The language here is quite amusing I was talking to an Australian about their language and how they got all of these random words. She told me it was because Australian people are a little lazy so they shorten their words Breakfast is brekky and biscuits are bikkies those are the two I heard the most because of the tour guide Darren. I mostly get confused with the words for french fries and potato chips, if you walk up to a food place counter and ask can I have some chips or where are the chips if your in a grocery store they will give to you or point out the french fries. Here they call french fries chips. And if you want some potato chips you have to ask for crisps. I actually like those words better than our words for them, I may just have to continue saying them when we go back home!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
The Daintree Rainforest
Bright and early Sunday morning, we boarded two coaches and took off for the Daintree Rainforest. After about 2 hours, we moved from the coaches onto a boat for a cruise down the Daintree River. Our purpose: to see crocodiles in the wild.
The pressure was off almost immediately as our guide checked a bank that has been frequented by Fang, an adult female croc, and sure enough, she was there. The guides radio each other when a croc has been discovered, so Fang was well photographed today. Amazingly, our guide spotted a baby crocodile on a branch or root just above the water’s surface. More photos. And then we were alerted to the presence of a third crocodile by another boat. This one was in classic pose – snout and eyes just above the water.
There are years when no crocs are seen at all, so we were fortunate. As a result, we heard less about the mangroves. These are trees that line the tidal shores of tropical Australia. The Daintree River has 30 of 39 species of mangroves. At low tide, the complex root system of the tree is exposed. These roots provide protection for small fish when the tide is in. The roots also trap soil runoff, filtering the water. One of our last stops of the day was at a beach at low tide. The roots of the mangroves were exposed, and the patterns were intricate and beautiful.
Our guides took the coaches across the river on a ferry and collected us at the end of our cruise. We took an hour long boardwalk hike in the rainforest with the goal of seeing a cassowary in the wild. In 8 years, Charlie has seen just one cassowary in the wild. Our guide had a report of a sighting, so we were on the alert. The cassowary is endangered; less than 800 exist in the wild. They spread the seeds of about 430 species throughout the rainforest. Sixteen of these will germinate only if they pass through the digestive tract of a cassowary. So, if cassowaries die out, these plants will also die out.
However, we did not see a cassowary on our hike. We did see more basket ferns, my favorite epiphyte. An epiphyte lives on another tree without harming it. We also saw several strangler figs; they do in fact harm the trees, sending more and more roots down the tree until the tree is encased and strangled. Wait a While vines are thorny and will snag you or your clothes if you brush up against them. To free yourself, you don’t pull yourself away; you stop moving and you…wait a while. The vine releases you. Eventually these young vines become rattan cane. Palms, ferns, vines- too many to list were identified by our guide, Finn. He showed us an unsuccessful incubation mound. A male scrub fowl had piled up some dirt and leaves to impress the ladies, but his was not chosen. Later in the day we saw a mound that did result in eggs being laid; it was huge, built up into a little hill about 4 feet tall.
On to a lunch of steak and salads. This rivaled our reef cruise lunch. We popped back into our coaches and within minutes found cassowaries! A female and her chick were pecking about in a small clearing. The other coach was called back, and we moved on…to another cassowary! This one was sighted by a couple of students on our coach. She slipped behind a tree now and then, but everyone was able to get pictures.
Our next stop was at Emmagen Creek. The plan was to have the students swim in the fresh-water creek with no worries of crocs or jellies. However, the creek bed is very rocky and the creek is shallow, so they could sit and let the water run over them, but that was about it. Our guides cut up 6 types of fruit – bananas, pineapple, papaya, custard apple, mamey sapote,and dragon fruit. We all tried a bit of each. Finn brewed tea bush style, boiling water in a can and then swinging it in a circle to get the leaves to sink. Remember swinging buckets of water in such a way so as to keep the water in the bucket? That’s what he was doing.
Back into the coaches and on to ice cream! As we pulled into the lot of the shop, we saw a…yes, you guessed it: our 4th cassowary! We got out of the coach for this one, and she headed straight for us. Cassowaries can be dangerous – they have a sharp middle claw – so we were careful and moved out of her path. There was a lot of good-natured “Endangered, my foot!” going on, but we all realized how incredibly lucky we’d been today: 3 crocs and 4 cassowaries.
