skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I spent this last weekend playing around in what almost anyone would consider to be paradise. I know, my life is rough. ;)
Orpheus Island Research Station is located on National Park land in the Great Barrier Reef. Only the small station and a resort where guests fork over $2000/night are on the island. And at this point in time, the resort is closed for renovation... leaving my academic group the island to ourselves.
After never falling asleep Thursday night, I started getting ready at 3am. I then ate a quick Nutella sandwich, met up with some other girls from Uni Hall, and made the trek over to the bus stop. The bus arrived late, making our professor nervous, but we were on the road by 4:45. On the bus to Taylor's Beach (north east of Townsville), I wistfully stared out the window, while almost everyone slept. I watched a sunrise hidden behind a blanket of clouds begin while we rolled into the parking lot. I ran flat out to the bathroom to put my contacts in. Then, tragedy struck. My right contact was TORN. My mind raced with, "This is the 2nd time in my life I will have seen coral, and I won't actually SEE it!" But, I reminded myself that there are "no worries" and went on with my day. I walked with some others over to the servo and bought some chips and a Monster energy drink, which I skulled in order to make it onto the boat on time. The boat ride over to Orpheus was AMAZING. It was, without a doubt, one of the most intense experiences of my life. The boat was small and fast, and it catapulted itself over the wave crests. If it hadn't been for the death grip I was exerting on my seat, I would have flown in the air and landed again on the bottom of the boat with a thump.
As we pulled up to the island, the only thing that could have made the experience more perfect was the Jurassic Park theme song playing in the background. The lush, green forested hills fell seamlessly into the calm, teal waters below. The only dent in the background was the low-lying dive house and the sign that said, "Orpheus Island Research Station, James Cook University." We all hopped off the boat, grabbed our stuff, and went and made ourselves at home in our new rooms.... followed by breakfast number 3.
By the time the final boat arrived, it was 10am. We had a quick meeting, and then went on a hike around our corner of the island - Pioneer Bay. At one point, we went and climbed a very large boulder that looked out onto the endless ocean, and I had one of those life moments where you feel really insignificant in just the right way. The picture I've included in no way does that view justice.
After the hike, but before dinner, I got to go snorkeling. I had just stuck my mask in the water when, BAM!, a massive stingray swam right underneath me. And I do mean, massive. The rest of the snorkel was cool, despite the poor visibility. I saw little electric blue fish and aqua colored corals. Even though I only had one eye!
We came back and had a dinner of burgers, hot dogs, steak, and ice cream. After which, most people went straight to bed. I tried, but to no avail. I had only 3 hours of sleep that night.
Most of Saturday we spent profiling the Bay. I saw black-tipped reef sharks, crabs, a spider conch, and lots of microatolls. I also got roasted... again. At least it was only the very tops of my shoulders this time! After we got done with our work, we went for another snorkel. This time, our professor took us over the clam beds, which I didn't know at the time. But as soon as I started snorkeling, I swam over top of clams that must have been hundreds and hundreds of pounds, and 1-2 meters across. And some of them had up to 10 clams in each bed. It was amazing to swim down and run my fingers along the insides of their "lips", which were fluorescing green, purple, and blue from their zooxanthellae. They felt soft, yet firm. It was absolutely incredible.
That night, after a dinner of Coconut curry made with fresh coconuts from the island, we got to work on our paper. We were there for school, after all. My small group was perfectly constructed with 2 city planners who knew everything about dumpy leveling, and 2 biologists (the other girl marine) who could handle the biological data. At the end of Saturday night, we were leaps and bounds ahead of everyone else.
Sunday morning started beautifully. The sun was shining... everything was hopeful. We took the small aluminum boats over to Iris Point on the side of the island. We went on another hike through the forest to check out some rocks. Our professor thought it was HILARIOUS that we were walked through the hot forest, evading the stinging plants, got super sweaty, only to come upon rock. My professor, after egging me on all weekend about how lame Missouri must be, asked me, "Do they have rocks in Missouri?" My only response was, "Why yes, we do happen to have rocks." Believe me, it was hilarious.
