Week 9- Wilson's Promentory- Take 2!

Elaine, Me, Brian, Mike, and Dawit!

 This weekend I took a trip with a carful of people to Wilson’s Prom: Elaine, Mike, Dawit, Brian and me. It was the first time Elaine and Dawit had ever been camping and was a very eventful trip. We drove down on Friday night, arriving about 7 pm which was after dark. The entire 3.5 hour drive it had been pouring rain which made the camping newbies a little nervous about the trip, especially when it came to light that one of them didn’t have a sleeping bag (just blankets) and the other only had a sleeping bag but not mattress pad. Everyone got a little more excited when we entered the park’s gates and began to see wildlife. We saw about 10 kangaroos on the side of the road, including one that wouldn’t get out our way in the middle of the road, and a half million wombats. Unfortunately the rain didn’t stop to let us set up our tents and since we had never put up one of the tents before (and it was a really odd tent) we ended up quite wet by the time we finished. Leaving the tents behind we drove to the site where we though the BBQ was. Somehow in the dark we completely managed to miss it and had to find another BBQ across the camp site (it should be noted that this is a huge camp ground, it holds about 300 spots). The rain lightened up enough for us to get our cooking supplies out of the car and under the shelter. We began to cook a tasty dinner of BBQ chicken, roast potatoes, and fresh veggies. After dinner we drove back to our camp site. The rain had stopped and everyone quickly realized that we weren’t ready for bed. The moon was incredibly bright and we all admired it for a while and several people attempted to take photos of it. Everyone quickly realized that it didn’t work with a normal camera so Brian took out his fancy camera and took several amazing photos of the moon that allowed us to see the craters on it and everything. We then did several long exposure photos of the sky that allowed us to see the stars and made the dark night sky look like day light. After that we began to have fun with long exposure or multiple flash photos that captured us moving around or haunting one another (I’ll post a few so you understand). At last we were tired and went to bed.

    The next morning we went to Squeaky Beach, Pillar Point, and Tidal Overlook. We had expected some serious rain but got only one light shower. We climbed a ton of rocks and took a huge number of photos. After a brief rest at camp we went to Lilly Pilly Gully which was supposed to have amazing native Australian Flora (Mike and Elaine are taking a course on Australian Flora and Fauna and wanted to put their knowledge to the test). Mike guaranteed that we would see several special types of plants. Unfortunately there was a fire that took place in February and had  destroyed a good section of the area which made it next to impossible for Mike to spot anything. For the rest of the trip it became a joke that when Mike guaranteed anything, it was sure not to happen. That night we had BBQ’d kangaroo, corn, and broccoli. I was a little grossed out by the kangaroo for several reasons; firstly I don’t particularly like eating red meat and kangaroo is about as red as it comes. Secondly, you take it out of the package and it drips blood, you put it on the grill and blood sizzles out. You can’t cook it too much or else it gets incredibly smokey and way too chewy to eat. This was probably the first time I’d ever eaten medium-rare meat and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about the experience. It tasted like stake but wasn’t quite as tough. It didn’t melt in my mouth but it wasn’t as “meaty” as I expected. We talked to some Aussie’s who were using the other grill and gave them tips for their upcoming trip to the US. When we were getting ready for bed we happened to notice a large hole in the side of our tent. After puzzling over it for a while we realized that a wombat had just charged through the side of our tent in order to put footprints on my pillow. After a long day of hiking, we tucked in early. Everyone was in their sleeping bags before 9 pm. At about 9:15 we hear loud snarling right outside of our tent. We think it was the wombat, angry that we had re-inhabited our tent. I almost jumped out of my skin.