We had the stop at the beach I mentioned earlier, and then a scenic view stop. It was nearly 7:00 when we returned to the hotel. Although we have done more walking than this on other outings, Charlie and I were exhausted – and not hungry. No dinner tonight.
Tomorrow is a free day, and then we fly to Alice Springs. Internet access will be non-existent when we are camping, Thursday through Saturday.
The pressure was off almost immediately as our guide checked a bank that has been frequented by Fang, an adult female croc, and sure enough, she was there. The guides radio each other when a croc has been discovered, so Fang was well photographed today. Amazingly, our guide spotted a baby crocodile on a branch or root just above the water’s surface. More photos. And then we were alerted to the presence of a third crocodile by another boat. This one was in classic pose – snout and eyes just above the water.
There are years when no crocs are seen at all, so we were fortunate. As a result, we heard less about the mangroves. These are trees that line the tidal shores of tropical Australia. The Daintree River has 30 of 39 species of mangroves. At low tide, the complex root system of the tree is exposed. These roots provide protection for small fish when the tide is in. The roots also trap soil runoff, filtering the water. One of our last stops of the day was at a beach at low tide. The roots of the mangroves were exposed, and the patterns were intricate and beautiful.
Our guides took the coaches across the river on a ferry and collected us at the end of our cruise. We took an hour long boardwalk hike in the rainforest with the goal of seeing a cassowary in the wild. In 8 years, Charlie has seen just one cassowary in the wild. Our guide had a report of a sighting, so we were on the alert. The cassowary is endangered; less than 800 exist in the wild. They spread the seeds of about 430 species throughout the rainforest. Sixteen of these will germinate only if they pass through the digestive tract of a cassowary. So, if cassowaries die out, these plants will also die out.
However, we did not see a cassowary on our hike. We did see more basket ferns, my favorite epiphyte. An epiphyte lives on another tree without harming it. We also saw several strangler figs; they do in fact harm the trees, sending more and more roots down the tree until the tree is encased and strangled. Wait a While vines are thorny and will snag you or your clothes if you brush up against them. To free yourself, you don’t pull yourself away; you stop moving and you…wait a while. The vine releases you. Eventually these young vines become rattan cane. Palms, ferns, vines- too many to list were identified by our guide, Finn. He showed us an unsuccessful incubation mound. A male scrub fowl had piled up some dirt and leaves to impress the ladies, but his was not chosen. Later in the day we saw a mound that did result in eggs being laid; it was huge, built up into a little hill about 4 feet tall.
On to a lunch of steak and salads. This rivaled our reef cruise lunch. We popped back into our coaches and within minutes found cassowaries! A female and her chick were pecking about in a small clearing. The other coach was called back, and we moved on…to another cassowary! This one was sighted by a couple of students on our coach. She slipped behind a tree now and then, but everyone was able to get pictures.
Our next stop was at Emmagen Creek. The plan was to have the students swim in the fresh-water creek with no worries of crocs or jellies. However, the creek bed is very rocky and the creek is shallow, so they could sit and let the water run over them, but that was about it. Our guides cut up 6 types of fruit – bananas, pineapple, papaya, custard apple, mamey sapote,and dragon fruit. We all tried a bit of each. Finn brewed tea bush style, boiling water in a can and then swinging it in a circle to get the leaves to sink. Remember swinging buckets of water in such a way so as to keep the water in the bucket? That’s what he was doing.
Back into the coaches and on to ice cream! As we pulled into the lot of the shop, we saw a…yes, you guessed it: our 4th cassowary! We got out of the coach for this one, and she headed straight for us. Cassowaries can be dangerous – they have a sharp middle claw – so we were careful and moved out of her path. There was a lot of good-natured “Endangered, my foot!” going on, but we all realized how incredibly lucky we’d been today: 3 crocs and 4 cassowaries.
We had the stop at the beach I mentioned earlier, and then a scenic view stop. It was nearly 7:00 when we returned to the hotel. Although we have done more walking than this on other outings, Charlie and I were exhausted – and not hungry. No dinner tonight.
