Saturday, April 30, 2011

Easter Break in Tasmania!


The past week has been Easter break (I keep wanting to call it spring break, which is clearly incorrect), and for five days I was in Tasmania. The trip was organized by IES, the study abroad program I’m here with. It was an amazing few days! I had no idea what to expect, but Tasmania is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The air and water are really clean (the Australian Green party was founded in Tasmania, and it’s clear the state is much more environmentally friendly than other parts of Australia), and there was so much natural beauty. It was a good change, getting out of the city and into the wilderness.

Wombat at the zoo!
Tassie Devils feeding
Last Tuesday, the group, thirteen students and two group leaders, left Melbourne bright and early and landed in Launceston. First up was visiting the Tasmanian Zoo. We got to see Tasmanian Devils being fed. Although they’re cute little creatures, they were ripping the meat apart pretty viciously. At the zoo, we also did this four-wheel drive adventure. It was kind of like the Indiana Jones ride except in real life. We were in this completely open vehicle going through bushland, up and down hills and through puddles and streams. It was so muddy! And unfortunately when we were going up one huge hill, our vehicle had some issues. We had to climb down the hill barefoot (because our shoes would have been completely trashed) to meet it and complete the ride. Getting back on the bus after that, I discovered a leech on my foot from the walk down! Yuck! Afterwards, we had very fancy lunch at a winery (even though we were all a little dirty and smelly after the ride). It was beautiful, with the vines on a hill overlooking a lake. Plus the food and wine were delicious (Dad, the winery was called Ninth Island, and I had the pinot with my lunch). We drove two hours and checked into our accommodation for the night, Iluka Cabins. Needless to say, after the first day we were all ready for some sleep.



The winery, with Maddie and Jamie
View of Coles Bay during the hike
Wednesday we left Iluka and drove to Freycinet National Park. We hiked up and over a hill to get to Wineglass Bay, a truly picturesque beach. Although the hike was straight uphill and then downhill both there and back, it was worth it to have lunch on the beach of this remote bay. The only way to get there is by hiking or by boat, so the area is very unspoiled by humans. That afternoon we stopped at Kate’s Berry Farm for scones (Australians pronounce scone like it rhymes with con) and jam, all made fresh on the property. That night we went on the Port Arthur ghost tour. Port Arthur was one of the biggest prison colonies, and was renowned for being a hell on earth. During the tour we heard some pretty spooky stories of supernatural occurrences, though I didn’t experience anything myself.

Wineglass Bay

On the beach
Scones and jam with the group

Dolomite cliffs
Thursday we left bright and early for a boat tour of the Tasmanian coastline. The dolomite cliffs were really impressive, and we got to see tons of seals lounging on rocks! It was a very cool experience. After lunch (fish and chips cones, delicious), we were off to Richmond for the night. Richmond is a beautiful little town, with some of the oldest structures in Australia. That night, we saw the Grannie Rhodes show. The bed and breakfast we were staying at is run by a woman who restored a house from the 1800s and puts on a one-woman historical show about the woman who used to live there. The woman, Miriam, is clearly incredibly passionate about the show and did an amazing amount of research and restoration. The show itself, though, was a little goofy.
 

Seals lounging!

The oldest bridge in Australia (in Richmond)

Our b & b was very cute
Some "art" at MONA
 We left Richmond Friday morning and were off to Hobart. We went jet boating in the morning, which was very fun. Basically we went very fast down the river and over some rapids, which was fun, and our boat driver also did some 360 degree turns. After that we went to MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art. The museum just opened in January, so it was basically brand new. The art in there was kind of crazy! It was all super-contemporary and provocative. I don’t know if I liked it all, but it was really interesting to go spend some time there. That afternoon, we got to do a beer tasting at Cascade Brewery, a local beer in Tasmania. They paired six beers with little nibbles of food, and it was a lot of fun. The gardens at Cascade were beautiful, too. That night, we watched the royal wedding (of course) in a pub, and then the group participated in some karaoke for the last night together.

Beer tasting, with Justin and Jamie
Justin, Maddie, and Jamie enjoying lunch at Salamanca Markets
 Saturday morning, we were off to Tassie Laser Skirmish. Essentially it was more intense laser tag, with camo uniforms and all outside. I’m still a little sore from crouching behind bushes. When that was finished, we went back into Hobart for some free time to explore. We ate lunch at the Salamanca Market, all set up outside in front of old buildings and next to the harbor. After free time, it was off to the airport to return to Melbourne. It was a little sad to return, but after all we did I was exhausted and ready to slow down a little.

