Search and Rescue Training, Early mornings, And Penguins

A few pictures of late: Got up early this morning to catch sunrise from Mount Wellington, and participated in Search and Rescue Training with the Tasmania Police last weekend and got a helicopter ride and free lunch out of the deal! Headed out to Fortescue bay to due a penguin survey today!

Line search through moderately thick scrub.

Tiny landing zone!

In the works..

hey all!

I'm working on putting together a summary of the term break roadtrip. Have all the pics uploaded so that is most of the battle. Hopefully early next week!

In the mean time, here is a picture of a wallaby with a joey poking his head out of the pouch! Enjoy!

Hope all is well wherever you are!

Ian

Quick Update

I guess I've been doing too much to have time to update this. I had a ton of Uni work due last week so that has kept me on my toes. But I leave tomorrow with Logan, Kat, 4 Germans and an Austrian to roadtrip around Tassie for a week. I am super excited! Logan and I are going to be in a beat up old camper van. I'll be learning to drive left-handed manual transmission on the left side of the road, so it will be a little bit of a trial by fire. But we'll take it slow and it should all work out!

I will be sure to get a few big entries up when I get back. Here is a short list of what I've done in the past few weeks:

Gone to the top of Mt. Wellington

Taken part in marriage equality and global warming rallies

Played music in many different groups, with all sorts of different people.

Learned heaps of new dances from around the world.

Taken the bus to random spots to explore, with various successes and failures.

Gone cliff-scrambling along the derwent.

Bushwacking on Mt. Nelson.

TONS of uni work.

Eaten sticky date pudding. delicious!

Gotten hired to play for a wedding.

And I am sure there is more, but I am tired and am going to bed.

Hope all is well wherever you are!

Ian

Adventures of Late

Hey all,

            Life's been exciting! So much to do I haven't had time to work on this. I think that's the way it should be though. Anyway, this entry is gonna be a doozie. It's been a few days in the making.

          Three Fridays ago, I did a lot of walking. I walked with Logan, George, and John (another exchange student, from Montana) to the Queens Domain. It has, among other things, the government house where the Queen stays (she was here once, about 30 years ago), Botanical Gardens, and the Soldier's Walk. The Soldier's Walk is a memorial to all of the Tasmanian Soldiers killed in WWI, about 600 in all. Every soldier has a pine tree planted along the walk, and a plaque with a short biography. Most of the original trees planted in 1918 and 1919 were still alive, and the trees that die are replaced with a new one. I really liked the idea of a living memorial, it was much more touching than plaques and granite would be on their own.

Looking South down the Derwent from the Entrance to the Queen's Domain.

The Soldier's Walk

An Eastern Rosella (one of several parrot species endemic to Tasmania) in the forested area of the Queen's Domain. It was strange seeing a parrot in such a chilly place! An aside: Somebody here told me there is a wild parrot population in Chicago. I have no idea if that's true, but next time I go there I'm gonna keep my eyes peeled.

A pond in the Royal Botanical Bardens.

A Fuchsia from the Botanical Gardens

Looking South into Hobart on the way home.

A glimpse down the street to the water.

     Saturday we joined the UTAS bushwalking (Aussie for hiking) club for a trek up to Cathedral rock. The morning started off with excitement, the other car got pulled over for having people riding in the trunk. Fortunately the trailhead was only a few minutes out of town, so a quick shuttle to get everyone out was accomplished with ease. The track started off easily enough, with the expected moderate elevation gain. As we gained altitude, it became steeper and rockier until it was less hiking and more trying to scramble up the mountain without falling off. It was some of the more technically challenging hiking I've done, trying to figure out the best way to get myself over large slippery boulders without any handholds. It was even more interesting on the way down.

     But the view at the top made it all worth it and then some! It was a pretty clear day so most of Southwestern Tassie was visible, as with Mt. Nelson, I'll let the pictures tell the story.

Rocky riverbed on the way up.

Typical low-altitude Tasmania fern forrst.

Alpine forest- mostly Eucalyptus trees.

After several miles of reasonably steep trail, we get a glimpse of how much higher we have to climb.

Becca and Charlene killin' it!

Logan pausing to plan his route.

Elation!

Looking towards the world heritage preserve to the west.

Long way down.

Southwards, Bruny Island and the Southern Ocean.

Too freakin' cool man.

Logan and Becca (slowly and carefully) making their way down.

Hanging out and eating snacks on the riverbed. Recovering from the burn our legs got from the descent.

On sunday, I went rafting with the UTAS rafting club on the Picton River. The river wasn't super exciting in itself, mostly class II's I would say. But it was a cold, rainy day so I didn't mind staying dry. The scenery was spectacular, winding through the temperate rain forest. We rafted for about 4 hours with a lunch break in between. All in all an incredible trip! Another plus- the club owns all of its equipment and members are certified as guides. So the trip cost was 6 dollars for gas and food. Not bad! Also, I met a girl involved with sailing here in Hobart so hopefully I will be getting out on a sailboat soon!

