Sydney Aquarium

I pretty much consider myself a connoisseur of aquariums and zoos. I’m not a snob about it by any means; I just like to see how different places balance the habitat needs of critters with the requests of the public to actually see said critters. For the most part, Sydney was pretty average, until I saw the dugong enclosure and the shark tank.

These were simply massive tanks with two—TWO—walk through tunnels each. I was overjoyed to even hear that there were dugongs on display, and then not only did I get to see and photograph them (perhaps a bit obsessively), I was able to obsessively photograph them eating and doing their dugong-y things! It was lovely! Simply lovely. The shark tank had black tip and white tip reef sharks as well as woebegongs, and I think a lemon shark and tiger shark as well. All told, more species of shark than I’ve ever seen before. There was also a gigantic, if not a little morose looking, hawksbill (maybe green?) sea turtle—the first I’ve ever seen. My guess and hope is that it came to the aquarium through some sort of rehab program. Also, fun fact; we learned that the reason there are no Great White sharks in captivity has to do with their size and their need to sink to great depths to “sleep” it ties into sharks’ lack of a swim bladder.

Platypus! Another first for me after a prolonged infatuation with this blessed monotreme roughly around ages 7-8, I saw a platypus. It sawm, it ate, it frolicked as much as a platypus can frolic and was wonderful. I also learned that female platypus’ have a venomous spur on their rear limbs (as well as the males) but thte spur disappears as they mature. Imagine an angsty teenage platy-girl with a venomous spur—it would be nuts.

Manly Beach

After a quick bus ride over the bridge and through the woods a bit at 9:30 am, a 10 kilometer hike doesn't sound like a bad idea--especially if you were raised outside of the metric system and really don't have much of a concept of how far that is. All told, it wasn't really that far, I suppose, nor was it the farthest we've hiked, and it certainly hasn't been nor will it be our most strenuous hike, and had we not been putzy and stopped to talk to people and take pictures, it wouldn't have taken as long as it did either. And really, if had been just about the destination, we would have just taken a ferry and walked >1 kilometer.

This jaunt took us through Royal Sydney National Park, and as I've mentioned before, I love national parks. We walked along the ocean, through ritzy streets, through lush forest, through less lush forest, past a disappointing lighthouse, and finally, Manly Beach. Along the way, we saw pufferfish, a pelican, jelly fish, a handful of comorants (shags here), the coolest public toilet that I've ever used, a couple different species of gull, and people.

The most interesting bloke was an elderly gentleman who just had reconstructive shoulder

surgery and was wading around and was kind of miffed that he couldn't swim. When he found out that we were from Wisconsin (not Canada), he made us wander over to his crocs, which, lo and behold were decked out in none other than good ol' Bucky Badger. Apparently, he had a cousin living in Indiana and they were in Chicago where there was a good deal on these shoes. He went on to say disparaging things about New Zealand, in a friendly rivalry sort of way and managed to chat us up for a good hour. Lovely man.

Eventually, we made it to the beach, didn't linger too long as we saw a couple of blue bottle jelly fish (danger!), had a lamburger, and headed back. This story is probably better told in pictures.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=60034&l=a300a&id=500764078

Sydney Opera House

After getting prettied up and a drink reception that the principal of the college's house, we set out to see "The Bard Without the Boring Bits; The complete works fo William Shakespeare (abridged)."

Honestly, the theater that we saw the play in was much less spectacular than I was expecting--along the same lines as the Sentry theater, but with a better lighting system. However, the play was hilarious and played exactly into my sense of humor, and I feel classier now that I can say that I've seen all of Shakespere's works. To give you an idea, the line that made me laugh the hardest was during an explanation of one of the histories and was, "Ooo, I'm a panda! Look at my diminished habititat!" Maybe it's funnier in context.

Afterwards, I had the most surreal, "Oh wow, I'm really in a different country and this is my life right now" moment when we were sitting outside, sipping wine, with the harbor bridge lit up in the background, after seeing a play in the Sydney Opera House.

The Role of Australia in the South Pacific and Relations with New Zealand

I always forget how much I love history. Really. I think that a lecture on the history of this part of the world before a lecture on relations with other countries would provide a better base of knowledge, but as it stands, this lecture contained a lot of history. As a side note, something I'm noticing is that Australians seem to be more into the Simpsons than Americans are--and this isn't just coming from Greg Pemberton's constant relations of Aussie politics to "that one episode of the Simpsons."

