Brisbane last class and weeks in OZ

Sorry it's been so long since the last post if you are still keeping up with these!

WE started off with some free days so some of us headed over to the GOLD COAST which is the local beach holiday destination amongst the aussies. We had a blast in the waves which were supremely large and forboding since there was a storm on its way. A few people had to get saved by lifeguards towards the end it was so strong! But it was good fun all the same and we enjoyed the lengthy sandy beaches and the australian lifeguards! AFter  that we joined the fun in the city shopping in local stores getting some hot chocolate and buying unnecessary items for fun. WE warmed up in the hotel hot tub and met some brits americans and french people who we ended up partying with a little later. Being in the raging city on a Wednesday we joined the nightlife with endless bowling, karaoke and ping pong which was all the rage. It was then dreadfully rainy the next day so I headed home to go explore our new residence in Brisbane.

There is a large mall close by with Air Conditioning which is pretty important since it is blisteringly hot at the current moment. Perfect for all the UQ students finishing their finals but kind of bitter for us who still have a little bit of work to go. So we have spent some time there getting groceries and doing a wee bit of shipping as we quickly tire of the clothes we've worn repetitively in the past few months.  We even managed to watch Catching fire part 1 of the Hunger games series last night which was pretty cool!

Otherwise we have had a water management class the past few days where we discussed the ethics of water implementations and the importance of sanitation for everyone in the world and how many deaths are caused by something as simple as not having a toilet. This also involved going to a farm and learning about the construction of some toilets and how they are built structurally to last.  We also spent a day planting trees to give back to the community and help regrow the proper foliage after the destruction of the flood in Brisbane in 2011 which was pretty crazy if you want to go look up some photos!

In addition to that we go to the gym on UQ enjoy their "tressider" which has boba smoothies and a subway. We spent a night at the local school bar and plan on investigating the club scene this Saturday. WE had a group potluck which was cool and lots of fun and we ate WAY too much good food.

We are also keenly aware as the time runs out that we have a test tomorrow and our TRP presentations and papers due and that we only have 1 week left in this country I have come to call home for the past few months. Aussie accents are so familiar, coles is my food store, go cards and public transport are totally normal, drinks are ridiculously expensive, 18 is total adulthood, koalas and kangaroos are just the local wildlife and tim tams are the cookie of choice.  It'll be nice to be home but I sure will miss a lot about this place. Guess we gotta enjoy the next week before its all gone in a flash.

Stradbroke Island- more ocean, fun and quadrats

Straddie (as we call it) is an island near Brisbane which helps create a bay which allows for lots of cool life. There are mangroves, sea grass beds and high latitude coral reefs which are more specialised to their location. We are staying at the UQ research station on the island and have had a fun first week here! Here are some of the highlights:

LABS!
-coral lab - here we went snorkeling in pretty shallow water in order to look at the cool and different forms of coral. Since there is less sunlight availability there is a different variety mostly including brain corals and soft corals which is interesting to look at!
- dugongs and sea grass - we didnt see any dugongs, but we compared the sea grass composition and area cover of two location. One location had evidence of dugong grazing and the other did not. This lab was fun, but we ran into massive swarms of jellies which wasn't too nice as they stung =(. The boat captain did give us jelly dinosaurs which was cool though! And we have soem good scars to show in true australian fashion
- mangrove transects - we waded through some pretty muddy terrain in order to measure the salinity in the water and tree density as we walked from shore towards the inlands. It was pretty fun and we got really muddy! It was fun.
-seagrass transects - here we did something similar except on sea greass beds during low tide. It was fun and we got chased by pelicans and attacked by some mud crabs which was pretty funny.
- pandanas trees - this was less of a lab and more of a really nice hike through the headlands of the island and we walked across and saw beautiful beach coastlines. Then we got to go swimming in the massive stormy waves and it was a blast to be thrown around in the swells just like home (except bigger and scarier cuz you know its australia). We also got bitten by sea lice which wasnt as fun, but hey, can't leave Australia without some damage right?
- the lakes! We analysed the leaf shape of trees at two different lake sites and then got to go swimming in the lake. Brown lake has tannins like tea so has this brownish glow which is pretty cool. It made for some fun photos!