Inflating the rafts and getting ready to go. Rafting pics credit: Anton Britting.

Getting Started down the river.

Awesome lunch spot!

Incredible scenery!

Rounding one of the final bends.

        On the way home we stopped by the side of the road to check out this tree. The pics don't do a great job of capturing the scale. The walk is close to 20 feet in the air, and looking down at the base it seemed like you could probably hollow it out and have a reasonable sized home. Just a huge tree!

A giant Eucalyptus tree-the world's largest flowering plant. A big darn tree.

Yup. Big ole' tree.

Last weekend was relatively quiet, went to the market, caught up on work, got laundry done, etc. Here are a few more pics from wandering around town.

Salamanca Market- looking up to Mount Wellington!

Windward Bound-a two-masted schooner and Aurora Australia-Australia's primary Antarctic research ship on the waterfront.

There are littler barges all over that serve different things. Today's mission was ice cream. Delicious! They also have fish and chips and fresh seafood.

Looking from the Victoria Docks to Mount Wellington. Notice the Marine Board building with wind turbines on it.

      
So all in all it took me about a week to pull this blog entry together. You all asked for more pictures so I hope this doesn't disappoint! This week that I am just finishing was pretty solid, but that will have to wait for next time.

Cheers!
Ian 

Classes

I suppose the whole point of me being here is school. So here's a little about my classes.

The whole system is set up differently than in the US. Students generally spend 3 years pursuing an undergraduate degree. That is mostly because there are non gen ed. courses, students go straight into their major and take the core classes. There is some room for electives, but very rarely are there things like the humanities and foreign language requirements you see in the US. I am not sure of my opinion on core vs. liberal arts education but if you have one I'd love to hear it. Maybe get a discussion going.

What is interesting is that despite this focus on the core, the classes tend to be much more discussion based. Even in lectures the professors tend to draw students in. Which is different from sitting and being talked at for an hour or two. Here they also have a couple hours of tutorials to compliment the lectures where we all sit around a big table and talk. I've never really had that sort of educational experience. Talking through (and often arguing about) the material presented in lecture is really a great way to get one's head around it. For me, it's also an impetus to keep up with all the reading. I enjoy the debate and always want to be prepared.

I am taking two classes that lean toward political science, Global Political Ecology and Understanding Climate Change. Being American puts me in an interesting spot because there tends to be a lot of criticism of the US. I tend to agree with most of it, but it still puts me a little on the defensive. But Australia has many of the same issues as the US, albeit on a smaller scale, so they can't go at me too much!

On the straight science side, I am taking Oceanography and Antarctic Ecology. The Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) at the Uni is world renowned for its research on the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, so it is a very exciting place to be studying. One of my lecturers is a Nobel Laureate! How incredible is that! I am really hoping to get some research experience within IMAS, to see some of the cutting edge science they do here and to (hopefully) make some connections. If I play my cards right there is a remote chance I may get the opportunity to go out on a research cruise or even down to Antarctica!

Over the past year, my academic interests have shifted to Marine and Climate Science. I may physically be at the bottom of the world, but Hobart is more or less the center of the world for those subjects! I really can't get across how exciting this is for me!

So all in all, classes are great! They will keep me busy for sure, but I am finally studying my passions. That will make it much easier for me to burn the midnight oil.

More About How I'm Doing, Less About What I'm Doing

So far I feel like I have given you all a pretty solid objective account of what I've been doing, with the requisite personal opinion peppered here and there.

But Ian, you ask, how are you? And what are your impressions of Australia?

So glad you asked!

I think from the time I arrived in Cairns a few weeks ago (I know I haven't told you all about Cairns yet, I'll get there eventually) I have been in a perpetual state of awe. This place is just so different from home, it has been sensory overload taking everything in. And that is definitely a positive thing. I think I am finally emerging from the initial culture shock and starting to really get comfortable and settle in. I've gotten a handle on how to accomplish basic tasks like navigation, getting food, getting money and other things that you might not even think about. Little errands and the like. And we finally have a washing machine so I don't have to spend my Tuesday afternoons at the Laundromat! Woo! (A side note, the washing machine apparently caught fire the day before I showed up. Interesting.)

What I Like:

Aussies are laid back, nearly horizontal in some cases. This can lead to a lack of organization, as was the case with my enrolment at the Uni. What is nice, is that they understand everything is unorganized, and will gladly work with you until its all sorted out. One of my favorite Aussie sayings is "She'll be right," which essentially means it will all work out. When working with the same sorts of problems in the US, you often run up into brick walls. But, at least in Hobart, people seem genuinely interested in helping whether I am trying to figure out how to read my lecture timetable or trying to find the right bus.Hobart especially is full of a very cool, hippie ish crowd. There is a ton of music and they just like to have fun. My kind of people!

The landscape, as you have seen, is absolutely incredible. I can't really do it justice with pictures or words. You are just going to have to come down and see it.