I'm a bit nervous about writing a big, long reaction to this lecture--I'm still hurting from the last one. But the big points of the lecture hit on ugly, white, paternalism in the South Pacific, colonialism and neo colonialism has really shaped the bilateral and multilateral relationships in this neck of the woods, and Australians identify nationally as being offensive.

If you're interested in more, just ask.

Food

Kangaroo, meat pies, pomegranite and ginger beer, bacon and mushrooms, and the classic vegemite, are all wonderful parts of what I've had the privilage, nay, the honor of putting into my mouth in this country.

I had a fantastic kangaroo sirloin burger at a cafe in Katoomba. It had a beef-y texture and was put on the bun in strips rather than in a patty form. It was a little wild tasting like venison, but there wasn't any over poweringly different taste. I think they also had some sort of a blue cheese spread on the bun, which was a good touch.

Breakfast in the cafeteria on campus has always been a bit of a surprise. Sometimes it's bacon and beans, other days mushroom and sausage, sometimes egg bake. Though the bacon here is fantastic--it's a thicker cut than I'm used to and is cooked to greasey perfection, the beans and mushrooms sort of leave the consumer going, "Really?" I've found though that some artery clogging protein has been a good way to start my day. I've also been having thick whole grain toast with butter and vegemite every morning. I have to thank Renee for turning me on to vegemite from when she visited Australia, otherwise I don't think I would have had it in me to spread the baby-poo like salt paste onto my toast. I have reason to believe, though, that there is no such thing as good coffee in this country. That is a really unfair statement in that I've only had coffee is from weird-o premaid machines on campus, but it is really nasty. There's also a hot chocolate-like drink called Milo here as well that is less than delicious. I did purchase some cold coffee in something like a milk carton from the store, which was better, but better only elevated it from sewage to gas station coffee--not much of a jump.

I first had a meat pie just outside of the train station in Katoomba and it was a very good idea. It was kind of like a hot pocket in a pie tin, but you could tell that the meat had been from a real animal and the shell was slightly less processed. I decided then that I would make meat pies at home. The cafeteria also served meat pie the other night, and they added mashed potato to the top which made them look kind of like chalky dried out piles of poop, but were most delicious.

I had what I'm going to go ahead and call my most favorite meal ever though this past night. We had gone to Woolworths' just before the Chinese New Year parade and I bought some ginger beer (a soda that is avaliable at the Co-op and Afterdark), a pomegranite (product of California, and at AUS$2.50 cheaper than they are in Wisconsin) Tasmanian Brie and crackers, and Original Tim-Tams. I shared with everyone, but there was something about that combination of tastes, the location, and just the circumstance that brought out the flavors in a way that no chef ever could.

On a slightly different note, I love grocery shopping. Even regionally in Wisonsin, not to mention across the country, grocery stores can tell you so much about the people of the community. Here, I've been surprised to find generic versions of some of the foods that we (maybe just me) hold to be European and therefore a little classy--like Laughing Cow and even Nutella. I am also excited to see a lot of just green grocers with tons of good fruit, or just butchers or just sea food shops. There isn't a dependence on Supermarkets and I like that. The biggest culture shock that I've experienced overall in Australia though, is that the milk here is not refrigerated. We've asked, and apparently it's just stuffed full of preservatives and will keep, unopened, in your pantry for about three months. Thankfully, it is refrigerated after being opened. The milk tastes like something is a bit off and it's a bit thicker than it ought to be, but there are worse things.

Over all, I am eating well, eating balanced, and enjoying what I'm eating.

Katoomba

I love National Parks always and forever, and the Blue Mountain National Park was no exception. We embarked very early inorder to catch a train out of Sydney and to the smallish mountain town of Katoomba. We entered a privatized portion of the area via cable car, which was spectacular and continued into the valley using literally the world's steepest train track--as we left, the main theme from Indiana Jones played and everyone in the group mentioned an expectation of being chased by a rock.
The group split, and I chose to wander around a trail with signs describing coachwoods, early aussie mining, and so on. When the time came to meet up with the other group, I was not too keen on climbing a stair case that we had been warned would take an hour or more to mount, so I used a prepaid ticket to take a sky car (different from a cable car) back up to the top and meet everyone that way.

