Australian Holidays

Thought that I would talk a little bit about some of the holidays in Australian.
ANZAC Day was celebrated on April 25th. ANZAC -Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. - is celebrated for those who have served in war. There were services at 4am during the holiday, i thought that was pretty early!
Here is a site about ANZAC day .... http://www.anzacday.org.au/
What I found to be interesting is that Aussies celebrate father's day in September and they celebrate labour day in May. (Actually, this Monday is Labour Day!) Yay for having school off.
Halloween is not popular in Australia and Christmas is nothing like in the states. Also, it doesnt snow during xmas cause it is getting close to the summer months (the seasons are resersed).
Easter is pretty low key and there is no big dinner with family like in the US.

Kookaburras!

I found the lyrics to a song that I learned when I was younger about the Kookaburra....

Kookaburra Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Merry merry king of the bush is he
Laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra
Gay your life must be

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Eating all the gumdrops he can see
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
Leave some gums for me

Kookaburra sits on the old gum tree
Counting all the monkeys he can see
Stop Kookaburra, stop Kookaburra
That's no monkey, that's ME!!!

Here is what the Kookaburra sounds like --- just copy and paste the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Op4PZzwwU&NR=1

Rugby League

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm5SXqqhrwo

The theme song for Rugby. Whose your team? ;)

Pictures of Undara Field Trip!

It was pretty dusty... someone made a little art on the back of the troopie.
Root from the cave! You can not touch them because the acid on our fingers will kill it.
Venomous snake!
Sun just about setting....
Picture of a tree at the top of the crater while we were watching the sunset.
Beginning of the sunset at the top of the crater.
Frog I caught while frogging by a swamp
The tour guide with a frog mouth.
Picture of bats leaving a cave.
Velvet lizard... they are amazing!
A bandicoot that we caught in one of our traps.
Loading into the troopie! It was our transportation around Undara to get to different sites.

I love the red soil!

PIctures of Mackay!! :)

Picture while driving.
Picture while hiking Eungella. In the distance is Mackay.
Trail of the forest.
Platypus! We didnt see any beacause they are only out during the morning and in the evening.
Baby mangrove tree!
Sunset while driving home.
Cool picture of a kangaroo.
Sugar cane! We saw TONS of this while driving.
Little balls that crabs make. They are perfectly round and found all over the beach.

View of the beach.

Sorry that it has been so long!

Hello Everyone!
Sorry for not posting in a while. Had a busy week traveling. Mackay was the first place that I went on break. I went to visit two of my friends and stayed at one of their places for the whole time. I went with 2 of my american friends. We left on Saturday morning and got there in the afternoon. That night we went out into town and went to some clubs. It was a really fun time to go out in a place other than Townsville! We also went to a lot of natinal parks. Instead of going to Yongala, like i thought my friend said, we went to Eungella. My friend had to laugh when I told her that I was going to bring my snokel for swimming -- when we were going to be in the rainforest! :) One of the parks that we went to did have the ocean, which was amazing! I loved the views of it on our hike! We ended up getting a lot of pictures of Kookaburras, kangaroos/wallabys, and some crabs. We were able to find sand dollars on the beach! We all found one and brought them home with us.
Yesterday I got back from Undara National Park where I was on a field trip with one of my classes to do animal surveying! It was an amazing trip! We spent 3 days there camping in the outback. Our class was broke up into smaller groups and we all did the same activities but at different times during our trip. I was in the red group --- later, we named ourselves ' team awesome'. On our first night there, Thursday, we went batting where we went by a lava tube cave and set up a few traps to catch bats. We ended up just hanging out in the bush while the bats flew out and some of them got caught.
On Friday we went trapping for mammals, reptiles and amphibians. My friend leandra and I mostly did the elliot traps, which are small, solid metal cages that animals go into. There were also some buckets and nets that reptiles and amphibians would fall into 0r walk into and we had cages for larger mammals. Later that day we did some IDing of animals made lunch, did some habitat descriptions by collecting data at an area of the park and did a macropod, bat tour and frogging in the evening. We drove around during our macropod survery - which was pretty much involved looking at various types of kangaroos and wallabies. We did see a wild boar though! That was awesome. The tour guide took us to a bat cave where we watched bats emerge from the cage. We found a bird called a frog mouth in the road as we were driving back to camp. The tour guide go out and picked it up and brought it on the bus to show us! The bird was hurt though, so it was easy for him to pick up. On frogging we got to go through a swampy area to catch frogs. I caught a big frog, cant remember what kind it was though!
On Saturday we did a bird census were we went with a birder and got to know the calls of many birds and what they look like. I think that the easiest one to hear is the laughing Kookaburra! We also did a reptile census where we tried to find lizards and snakes. Sunday we went mist netting to catch birds. After a while a small group went to check on bat traps from the previous night. I went with the group and it was awesome because in one of the traps we had about 207 bats!!! They were making noise and crawling around each other... it was an interesting sight to see!
Well, I am going to head out. Take much care everyone!
1. One of the parks we went to where the forest meets the ocean!
2. Kookaburras looking at one another --- they were hanging out while we were eating lunch one day!
3. small waterfall!
4. being the tourists that we are... we had to get a picture by the roo sign!
5. A rock where we had our lunch that day. It was very nice!

