Flockatoos

This weekend has been HEAPS fun!

On friday after class we all piled in Sir Commodore Norington and drove NW to Nelson Bay for a girl's beach day. I had also heard there was great snorkeling there and ended up buying some fins and a snorkel when we got there. Next to the dive shop was this little pet store, and per usual I wandered in to take a gander at all the animals inside. There were TONS of birds: finches, cockatiels, rosellas, canaries, you name it so this naturally got me very excited. 
There were also some really cute puppies that we all had to hold and pose with. After unsuccessfully trying to hold a finch the size of a peep, I decided it was the end of my visit to the pet store and we all said goodbye to our puppies and piled back in the ComNor. We drove to this little beach next to the marina which reminded me a lot of the caribbean with its placid blue waters framed with the green landforms in the distance.








After setting up camp on the beach, I  headed straight for the water with my snorkel, mask, and fins to check out what kind of obscure sea creatures this rumored snorkel hole had to offer. The first thing I noticed was the jellyfish I kept getting stung by. Not painful, just annoying. Like mosquito bites. But I did find lots of colorful fish and a Wobbegong, which is a type of bottom dwelling shark. Here's a picture, not one of mine, I wish. 




While taking a break from the sea, I get word from a local that there is a marine reserve like a stone's throw away with even more fish. 

So I get Brandi on board to come check out the snorkel situation at this other place, and as we are walking I see several unique points of interest one of which was one of the biggest spiders I've ever seen in the wild. 
Imagine a gumball. Or a bouncy ball.  That's how big it's abdomen was. Brandi was less than amused. 

On the opposite side of the spectrum we spotted a... well, not really sure what to call it or what it's purpose was. For blogging's sake I'll call it a taco van. It was basically a huge white van with a little Mexican dude on the front with the words "Dirty Sanchez" and no other indication of what the function of the vehicle was. I don't think it was a food vendor van because who wants a taco from the "Dirty Sanchez?" Funny thing was we saw the guy who was driving it and he was obviously not Mexican, so we proceeded to pose with it as he watched with curiosity. 


Okay, less about tacos and more about snorkeling. After we get in the water and we are immediately surrounded by shoals of fish, just circling us, which made me believe that they are regularly fed. We swam around for a while and saw lots and lots of fish. It was wonderful. 

mine

Afterwords, Caitlin, Laura, Brandi, and I proceeded to go check out the marina. There were all sorts of ships there, fishing vessels, tour boats, and yachts. Caitlin and I wandered off for a bit and we found this mega pelican which kind of scared me because it kind of came out of no where. 




On the way back to the beach, I see something in the distance. At first I think its seagulls. Then we walk closer. 






Lo and behold... it's a bunch of bare eyed cockatoos. It was a flockatoos. Best day EVER!! I keep seeing birds like this and try tell the Australias "Do you have any idea how much people buy these for in the US??" Everyday birds like this just flying around like sparrows, crows, and seagulls. It's unbelievable. 


So that ^ was Thursday. We missed Devin.




Now let's talk about Friday and Saturday. 

We had been planning for the last few days on going to Stockton Dunes for a camp out. So I had packed my bag with a pair of sweat pants, a sweatshirt, and my bed rolled up and held together with my big yellow belt. Pedr picks us up from our house around 5, and all fifteen of us roll out (us and the boys in our matching white Commedores, and Pedr in his.. Tonka truck?) and head east to the dunes. After parking in a lot next to the trail, Pedr shuttles us all to the center of the dunes and we begin to set up camp. We brought 40 sausages (dinner and brekky), items to make Aussies'mores, which were different because they don't have graham crackers here. 
Altogether our group consisted of: Laura, Lindsey, Cameron, Caitlin, Devin, Brandi, Daniel, Pedr, Jamie, Chris, Trenton, Brian, and myself. We spent most of the night playing around by the fire, making s'mores, getting sandy, eating sand, and enhancing social bonds. Towards the end of the night, many of us girls wandered off to bed, and three of the girls were sleeping in a tent. About a 1/2 hour after we all had lie down, we were awoken by the regular interval of Trenton yelling "HEY GIRLS IN THE TENT...SHUT UP!!!!" After this happened about 17 times I decided just to come back out to the fire because there was no chance of sleeping. 1:15am rolls around Jamie decided he wants to sleep in a hole in the sand, and proceeds to dig for 20 minutes. Then he decides that needs someone to cover him with all the sand he just dug up. So Chris and I (mainly Chris) cover him with sand just to make him go to bed. After everyone had settled down, I cuddled up to Brandi to stay warm because it got cold....fast. 

