Cabins in the Rainforest

One of the highlights of the trip so far had to have been our free Auckland weekend. It was great to be able to go out with each and just explore the city however we wanted to. Traveling everywhere in a big group has been great, but sometimes the days are really long and we're all exhausted at the end of the day. We got to see some of the quieter and shyer members break out of their shells and we all had a great time!

As I've said before I love meeting new people and this weekend was a great time for that to happen. I met eight new friends this weekend and they all took us out on the town and showed us their favorite places to eat and hang out. It was a great treat! We've got a lot of great memories from this weekend to add to this entire experience. Not only do I love meeting new people, but I finally got a picture with my friend Alexa, from half way around the world!

It was great to see her again and this time have her show me where she lives and some of the things she loves about the city.

From Auckland we had a long journey ahead of us to get to Yungaburra. We left our hostel for the airport at 4:30 in the morning and then got there nearly three hours before our flight so we slept, read, or ate the time away. Then we landed in Sydney and had a three hour layover there and when we finally landed in Cairns we had about an hour and a half van ride into the rainforest. We finally arrived at the Center for Rainforest Studies outside of Yungaburra around seven at night. It was a long day. But when we arrived here we all perked up because we were in a new place!

The first full day we were here was Tuesday and we started the morning off with a site walk to get us all used to where we would be sleeping and living for awhile. We walked a loop around the center and got to see a lot of cool rainforest. Yes, I am actually living in the rainforest. We all bunk in cabins in the woods (rainforest) and the "man cave" as we all have deemed it looks the most similar to the cabin in the recent movie. IT'S AWESOME!

Anyways we learned about all the deadly animals we could encounter here and by the end of the site walk I think almost everyone had had a leech either bite or almost bite them. The worst part about these leeches is they drop out of the trees and sometimes can end up on your eye ball. Eyeball leeches. What the hell?! Aside from that the leeches are fine. They try and bite my legs a lot, but because I have hairy legs they can't get to my skin. Very handy if you ask me. There are a few spiders and snakes that we could come into contact with here, but those haven't happened very often. And finally the stinging trees. If we touch a stinging tree we'll be in pain on the spot and will be reminded of this contact everyday for NINE MONTHS. Too long for one touch of a tree for me, even though I'm tempted to touch one just to see what it's like.

Wednesday we were split into four different groups to investigate four different towns around the area and how they felt about where the lived. It was a very cool exercise and I found it to be very interesting because we all got to meet more new people and learn about their lives in the town, how they felt about conservation, and what they did or didn't like about their towns. Just very cool! The town that I went to, Atherton, was great! We learned about an award winning bakery with fantastic apple turnovers and an added bonus of vanilla Coke!

And now today was a great day too! A very very very long one though. We had a lecture in the morning and then went to Malanda Falls to have field lectures. I learned a lot today and had fun doing it too! We got to see a lot of different animals in the wild like tree kangaroos, kookaburras, and even a possum (they're actually very cute here). See:

Both the tree kangaroos and possum were just lucky finds, but were just incredible to see. Today had to have been the highlight of the trip. I know I say that a lot, or at least it feels that way, but everyone here is becoming better and better friends and we all get along so well that when we have the opportunity for free time like we did today, we're almost never bored. Our free time today was spent at a crater lake where we got to swim for a couple hours. Nice and cool water was nice after being in the sun all day. Hole in the ozone really makes a difference, it feels like the sun is always burning my skin. Nice and toasty!

SFS: Trip to the Mountains

I have spent the past four days at a place called the Marae. It was incredibly awesome! I'm not the most outdoorsy person per se, but I really enjoyed my time here. We all got to see what life was like on a farm and experience the life of a Maori family.

One of the greatest things was how accepting they were of all of us. They brought us into their lives, shared their culture, food, and home with us and we tried to do the same thing back. All 19 of us students stayed in one long hall, guys on one side and girls on the other. We weren't allowed to wear our shoes in this room because it was a sacred house where their ancestors were acknowledged and respected. We couldn't have anything but water in this room and all food was not allowed.

There wasn't hot water always readily available and the first night I took an ice cold shower. The reason being that I and a few others went on a short run that first night there. While running we saw shooting stars, the milky way, and the southern cross (again). Not only that, but we spotted an owl sitting in a tree and just took in the silence and darkness around us. It was awesome!