    The next morning dawned bright blue and sunny. We decided to climb Mount Oberon, the highest peak in Wilson’s Prom with an amazing 360 degree view. It took about an hour of uphill climbing on a fire road, then another 10 minutes of walking up stairs cute from stone before rising above the tree tops and seeing the ocean on three sides. It couldn’t have been more of an amazing view. We took lots of pictures and ate snacks while marveling at how blue the water was and what an incredible place Wilson’s Prom is. We hiked back down the trail and went to Tidal Beach for lunch. We had a flock of sea gulls standing near by, waiting to see if we would throw anything to them. Everyone was pretty disconcerted by them because their eyes were light blue and ringed with a red circle (they also had bright red beaks and feet with black wings). There were also two larger sea gulls that had black wings and bright red beaks and feet who seemed to be in charge of their smaller companions. We were all tired so we decided to do a short hike to another beach, Cooper’s Beach, where Mike one again made the fatal mistake of guaranteeing that we would see kangaroos and emus. I swore that I wouldn’t speak to him on our return journey if we didn’t see an emu (probably the last epically Australian animal that I hadn’t seen yet).  We had an easy walk to the beach in which we saw kangaroos and wombats. The beach was beautiful with large waves and a very slight breeze. Everyone took of their shoes and splashed in the water. I was taught to skip stones! We made a game of attempting to skip a stone right into a wave crashing, causing the stone to jump 5- 10 feet in the air. It was pretty awesome. We walked back and I started to threaten Mike about breaking promises. We got back into the car and I stopped speaking to Mike. After about a minute of driving down the dirt road which was to lead us back to the main road, I start shrieking. On the side of the road is an emu! Brian breaks sharply, having no idea what was going on, and I jump out of the car. Everyone else follows me out quickly, figuring out what I must have seen but the emu finally notices us and runs away before everyone saw it. They are so HUGE! It’s like a giant ostrich. I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t seem like the right size in comparison to anything else in the world. It was amazing how well it blended in with the environment considering how large it was. We got back in the car (I was told not to shriek again, to instead calmly alert everyone to the presence of emus if I saw any more) and kept driving and a few moments later I let out another squeal that was probably too loud and this time everyone saw the two emus that were just slightly hidden in the woods. As we continued our drive we saw another 5 emus. Needless to say, I apologized to Mike and we had excited conversation all the way home.

    One interesting thing about the drive home was a brief history lesson from Dawit. He goes to UC Berkeley and lived for  the last ten years in Santa Rosa, but before that had grown up in Ethiopia. Even so, he considered himself to be Eritrean. I learned a lot about the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, a conflict that I hadn’t known even existed. He taught us a lot about the culture and religion and how the older generation and the younger generations deal with the conflict and the politics of the country. It was also fascinating to hear the story of his family fleeing Ethiopia. As Eritrean citizens living in Ethiopia they would have been arrested and deported back to Eritrea, however they missed the officers by 12 hours and came to the US (his father and brother were caught but were able to come to the US soon after going back to Eritrea). It was a lot to think over and made me very thankful for the peaceful life I’ve lived.

Week 8- Wilson's Promentory

This weekend I went backpacking (or bushwalking as they call it here) in Wilson’s Promontory. It’s about three hours South East of Melbourne and is a large nature reserve on a peninsula. We left from the trail head Telegraph Hill at about 11 am on Saturday morning. We climbed up large hills, through forrest and tropical forrest, marshes and fields. Wombats are probably the cutest creature ever. We arrived at the first beach, Sealers Cove (pictured above), around 1 pm. Unfortunately we had to get across a “creek” which was at high tide. It was up to our chest and freezing cold so we decided to wait around until it was a little lower. We ate lunch with a few other groups who were also waiting for the tide to go down. Around 4 pm it was decided that the water was “lower” although no one knew exactly how much lower. Everyone took off their pants and shoes and waded through the creek (which by the way was red from being stained with tea tree oil) which at this point was mid thigh level. We all went on our merry ways to several different camp sites. Two hours later I arrived at Refuge Cove. The most spectacular part of this cove was that there was a whale in it. At first sight it looked like an underwater rock that occasionally peaked out but then a fin came out. The whale started flapping its tail and put on quite a show. It was incredible. I’ve never seen a wild whale before! It was getting dark so we eventually had to stop paying attention to the show and set up camp. This was a 16.6 kilometer hike (equivalent to 10.3 miles). 

The next day we hiked to the next cove over (7 km), Waterloo Cove, where we ran into two more whales which graced us with a show. The beach had bright white sand and the water was so blue and clear it looked photoshopped; I could have been in the Caribbean. The birds at this beach can open backpacks. They managed to undo a zipper, spread the contents of the pocket around the site, and sampled various objects including a deck of cards and a cliff bar (which they stole). That night it rained ridiculously hard and our packs got completely soaked.  

The next morning we ate breakfast and broke camp in the rain but almost as soon as we started walking it stopped raining and cleared up. It was gorgeous. We crossed overland to Oberon Bay where we encountered high winds and the strangest wave formations I’ve seen. At a single time there were 7-12 sets of waves crashing. There was never a lull in the water. It would have been impossible to get out into the water because you would expend so much energy recovering from getting knocked down. It was very picturesque. We were crossing on the beach and the tide was rising. I was too lazy to take off my shoes so I had to avoid the water. At one point in time I had to scramble up an embankment, face plant into it, and raise my feet as high as i possibly could. I missed the water by about two inches. At this point we sped up to avoid any other similar instances. We walked across Norman Bay Beach which was similarly picturesque. Eventually we got back to the base camp, Tidal River. The total days trip was 16.8 km. It was an amazing trip.

Week 7- Surf Trip

The gang!