Tim Tams. The most delicious cookies on the face of the earth. According to Wikipedia: A Tim Tam is composed of two layers of chocolate malted biscuit, separated by a light chocolate cream filling, and coated in a thin layer of textured chocolate. Crazy good. We go through at least one pack a day. Often 2 or more. I am not really sure how I am going to survive going back to the states without them. Maybe I will mail back a few cases. Ought to last me about 2 days.


My classes are very interesting, and more discussion based than anything I've had in the states. More about classes will come later on, once I've gotten a better feel for them.

Tasmanian apples. Tiny but delicious.

The Markets. Salamanca on saturday has just about anything you could need, and another farmer's market takes place on Sunday.

Things That were/are Challenging:

The initial adjustment was a little tough. The first night I was here was definitely a night of reflection, if you consider the repeated thinking of "What the hell am I doing here?" reflection. Fortunately, those thoughts passed quickly once I got up and started to explore. Now its more like I am wondering how I am every going to be able to leave.

Getting up to a cold room. Just not fun. Tolerable I suppose. The rest of the day when I am dressed I really don't mind not having heat, but the minutes between getting out of bed and into warm clothing are a little chilly.

Keeping up with the reading. I have about 3-4 scholarly articles to read each night. If you are familiar with this type of literature, you know it is not something you can lay down in bed and read before you go to sleep. For the most part it is interesting, if a little tedious. But 2-3 hours every night is a touch brutal, and that is not including any other work I have to do.

Things I miss:

Hah most of this is food, Root Beer, Straight up NY style pizza. And I suppose I miss you folks a little as well!

Summer! It should be warming up here though.

Things I don't like:

Drop Bears. Buggers are like small Koalas with fangs and claws. They hang out in the Eucalyptus trees and wait until a Kangaroo or Wallaby or other small mammal walks by and ambushes them by dropping on to them. They will occasionally drop on to a person walking along a trail or sidewalk at night. One gave me a serious start the other night. Fortunately, it dropped adjacent to me and not on me, so I escaped without injury. I'll definitely keep a better eye on the low hanging branches from now on.

Being sick. I had a little bit up a cold the first week or so I was here. Definitely not surprising, considering I am in a new place with completely new bugs. Corollary: Sudafed is $14 for a 6-pack.

Anyway, it's about bed time for me. Hope life is good!

Getting to know Hobart

     I suppose I should do my best to keep up with current happenings too, otherwise I'll become even more hopelessly behind. Last Friday was bright and clear, and with classes and other administrative issues pretty much squared away, it was time to explore! First of all, here is a picture of my house. My room is on the far right. We have to get it cleaned up for inspection next week, so I will grab some interior shots for you all then. 

     We had been into Hobart City to the north, so we decided to make our way down the Derwent River to the South. Here is Rebecca and George (two people I met in Cairns) standing on the Casino Dock with Mount Wellington as the backdrop.

     This place is so gorgeous it really is hard to believe sometimes. Here is another good photo from the walk:

    That is an old fortification, a relic of the cold war. For some reason they thought the Russians might want to invade Tassie. Not sure why.

     Saturday we rose (semi) early to go to the Salamanca Market. It was completely incredible. It would not be a stretch to say there were several hundred vendors, selling all sorts of food and crafts and almost anything else you can imagine. And a lot of street performers. If you are familiar with the Charleston Farmer's Market, take that and multiply it by about 10 and you have Salamanca. And they do it every week, incredible. I will be sure to bring my camera to snap some photos for you all next time.

     After returning home for dinner (potato stew-great for staying warm) we went back to Salamanca for the Big Sing, a huge bonfire/vocal concert/community sing that was attended by several thousand people. At the end of the night, they taught the crowd the different harmony parts to a song and we all sang. Being part of that large a group singing together was really an amazing experience. The photos didn't come out all that well in the dark, but here is one of the best: 

     And here is a link to a news article about the event. http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2009/07/11/2623269.htm?site=hobart

And another one to a video of the final song:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/videos/2010/07/10/2950252.htm?site=hobart

The audio isn't the best, but hopefully you can use your imagination a little bit.

        Sunday I hiked up Mount Nelson with Logan and Becca, as well as their housemate, Andrew. I think I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Looking North to the Hobart CBD.

Looking South to the Tasman Peninsula and the Southern Ocean.

 One of the many beautiful views on the way up. And looking East across the Derwent to Bellerive and beyond.

There was a nice little cafe at the top where we enjoyed an afternoon snack before heading down. I definitely plan to hike up for sunrise one day and eat breakfast at the cafe. 

Monday saw the beginning of classes, which seem interesting. The final roster is Understanding Climate Change, Intro to Oceanography, Global Political Ecology, and Antarctic Ecology. More on those later.

In other news, I am going to try to get a photobucket or similar site up in the near future so all of you non-facebook people can see my pics.

Hope all is well wherever you happen to be!

Ian