The next part involves me rock hopping for a half hour to get to our transect point, where it started to rain and became ridiculously dangerous for us to be doing the work we were doing. I honestly can't believe no one broke their ankle on the slippery-as-ice boulders. There were lots of awesome biological moments to make up for the hard work, though. We saw a thousands and thousands of sea cucumbers everywhere in the shallow tidal pools. There was a huge conch, about a foot long, that was slugging itself along the algae that plagued the intertidal area. Crabs scurried everywhere. The coral that lived on the microatolls was highlighter colors. Blue, green, fushia, pink, purple. Clams fountained water everywhere. Polychaete worms were slithering around in the sediment. We found an electric blue sea star at the main reef's edge. I'm absolutely positive my eyes lit up like a child's at everything. There is no doubt in my mind now that I'm going to move to a tropical environment once I have the option.
After braving the freezing rain in nothing but my swim suit top, and rock hopping back to the beach, we got to go for one last snorkel. I swam in and out of the towering corals after the bright green and blue parrotfish. It was absolutely amazing.
That night, I feasted on lasagna. It was one of the best meals I've had since I've been in Australia. The joy of the dinner was short-lived, however, since I had to then go and write an essay to turn in before the next morning.
*Insert section where I talk about writing an essay until 2:30 in the morning*
We woke up at 5 on Sunday, and cleaned until just right after the 1st boat left at 7. Naps on the beach and a marathon of Cougar Town followed until our boat left at 9:30.
Before I knew it, I was back to reality in Townsville. Of course, nothing finished off a great weekend like sleeping for 10 hours Monday night. I have a refreshed love of Australia, that's for sure!
Enjoy the second video showing off my living arrangements! It's a bonus!
In the first couple weeks of school, I visited Reef HQ and the Billabong Sanctuary - both in Townsville. Here is some videos I took of the awesome stuff I saw. I apologize for the lack of content at Billabong. My camera's battery died right after the crocodile show.
Oh... where do I even begin describing my weekend at Alligator Creek?
The trip started on Friday afternoon. Sharon (the blonde chick in the back of all my videos) and I skipped our last lecture so that we could make it to the campsite before nightfall. Actually, Sharon was supposed to have gone grocery shopping with the guys before I joined, but that fell through, as would most everything else throughout the weekend. Note: I am laughing at this, so please read this as something of a dark comedy.
So, we leave at 4 and head towards the grocery store. We bought lots of stuff, then headed back to Ryan's to pack the cars. The cars were so packed that you couldn't see out the back window of the SUV or the sedan. We left at 5:30, a full hour and a half after we intended. We stopped along the way of the 45 minute drive to get some gas. While we were getting gas, we realized we had forgotten a lot of food-stuffs... and the camping permit... and so we had to drive across the street to the grocery store. In doing so, Ryan lost the gas-cap which he had left on top of the car. Things were remedied when he bought a new gas-cap to go along with the new bag of groceries. Then we expected that we would be on our way.
We got to the campsite around 7, while the sun going down. This would not have been a problem until we noticed that the lantern was no where to be found. As one group made progress on the Taj Mahal, Tim and I headed back to Ryan's to break into his house and grab the permit and lantern. While we were driving back, we got a call and subsequent text message telling us to grab about 12 more things. We found everything they asked for, including a tight rope, bed linens, and guitar tabs, and came back. Upon our return, Tim noticed that his back was missing. That's when we had a flashback of seeing his bag on top of the car that Ryan drove to go get cell phone reception. A bag worth several hundred dollars disappeared into the great abyss of Alligator Creek park.
Things were decent again, for at least a little while. We ate our fill of kangaroo and beef steaks, and had a few beverages before bed. Unfortunately, my insomnia ran rampant, and I didn't get a wink of sleep. This was a bad omen for the next day.
Woke up at the crack of dawn to find that the turkeys had attacked a lot of our stuff. They ate the Tim-Tams, spread the trash around, and just made a mess in general. After an awesome breakfast of bacon, omelets, and toast, courtesy of Ryan, we decided to go for a swim. We happened to be swimming between 10 and 12:30, during which time, we also laid out on white rocks. We may as well have shoved ourselves on a shish-kebab before doing so, because we got ROASTED.
After our swim, we came back and made noodles for lunch before headed back out to the creek again, this time fully covered in sunscreen. We played as it got dark and came back for dinner. Kangaroo steaks again! I love my men. They definitely know how to please a lady.