This weekend I learned how to surf! I’m horrible at it. I can occasionally stand up and rarely do I manage to actually ride the wave. Most frequently I can be found eating wake. Even so, I loved it. There is something about just being in the water at the whim of the currents that makes me really happy. I guess I should preface all this by saying that I joined the surf club with a bunch of friends (shown in the above photo from left to right: Elaine, Joe, Krishma, Mike, Brian). They have “surf camps” where they bring a bunch of kids (there were 85 of us) to a “life saving club” which is basically a youth hostel for surfers and give us boards, lessons, and food. It was incredibly fun. I made so many new friends. Unfortunately being in the water for 3 days got me a cold but I think it was worth it. We watched the sunrise and sunset every day. 

Mom was asking me about my classes yesterday and I figured I should elaborate for everyone. The Australian school system is very different from the American system. It is generally a 3 year program. Like in the UK, students enter knowing what they are going to study. As an abroad student I get more flexibility to move between faculties. I’m taking 4.5 classes. I’m taking biochemical regulation of cellular function which meets for lecture three times a week for one hour with an extra one hour tutorial. Australia Now is a historical/anthropological/political look at the Australian society. It meets once a week for an hour and a half with a hour long tutorial once a week. Cognitive Psychology meets once a week for two hours with a two hour laboratory every other week. Nymphs, Sluts, and Madonnas is a feminist critique of art and it meets once a week for one hour with a two hour tutorial for two hours. Almost all of my classes are recorded and put up online. I’m not totally sure how I feel about this, I like learning in the classroom, but at the same time it is pretty convenient. Lecture is pretty self explanatory, a teacher talks for a set amount of time and then the class is over. There is no discussion. Tutorial is time for discussion, talking about the readings, and explaining the assignments. Tutorials are often run by grad students. Another interesting thing is that you don’t call your teachers “professor” and you address them by their first name. Only the most important person in the department (usually the chair but not always) is called professor.

Week 4- The Great Ocean Road- Part 1

One of the many lighthouses.

This weekend I went camping along the Great Ocean Road. It is a gorgeous drive about an hour and a half from Melbourne in the South West. There is bright blue water, gorgeous rock faces, and amazing hikes every where. I think I saw 5 waterfalls (Erskine falls in Lorne, and Triplet Falls  and another one in Maits Rest, plus some others which I don’t remember their locations). I also saw WILD KOALAS (in Kennet River)!!!! There was one sitting on the highway which I got really close to (to take photos of course, it was hard not to cuddle it) before attempting to scare it off the road so it wouldn’t get hit (apparently I’m not that scary- we had to use the cars horn). The water was cold but that didn’t stop me from swimming in the ocean (we saw whales!). We also visited a light house at Cape Otway (we visited another but didn’t get to go up it). The coast is very dangerous, with reefs and rocks abounding. You can actually go on a tour of all the ship wrecked boats that litter the area. Back in the day people sailing from Europe would go straight south, almost to Antarctica and then East until they hit Australia (in some cases, very literally). The most famous part of the Great Ocean Road is the 12 Apostles- huge rock formations that jut from the ocean. We didn’t get that far on this trip. Luckily that means I have an excuse to go back!

Week 3- Marysville to Walhalla

I bet they said oops.

I went camping this weekend! My friend has a land rover so we went off on a grand adventure. I got to learn how to drive a manual (an Australian one no less). We found a bar on the top of a mountain after getting lost and having some friendly Aussies give us directions to our camp site and to the bar (although they had accents so thick we could barely understand them), met a bunch of drunk aussies at a camp site who were hilarious (and got invited to a 21st birthday party next weekend. It’s a huge deal here), we got utterly lost on a trail in the mountains, found a flipped over trailer on the bottom of a steep hill we were about to go down and decided to turn around, helped tow the truck of two guys who gave us directions off the side of the road, camped out at this weird place to discover one that the shoe of one of the kids disappeared, searched every where for it to no avail (I was blamed), and finally made our way home. It was a super fun weekend. Since I don’t have class on Mondays I think there will be more like it soon!

Week 2- Melbourne Central

Aussie Rules Football- The field is larger than that off a US football field.

I’ve now been in Melbourne proper for a week. It’s a really terrific city. We had a welcome week for international students hosted by the college. I met so many people from all over the world, although there were probably more Californian's than there were Europeans. It was crazy, tours by day and night life by night. We went to the tallest residential building in the southern hemisphere, federation square, the melbourne zoo, had a formal dinner, and went to a footie game. Footie is the best thing ever. It is technically called Australia Rules Football but its usually just called footie or aussie rules. It seems to be a combination of football, rugby, soccer, basketball, and ultimate frisbee. It was so crazy. My team, the Bulldogs, won. It was awesome and incredibly exciting. Australians love to bet so in the spirit of things my friend and I made a wager, which I of course won. Nonstop action. It was really nice to finally move into my apartment for real. My roommate is proving to be really sweet although we haven’t really hung out at all. We just talk when we’re around but usually not for long. 