Tomorrow is a free day, and then we fly to Alice Springs. Internet access will be non-existent when we are camping, Thursday through Saturday.
train and moving up the coast
Knowing that we had to be on a train for 32 hours, I was not too excited about that. However now that we are on the train it is not as bad as I thought it would be. I got a chance to nap and take in all of the beautiful scenery around me. At first we were in the city, then we eventually moved to the more mountainous landscape, then it was very flat, it seemed to go on forever, then we moved to the more swampland. It is really cool to see how the scenery changes as we move up the coast. It is weird how the weather changes as we move up the coast, it gets warmer as you move north. Back in the states it gets colder as you move up the coast.
Circular Quay
Circular Quay was a very beautiful area. It was so cool coming around the corner on the ferry to see the Sydney Harbor Bridge and then the Sydney Opera House. The Sydney Opera House was bigger than I thought it was going to be. It was cool to see it lit up at night. I wanted to do the bridge walk, however it was a little too expensive, but it was awesome to see groups of people walking across it when we went under it.
Meeting new people
One of the best things about Australia besides the beautiful scenery and landscapes would be the people that we have met. I have made friends at each place we have been. They have all been from other places as well; they are all very friendly and interested in being our friends. I am glad that I got their contact information so that I can keep in touch with all of the people that we met. I love meeting people from other countries. I think the funniest thing about it is that they think that we sound weird and we think that they sound weird. I have met a few people that have been interested in coming to America and a few that have. I enjoy seeing the reactions on people’s faces when I tell them that I am from Connecticut, they have no clue where it is.
Dolphin Feeding at Tin Can Bay
While at Tin Can Bay, we got to be up close and personal with the dolphins. I got the chance to feed one of the dolphins. We got to feed them two fish; this was my first time ever getting to feed a dolphin. It was kind of sad to see all of the scars that the dolphin had, however they do seem to have a great life by being guaranteed food every day. At first I wasn’t going to feed the dolphins but then our tour guide Allie convinced me too. I am so glad that she did because it was an amazing experience. Usually at places you can only swim with them, and if you do get to feed them it is way more expensive than five dollars.
Kondalilla National Park
We got the chance to go to the Kondalilla National Park. This park was gorgeous, the weather was perfect. It was a warm and sunny day with a slight breeze which cooled us all down. Some went cliff jumping into the water, which seemed fun, but it was too cold for me and I am not a fan of heights. Overall, it was a great short hike, and a wonderful sunny day to lay out and get some sun.
Beautiful beach
After the Taronga Zoo a few of us decided to wander around so we walked down one of the trails outside of the zoo. Little did we know this would lead to a beautiful beach. This beach was secluded, it allowed us to take some really good pictures, the sun was setting as we were leaving. On the ride home we got to talk to an Australian, he was very warm and welcoming, he taught us a lot about Australia and things that we should do while were here.
Dingos
While in Australia I have got the opportunity to touch a dingo as well as see a few wild dingoes. It was interesting to see how they act in their surroundings. I patted a dingo at the koala sanctuary, he was on a leash, he was very calm, it looked just like a dog. He was not skittish at all. While on Frasier Island I saw a wild dingo after one of our hikes, he was walking right towards me. Once he got close enough he looked around and keep going on his way, they are not as hospitable in the wild.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Great Barrier Reef
On Friday, May 13, our class boarded the ship Passions of Paradise, joining about 55 other tourists with the single purpose of seeing the coral reef, up close and personal. There were other tour groups aboard. In particular, a group of adults roughly my age were doing a six-week tour of Australia; they started in Adelaide. They were fascinated by two things: Charlie’s underwater goggles/camera and our role in the lives of our 17 students.
Our preparations for the trip started the previous evening. We attended a two hour lecture, Reef Teach. In the first hour, the instructor identified the fish and coral we would most likely see and gave us the outstanding characteristics of each. In the second hour, he discussed the less likely viewings, especially for the snorkelers: sharks, Moray eels, sea snakes, manta rays. He talked about the threats to the reef. Compared to Charlie, he has a radically different viewpoint. Perhaps Charlie will discuss this in his blog. Our students, I’m proud to say, took the dangers to the reef seriously and were very careful.
By mid-morning, we were at Michaelmas Cay. Every one of our students either did a dive or a snorkel here. Some were able to do both. The divers went in right off the ship. Most of the snorkelers took the glass bottomed boat to the cay and walked into the water. When I had difficulty managing the flippers, Charlie indicated I should walk backwards. He also warned me when I was about to step on coral; to me it looked like small rocks in the sand. After a few minutes of trying to find a backwards path through it all, I gave up and did what I should have done earlier – flop in on my belly.