I slowly came down with a mild case of sun poisoning. My head began pounding and my body began shivering uncontrollably. As everyone got wasted outside, I laid in bed with Sharon and pondered life while trying to ignore my pain. It didn't help that we ran out of potable water, which left me (and everyone else) dehydrated.
I will not be taking the time to describe the drunken debauchery that took place that evening. I will say that we almost witnessed a British chick stone (Jesus-style) her boyfriend. It was pretty crazy.
I rolled out of bed at 8:30ish to find that the turkeys had caused at least 4 times the destruction as the night before. After shouting explicatives, I picked up all the trash and put it in one spot, then sat on turkey duty until everyone else woke up about an hour later. We drove to the outskirts of the park, bought water, powerade, and breakfast fixings, then drove back. As soon as the sun hit my skin, I winced in pain. When we went to swim that day, I wore a shirt and spent the entire time hiding from the evil sun in the shade.
At some point, Tim's flip flops broke. Thus, Tim had nothing left but his shorts and shirt that he came in, and a dinky yellow toothbrush that he bought at the corner store.
By the time we left, I'm pretty sure that everyone was done with nature. I know I was. I can only take nature for 2 days at a time. After that, all I want to do is shoot everything and drive a bulldozer into the woods.
I did see some pretty cool animals, though. I saw wallabies for the first time... heaps of them. I also saw a gowana and 2 different Littoria caerulea, or the Green Tree Frog. I also saw 2 Kookaburras up close. All of these experiences were awesome.
All in all, it was definitely memorable. The creek was beautiful, and delightfully chilly. I had a wonderful time with all of my friends, and everyone took all of the set-backs like champs. I definitely recommend Alligator Creek, if you find yourself in Townsville. Maybe take a slingshot, though. It's always turkey season.
I apologize for the massive delay, but I finally have my computer back up and running!
Above, you will find just some of my adventures from O Week.
Here are a few explanations:
Sunday: There was a kickoff to O Week that involved a crazy motivational speaker and a Polynesian show with fire and drums. Unfortunately, the fire tossers had a hard time not dropping their instruments and a rain storm interrupted, sending most people running for the hills. The drummers were really amazing, though! The rhythms and the singing were almost hypnotic... gave me goosebumps!
Tuesday: Toga party. I wish this night had gone better for me. One of my friends, Jeff, had an allergic reaction to what he was drinking and had to be taken to the hospital. Then, an AJ (Army Jerk) got handsy in the club, and I had to leave. But looking back, at least my toga looked pretty cool. Haha!
Wednesday: Uni Hall's initiation ceremony. It was a night of hazing at its finest. Overall, I didn't participate other than as a spectator. They piled us all on a bus with our chef's hats on and took us to a bar they rented out and gave out unlimited supplies of alcohol. The "tits of terror" and the "mask of pain" made their appearance. These instruments of alcohol distribution are just as terrifying as they sound. I fell asleep that night to the sound of people spewing over their balconies and in the bathroom. Not exactly the most soothing of lullabies.
Friday: I had a lovely introduction to Bludgers. Bludgers is what the Uni Club (yes, there's a bar ON campus) becomes on Friday night. It's a really laid back and chilled atmosphere where a live band plays. It's held outside on a really large patio where people sit and sip on $4 basics. I have since made this time of week a habit.
Saturday: Kegs on the Lawn. Yes, Uni Hall threw us a kegger. This was by far the most fun I had during the week, probably because it took place in the middle of the afternoon. For just $10, I drank unlimited goon punch and beer (which has become a rare luxury here in Australia due to its price), and then got involved in a huge mud wrestling fight. It took several hoses and 2 showers to get everything off! The only thing I regret about this fiasco is that there are no pictures of me muddy! The one I included is me post-alcohol consumption, but pre-mud wrestling.
Sunday: Went to the Strand with a bunch of friends, 1 of which ended up in the hospital because of an allergic reaction to his lunch. Other than that, we had a good time laying out and swishing around in the rock pool, eating fish 'n' chips, and going with another friend to go watch some Ultimate Frisbee! :)
While I did have some nice moments, in general, O week wasn't really my... thing. I'm sure it would be for a lot of other people. The outlandish alcohol consumption and being yelled at all week as a "fresher" by some people who are only 18 failed to tickle my fancy. Not to mention the insane heat and lack of air conditioning which made me crankier than usual, anyway. In the end, I managed to survive, and I did meet a lot of people and make friends. So please, don't let my less-than-sparkling review of O Week deter you, everything does get better, and someone else may have enjoyed it far more than I did. And O week isn't treated the same by the different dorms. By the way, a dorm review is coming up in the near future.