Unfortunately, because I am Samantha and I am prone to wandering without any real idea of where I'm going (though, be warned, I can come off as quite sure), I misinterpreted a map and took a two hour wandering in about the opposite direction of where I was meant to go. It was absolutely lovely, and I saw lizards for the first time in Australia as well as some neat birds, breathtaking views of the valley, and sweet waterfalls. After looping around and realizing what I had done, I set out in the right direction, where I saw even more exciting and wonderful things. However, at this point I had been separated from the group for the longest period of time, but for sleeping, since arriving at the airport in Chicago, and was starting to grow a bit lonely and concerned. By the time I reached the meeting point, I was exhausted and found a spot to rest and wait for a while--after about an hour an half I realized that they had probably come and gone and made my way back into town, and, worst case scenario would meet everyone at the train station. On the way, I found my first Dae Woo Lanos in Australia, as well as a cat that looked very much like my own.

After poking around in some lovely little bookstores, and eyeing up some shorts at The Cat Defence Shop--a charity shop, but I'm not quite sure what the charity was, I was startled by Dr. J running up behind me and shouting my name--the rest of the crew was in the pub I had just walked past, and hallelujah, I was found.

The train ride back to Sydney showed me three more Dae Woo Lanoses (Lanosi?) as well as four wild kangaroos--the only wild mammals I've seen in Australia. Unfortunately, they passed very quickly, and I was unable to get a shot, nor did any of my co-travelers see them.

Taronga Zoo

After arriving at the zoo, the very first display that I saw was of a leopard seal. Many of you may recall the spectacular National Geographic article about three years ago, January-ish that brought to light the awesomeness that is a leopard seal--my most favorite photograph ever is a two page spread with a leopard seal's head on the far side of one page with a penguin's head in his mouth and the penguins body on the far side of the other page, and the inside of the penguin all between. Later in the day, I mentioned to a woman working in a shop that it was so cool that they had leopard seals, and she said that all of the leopard seals that they've ever had came in from the wild as injured or orphaned and were unreleasable.

The zoo was very well done, and I don't know that I noticed any differences between the set up, lay out, or presentation of information than the zoos of the us. By "I don't know" I mean that I didn't. At this point I hadn't seen ANY mammals in Australia yet, and was excited to see all sorts of wonderful things--like a greater bilby, all manner of little possum-y things, and even a tree kangaroo. Oh! AND THE KOALAS! Koalas are simply the most photgenic creature that I have ever encountered and are exciting to watch scratch themselves and munch on leaves. Unfortunately, the platypus and wombat were off display as their exhibits were being remodeled.

Other highlights include red pandas (always a hit with me), binturongs, a plethora of colorful native parrots, and a giraffe looking out at Sydney.

Lecture on Aussie Environmental Issues

Last night, I spent a solid hour, if not longer, touching on every part of this lecture, my reactions, and tying it back to the central Wisconsin community. Apparently, when I started typing it, my computer went offline, thus eliminitating the automatic save feature that I hold so dear. I did not realize this until I went to submit the post and lost everything. Because the next morning I'm still a little heart broken, I'm just going to touch on some of my favorite things and let you know that I really enjoyed this lecture and am willing to discuss this further on a private basis including a timeline of Australian environmental policy as compares to US.

The first thing that struck me about this lecture was the refrain from a Karen Savoca song, "It's the same all over." Issues being dealt with in Australia aren't all too different from those in the US--runnoff, invasive species, desertification, etc. Something that isn't as big of a deal, in Wisconin anyway, is that of water conservation. In Sydney, there are rules about what times of day hoses can be used (as compared to the Stevens Point court house where I've walked by during a rainstorm and seen the sprinklers going off, or around the hottest part of the day) as well as subsidies for those who use rainbarrels. It is interestng to me though because in the dorm where I'm staying, the faucets, toilets, and shower heads, are incredibly leaky and inefficient. Also, I've heard no mention of any "If it's yellow, leave it mellow" policies.

Because hooved animals are so hard on Australia, there was brief mention of a Kangaroos not Cows movement. I love that and think it's a little bit hilarious, not to mention that it turns out that kangaroos are delicious. Though it turns out that Aussies are a bit reluctant to eat one of their national symbols on the same scale as beef, I think it demonstrates a willingness to work with the land rather than attempt to dominate it--not that I'm knocking beef on any scale. I wonder how the western US would change if we switched from cattle to bison?

