Jan 28 2010
Emu Dance
Okay, one last thing. On the first day in Australia the students were taught the Emu Dance by John Booth. I thought you might be interested in seeing their “moves.”
Jan 28 2010
Okay, one last thing. On the first day in Australia the students were taught the Emu Dance by John Booth. I thought you might be interested in seeing their “moves.”
Jan 28 2010
Here are some extra pictures from our guide John Booth from our first day of activities at Ku Ring Gai.
Jan 27 2010
Today was one of the longest days of our lives as we left Melbourne at 12:00 pm on Wednesday the 27th and then arrived into LAX at 7:30 am on Wednesday the 27th. Two bonuses of our flights, one is that Andy Roddick was on our flight after a tough 5 set loss the day before. Some of the students saw him going through customs in Australia and I saw him after going through in the US. The second bonus was that there were not many people on our flight so we were able to spread out a bit and have a little bit more room. Some students had the whole room to themselves, whatever it takes to travel 14 and half hours. After getting our bags in LA we all split up and went our separate ways.
I just arrived home and it is good to be back. We had a great group, one of the best I have had in a couple of years. Thank you all. I will try to put up a few more photos and such over the next few days so come back, but the travel poriton of the course is over, now the studnents just have some papers to write and journal entries to do. Thanks. Hope you enjoyed the blog.
Jan 26 2010
Today was our last full day in Australia and is also Australia Day. The date is significant because it is when Arthur Phillip and the First Fleet “invaded” Australia. In the morning the students had their final exam and then were able to go explore the city and do what they wanted. A couple of us decided to go see The Tennis. I had previously bought a ticket for Rod Laver arena so I was able to watch Justine Henin win a good match and for Andy Roddick unfortunately lose a five setter to Marin Cilic. I then went to China town with Lauren for dinner and then home. Many of the students went to St. Kilda for the beaches and others explored to see all the events in the city.
Jan 25 2010
After having a nice breakfast at the hostel we went down to the beach for a short boomerang lesson. Unfortunately we only had one boomerang so not everyone had the opportunity to throw it, but it was entertaining none the less. One of the highlights of the session was the boomerang accidentally being thrown into a small creek behind us and having to be rescued by a local dog that was walking by. It retrieved the boomerang and was much appreciated by Rob.
It was then on to a short walk through Maits Rainforest. Will provided the group with some information about the rainforest that we were in. It was nice having Rob along because he discussed some of the different functions the trees and vines had in the aboriginal culture as well.
We then made our way to the 12 Apostles. The 12 Apostles are one of the major things you hear about when you are going to Australia. Luckily we had an absolutely gorgeous day that allowed us to see them in all of our glory. There aren’t really 12 of the rock formations any more, a couple of the apostles have fallen do to erosion, but it was still a brilliant sight to see.
After the 12 Apostles, we made short jaunt down the road to Loch Ard Gorge. This is another beautiful destination and the weather conditions really allowed us to see it at its best. Loch Ard Gorge was named after a British ship that sank off the coast and had only two survivors. Tom and Eva were the sole survivors and poor Tom had to scale the side of this area to find help for poor Eva. After our time at Loch Ard, we then headed to the small town of Port Campbell for lunch and then back to Melbourne. It is hard to believe that things are coming to an end. Tomorrow we will have our final exam before the students can explore Melbourne on Australia Day. Australia Day is similar to our 4th of July, therefore, much fun will be had.
Jan 25 2010
We left today for a two day journey on the Great Ocean Road. For those of you who are not familiar, the Great Ocean Road was built after WW I when the government was trying to create jobs for veterans. It is now one of the most recognized tourism attractions in the state of Victoria.
We were met bright and early by Andrew once again, as well as Rob and Will. I have worked with Will in the past and was excited to catch up with him once again. Rob was a new addition and I was glad to learn from him because he would be providing us with an indigenous Australian perspective.
Our first stop was in the small town of Ocean Grove, right before we made it to the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. The purpose of our stop was to give the students the opportunity to surf. They were given some instructions concerning safety while surfing and surfing technique. The students then had a about an hour and half to practice their skills. Many were getting pretty good by the end. However, I do know that everyone had fun.
Following our surf lesson we hopped back on the busy and went to the small town of Torquey for lunch. It was here that Phil met back up with our group and talk to our group about the importance of Torquey. This town is probably important for two separate reasons. First, many people call Torquey the beginning of the Great Ocean Road. Second, Torquey is where the surf companies Rip Curl and Quiksilver were started. It is also close to Bell’s Beach which is the site of one of the oldest surf championships in Australia.
After lunch we had a couple more quick stops. Our first stop was an opportunity for Rob to talk about the indigenous people of Australia. He talked about some of the stories and history of the aboriginal people, as well as showed us some of the tools and weapons the aboriginal people used. He showed us things such as boomerangs, clap sticks, didgeridoos and many other items.
We then went up to Kennett River where we were able to walk along a road and see many different koalas in their natural habitat. We were able to see quite a few. An added bonus was the opportunity to see an echidna.
After this stop we drove up to the quaint town of Apollo Bay where we settled in for the night at our hostel. This is always one of my favorite nights. It is an opportunity to get out of the city and we are able to have a fabulous barbeque and the students were able to play a little bit of backyard cricket. For dinner the students were able to sample some kangaroo steak if they desired, it was done perfectly, thanks Rob.