That first night was the latest any of us stayed awake, mostly just talking and hanging out until about midnight. Then we tried to go to sleep, but as was repeated every night, laughing fits befell a few of us and I ended up in tears from laughing so hard. Nothing was really funny, but when one of us started to laugh others would join in and it would become an endless cycle.

The first day we were there we got to witness a cool dog training program. This training is used for hunting dogs so they don't go after kiwi (another flightless bird). This dog aversion training was very interesting to watch because it only took one shock on an electric collar to get the dog to avoid the dead kiwi. Also, dogs who had been trained over two years ago, still had an aversion to kiwi and their smell and would stay away from them. Fantastic!

Following the kiwi experience from the first day, we all had the opportunity to go out into the mountains at night and listen for kiwi in the woods. This was fun even though it was pretty chilly. We went out about a fifteen minute roller coaster drive and sat on the road and just listened. Again, it was pitch black and absolutely silent. My group of six heard five kiwi over the course of two hours. We heard many possums and a few owls as well. And being out in the woods and having a clear night, we got to see a lot of shooting stars and many different constellations as well.

Yesterday was fun despite the rain and cold. We hiked through the mountains for about four hours in the rain and mud and had a barbecue up in the mountains at another cabin. While hiking around we got to see many of the sacred sites around where we were staying and it was very interesting to see it all. From there we walked back to the Marae to eat our Hangi (spelling may be off). This is a traditional pit-cooking style and boy was it delicious.

Two days before we took this hike the "man of the house" Aaron shot a wild boar that was on his land. That boar ended up being our dinner last night and it was great! A Hangi works like almost any pit style cooking. It's a hole in the ground that you have hot rocks in, which will cook your food. You put your food in a metal basket and lower it into the pit after wrapping it in layers and layers of burlap and a white sheet. Cover it all up with dirt and leave it there for three to four hours. Come back and you've got a fantastic meal, piping hot.

My favorite thing about being at the Marae has to have been the kids. There were four kids who would be around sporadically throughout the weekend and they loved to play. Three brothers, ages 7, 4, and 2 (I think) were the most fun. We practiced rugby, ran around, and just acted like kids. I loved it all. When we left today the women both told me that the boys would miss messing around with me and would tell them thanks and goodbye for me. All of us in the group have an open invitation now to go back to the Marae sometime in the future and visit everyone there and as of now, we're all trying to think of a good time to have an SFS reunion back at the Marae. Maybe it'll happen soon, but I think it'll be sometime in the distant future.

Maybe it'll happen, maybe it won't, but I know that staying there with this family (both SFS and Maori) was an experience I'll never forget.

SFS Days 2, 3, and 4

SFS: Day 2

So far this was the coldest day we’ve had. We did a lot of “get-to-know-you” activities in between our lectures in the classroom, which have been interesting even if every lecture didn’t apply to my interests. It was odd today because it wasn’t cold first thing in the morning, but when we went outside after a lecture it was suddenly freezing.

While everyone has done the get-to-know-you activities, they were actually quite enjoyable this time around. Maybe it was because we’re all in a different country, but we all have pretty much instantly clicked. It seems that no matter which bus we’re in (Bruce or Lucy as they have affectionately been named) we all get along and can have a great time. It has been amazing. I don’t think I could have asked for a better group of peers to work with for the summer.

After going through more lectures and lunch we went to the Arataki visitor center and got some incredible views of the rainforests in New Zealand. Then we finally got to actually go into the rainforest and go for a walk and talk. After some wandering around we found a place called the Kauri (a type of tree found all over New Zealand) Cathedral. The reason it’s referred to as a cathedral is because the trees are huge, tall pillars that looked similar to the columns often found in cathedrals.

Day 3

We were all very excited about today because we were going to get some time downtown in Auckland. After sitting through a few more lectures in the morning we went to the Auckland War Memorial Museum and wandered around for a while.

In New Zealand the Maori people are the indigenous people of the area and like the Aboriginals in Australia they love sharing their culture with other people. So the first thing we saw at this museum was a presentation of songs and dances from the Maori. It was a lot of fun to see. These dances included the Wakka, a traditional dance the All Blacks (New Zealand’s rugby team) perform before every match they play. It’s very intimidating.

