Day 109 - Thursday - to Cairns!!!

I got up ridiculously early to make sure everything was perfect for my flight (weird). Anyway soon I was on my way to the airport and then on a plane to Brisbane. I met my sister (Pam) and nephew (Chad) at the check-in area - it was soooo nice to see some familiar faces!!! We all checked in and grabbed some lunch before jumping on a flight to Cairns. We checked into our hotel (the Hilton - rizty!!) and I checked out the local information centre while Pam and Chad hit the pool. I joined them for a while before we got too chilly and headed in for showers. Next we went to Reef Teach an educational seminar on the reef and its critters. Very interesting and I definitely learned a lot - it was a guide junkies heaven and now I can't wait to get out there and see all the awesome critters first hand!!



Some little lizard - perhaps a Gecko? I don't know!!! :o(

The Hotel

Days 106-108 Almost Done!

Monday and Tuesday brought - you guessed it the paper - I finally got it all wrapped up and handed in Tuesday afternoon - yay! I spent the rest of Tuesday night working on my next assignment and trying to get ready for this trip.

Wednesday was my last day of Uni classes - possibly forever. I was a little sad about it. School is all I know - well ok that's not true - I've had a lot of internships and the extension office and such but still now it's on to the real deal. How horrifying. Sigh. Anyway enough depressing stuff. Whitley hired a massage person to come in and give shoulder and neck massages since we are entering our exam period and I got one in the afternoon - so relaxing! After my last class and dinner I headed out for a night bike ride with 3 of my friends - we were trying to go see the bats before they left the roost but didn't quite leave on time so we just rode to the Yarra and back - we did see a fare number of bats flying around though. I spent the rest of a frantic evening packing and organizing everything school-wise I needed to take with me on my next adventure.

Now I'm off to catch my flight to Brisbane to meet my sister (Pam) and nephew (Chad) and then we will all fly to Cairns. On the 4th we'll fly to Sydney, and the 7th back to Melbourne - should be a crazy ride! I should have internet (in theory) and the ability to keep this updated!

Day 100 -105 Back to Work

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday morning Tony dropped me off at the train terminal so I could take a train to the domestic airport and save Ann a stress/traffic filled ride to the terminal. My flight went well and soon I was back at Whitley trying to reorganize my life. The rest of Tuesday and Wednesday brought classes, time in the library with my paper, a trip to Brunnie for supplies, and trying plan my next week and half so I can finish all my school work and enjoy Australia to the fullest before I have to go back to the real world.

Thursday brought my last day of work, which went surprisingly well. I had some class and then Victoria came over for dinner. Afterwards her, Rosie and I sat around trying to plan our Tasmania trip - everything from the car rental to what camping supplies we would need. It's a hard process trip planning - I just want to see everything!

Friday brought more paper and organizing interrupted by some running around the park and room cleaning. Whitley had a Valedictory Dinner for the evening which was really lovely. Everyone got dressed up and we feasted on wine and rack of lamb while listening to seniors say their goodbyes. It was really sad - they even did a special goodbye to the exchange students - I was so proud I didn't cry. Afterward dinner most of Whitley headed to a local pub we danced the night away all fancy style in our evening wear. I was pretty beat so I only stayed till 12:30 or so before catching a ride home.

Saturday morning brought final efforts to the paper, interrupted by some more running. I spent some time working on the blog in the afternoon and took a walk to Brunnie with my friend Missi for a Gaytime (ice cream bar) after lunch. I went to my first 21st party in the evening with a bunch of other Whitlians. It was a good time complete with an excellent BBQ, campfire, and funny speeches for the Birthday girl. I kinda wish we had the tradition in America - though I worry what stories my friends would embarrass me with....

Sunday morning was spent down in the city as I began my gift purchasing - I went to the Arts Centre Craft fair and the Vic Markets and came home with only a few gifts - why is it sooo hard to buy for people!? Sigh I'm sure I'll come up with something... Anyway the night brought homework (as I finally sent the paper to the tutor for corrections) and preparation for my Angel. Everyone in Whitley gets a name and then you do nice things for your person during SWOT-VAC and exams like leave them chocolate bars and handmade cards. Some people even organize other stuff like having everyone hug them or singing them a song.

I don't really have a lot of pictures- um because there hasn't been many awesome adventures. (there will be soon!) So I chucked on some good snorkeling pics from the WA trip. They were the ones taken for the kayakers - but I saw the same stuff so its just in better quality than I could provide with my disposable

Aw everyone so pretty! Rosie on my Left (going to Tazzie) and Missi on my right

Fire Coral

This is apparently an eel - I think it looks like a Krait (Laticauda colubrina)

Any thoughts? ( I didn't get to see one in person (I saw everything else though))

So beautiful

Giant Clam

Day 99 - Royal National Park

Monday morning Tony dropped me off at the train station early so I could catch a train to Loftus and then walk into Royal National Park. It was about an hour and a half ride and I had to switch trains so I couldn't take any naps this time. Once I got to Loftus it took me a long time to get into the park because my map was a little out of date so the trail I was searching for didn't really exist. Eventually I made it and found the visitor's center. I really wanted to make it to the coast but it was quite a haul walking-wise and the bike rentals were expensive so I chose a hike called the Carrington drive trail - which used to be an old road. It was a neat track and I saw a ton of new birds - and wild Lyre Birds!!! I even saw a big male and he sang a little tune - nothing like the breeding one at Healesville but it was still awesome. Since the track was only 10 km I had some time kill before leaving so I took another side track on the map which ended heading straight up a mountain - it was good exercise and the top was pretty cool. I only passed 3 people all day. I hiked the Couranga track out of the park where I saw my first deer - though it scared me when it took off so I didn't get a picture or an ID - I just know it was a deer. I ended up in Waterfall(town) to catch the train (couple of stations down the line from Loftus). Tony and Bindi picked me up and we went to home to an excellent homemade dinner. Afterwards I loaded some camera pictures and packed up for my early flight.