SCUBA!

So we went SCUBA diving and it was really cool! It was a double dive (so two dives with a break in the middle). Despite throwing up during the break, I had a wonderful time! We saw nemo (clown fish), Dory (blue spray), Crush(green turtle), so many nudibranchs, wobbegongs (really cool sharks) and swam in the EAC (also featured in finding nemo).  It was really cool, and there was great clarity as well! The dive masters were really fun and would jump off the boat and stuff, take off eachother's masks and turn the air off for fun!

FREE TIME!

In other free time we have gone back to the beach and the lake for some swim time. We had a halloween party the first day which was also alan's birthday so that was fun. We still play more cards (NERTZ is so much fun). At night we watch movies like the Dark Knight, and V for Vendetta (you know for the 5th of November. sadly no fireworks though =(). One time we made popcorn which was pretty awesome and delicious. During labs we spent most of our free time writing those up. We go on runs, sometimes play basketball and walk into the little shops to get brownies and ice cream (like the day after our test). So we have a few more days here to begin writing up our targeted research projects before we head back to Brizzy for one last class and our presentations.

Peace everyone!

REST of HERON

SO some more heron island stuff!

TESTS:
So we took two tests and it was fun.  We ended up studying quite a bit, and were relieved to be done. There was a lab test where we had to identify a variety of animals and answer questions about lab. The other test was just a regular test and whoo we finished!

Volleyball

My team fought hard and battled against the wild forces of the wind and the other teams and made it to the semifinals where we lost tragically in the 3rd game 14-16.WE had fun though, and for once my serve was actually useful! hahha. It was a good tournament and brought lots of us together.

SCUBA DIVE

We finally got to go scuba diving after ages of waiting and asking and not being sure of whether or not we could go (because the resort guests get priority =(). But we did, and it was awesome! There was a large current in the beginning (as this was a drift dive) which caused a lot of people to guzzle air, but after the bit of a rough start we were on our way! It was so cool to be so close to the amazing coral beds and looking at all the fish. WE saw trumpet fish, white tip sharks and two green turtles up close. When I was little I described the GBR as a rainforest of rainbows and it still maintains that same immense colour and variation. It was magical! I also was the last one to run out of air so that was pretty cool!

Sea cucumber TRP

My project is analysing the algal content of sea cucumber pellets via chlorophyll content of sand by the sample and the sample itself. I collected at least 5 samples of 5 different species in which to compare and so that was 60 samples total! It was a lot of work, but I managed to get through all of the lab stuff on the last day. I was forced to wait because we were waiting for dye that never came, which was lame, but I got it all done so that was exciting!

Brisbane

It was sad but we had to say goodbye to the island paradise that had become home. Now we are chilling in a hostel in Brisbane and we have a  few free days. So we have done everything from wander around and watch a movie to finding the man made beach along the river to escape the impenetrable heat! Now we are working on preparing for a simulation of a hearing discussing the creation of an oil port.  We have that tomorrow! I am representing a quiet irish scientist who is trying to protect the reef.

ISLAND PARADISE - Heron Island and so much more

LECTURES
- these are all about fishies and tides and oceanography
- we gave learned some cool facts like sea hares have sex in circles because they are hermaphrodites, I mean how cool! IT's been so much I can't tell you it all, but it has been interesting!