Here’s a picture of a trumpet according to the museum. It’s from Tibet and from something like the 14^th century, but I’m not really sure.

Then we got about two hours downtown! Instead of following the group and wandering with them I got to meet up with a friend I haven’t seen in a long time, probably over a year. Alexa and I met up for some coffee and to just talk about our lives. We started planning the next weekend as well because all 19 of us will get to have a free weekend in Auckland and I want her to meet the group and vice versa.

And of course I found my black mustache dye. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but never followed through with. The big joke here has been that I should have found Just For Men “Touch of Grey.”

Now my mustache matches one of the girl’s mustache tattoos on her finger! More pictures will be posted here as I take them and put them on my computer.

Day 4

Today has been probably the most rewarding day to date. After breakfast we drove to another site about a thirty minute drive away. Here our task was to clear out an area of forest from weeds so the native plants could thrive again. It seemed a bit daunting at first, but because there were 19 students and three interns and one professor, it turned out to be a lot of fun.

We were in smaller groups all around this hilled area and were all attacking different weeds. My group took the job of taking out the Goss plant. It’s incredibly spiky and I, along with the rest of my group, have scratches all up and down my arms. Attacking these weeds with saws and brute force was great fun and having some music playing while we did it definitely made it easier.

From there we traveled something like 45 minutes from here and went to a spot where, two years ago, trees were planted by previous students of the same program we are on now. It was cool to see the trees still growing and thriving in this place. Then came a trip down to the beach. Not just any beach, but a black sand beach. The beauty we saw here was basically indescribable. The pictures we took don’t do it any justice, but here’s one anyways:

      

Tomorrow our breakfast is the earliest it has been, but that’s because we’re moving onto another place. We’ll be staying at a place called the Marae to spend the next few days with a Maori family. We’ll be eating there and living with this family. I’m really excited and I know the rest of the group is too!

I also learned that at least one person here thinks my mustache looks fake now that it’s dyed because it doesn’t match the rest of the hair on my head. My argument to that is the fact that my mustache doesn’t really ever match the rest of my hair color.

SFS: Day 1

Field Studies Day 1: Waking up at five in the morning isn’t bad when you’re excited for the day to come even if it means more flights and more traveling.

I love traveling as you know, but this is different. I was incredibly excited to meet my studying group. I got to the Brisbane airport just a little early for my flight at 9:10 in the morning. I was at the gate by 6:15, nearly three hours before my flight and that was after I went through customs and checked in my luggage and everything. Too early for me. I walked around the airport waiting for my group to arrive. While waiting I ate my breakfast, which consisted of my first trip to an American restaurant the entire trip.

I may have been excited to meet my group, but when it came time to actually meet them, I was entranced in my music. Lil’ Wayne this time. Quite a contrast to what I have been listening to for most of this trip, but it has been awhile since I listened to good old Weezy. After who knows how long I was approached by one of the group members, Shaina, and she told me they were three rows ahead of me in the waiting area in the gate. When I looked over the group of about 14 other students were looking at me and apparently commenting on my mustache. I guess it makes me pretty noticeable! Good thing too, or I wouldn’t have found them until after the flight.

After quite a bumpy flight, the bumpiest I’ve had in years, we landed in Auckland, New Zealand. In just the two weeks that I wasn’t on a flight with my favorite entertainment screens, new movies appeared! This time I watched Man on a Ledge, unsurprisingly simple, but very entertaining nonetheless. Anyways, we loaded our luggage (well most of us did, some members of our group had their luggage get lost). And I got to introduce myself to everyone and get to know some of them on our 45-minute van ride to our site.

Without seeing it in the daylight it’s hard to determine just how cool it is, but so far it’s very cool. Living in cabins in New Zealand. I love it! And the people have been extremely friendly, which I wasn’t entirely expecting because they have all been traveling for about 36 hours. And us guys have it easy. In two cabins that could fit six guys each there are three in each, while the girls are four to a room. We had a delicious meal and hung out in the dining room area for the night playing Bananagrams and just relaxing after traveling.