It took me another several minutes to calm down and figure out the breathing process. My nose stayed dry, my mouth was in the water, and yet I was supposed to breathe in and out through my mouth? Of course I couldn’t breathe through my nose because that was under the goggles, and I did have a breathing tube in my mouth. Still, I wasn’t comfortable for a while. The coral close to the shore was also close to the surface, so I was very nervous about knocking pieces off. But I was finally far enough from shore to be able to drift on my belly for long periods of time and just look at the wonders below me.
I did see corals; I did see fish, bright and dull, large and small. I tried to stay still long enough so that I could identify fish and coral, but I gave up and decided to simply enjoy the view. I saw what might have been plate coral; I saw long strands of yellow spaghetti waving in the current. Charlie signaled me to follow him, and we watched a clam with blue lips snap shut when we waved our hand over it. I was getting cold – I guess the stinger suit I was wearing is not designed to keep the snorkeler warm – so I told Charlie I was going to swim to the ship. His glasses were on the beach, so he went back to the cay and on his way saw a Christmas tree worm. I continued to look at the fish and coral as I pushed my way to the ship. Once at the ladder. I removed the flippers so that I could climb up and was immediately surrounded by sci-fi fish: very round and very flat batfish. If you could squeeze the air out of a yellow-green beach ball, you’d have a model of what I saw.
Everyone was so cold back on the ship! All the sunshiny places were in the wind. The warmest place was in the cabin shoved up against a viewing window; several of our students squeezed in there, shivering. The sights they saw were marvelous enough that a few skipped the afternoon session at Paradise Reef.
The crew served a very nice lunch with about 6 salads, a bowl of chilled prawns, and makings for sandwiches. That warmed us up. Tying the stinger suits onto the railing in the sun helped, too: mine was mostly dry and sun-warmed. At Paradise Reef, we had to go off the boat, so it was full immersion immediately. This reef is not near an island, and we were rocked by ocean waves the entire time. That actually helped to keep me warm; when I tried just drifting over the coral, I was swept away to a different outcropping. I had to swim back to the others. In fact I swam much further so that drifting would keep me in range of the ship. I had to keep my arms and legs moving, and so I was never cold.
The coral here was a bit different, and the water was deeper. I didn’t have to worry about kicking off a piece of coral. When my head was above water, it looked as if I was swimming over sand blossoms, that is, it seemed as if there was a very large crab down there digging up a lot of sand. But when I put my face into the water, the multitudes of coral and fish sprang up so clear and well-defined, it was as if I was looking at a photograph in a book. Head up, sand blossom. Head down, a coral garden populated by fish, not birds. By keeping my arms and legs moving, I was able to stay in one place for a while, hovering over brain coral. I saw four fish fighting, and I saw a parrot fish munching on coral. The fish bit off so much that parts tumbled down the sides of the coral and out of sight.
Once back on the ship, I thought about what I would do differently if I ever had this chance again. I don’t know if I could handle a dive, but the reports of the dozen or so students who did dive tempt me. I don’t think I will walk in from an island or cay if the possibility of going in off the boat exists. I’d be less worried about damaging coral and I’d be at the coral sooner. I’d also bring bigger towels or a very long beach robe for warmth after the snorkel.
Once we were back on land, students talked about the dream world they had just left, some laughingly fearful they would wake up and discover it was in fact a dream. For most of our scheduled outings, we stay in a group, struggling to be close to the guide in order to hear and see everything. Exploring the coral reef was a personal adventure for each of us; no two people saw the exact same things. I hope you will have the chance to read their stories.
Our preparations for the trip started the previous evening. We attended a two hour lecture, Reef Teach. In the first hour, the instructor identified the fish and coral we would most likely see and gave us the outstanding characteristics of each. In the second hour, he discussed the less likely viewings, especially for the snorkelers: sharks, Moray eels, sea snakes, manta rays. He talked about the threats to the reef. Compared to Charlie, he has a radically different viewpoint. Perhaps Charlie will discuss this in his blog. Our students, I’m proud to say, took the dangers to the reef seriously and were very careful.