Next morning we all awoke around 7AM and had... you guessed it... more sausages. In Australia instead of using buns, we just use a diagonal piece of bread around the sausage, usually with BBQ or tomato sauce (catsup) and its real good. Laura was our executive chef this weekend, and I was executive flashlight holder (at night, obviously, God is the flashlight holder during the day) But Laura also cooked up some flapjacks in the morning along with the sausage which was just a delightful breakfast before sandboarding.


SANDBOARDING!!! 

After brekky, Pedr took us all out to the top of this massive dune, probably 5 stories tall and you could see everything in all directions. The perfect blue ocean to the east (supposedly chalk full of great whites) and nothing but sand to the west. Chris went first. Then it was my turn... I was very scared to jump off this sand face down this long steep stretch of sand. But after I made the initial leap all I could do what whoop and holler all the way down. The walk back up was another story. Two steps forward and one step back was the name of the game for some while, but was definitely worth it! 


Camping on the dunes was such great fun and next week is HOLIDAY!!!! 

Stay tuned.............

Oh, it can happen.

How does someone miss two trains in a row? Not sure.

Maybe the ticket machine jammed three times 2 minute before departure? Some might say it was their fault for not being on time. 


But a second train?

Maybe they wanted a drink of water while they were waiting, but realized they didn’t have any water, so naturally went to the convenient store to try to buy a water bottle. But unfortunately, they have been paying for trains like it’s their job that week so they have no cash on hand and the store doesn’t take a credit card. 

So what if they wanted to go to the ATM down the street and get money? Say they get some money and proceed to walk to the Super 7 to buy a bottle of water. But, when they get there, the cash register doesn’t work, so they have to wait for lets say 3 minutes. 

So they get their water and walk back to the station, and they see the next train is leaving in negative 15 seconds. So this person probably would run up to the conductor and ask if they can get on as it slowly starts to chug out of the station. The conductor looks at them with a big “not gonna happen” stamped on his forehead and shakes his head as the train leaves the station and the person that just missed two trains. That’s how it happens my friends. 

Better luck to that person tomorrow.

Murdering time in at NUSA

This week, the Australian Red Cross Bloodmobile came to Uni. I decided it would be a good idea to give some blood, and signed up over the phone and went to my appointment at 12:30. So I do the paperwork, go through the interview and we determine that I have not had enough fluids that day and they ask me to come back the next day.

I return the following day after pumping myself full of fluids and filling my belly with a hearty breakfast. I go through the interview, get on the table/bed, and they start pumping away. Feeling good, feeling dandy, I finish up and hang around for about 20 minutes eating, drinking, and adjusting. I decide head out over to the map library where I come across my friend Nat, and shortly after we walk inside, I start feeling if-y. My vision goes dark, I have the chills, and I start to fall over. Thankfully the library lady helps me into a corner where I start to feel better, and Nat goes to get the Red Cross people.

They arrive and begin to walk me back to the Bloodmobile, but I begin fainting again and they ask me to lay down with my legs up in the middle of a busy walkway. So there I am, laying down, with my skirt on, trying to follow directions while remaining modest....it didn't work. I feel better in about 5 minutes and we walk all the way back to the Bloodmobile where I lay in the air conditioning and eat jelly beans and drinking a juice box for about a half hour.

I am told that I am officially banned from ever giving blood in Australia again. I told them I would be compliant and they would never see my face in the Bloodmobile ever again.

I have learned 2 things today.

1. Don't wear a skirt when giving blood
2. Squeezing a juice box too much will still cause it to spray all over your shirt.

Colour conference, Sydney awesomeness, and Slater(comma)Kelly.

First things first. 


Why do the nude bike riders always somehow find their way into my direct line of sight? On my way to write this post I had no choice but to walk directly through a group of garment-less, excessively mature male bike riders who were chastising me for the apparently excessive amount of clothing I was wearing. It was like the guy who invented the bike in 1812 or whenever that happened was still alive and riding around Newcastle wearing nothing but a pathetic amount of body paint.


Just needed to get that out. 


No pictures this time, sorry guys. I know... it's disappointing but I'll get 'em next time.


ANYWHO.........................