Also mentioned in the lecture was that the solution to environmental issues is to find a solution that is more economically beneficial than the problem behaviour. This is why eco-tourism--canned tour-y things--are so important despite the modern young travelers search for an "authentic" experience. This also leads me to wonder if I can be an "environmentalist" without having a strong, or even mediocre, understanding of economics. In this same vein, as Salt Water Crocodile populations have risen, they've begun to cause some problems by hanging out in swimming areas, golf courses, back yards, etc. Local people, the people most directly working with them want them dead (kind of like wolves?) or some sort of population management. However, the government really, really likes the money brought in by people wanting to see the salties. So, in a lot of ways, tourism drives protection of species, and I don't know if that's bad or not. It's kind of like why we have elk in Wisconsin--once the herd reaches a huntable size, I am sure that people will come to Wisconsin in order to hunt the majestic Wisconsin elk.

The aboriginals (the pc term here, by the way) used burning forever and ever as a land management tool, and like a lot of debates surrounding native americans, there is a debate surrounding the pristine myth of these people and the land.

Whaling is an issue, oil tankers and mining in the Great Barrier Reef, and Peter Jackson has his own brand of ciggarettes. Oh! In my environmental education, cod keep coming up which is starting to get to a laughable point. I really had not realized how ubiquitous they are. Read Cod: A History of the fish that changed the world by Mark Kurlansky. It really is an apt title.

There, I give up now. Best Wishes.

Australia Day!

The group spent Australia Day down by the harbor and it was just lovely. Though it rained on and off, the sun came out every now and then and we experienced a lovely variation in temperatures and were able to enjoy a picnic lunch of pb&j sandwiches near one of the music stages in the sunshine, and listened to a fantastic and surprising cover of "Mmmbop." As I've mentioned to some of you, the atmosphere was a lot like Summerfest only with fewer rowdy drunks and nobody spilled beer on me.

At first, I think we all felt a little weird celebrating another country's independance day, but after a little bit, we figured that both nations both told Great Britain to sod off, so it would be all right. We even found a place where they were giving temporary tattoos of the Aussie flag. It's interesting me though that while I, and most of my friends, would certainly not get down with the patriotic ferver that was afoot to the same degree, or even to close to the same degree in the U.S., it doesn't seem too bizarre or tacky or redneck to get excited about another nation's independance. Even now, when I feel like I have a government that I can support, stand by, and not fear, I don't know that I would put a U.S flag on me, or even wear anything overly patriotic.

After that we split up, and I ended up back by the bats. My fellow traveler, Lauren, and I had a really good time people watching and watching the Australians being Australians.
We saw two women carrying green and yellow (OZ's other official colors) balloons down one of the walkways and they just sort of set them down and left them. Shortly after, a woman came and picked out one balloon for her daughter, who had the biggest smile on her face that I have ever seen. Shortly after that, a man struggled to get a balloon for his son, finally managed to do it, and then let the balloon go too quickly as he was handing it to his son. I have never seen anyone look as disappointed as he did at that moment--the son didn't seem to mind that much.

On the way back to the rest of the group, we found a number of strange things along Sussex drive. The car, I think, is reasonable to call a warning as well as an art piece--what else would you put in the center of a roundabout? But I'm not sure as to what the set of boxes are. They seemed to be made out of rock (granite?) and were sitting outside of an office building.

Sydney!

I'm not even sure of where to start!

After a painless pass through customs, we were swept away to Dunmore-Lang College, given a brief orientation, and sent to shower. We were pretty nasty. Dr. J then offered to show us Maquarie Center and how to get downtown. Maquarie Center is a real mall with a real food court and real stores--lots of real stores. It's aproximately four levels and I don't feel as pressured to consume as I would in something more like the Wausau mall or a Madison mall, but that could be just because I feel very much like a tourist and I'm a bit shocked by the variety.

To get downtown we had to take a bus! It was really quite exciting, I do like public transportation. Starting Tuesday, we'll have passes that allow us to use the buses, ferries, trains, and other public transports for free.

We got off by a region known as "The Rocks" kind of by the harbor bridge, and walked around the harbor--through places known as the Quay (where I saw Rainbow Lorekeets in a tree), around the opera house, and the botanical gardens (where I fell in love with fruit bats), and some other regions whose names escape me presently. On the bus ride back, we saw a cockatoo hanging out in a tree.

I am impressed at how tidy this city is--considering a population of about 4 million (remember, that's metric though :) ) there is very little litter and any sort of homeless folk seem to be well hidden. There also seem to be far fewer billboards and other invasive, flashy advertisments, but maybe I haven't been in the right parts of the city yet for that. I saw a St. Vinny's that I plan on going to in order to acquire more shorts (based on the none that I brought with me, whoops) and see what thrifting is like down under. I spoke with a woman today about thrift stores and she said that they're all church associated, mostly anglican. She also was telling me that Target and K-marts here are both owned by the same company--fun fact.