Jan 23 2010
The group had two main activities today. During the day we went to the Australian Open. This is always one of my favorite activities. It is not often you are able to go to a Grand Slam tennis event and the first major of the year. Unfortunately for the group, the weather in the morning was not the best. It was a little cold and misty, but as the day went on it became quite nice. Also, today was the largest attendance on a Saturday in Australian Open history which meant that many of those who tried to upgrade to the Hisense arena were not able to do so.
Lauren and I decided to stick with the ground courts and we saw a lot of good doubles tennis. I have attached a couple of photos from our time at The Tennis as it is called down here. I think the person that most people were excited to see was John Isner. John grew up in Greensboro and played tennis at the University of Georgia and is quite easy to pick out because he is about 6’8”. We saw him play with Sam Querry in a doubles match which they easily one, so it was good to see the home town boy do well down under.
In the evening we met the group and walked over to the Docklands area. We concluded the evening with a dinner boat cruise. It seemed like everyone had a great time. The meal was good and being together was a lot of fun. We had some great views of the city while we were out and there was a lot of dancing on our way back to the city. Overall, another good day.
Jan 22 2010
Today was our Phillip Island was one of the longest days we have had. We left at 9am and didn’t get back until midnight. It was an action packed day that allowed us to see much wildlife. We started off with a 9 am pick-up from Andrew Peacock and Phil Avery. I have worked many of years with them through the University of Melbourne, but now Andrew runs his own company call Allawah which runs many different trips for university students. We then drove up to San Remo for a quick toilet and coffee break.
Following our break, we then stopped at Cape Woolamai. You may notice that the pictures look like that of the header for the blog. I took that photo I think four years ago. Once again, it did not disappoint. It is a big surf spot and quite a beautiful beach. Andrew talked to our group about rip tides and about the area in general. We then went out for a couple mile hike out to the point and stopped for many scenic views. After our hike, we jumped back on the bus and headed to Churchill Island for lunch.
Churchill Island was an interesting stop. We had a ranger named Graeme who talked to the group about the area and the different wildlife. He also talked about some of the different parks that we would be visiting throughout the day. One interesting note about Churchill Island is that Andrew’s grandparents used to be caretakers for the Island previously. Andrew vaguely remembers it, but definitely was interesting to see. The island was not very big about half a mile long and quarter of a mile wide.
After Churchill Island we went to the Koala Conservation Centre. This had been redone since the last time I went but was still a good bit of fun. They have a nice interpretation center for visitors to learn about koalas and then you can wander around through different boardwalks to see them. They aren’t quite in the wild, but better than a zoo. Something that we learned from Graeme when he talked to our group was that koalas have an average life span of about 14 years, but when held in captivity, specifically places where people touch them, their life span is about 7 years. Makes you think about wanting to cuddle a koala.
Our next stop was the Phillip Island Wildlife Park. This is another opportunity to see the animals that Australia has to offer. This was much of the same in comparison to Lone Pine in Brisbane, but the students had a great time feeding the animals.
After feeding the animals, we then fed the students. We stopped in the small beach town of Cowes for a quick stop before heading to what is called the Nobbies or Seal Rocks. We had a quick walk around here as the sun was coming down. We saw a couple of seals out in the ocean and a couple of penguins that had already come up on shore, probably the night before.
After this, we then took our spots and readied ourselves for the Penguin Parade. This is quite a spectacle and I had some good discussions with the students about it. Every night different small fairy penguins come in from the ocean and parade across the beach to get to their homes for some rest after days, weeks or even months at sea eating. It is quite interesting to see these small penguins try to fend off the birds in an effort to get to their homes and needless to say it is quite cute. We watched this for a little while and then jumped on our buses to head back to Melbourne. As I said, a long day, jam packed with a lot of activities and wildlife sightings.
Jan 21 2010
Hello all, just a quick update. We have arrived in Melbourne. We had a travel day, took a little longer than our other flights and we lost an hour. Looking forward to our last activities. We will be heading to Philip Island, going on the Great Ocean Road, attending the Australia Open and enjoying Australia Day. I will do my best to keep you posted.
Jan 20 2010
The weather today held for us. We had some storms this morning on our way to Kuranda, but it cleared up and was pretty nice for us the rest of the way. We started our day by being picked up by bus and taken to the Skyrail station. We then proceeded to jump on the Skyrail to take us up to Kuranda. The Skyrail is an almost 5 mile cable way that took us over the Barron Gorge National Park which is World Heritage protected. We had watched a video in our classes in the Fall that showed the construction of this cable way. The interesting thing about the construction is that all the towers were put into place by helicopter to minimize the disturbance to the rainforest.
The Skyrail had two potential spots for people to get out and either have an interpretative walk around the rainforest or to stop at different outlooks for better pictures. The first stop was at Red Peak Station which is the highest point that the Skyrail reaches. It was the site of some enormous Kauri Pines and Alexandra Palms.
The second stop was at Barron Falls Station. The Barron Falls Station provided some beautiful outlooks of Barron Falls. Barron Falls is still used for hydroelectric power. After a stop here, it was on to Kuranda.
Kuranda is a small town that has a strong aboriginal influence. It involves a great deal of tourism with markets, shops, and cafes. There are also a few other stops. After a couple of hours in which students shopped and grabbed lunch, we then headed down the mountain by train. The train brought us down on the other side of the valley and we had the opportunity to see Barron Falls from the other side when the trained stopped. We were then treated to many other nice views on our way down until we reached Cairns.