About 3-4 months ago my friend Lauralee informed me about a conference that was going to be going down in Sydney this last weekend. I agreed to go, and thus Laura, Cameron, Caitlin, Lindsey, and I have just returned from a 3-day extravaganza at the Sydney entertainment center hosting the Hillsong Colour Conference 2010. Summed up, it's an all women's conference that involves over 5,000 women jam packed into a huge event venue listening to the world's renowned speakers and rocking out to some of the nation's most oft-sung songs.


I actually had a class the night of the first session, so like a good little student I went to that class and left the following morning at 7AM (yeah, I know. God DOES work miracles!) to make it to the Friday morning session at 10 AM. So I get to Central Station and somehow find the place I am going in that jungle of buildings AND find my friends.

All in all, the conference was an incredible experience, life-changing if I may. Everyday there were three sessions, a 10 AM-12:15PM, a 1-2:15PM, and a 6-8PM, so on our longer breaks we would go do different things in the few hours we had to ourselves. Day 2 Laura and I were on our own for a bit and after eating some cheap, greasy food as we are walking back to the conference...hark! There is one of those portable spinning teacup rides for kids 10 and under and our brains gave us no choice but to walk up and see if we might perhaps be able to take a spin alongside the merry little 5-year-olds. Incredibly, the guy/boy operating the ride graciously offered us a place on the next rotation in the teacup of our choice. We accidentally mentioned that we wanted to be manually spun by the Teacup Ride Specialists, so after boarding said teacups, the ride began and the rest was a mere blur. Literally. After a 4-5 minute recovery in our purple teacup, we nauseously staggered back to the brewing pool of estrogen awaiting us inside.


Our lodging situation while in Sydney was actually quite fortunate. Instead of paying/staying in hostel with total random strangers, Laura had a friend, Robby, who found some accommodations for the 3 nights we were there. Laura and I shared a twin mattress on the floor which was quite comfortable I must say while the other girls rotated sleeping on the floor and the couch each night. "Living on the cheap" as my dear father would say was something I feel was accomplished through these nice people who were willing to take us hooligans in.

Day 3...While the other girls went to Marketville to look at the shops, I decided to spend my free time walking around Darling Harbour and seeing, hearing, smelling, and adding to the sights, sounds, and smells of all that embodies the essence of the Sydney sea-scape. As I wondered around the area next to the bay, I saw a Japanese fire-juggler, a wandering ibis, and a very,very old, very, very well-maintained ship.


After the conference is done and over with around 8PM on Saturday, we mosey back over to Darling Harbour and find some dinner to eat. Laura and I score some sushi (first time in Ozland I might add and it was delish) and reflect upon our last night in Sydney and watch the fireworks that went off for some reason unbeknownst to us, but hey, who doesn't like some rando unannounced fireworks? After the show, we walked back to the conference center where a bus was waiting to taxi us back to our side of town from which we RAN about 5 blocks through pouring rain to our dwelling place screaming and laughing as only girls can do.

Next morning we rise nice(debatable) and early and make it to the 8 AM Hillsong service. 




Afterwards, we hear of a surfing competition going on at the famous Bondi beach so we decided to go pop the scene for a few hours before heading back to da 'Castle. It was a bit crazy trying to get in and get a parking space, but we found a one-hour spot and just came back every hour to recharge the meter. The beach was packed out and famous surfers from all over the world were there to compete. They were throwing out some prizes to a crowd of people and I scored this awesome red hat, as did Laura. 




THEN... it happened. 

As we were just sitting on the beach, minding our own business, HE rises out the water. 


Kelly Slater. 


Yes, my friends, right in front of my own eyes Cameron and Caitlin's favorite surfer who I know nothing about is standing before me. 


It was pretty epic so I snapped a couple photogs. 


I think this is him anyways.




Around 3'oclock we decide it is about time to head back, and load up the car to begin our 2-hour journey back north to the place we temporarily call home. On the way, reminded of my own long car rides with my family, I start what went on to be a nice long game of "I'm going on a trip and I'm bringing a/an..." And it went as follows--

Alligator stuffed animal
Baby beluga whale
ChowChow
Doo-doo bag for said chowchow
Electric eel
Funnel cake machine
Garmin
Hotcakes and lots of 'em
Igloo-maker-kit
Jelly of the month club membership
Kenjitsu outfit
Lemington
M-m-mumblebee
Nair
Oscar trophy
Panties
Quiddich(sp?) ball
Rack 'o ribs
Slater, Kelly
Taj...something
Ultrasound machine
Vendetta toward a girl at the beach who littered next to a trash can
Womb (for the ultrasound of course)
X-rated movie
Yours truely
Zither (it's an instrument don't worry about it)

Just can't keep this girl away from them....

