as I here them more

They even have a chug song for shotgunning a beer:

Here's to ______(insert name) he/she's true blue

he/she is a pispot through and through

he/shes a bastard so they say

he/she tried to go to heaven, but she went the other way,

he/she went down, down, down down, all the way down x4

In a nutshell, those are some of the more prominent things that come to my mind after 3 weeks of being here and looking back. There are a few others I am sure I am forgetting and a few others I will not share, but Australia is a blast, it truly is magnificnet.

Keep checking my picture uploads, that is the best way to see my adventures, some of my friends, etc.

I will probably start posting shorter entries, every few days, I actually just figured out to blog. If you want to read my blogs great, if you don't thats great too. Leave a little remark if you want so I can chat with some of you who it is harder to get in contact with.

Cheers Mates!

Jeff