Happy Easter! :)

Wanting to wish you all a Happy Easter! Today I went to church with one of my friend and then went shopping at the Flinder's Markets. I bought some fruit (one called 'custard apple' and some star fruit). Easter doesn't seem as big here as it is back in the states. People dont have a big meal with their family - it seems more low key.
Yesterday I volunteered at the Billabong Sanctuary. Like always, I had a great time! I did the nocturnal animals again and did some food preparation and then helped out with their dingo show. What was cool is the sanctuary is full of Aussie workers and the occasional american volunteer but on Saturday there were 3 other volunteers from different countries - Sweden, Wales, and England. It was interesting to talk to some international volunteers.
When one of the rangers was taking me home yesterday I noticed that the car he was driving was automatic! It was soo weird to be in automatic car in Australia... I almost didn't like it because I have been getting so used to manuals!
Some more Aussie stuffs!:
Tyres = Tires
Keen "Im keen to do that!"
Thongs = flip flops ... kinda funny when you hear a guy say something about their 'thongs'
For riding a bus you dont need exact change, I used a $20 dollar bill and got change back for it!
lollies = candy
biscuits = cookies (Anzac Biscuits - for Anzac Day - are amazing!)
Bundeburg = popular Aussie Rum
Drive through liquor stores!
Heaps = a lot.
steak burgers
A lot of houses in Townsville are one story houses. (I have heard it is because of the cyclones)
Take home boxes for when you go out to eat aren't common here.
Things Australia doesn't have....
1. Root beer
2. Reeses
3. BBQ Ribs
Here is a list that I found on Facebook....
You Know You Have Studied Abroad in Australia When...
Tim tams have become a new food group
Vegemite - try it once, maybe never again
You are seriously impressed with the selection of M&Ms
You have even tripped on a rock and broke your thong...
..you know what a thong actually is
You suddenly have the urge to have really big hair and wear your belts around your waist up by your boobs
You use "oi" correctly in a sentence and smile
You have more than 2 hours of class a day and complain
Your final exams are worth more than 1/2 your grade
You coordinate your weekend outings around buying just one day pass for the bus
Two words - GOON BAG
Reese's cups have the trading value of black market kidneys
McCafe - enough said
You have travelled more across Australia than the US
You have never lined dried your laundry but do now just to save a $1 coin (hey, 2 of those equals a drink on Tuesday night!)
Peanut butter becomes your life, you hoard it and dinner time gets violent if it's in limited supply
You get used to running with kangaroos and wallabies
Three words: RUM and COKE
At first, the tropical birds waking you up at 6am were cool, tropical even. Now, you wish you brought your BB gun on the plane...
You have encountered spiders larger than a small dinner plate - and lived to tell the tale
You live for Thursdays - pasta night and taco day
You move from being poor, to being broke, to being in debt in a few short weeks
HEAPS
You are more commited to Fischer Shield events than most school sporting games back home
You have even witnessed geckos having sex
You have eaten a meat pie
You have snorkeled the Great Barrier Reef and/or found Nemo
Thanks for reading all of this! Take much care and have a great Easter! Here are some details about the pictures....
1. The church I went to today.... behind it is Castle Hill!
2. Cuddling a Koala! :) Love them <3
3. Another pic of some Koala time.
4. Croc time... they are pretty awesome creatures!
5. Feeding one of the dingos during a show.