Never underestimate the power of the foot

This was the first week of classes, so everyone has been getting school supplies, ordering books, and finding their classrooms ahead of time. My first class I missed because the time got changed without my notice a few days before the start of class, so I will be filling you in on my GIS and remote sensing class next week. Then I had River Basin Processes which has two more exciting field trips coming up, both of which I will be bringing my camera on.

When I was on campus I joined the Newcastle University Student Association (NUSA) that offers countless benefits to members. One of which is a weekly $10 crate of fruits and veggies… and when they say “crate” they mean it. Devin brought my crate home because I wasn’t on campus that day and it was literally like 20lbs worth of produce. Cantaloupe, cucumber, eggplant, carrots, lettuce, apples, bananas, zucchinis, onions, and bok-choy, were all part of this fantastical little treasure find.

We spend the weekday evenings doing a variety of things. Wednesdays are big going out nights here, and all the pubs are usually packed. So this Wednesday we found out about a stop light party, which is where you wear a shirt and colored bracelet according to your relationship status. Red = in love and taken, yellow= it’s complicated, green = 100% single, and I, of course, wore red. J  We also went to this place called the Brewery that is one of our favorite spots because they have student discounts and it sits right on the water.

But on non-Wednesdays we will often invite all the guys over and make them dinner. This week was the first week we got our veggie crate and decided to have “Veggie Fest 2010” which included grilled zucchini and eggplant, a big “Elaine-style” salad, and to finish it off, Devin had the great idea of making apple crisp, and we topped it off with vanilla ice-cream. It was literally the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been here, and everyone got pretty excited about it. 

We also like to play games at night. We’ve played Newlyweds, where everyone is randomly paired up with someone of the opposite sex. Then the girls and the guys will come up with a list of 10 questions separately and answer them. Then when we reunite, the guys will be asked the question and try to figure out what the girl’s answer was, and vice versa. Whatever pair answers the most questions right are the winners. It was funny how different the questions were between the sexes. The guys asked questions like “Do I pee in the shower?”, while the girls questions were more, well, girly and consisted of questions like “What month did we get married in?”

We also like to play Family, where everyone writes down the name of a person or character on a piece of paper and throws it into a hat. All the names are read off twice, and we then will go around the circle and get to ask people “are you Chewbacca?” if they say yes, then they become part of your family, and families work as a team to acquire more family members.

Whoever is head of the biggest family is the winner. My characters the other night were Tom from Myspace and Mrs. Teapot. I usually ended up in Taylor’s family. Laura’s were Dale Earnhardt Junior and Jigglypuff, which were very tricky to figure out.

Brian was having some trouble getting along with the other family members.

Devin and I decided to a little exploring while the other girls were enjoying themselves at bar beach. I should probably mention that we got a car from a lady named Jean Carmen that we met a church. It's a Holden Commedore.

Yeah, I know, its pretty kickin'. We're still working on a name...and on how to fit 7 girls in it.

 So we drive around for a bit and find this little nature preserve and take a little hike. We came across a kookaburra, which made me feel very australian.

We then found this beach on the other side of the preserve and it was a long, beautiful, empty beach surrounded by jungle that I am sure we will be revisiting in near future. Then it started to rain so we left.

Bebe lizard!




The other night Devin and I decided to go for a photographic walk before the sun went down. So we travelled to the top of the Hill and got some brilliant views of another Newcastle sunset, a rainbow over the cathedral, then we decided to go exploring in places we haven't yet been. Right when the sun pretty much goes down we are on our way to the top of this hill where there's this old cement building we were aiming to explore. But we had to hop a fence to get there. So I hop over it, and Devin does the same, but after she clears the fence we hear this 'clunk' down below (by below I mean inside the sewer that ran under the fence) and Devin's phone is suddenly MIA. Well by now its like completely dark and we are trying to look in the sewer, I call her phone but no answer, we can't see anything, the situation is looking grim. Then we remember that our phones (well, my phone at this point) comes equipped with with a torch light. So after some fervent searching with my head inside the sewer sifting the mucky waters, I spot her phone half submerged in the far corner. Not quite sure how it got there, but it was to far to reach with our arms, so Devin got to use her trusty feet to recover her phone, which was still ON when she recovered it. Girls - 1, Sewer - 0. Bam.