Not only are the people fun so far, but I learned that one of the members of the group thinks Bucky Badger is terrifying. I was appalled at the first thought of this, but then realized that I actually really like that thought. The fact that our mascot can scare fans from other schools and other bands (he goes to Boston University) is fantastic! I could do nothing but laugh at him for that. Not only did I learn that, but there’s a surprising amount of Big Ten schools here, Illinois, Purdue, Ohio State, and of course Wisconsin. At least those are the schools I learned for now. Otherwise there are members from all over the country. That’s all from the first day. Slowly, but surely, the Bananagrams players are dropping out and going to bed and I may have to join them shortly.

Prometheus

For the first time since Blade Runner I believe, the master of science fiction, Ridley Scott (in my opinion), returns to a world he created with Alien. This time it’s set a few years before the first Alien and it attempts to answer some of the questions that have haunted mankind since the dawn of time. Such as: where did we come from, where are we going, who/what created us? And the most important of all: why are we here?

This time around no expense was spared when it came to the ship, the Wexley corporation spent a trillion dollars on the ship: Prometheus. For the first time in Alien history the ship shares the movie’s title. That is as far I as I want to take the comparisons to the original because, though originally planned as a true prequel to the entire series, Scott decided to go the smarter route and create an entirely different storyline.

We follow captains and couple Shaw and Holloway, another first for the series, and their crew into space where they believe they have found a moon where life could survive. Obviously something doesn’t go according to plan and we get blood, action, suspense, and many fun surprises. It’s awesome!

Another similarity with not only the Alien series, but all of Ridley Scott’s movies. The term here is used lightly because everything in the “series” paled in comparison to Alien and James Cameron’s sequel, Aliens. His ability to draw great performances out of all of his actors is incredible and it follows through in shining color here. Noomi Rapace, following her turn as Lisbeth Slanader proves that she can bring power and heart to a scientist, just like Sigourney Weaver did with Ellen Ripley in the original Alien.

Every single one of the supporting actors perfectly suited his or her roles. Aside from Rapace, Michael Fassbender as the agenda-running robot David creates a character arc not seen since Blade Runner. Throughout the movie he must endure digs against him and comparisons to what the crew are doing (i.e. searching for answers to the aforementioned questions) and he provides a nuanced performance. And finally an Oscar winner beautifully acts the character that proves to have the biggest agenda. I don’t want to make it too obvious.

The story here took “old” themes, but throws in new surprises, twists, and technologies, all while following a formula perfected by the great Ridley Scott. Absolutely spectacular and he follows through with great force. A definite must-see for the summer!

8/10

This is a picture of the theater seats. I love watching my movies loud and this theater did me proud. It was extremely loud and I loved every second of it. The one bad thing was the lighted seat numbers. I just covered them up with my hands which worked perfectly!

Into the Wild

After being in Sydney and Melbourne it was finally time to get out into the mountains and the outback. First up were the blue mountains outside of Sydney.

Before getting to the blue mountains was our first stop at a wildlife preservation. Here I got to see nearly every animal from Australia. Tasmanian devils, kookaburras, kangaroos, and many, many more. It was cool to see them even if it wasn't technically in the wild. I got to feed a bunch of wallabies too and even picked up a baby, which I'm not really sure if I was supposed to. Oh well, it was worth it.

Then came the long ride into the mountains and as luck would have it, it was cloudy, cold, and rainy when we went up. Our guide had us stop a few times to see if we could see anything to no avail. I did see a waterfall shrouded in the mist, so that was really cool! After realizing that we couldn't see anything out in the mountains we had the opportunity to see aboriginal dances and learn more about the culture and the didgeridoo.

One guy even started teaching me how to play the didg. After about 15 minutes I was getting a good sound to resonate. It's a lot harder to play than I originally thought, but once you hear the sound you're listening for it gets easier. It would take a lot of time to learn to circular breathe and keep playing, but maybe someday I'll practice and figure it out. The guy there told me it took him two months to learn and his brother, a musician, only two weeks.