Now, there's just a half hour left until my 21st Birthday! I'm gonna go call my Mom!
Okay, so I didn't kill my computer, but I did put it into a week-long coma. I accidently deleted the varible folder instead of the log, like I had intended. Now, I am waiting for Apple to ship me some disks so I can reinstall my operating system... At least I'm pretty sure that's what the guy said. Fortunately, he said there's a 99% chance that I haven't lost any data. Until then, I'm surviving by doing all of my work in Uni Hall's beautifully air conditioned computer lab.
There won't be another video blog for 10 days or so due to this minor technological hiccup. But I'll try to make it really awesome to make up for the delay. :)
Let me fill you in on some cultural differences between the US and Aus, because they do exist. The biggest adjustment I've had to make personally is the general lack of precision in Australia. Let me explain - if the Australians tell you a number, you can be sure that they have rounded it optimistically by at least 20%. If they say it's only a five minute walk to the liquor store, you can be sure that it's more like a 30 minute walk. If something costs $15, they'll tell you it's only $7. During the week, the busses run about 5 minutes late and during the weekend, they may run about 5 minutes early. And when I took a taxi this last weekend with my friend, Sharon, the driver estimated that it would only be $15 total. It was $20. I originally found this issue to be incredibly frustrating, and still do to a certain degree. However, now that I know to expect it, I'm more prepared to deal with it.
Another cultural difference that is to be noted is the Australian love for alcohol. Now, people told me of this before I came, but I guess I always passed it off as an exaggeration. They were NOT exaggerating. People here, in general, love to drink. Any amount, any night, anywhere. As an individual with a very low alcohol tolerance who only occassionallly consumes, I have had to get used to people asking me why I don't want to drink, and why I don't want to get drunk. Thankfully, everyone is generally pretty cool with the whole thing. At least they were after "O week"...
"O week," or orientation week was an insane whirlwind of social obligations that involved loads of what we would consider in America to be blatant hazing. Here, there is no Greek system like we have on our University campuses at home. Instead, their dorms, which they call colleges, work like a fraternity system. Our college, Uni Hall, thinks themselves to be better and above George Roberts or John Flynn. And in order to be accepted into Uni Hall social life, you almost have to attend a multitude of drunken events where the "fossils" pressure the "freshers" to skull (or chug) their drinks. Also, during the duration of the week, you must wear a chef hat (or bandana, or bib, or bucket) that displays your name. If you don't follow this rule, the fossils may write your name on your forehead in permanent marker. Lucky for everyone who had to endure the permanent marker, the humidity level in Townsville allowed for easy removal of the marks.
Moving on, the other major adjustment has been in the area of dining halls. At home in the dining halls there are countless options at every meal. Everything is fresh and yummy and there is always desert. You can come and go during most of the day as you please, and if you do get the munchies while it's closed for a main meal, you can go to the take-out and grab pizza or sandwiches there. There is NOTHING like that here. There are 3 meals during the day, each with only one option. You can have a bowl of cereal and toast for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and whatever the dining hall staff slops together for dinner - and I do mean slops. Dinner 9 our of 10 times is awful. They tried to feed us ravioli one night that starving Indonesian children would have turned down. Most of us try to compensate by digging into the covered up cereal while trying not to get caught. Oh, and if you miss a meal - they only allow an hour and a half for each one - you're just SOL.
Just so I don't make this sound all bad, the difference I have enjoyed most is the philosophy of "no worries." I'm a person who typically has their panties in a bunch, or knickers in a knot for my Aussie readers. Things are just laid-back here. This sterotype is one of the major reasons I chose to come to Australia, actually. Knowing myself has a very stresed individual, I wanted to be forced into a society that's more chilled out than myself. Everytime I feel overwhelmed, I just remind myself that I'm in Australia, and that I need to do as the Australians do. It really has helped me take a few deep breaths when I've needed them.
Okay, it's time to get some actual work done. Much more will be revealed in the next blog!