LABS
- So far I completed a coral physiology lab in which we analyse the chlorophyll and zooxanthallae content of coral pieces which we collected from the reef flat. This was pretty cool because we got to use all sorts of fun machines, like spectrogram, a centrifuge, nice microscopes, hot wax, and things like that!
-WE also did a invertebrate lab where we grabbed some hunks of dead coral, cracked them open and investigated what we found under the microscope I found tiny brittle stars, lots of weird worms, baby crabs and shrimps, spaghetti worms. Other cool things we looked at were sea hare eggs, a file clam (which are super cooolio) coral polyps.
- Next day we did transects which was coolish. We ventured out onto the reef flats took a tape measure and identiffied what was under the 20m of tape 9 times. Other groups used quadrats and then we compared the methodology in our analysis.
- Yesterday we did a FISH LAB which was essentially taking pictures of all of the cool fish and then choosing a select few awesome ones to do a quick presentation about. I got some cool pictures of a turtle and some anemone fish!

FOOD

- food is healthy and wonderful and we get muffins for snacks which is great!

SNORKELLING

- I have snorkelled everyday so far including a night dive! All bundled up in our wetsuits we jumped in with our glow sticks attached to our snorkels and had a blast scaring sleeping fish. It is oddly eerie to see fish lying on the sandy bottom, you would never think that fish stop moving would you? There were also so many turtles sleeping under the rocks and the shipwreck which was super cool. And of course a shark. My favourite moments were seeing the lemon shark, black tip reef sharks, seeing massive flying schools of eagle rays and unicorn fish!

Other free time

- I spend free time playing cards, going snorkeling if the tide is high, going on walks, and most importantly playing beach volleyball! WE have a grand tournament coming up so we often play into the sunset in preparation for dinner and the scrumptious desserts! 

- Life here is wonderful and amazing, even if it does mean getting up at the crack of dawn to enjoy the sealife. Everything is so incredibly large and friendly, to the extent that seeing a sea turtle is almost a daily occurrence, which is super cool! I feel so at home here and am loving the company whcther we are doing a random limbo competition, discussing labs, and just having a blast. 

Sorry you've been in the dark, I'm just have way too much fun! PEace and hoping everything is good wherever you are reading this from. 

Free days in the rainforest =D

Tuesday - BIG HIKE

So today was a day for awesome hiking and sight seeing. We went over to a mountain climbed up and up until going up seemed no longer possible. Rising through roots and stems, up through the rickety rainforest we finally mounted the top to look over the epic views of Cairns and the ocean beyond. It was definitely a tough climb, but was completely and utterly worth every step and cut and scrape, and was not a shabby place to have lunch! After hanging out and taking some awesome photos we hopped down the mountain (quite literally, since it was so steep and slippery) and jumped into a river slide! That was really cool and of course being stanford students some of the guys redirected the water with sticks and rocks in order to make the slide more forceful.

Then on the way home we snuck into a mango winery and tried some of the local brew, which was very tasty! I even split a bottle to share later that night (which was delicious =). The ride home was awesome and we belted out classics like bohemian rhapsody and american pie all the way.  All in all, an exhausting day, but also one of the best =D.

Wednesday - Riding, water holes and funsies

Woke up and had some breakfast and headed out to a horse riding facility out in the bush. We got there and were greeted by an array of dogs and the familiar smell of horses in dry heat. In no time I was back in the saddle (which feels good after so long without it) and we headed out into the jungle on our noble steeds. The trail was thick with vegetation and the moving slow, though, as an experience rider, I got to gallop up a few hills (which was fun =D). We stopped briefly by a view of a waterfall and ocean over Cairns, which was beautiful and crazy all the same. AS we headed back, I was able to run up the hill home to the most picturesque view of horses eating on a field with the rainforest as a background. To top off the wonderful morning we had the best fruit smoothie ever (it had all of the good stuff: mangoes, papaya, strawberries etc).

Sadly we said goodbye to the horses, and headed off home where I ended up at the water hole once again where we played a riveting game of monkey in the middle with a frisbee. Later I played nertz and did some laundry and somehow the time disappears as it does here so quickly.