The next stop on this two week trip with my parents was Uluru and Ayer's Rock. Finally some time in central Australia and the outback! Flying in we could see the massive rock in the distance and then at night we got to see it closer at sunset and eat a barbecue under the stars! I got to see the southern cross and the milky way again. Though this time, because of a full moon, the milky way was tougher to see. But that also meant we got to see a partial lunar eclipse! The earth was casting a shadow on the moon and it was incredible to see.

In the morning we went to look at the rock again, but this time at sunrise and on camels. It was a lot of fun and interesting to learn all the things a camel can do. One very impressive thing is their ability to retain food and water for four weeks. They can go without either for that amount of time. Just awesome. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time to climb Ayer's Rock, but now I have a(nother) reason to come back to Australia.

Made it to Port Douglas today and now I'm off to the barrier reef! Hooray!

Sydney

After a brief flight, just under an hour and fifteen minutes I landed in Sydney, or the gateway to Australia as the locals call it and that's when the Melbourne bashing began. Everyone in Melbourne would not necessarily talk down about Sydney, but would definitely talk their city up. The same as a brother would pick on another brother. It's really enjoyable and entertaining.

First thing we did after checking into the hotel was start wandering as always. Found a restaurant to have a snack and a beer right on the Sydney Harbor. Great views and great food! Then came the Opera House tour. It was surprisingly interesting and fun to actually get to go into three of the theaters. When the tour finished we decided to see Karen O's "psycho opera" called "Stop the Virgens."

If you think you know weird, let me tell you, you haven't seen anything. This was one of the strangest and most confusing, yet entrancing and exciting stage production I've ever seen. I really couldn't give you any explanation as to what we watched, but I liked the music and the weird dancing was intriguing to watch. I have a feeling that everyone leaving the theater that night was confused about what they just watched. I'd say definitely check it out just because it is so...different.

Despite the oddity of the show inside the opera house, this production was a part of a big lights festival called Vivid Live. It opened with Florence + the Machine on May 27th and includes movies, music, art, and lights. It's pretty cool because all around the harbor are different light displays, culminating in this cool display projected on the sails of the opera house (sorry if the video quality is poor)

It's a very cool display and a great idea to bring in more tourists (like they need help with that). It also brings people who live in the area into the downtown area of Sydney, which is pretty cool too!


Yesterday was the day of our city tour. The guide we had was hilarious! Half the time I wasn't sure if he was just pulling my leg or was telling the truth about Sydney, but the whole group (five of us) got on really well with him. An interesting thing I noticed here was that the lines on the road are all white, even the ones that separate the different directions of traffic. Just an odd thing I noticed. We got some really great views of the skyline, ate some more great food, and asked Rick, our guide, where some pubs where the locals go were. He pointed out three of them and of course my parents and I, after relaxing a bit in the hotel, made tracks to the first bar:

The Hero of Waterloo. Upon entering the pub I could tell that everyone knew we weren't locals and were giving us some strange looks. Mostly along the lines of "how did these people find out about this bar." It wasn't in a very secret or hard to find place, but I guess not many people like to go out and immerse themselves in the culture around them. I'll never understand how people can travel anywhere and not want to try the local places.

We then went onto another local bar called Lord Nelson's and it was a small scale brewery as well. It has probably the best beer I've had so far on this trip. It was a crowded bar, which made me feel like I was in Madison. Packed with college-aged people, it was a great place!

Then we finally decided to get some food! Walked a short distance and figured out we didn't know where we were going (surprise, surprise!). So after some slight arguing my mother went back into Lord Nelson's pub and asked a couple at the bar.

They weren't planning to come along, but they figured that we'd get lost along the way. And hey! We made some new friends along the way! Now I have three friends in Sydney and two in Melbourne and at least one in New Zealand, where I'll be going in just over a week! I can't wait! Back to Sydney and the Australian Hotel. I wanted to go there to eat solely for the purpose of getting a kangaroo pizza, which I completely successfully!

The meat was surprisingly delicious and with barbecue sauce on the pizza it was delectable!  I highly recommend it. The next things on my list to try are emu and crocodile since I already ate vegemite and am planning to bring some back to share with everyone! That all happened in two days and I didn't even get to today. It wasn't that exciting, but it was definitely another fun trip even if I were tired from staying out with my new friends until 2:30 in the morning! Oh well, another post for another day! Time to get some dinner.