Saturday was my friends birthday so we went to see Harry Potter (they made things up, I am so mad!), then had an italian dinner, and then went out dancing. It was a fun night. Yesterday I had fun wandering around. My friends and I went on a group shopping trip (the best buy was 100 delicious apples for $10) and then cooked dinner. I cooked pasta sauce from scratch and three of my friends had to use their apartments to cook the pasta (each stove has 2 burners and we had 12 people). Another friend made Chinese pancakes with green onion in them. I told her that she has to teach me they were amazing.

Today a bay area friend of mine and I went to Saint Kilda’s beach. It’s really cute. I’d love to go back when its warmer. I’m not entirely sure you should really swim there but I think I’ll probably try. It wasn’t a far drive. I was navigator and it was a little problematic. They’re road system is really trippy. Major streets which have trams run through them often work as a round about when it comes to right hand turns. You have to pull over to the far left and wait until the light turns red to fully drive through the traffic and complete your right turn. Tonight I’m having what I call my, “My First Apartment” dinner. I was too lazy to cook for myself so I heated up soup, made toast, and had english muffins with cream cheese and jam for dessert (except I did it in reverse order). If anyone has any stove top recipes they’d like to share, please do! I don’t have an oven and its annoying. I can only survive on PB&J for so long. 

Tomorrow starts the real University Orientation. I get to pick classes and all that fun stuff. I’m a little nervous, partly because I have to actually navigate the campus for the first time. I can get through it but I’ve never had to go into the buildings before. Wish me luck!

Week 1- The Grampians

What's that you say? There's a kangaroo behind me?!

My program went to the Grampian National Park this weekend. It was amazing. Kangaroos every where. You turned the corner of a building and there was one three feet away. Apparently they’re about as dumb as deer. Aussies don’t really like them. We went on a night walk and saw a lot of night animals. We also got a short lesson in the constellations. There is the Southern Cross (depicted on the Australian and New Zeland flags) which when used in conjunction with the “Pair” you can tell where south is. There is also the Emu which is a black out of the stars. The stars were so bright and plentiful. The next day we did some team building exercises which were a lot of fun, surprisingly. Part of it was  a ropes course, which I had never done before. I ended up bruised all over but I did pretty well on it. I want to do another one! We also went abseiling (repelling) in the park. The next day we had Aussie Rules Footie Practice. We were rolling in kangaroo poo and it was absolutely hilarious. We created the term “waller” for when someone does something spectacular. Its a combination of baller and wallaby. I’ll see my first real footie game on Thursday. I’ve been told that I need to pick a team to cheer for and follow them. Its a hot topic. We learned how to play the digeriedoo. I learned how to do the kookaburra call and got one to answer me! I then was able to track where they were coming from and I got to see about five! They are so funny looking! The trip really got my group to get to know each other and surprisingly we get along really well. On the bus ride back we saw about 12 rainbows, at least three of which were double rainbows. The sky here is really amazing.

I’ve been slowly getting to know Melbourne. There is an open air market close to my apartment which is probably where I’ll end up shopping for food. Thats the Queen Victoria Market, shortened Queen Vic. When walking through there was a guy who was really loud. You could hear him half way across the market yelling, “Woah, what a banana!” It was a good sales tactic! Whenever someone in my group gets super excited someone else yells it at them. Confusingly there's also the Queen Victoria Center, abbreviated to the QV. It’s a good collection of stores. I’m looking forward to trying the chocolate store. 

I’m now at the Melbourne Welcome, a program for exchange students. We’re in the residential colleges. I’m living in Trinity College. It’s very Harry Potter esque. I have a single with such a high ceiling. I love it! I’m enjoying getting to know other international students. There is a huge collection of people here. I got a campus tour. I have no idea how I’m going to navigate my classes. I’ll need to do a practice run before classes start. The campus is ginormous. My guide is going on an exchange in a month to Penn and so I was trading advice with her. We then went to the QV before going to dinner. They feed us really well. Today we’re going to the zoo!

I met my roommate! Her name is Monica and she is from Mexico City. She’s going to RMIT which is another college. She is a third year food science and engineering major. She seems really nice although we only met briefly. I had just gotten home from the Grampians and she was about to go to bed because here classes started yesterday. I’m now living in the res halls and so I won’t see her again till Saturday. I did meet her father, Jesus (which obviously made me excited), in the early morning. He had a good sense of humor which made me hope that she will too.