Poem...

I was looking at a website about the Outback and came across this poem...

The Outback

by Leighton B. Watts

There's a place where daily hardships are the making of a man
Where learning skills come less from books than a knowledge of the land
Where a rough and kindred mateship can be built on work and trust
And a fair day's work reaps just rewards for a fair day's work's a must
Where an unforgiving landscape boasts extremes of flood and drought
And a sheep walks miles 'tween blades of grass or it has to go without
Where the pestilence of rabbit, fox and feral takes its toll
And the red hills rust with iron ore and the valleys seam with coal
Where gold and light-rich opal can be wrested from the earth
And a man can find a solitude to test his very worth
Where a woman's sense of humour is a valued prize and dear
For a woman holds the heart of man when it's more than he can bear
Where a team is all that matters when the river's running rife
And a single strand of radio can be all there is to life
Where age is often listened to for experiences gained
And helping out a neighbour is an ethos much maintained.
It's a place they call The Outback and we're never far apart
For The Outback's not a place at all it's the beating of my heart.

Chocolate Bunnies AND! Chocolate Bilbies!

Easter is right around the corner and Aussie stores are getting ready for the celebration with assortments of chocolate! One of them that I thought was really interesting was their "Chocolate Bilby" - related to bandicoots. I saw it Woolworths, 'Woolies' for the Aussie slang, and had to take a picture! Rabbits are an introduced species in Oz.
I have a long weekend! We have friday off and monday. It is nice because I have 2 papers to write for Tuesday. On Saturday I am volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary and on Sunday I am going to church with a friend and then see if the Flinder's Street Market is open for Easter Sunday. We are also planning on going to The Strand to hit up the beach! It should be a good easter weekend.
Here are some more random Aussie terms:
Tosser - jerk
whipper snipper - weed wacker
nappies - diapers
car park, parks - parking lot, parking spot
arvo - afternoon

Pictures!!! :) Paluma

1. Pothos Longipes
2. Crystal Creek! Wish that we had time to swim!
3. This is supposed to be a picture where you can see the rain clouds in the rainforest... but it is hard in this one.
4. An outlook at the top of Paluma.

Long time no post!

G'day everyone!
Sorry that I haven't written in a while -- I have been pretty busy and I was on a field trip for the weekend.
School has been going well and my classes have been interesting. I am taking Conservation Biology, Rainforest Ecology, Psychology and Australian Vertebrate Fauna. This weekend for my rainforest ecology class we went to a placed called Paluma. It is a rainforest about an hour away from campus. We arrived in the early afternoon on friday and got back to campus around 4 today (sunday). The reason why we went there was to do reseach. I was in a group with two of my friends and we did research on Pothos longipes, a species of vine. We ended up doing research, went to Crystal Creek (where there are water falls), and to Frosty Mango to have some amazing ice cream!
The following is a website about Paluma in case you are interested.
http://www.palumarainforest.com.au/
With the reserach we are doing, we are trying to figure if height or root number of the vine effects the size of vessels in the vine. We collected a variety of lengths of the vine along with number of roots and now we just have to make slides of the roots and stems to see the vessel diameter.
I dont have a whole lot going on this week. A lot of it is just working on papers and studying for tests. I plan on volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary this weekend.
Pics:
1. Blurry.. but it is a cool picture of a tree with Buttresses! (The planks coming off the sides)
2. Tree IDing
3. The wildlife were the ones standing in front of the sign... ;)
4. Cool tree with a hole in the middle.
5. Looking up a huge gum tree!!