I haven't had too much interraction with people outside of my group, but there seems to be a fairly laid back, friendly attitude here. If I had to pick a larger city to live in, I would consider Sydney. It's right up there with Duluth.

Photos from Day 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=58635&l=6003a&id=500764078

The Sun Rises

I wrote this one this morning while waiting for the connection from Auckland to Sydney.


I'm the furthest from hom that I've ever been and waiting to go further. I was expecting more of a Lord of the Rings moment like when Sam Gamgee steps out of a field and tearfully says something like, "One more step and it's the furthest I've ever been!" Aside from the "I'm (pooping/dancing/thumb warring/etc) in NEW ZEALAND!" moments, it's been less climatic than I was expecting (the distance, not the arrival, it was fantastic)--not that I'm complaining. We didn't have to take our shoes off to go through security this time, yay!

It's about 6ish and the sun is rising. I do like sun rises. It's muggy and I'm not dressed for it at all. A girl walked by in a San Fransisco sweatshirt and a Burger King Crown, it made me smile.

The sun has risen more and I am happier still, we are facing some hills bathed in pink light with the ocean just behind. Basically, I love everything.

The 13 hour flight went very, very well. I slept well and for a normal amount of time, was well fed, and enjoyed a variety of in flight entertainment, including a documentary on New Zild (the New Zealand language). It turns out that there are three distinct kiwi accents. I feel a little lame because I can't for the life of me distinguish between them. Oh well.

Much later, while on the flight between Auckland and Sydney, I watched a really, really great documentary about Colossal Squid. Look up that animal and be impressed--it's almost as good as Vampire Squids...from Hell!

On Gratitude

I actually wrote this on the 23rd somewhere between Chicago and LA.

As of late, I have come to realize that I truly do operate in a charmed and magical world and I know that I say that a lot when I'm being flip or sassy, but I truly mean it. The universe provides for me to operate pretty much by stumbling my way from one adventure to the next without anything horrible happening to me. I am grateful.

I am surrounded by oodles and scads of supportive people many of whom responded when I said that I was going to New Zealand with "of course you are" and supported me monetarily, helped me through stinky paper work, listened to me complain about what little help International Programs was, and didn't hate me when I crabbed at them out of nerves. My world rocks, and I am grateful.

As I sit and reflect on everyone who has been any sort of influence, not only in getting me out of the country, but in forming who I am so that I want to see the world, I am overwhelmed, and I am grateful.

Thank you everyone, I am glad that you are a part of my life.

Corrections, additions, and blank filling-ins

In an effort to put off final packing as long as I possibly can, here are some official details that I may have avoided talking about, made up answers, or otherwise failed to deal with.

I am taking 14 credits.
I am taking a field biology class (natural history of New Zealand)
Physical Geography of New Zealand
International Study tour of Australia and New Zealand (I will be in Australia from 1/25-2/4)
Culture and Civilization: New Zealand (an international studies class)
Introduction to Environmental Study
I believe that I'm also enrolled in a fitness credit, but I might not have done all of the appropriate paper work. We'll see.

Right now, the plan is that I will be gone from 1/23-5/5 when I will arrive at O'Hare, unless I marry someone in order to obtain NZ citizenship (which seems to be a pretty universal concern...). I will be with my host family (a woman called Sue with two cats and a dog) from 2/13-5/4. I am not planning on going to Fiji or the Cook Islands at this time.

The first post

Hello friends,

I figured that if I am to tell you all about this site, that I might as well have something for you to look at. I also figured I should try to get a handle on the ins and outs of this site while I have a bit of time.

After a bit of messing around, I have found this to be quite user friendly, and it will handle the volume of photos that I intend to post (not to fear, there will likely be facebook albums, too). Oh! There's even an auto save feature this draft that I am currently typing! Hurrah!

The current photos, incase you are wondering, are from an adventure I had yesterday on Mykelbust lake in Iola. I went ice fishing for the first time since I was probably three or four. We didn't catch anything and it's not a hobby that I will actively pursue, but it was a warmer sunny morning that I spent on the ice with my family--who could ask for anything more?


Anyhow, until I'm down under, take care, make wise choices, stay hydrated, and wear sunscreen.