Hobart wharf

Top view of Salamanca Markets
The trip was so much fun. Good food (that I didn’t have to make), fun people, and beautiful surroundings. Going has made me so excited for more travel. Next planned trip: New Zealand on May 28th!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Finally Have Orientation Pics!

It's midterm time here, which means I don't have a lot to report. This weekend I spent both Friday and Saturday at the State Library researching and writing papers. Writing this blog post is actually a way for me to procrastinate finishing another paper. The good news is Friday is the first day of my Easter break and in a week from today I'm off to Tasmania for 5 days. So there's a light at the end of the tunnel.

Luckily for me (and you as readers of my blog), I still have things to share! One of the leaders from my program, Chay, finally put pictures up from orientation! If you'll remember all those weeks ago, when I wrote about surfing and kayaking, I promised some pics. I went through all 1000 pictures he had up (yes, that many) to find ones of me, which was slightly difficult when there are 32 kids in the water with surfboards and wetsuits. Bear with me on it, for some you may have to just take my word that it's me.

Platform at Bells Beach

The whole group in the water, Apollo Bay


That's me with my face turned away

I had to double check the wetsuit, but that's me in the background, first from the right! Look at me paddle

Listening to kayaking instructions with Courtney

Off we go!

Kayaking beach

It's hard to tell in this small version, but I look sooooooo much like my mom here... I'm second from the right

Saturday, April 9, 2011

A Little Footy and Some Wildlife

Our view of the field, the teams warming up
After returning from Sydney, I ended up laying low for about a week and a half, but this weekend I participated in some quintessentially Melbourne/Australian activities.

Deep in Collingwood territory (their colors are black and white)
Friday night I went to my first Australian rules football game, or footy as it is affectionately called. Footy is huge in Melbourne, so my friends and I decided it was high time for us to go watch a live match. Inadvertently, we ended up going to one of the biggest games all season, between the Collingwood Magpies and Carlton Blues. The two teams have a huge rivalry and are currently seeded first and second in the league. Because of that, the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) was packed. Usually you can buy general admission tickets the day of and be able to sit in the general section, but we ended up in standing room only. Luckily, we found a less-crowded standing area with a very nice Australian man to explain some of the nuances of the game.

After watching one full game live, I definitely could get into this sport. It's a fast paced sport, and the players end up running and playing the full two hours (in 30 minute quarters). It is a contact sport, so there were plenty of exciting tackles. Mostly I was incredibly impressed with the endurance of the players. It looked exhausting! I won't attempt to explain the rules here, I'm still trying to get my arms around it, but here's the Wikipedia article if you'd like more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_rules_football. Footy is taken very seriously in Melbourne, and the fans around us were completely die-hard. I ended up supporting Collingwood, mostly because we were surrounded by Collingwood fans that would not have responded kindly to Carlton supporters. With student concession, tickets were a very reasonable $13.30, so I will definitely be going back!

Reclining roos
Today a few friends and I went to Ballarat, a historic gold-mining town about an hour and a half from Melbourne by train. The first thing on our list to visit was the Ballarat wildlife park, which was definitely worth the trip. There were tons of kangaroos just hopping around the whole park, coming up expectantly for food (we were too cheap to buy any, so we disappointed a lot of roos). They were very cute and so tame, it was awesome to get so close! Kangaroos in the wild can be pretty vicious, but these guys were very people-friendly.

Maddie and a roo contemplating each other
Unfortunately, after that the weather turned rainy. A lot of the attractions in Ballarat are outdoors, so we ended up not getting to do a lot else. There was actually a nice art gallery that discussed the Eureka uprising, when miners in Ballarat rioted against the British imposing taxes (I think that's the gist of it). We hopped back on the train and returned home to Melbourne.

Joey in a pouch!!!
Only two school weeks and then it's Easter Break and Tassie! It's very weird that I've already been here for two months. I feel like time is going so quickly! School is definitely starting to pick up, I have midterm-equivalent work due about now, so I might not have a lot of excitement for a bit. Hopefully I'll have good updates soon!