Thursday - wallabies, beaching, and Cairns/ civilisation

We woke at 4:30 in order to get on the road and drive all the way down to Cairns in order to watch wild wallaby in a paddock near a lawn bowling centre. This was optional in order to help collect data for someones research project. Essentially we would document their behaviour over a 5 minute interval and essentially hang out with really cool australian wildlife. They would jump, and eat, and be vigilant if we stirred too much.

Then we had time whilst they were being lazy and sleeping during the heat of the day so we went to the beach. Here we cruised in the water and played with frisbees and all that fun stuff. Even though it is technically jellyfish territory we figured if the locals were doing it, we could do it! No worries, we got no stings.

After our bout at the beach we headed into the city proper and were greatly saddened by the fact that the fresh fruit market was closed, but went to the mall instead. This felt like an overwhelming sense of city and urban life. We ventured into the target and were jealous of the cool cadbury options not available in the states. Also, they were already ready for christmas (I guess they don't have thanksgiving and halloween to look forward to). Meandering around the clothes and shops was fun but soon it was time to go back to the wallabies. This was conducted much the same as the morning, and nothing particularly exiting happened.

Exhausted we headed home and were stoked to eat the tacos for dinner and sad that the next day would be our last at Wetherby.

Friday - cattle, packing and talent?

Woke up as late as I could (which is 8 because the tent gets too hot for you to sleep after that) and decided to learn about the cattle with the pre-vets. Since the climate in australia is so dry the cross indian breeds of cattle with european ones to make the ultimate cow, which is cool. They also discussed how they control and castrate them ( which is all incredibly humane). I was struck by the quality of care and love the cows had for John ( the ranch owner) and how easily he would control them. We then watched the Temple Grandin movie, which was incredible both from a cattle ranching perspective, but also a disabilities perspective. I knew aspects of her story but the movie truly captured the brutality of the time and her incredible resilience to stand up in a world to make it her own. All for her greatest passion: cows.

Soon enough lunch rolled around and we spent time wandering, playing more cards and enjoying the environment on our last day. I forced myself to pack as best as I could and then went to help with the platypus research. We had to stay super silent, but surely enough we got to see the little guys swimming around the river bend! Since most Australians haven't seen platypus in the wild, this was a super cool experience (plus who doesn't love a good monotreme?). I said my last goodbye to the wallabies at our professors property and had one last boxing match and headed home.

Here we gathered around the camp fire and shared food, marshmellows, songs, jokes and an overall good time in order to end out wonderful adventure at wetherby. Though Heron Island is coming up, we are all sad to see such an awesome place go.

Saturday - bus, bus and more bus

We spent the entire day on the bus driving down from Cairns to where we leave for Heron Island.

The rest of the adventure you will discover in the next post ;)

Chillagoe, tests and more outbacky goodness!

Thursday

We woke up to some more lectures about wildlife and the incredibly dangerous snakes, cool frogs with pouches, birds that can repeat gunshots and all of the adorable marsupials! We also discussed how fire is important to the maintenance of rainforest regimes and lots of good stuff like that!

Then in the afternoon we did some ant investigating. We went out into a cow paddock and set out trays of canned tuna and honey and waited to see what ants would come. Since our area was pretty disturbed due to the presence of cows, we only got one species of ants =( but we had fun doing yoga out in the cow fields! We also had fun petting the horses and bouncing the volleyball around some more.

Next day we were heading on a day trip and hte other group was studying so we went to bed early! 

Friday

We headed to Chillagoe, which is about 2.5 hours inland from where we currently are. That means more dry and red dirt, but also cool rock and cave formations. There is a huge presence of limestone in that area which has created intricate cave systems with automatic "air conditioning" like the place we saw in Turkey (family you know what I mean). But it was really nice as the day was super hot. There are these amazing trees that extend their roots all the way through to the soil at the bottom of the caves, which is crazy! We also did some crawling in small places and looked for the funny formations in the rock. It was cool to see some fossils in the rock too (as limestone comes from old coral systems).