By mid-morning, we were at Michaelmas Cay. Every one of our students either did a dive or a snorkel here. Some were able to do both. The divers went in right off the ship. Most of the snorkelers took the glass bottomed boat to the cay and walked into the water. When I had difficulty managing the flippers, Charlie indicated I should walk backwards. He also warned me when I was about to step on coral; to me it looked like small rocks in the sand. After a few minutes of trying to find a backwards path through it all, I gave up and did what I should have done earlier – flop in on my belly.
It took me another several minutes to calm down and figure out the breathing process. My nose stayed dry, my mouth was in the water, and yet I was supposed to breathe in and out through my mouth? Of course I couldn’t breathe through my nose because that was under the goggles, and I did have a breathing tube in my mouth. Still, I wasn’t comfortable for a while. The coral close to the shore was also close to the surface, so I was very nervous about knocking pieces off. But I was finally far enough from shore to be able to drift on my belly for long periods of time and just look at the wonders below me.
I did see corals; I did see fish, bright and dull, large and small. I tried to stay still long enough so that I could identify fish and coral, but I gave up and decided to simply enjoy the view. I saw what might have been plate coral; I saw long strands of yellow spaghetti waving in the current. Charlie signaled me to follow him, and we watched a clam with blue lips snap shut when we waved our hand over it. I was getting cold – I guess the stinger suit I was wearing is not designed to keep the snorkeler warm – so I told Charlie I was going to swim to the ship. His glasses were on the beach, so he went back to the cay and on his way saw a Christmas tree worm. I continued to look at the fish and coral as I pushed my way to the ship. Once at the ladder. I removed the flippers so that I could climb up and was immediately surrounded by sci-fi fish: very round and very flat batfish. If you could squeeze the air out of a yellow-green beach ball, you’d have a model of what I saw.
Everyone was so cold back on the ship! All the sunshiny places were in the wind. The warmest place was in the cabin shoved up against a viewing window; several of our students squeezed in there, shivering. The sights they saw were marvelous enough that a few skipped the afternoon session at Paradise Reef.
The crew served a very nice lunch with about 6 salads, a bowl of chilled prawns, and makings for sandwiches. That warmed us up. Tying the stinger suits onto the railing in the sun helped, too: mine was mostly dry and sun-warmed. At Paradise Reef, we had to go off the boat, so it was full immersion immediately. This reef is not near an island, and we were rocked by ocean waves the entire time. That actually helped to keep me warm; when I tried just drifting over the coral, I was swept away to a different outcropping. I had to swim back to the others. In fact I swam much further so that drifting would keep me in range of the ship. I had to keep my arms and legs moving, and so I was never cold.
The coral here was a bit different, and the water was deeper. I didn’t have to worry about kicking off a piece of coral. When my head was above water, it looked as if I was swimming over sand blossoms, that is, it seemed as if there was a very large crab down there digging up a lot of sand. But when I put my face into the water, the multitudes of coral and fish sprang up so clear and well-defined, it was as if I was looking at a photograph in a book. Head up, sand blossom. Head down, a coral garden populated by fish, not birds. By keeping my arms and legs moving, I was able to stay in one place for a while, hovering over brain coral. I saw four fish fighting, and I saw a parrot fish munching on coral. The fish bit off so much that parts tumbled down the sides of the coral and out of sight.
Once back on the ship, I thought about what I would do differently if I ever had this chance again. I don’t know if I could handle a dive, but the reports of the dozen or so students who did dive tempt me. I don’t think I will walk in from an island or cay if the possibility of going in off the boat exists. I’d be less worried about damaging coral and I’d be at the coral sooner. I’d also bring bigger towels or a very long beach robe for warmth after the snorkel.
Once we were back on land, students talked about the dream world they had just left, some laughingly fearful they would wake up and discover it was in fact a dream. For most of our scheduled outings, we stay in a group, struggling to be close to the guide in order to hear and see everything. Exploring the coral reef was a personal adventure for each of us; no two people saw the exact same things. I hope you will have the chance to read their stories.
Bungy [Jumpers edition]
Bungee Jumping
On our first free day in Cairns some of the girls and I went bungy jumping I was fine all the way up the somewhere around 200 stairs to the top of the tower but once I stepped onto the edge 106 ft high, it is so frightening. I still cant believe that I jumped off that tower. But it was SUPER fun if I had the money to do it again I would.
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