The entrance - finally!

Some flowers

Crazy rocks

I'm not sure what species - but they were everywhere

The track

Some trees growing on a rock

trees everywhere!

Banksia

The top of the mountain

Mountain Heath Dragon - so cute - love the squinty eyeball

Day 98 - The Drip

Sunday morning after an excellent brekkie - with eggs!! - Tony, Ann, and I headed to a natural area about a half hour outside of Mudgee called "The Drip" where a path that runs along Goulburn River. It's called the drip because all along the hike there are great big walls of stone that are all dripping! There were lots of birds and sunshine and it was an excellent hike. On the way back I got to save a turtle (side neck!) crossing the road - but it wouldn't come out for a picture. Afterwards we come back for a big lunch before heading back to Camden. I spent the evening writing a few more sentences in the dreaded paper and watching some more TV.

The Path

You can see the old riverbed sediment embedded in the rock layers

More path

Hmm you can see the head in my picture and I've forgotten the name now - Spine tail skink or something...

Some unknown lizard

swamp on a wall - there were frog on the walls and everything (not that I could get to them!)

The Drip

Some boulders

mr. shy turtle

Day 97 - To Mudgee

Saturday morning brought another early morning on the computer. Afterwards I packed up for our trip to Mudgee (Tony's hometown) where we would be spending the night visiting Tony's parents. It wasn't too long of a drive and I slept off and on most of the way there between Bindi trying to sneak me doggy kisses. Upon arrival we had an awesome lunch of sandwiches and snacks. Afterwards we had tea in the back garden and chatting. Some King parrots came into the bird feeder and I spent some time trying to get the perfect picture. In the evening we went for a drive around the area to look for wildlife. We saw a ton of Kangaroos! After the drive we ordered some food and had a feast and shared more stories and bottle of wine before bed.

Mr. King Parrot

The King Parrot Ladies

Mr. King Parrot again

Miss King Parrot

Kangaroo with Joey awkwardly shoved in pouch...

Day 96 - Mount Annan Botanic Gardens

Friday morning I worked on the computer trying to figure out some course accreditation stuff and job applications for when I get back to the US - it's sneaking up so quick!!! I spent a little bit of time reading more journals for my paper and trying to find something relevant to compare for the case study. After I got tired of paper stuff I staked out the bird feeder and looked around the yard for lizards. In the afternoon Ann dropped me off at Mount Annan Botanic Gardens where I wondered around for a few hours and took pictures of birds. I saw a another monitor/big lizard spp but it spooked before I had the camera up. I also saw another snake - this time a dangerous one - no worries though I kept my distance. After the gardens closed Tony picked me up and we went home for dinner. Afterwards I watched a little TV (which felt so weird after not having it for 4 months) and worked a bit more on the paper.


Double-barred finches having a drink


The finch on the left is a Zebra Finch - so bizarre to see them in the wild! The dove is a Peaceful Dove

Australasian Grebe - I swear it had a little fuzzball baby following it but I couldn't figure out where it went when I zoomed in.

A flower

This is Paterson's Curse a flower that takes over everything! It can make livestock sick, there are just fields and fields of it around.

Wollemi Pine - Species existed in dinosaur times, one of the world's rarest plants

Spotted Pardalote - He has a bright red butt and was singing the cutest little bird song ever

The Gardens

Red-bellied Black Snake, venomous - but often not fatal because of medical treatments available. They aren't very aggressive, it was quite happy to move along when it heard me coming down the trail

um, a big blue tree - I don't know...

I know you've seen the Lorikeet before but it just looks so pretty in with the red kangaroo paws - I think its eye is exactly the same color

Da y 95 - Echo Point

I woke up super early again and Ann drove me to a train station so that I could catch a train to Katoomba (Blue Mountains, Echo Point). It was about an hour train ride through some really scenic areas. Once off the train I worked my way through the town to the National Park. After consulting a man in the visitor's center I decided to walk a big loop (not sure how far actually) out along the Cliffside and then back through the valley and up some scary stairs. It took me 4 – 4 1/2 hours or so, but I was stopping every ten seconds to take pictures and ID stuff. I did see a snake – finally on my own in the bush I saw one. I actually almost stepped on it as it was laying on the trail. It was only a little guy but still so cuteee! I made back in time to catch the 4:30 train and Ann and Bindi came and picked me up. We took the long way home and stopped to look for some bats and Kangaroos. The bats were absent but we found Kangaroos and one of them had a joey in her pouch! We got home and had some homemade lasagna – yum – and I called it an early night.


Welcome to the Blue Mountains

Tree Sap

The top of the three sisters

The giant staircase

some cliffs

A snail

Fern Bower

Walking through waterfalls

Some crazy rock formation

The Snake!! I think it is a Collared spp - not dangerous - but I'm sure which one specifically

A skyrail (I didn't go on it -a bit afraid of heights!)

Waterfall

On the left is a waterfall and on the right is where the water falls off the cliff (see picture above)

The Three Sisters

This is zoomed in a bit - but these are the scary stairs - yes that's the side of the cliff, I was scared