Today was pretty rockin for a Monday. Devin and I dropped the girls at school and picked up Marshall (our friend who is moving in across the street) to take him to get a mattress from this mattress warehouse. So we go around back (where the free ones are) and there is a pile of mattresses on the ground and we pick one out (the cleanest one happened to be a queen, the dirtiest had all this red/brown/green gunk all over it), load it into the back of the commedore (somehow?) and drive it back to the hill where we grabbed some Subway (they have $7.00 foot longs!) and then hit up the hub which is where I am now. I have GIS and remote sensing from 5-7 today so I will be heading that way soon. Thats all for now. Cheers ya'll (yeah, I'm giving in...its just way easier to say that "all you guys" or "you all")

I too scared!

I am currently escaping the rainy day outside, and had to speed walk here through the misty rain because it keeps down pouring ever hour or so. So I'll tell you a little about my field trip this past week. First of all, I didn't bring my camera (kicked myself later for that one) so all the pictures on here are what I could find on google.

So, I just recently returned from my 4-day field trip to the south coast with my geology class which was just a fantastic time. First of all, being surrounded by aussies for 4 days straight was really fun. I didn't know what they were talking about half the time because there slang is such a big part of their language. I think I asked "What does _____ mean?" about a hundred times, and they did the same with many of the things I said. But everyone was really helpful to the token American on the trip which was very helpful.

So the first day I arrived at the bus stop where 2 large coaches picked us up. On the way to our first stop I sat with who I learned later had been nicknamed "the hulk", so I had about 2/3 use of my seat for about 5 hours. I was so excited when we finally reached our first destination, Bombo Quarry, where we saw all sorts of unconformities (when two rocks make contact but are from completely different time periods. You can see the contact in the 2nd photo) One of which had a 160 million year age gap. Woah! We also saw a dyke (when lava protrudes into rock cracks from beneath the surface) which I think was my favorite part.

Before the trip I had booked a cabin for the first two nights at Ulladulla with 3 other girls from my class and stayed there each night (opposed to a tent which most students used).  They were all really nice and we ended up hanging out every night with a group of guys, playing phase 10 and doing homework every night.

On the second day, we drove farther south to Pebbly beach which was my favorite place we went the whole week. First of all, we got there and walked down this hill into our meeting area and all of the sudden like 40 or 50 colorful parrots flew out of the jungle and were walking around us, landing on my head, eating out of my hand. It was heaven.

We walked around a large stretch of coastline for about 8 hours documenting the 30 some layers of rock. The terrain was rough, and it was hot that day but I enjoyed exploring the coast line and saw all sorts of creatures along the way. Altogether I saw a red-bellied black snake (very venonmous) which was sunning itself next to our trail, an echidna which is like a giant hedgehog, a pod of dolphins, king parrots, a huntsman spider which was huge,  and finally a pack of kangaroos (saw them on the bus ride and got really excited and was basically yelling "woah!! kangaroos!!!" at which people gave me some weird looks) That night we went to the Bowling Club for dinner and I decided to try something new. "Chicken schnitzel and prawns.." I pondered to myself, thinking this would be an authentic dish. So it comes out and its just breaded chicken and shrimp, but it did end up being one of the best meals I've had here since my arrival 3 weeks ago.

On the third day we visited Myrtle Beach and saw the lower permian wasp head formation which was the deepest rock formation in the Sydney basin so that was pretty cool. Next stop that day was at Melville Point which was beautiful and had some beautifully folded rocks. I don't have a picture but I did have to do a drawing of it so here it is.

The 4th day was also one of my favorite days. We were given a blank map and were told to map an entire area's rock types, dykes, and special features using a compass. There were about six dykes which is not really a common occurrence so this place held a lot of geological significance. There was also a shipwreck here from 1827 which sits above ground and has been reduced to some rusty scraps of metal.

On the drive back Friday morning, my crew scored the front 6 seats which were the best because the driver is below the passengers and the front windscreen was essentially a giant movie screen as I watched all of the breath taking scenery drift by on the 7 hour drive home. We were very fortunate in picking the bus we did because the other bus broke down 2 hours away and had 3 people chuck on the way. Definitely dodged that bullet!

All in all it was a great trip and most of the people I met were also in all my classes this semester which will be nice. I start school tomorrow which I'm pretty excited for. Wish me luck!

Sunset Yorya--