As it was still blisteringly hot in the mid australia life, we went to a water billabong and swam around, jumping off rocks and taking underwater selfies! We then got down to more work by investigating a new ecosystem called dry vine thicket and the strategies it takes to conserve water. This happened to be in a beautiful park where we looked at some old aboriginal paintings and also got to watch a spectacular sunset, (after counting and measuring 100 leaves for part of an experiment)!

At the end of the day we headed to a local pub for fun! WE played pool and darts and drank the local beer and cider ( which I am still a big fan of ) and ejnoyed our time!

Saturday and Sunday

These two days were dedicated to studying and taking exams and doing runs and ab workouts.

We did have an interesting talk from the aboriginal people who live near this area, and how they have been and are still mistreated by their goverment. It seems so odd still to me that this issue is not brought to the forefront of discrimination movements.  

So we have a huge hike tomorrow and I just finished my field book, so I am going ot watch the end of the movie the Red Dog, which is pretty iconic australian, and maybe play some cards and head to bed because two tests in two days and a whole work book is exhausting.

Excited for free days! See ya soon. 

life in the boonies (aka north queensland)

Monday- travel

So it was a terribly early morning but we hopped on a plane and flew for 2 hours and ended up in an entirely new landscape. The dry jungly forest and rolling ocean was a nice view on our way to the new home in what the our professor calls the troopie! It was a long windy drive, but we soon found ourselves at a cattle ranch in the middle of the rainforest, which I know is kind of hard to picture, but it is essentially rolling fields with rainforest on the edges. We then quickly got to know our 2 person tents and find the bathrooms and showers and explore the landscape. After a few lectures about all the dangerous animals we may encounter and how we can die (including getting a leech in your eye! lol. this doesnt kill you so dont worry!). We then snuggled into our tents ready for a new day. ALSO: important note, the food here is AMAZING, and there is a constant supply of food, which makes us very happy =).

Tuesday

So we started out the day with some lectures about geology and how the land and weather works in Australia. Then we had some down time, where some people went running, and others played volleyball over the cattle fence, which was fun and innovative!

Then we went into the rainforest to learn about some of the local flora and fauna in person. There are these birds that build huge nests of detritus and use the warmth from the decomposition reactions to keep their eggs at the correct temperature. There are also crazy vines that have nasty prickers which attach to the other plants and use them to grow. We also learned that because there were no monkeys that grew and evolved with the flora in Australia, none of the fruit tastes good, as birds have different palates.

When we came back we had another delicious dinner with some chocolate pudding! Then we headed out to a campfire and told scary ghost stories and long jokes which was a blast! We really get to bond on this part of the trip since we are forced to be together and get dirty! hehe.

Wednesday

Again that morning we had some fun times in lecture learning about the local plant evolution and species in the local area. After a good breakfast of nutella and some chamomile tea it was a good time. Often, I say hello to the horses who hang out by our dorm.

In the afternoon we ventured into the forest once again to do some tree logging and examine the difference between the dry forest and the rain forest. Without natural or man created bush fires, the rainforest will encroach into the dry forest ecosystem, which causes some more issues with regards to whether or not there should be regulated fires or not, and which species or ecosystem to save. That took a long part of the day, but of course we had to go swimming when we got back.

So what we thought would be a short walk to a creek ended up being a hike in bathers and thongs (flip flops) through the jungle, across logs and in the squelching mud. It was a ton of fun and we exfoliated in the thick almost quicksand mud, fell off broken branches and joked about leeches. yay australia! WE then returned and showered! AFter some more SCRUMPTIOUS spag bol (spaghetti Bolognese, we had a quiz night on australia slang and pop culture. We scored a 16/22 which was not too shabby!  Then we went on a night hike and found a lot of spiders (which is a bit disconcerting) a bright green frog and some sleeping birds.