Field Trips!

Sorrry Everyone for not posting in a long while. I just want to tell everyone about the field trips that I went on last  weekend for my UNI classes. The first was to Green Island again where we looked that the impacts of tourism on a protected national park. There a lots of Asian tourists there that dont seem to notice or care about the natural state of the island.....just an observation. Nothing really exciting happened there. Just went snorkeling and took notes on what people did and how they acted! That was for my Tourism and the Environment subject.

Then I went to The Daintree Rainforest with my Conserving Tropical Rainforests subject. That was real data collecting on the aboriginal communities, tourists, and the state of the environment. There was a lot of running throught the rainforest, picture taking, and complaining. Haha but all in good fun. I got to know my professor more and my class mates. We stayed in a backpackers within a part of the forest and I woke up at 6am to two cockatoos squawking back a forth right outside our cabin. It sounded like something was dying outside and all I wanted to do was go all American on them and blow them away with a shot gun. But I didn't because that would be terrible instead I got up and had an early breakfast to clam down.

Then more walking through the rainforest and see a data observatory crane that the UNI owns before heading back to campus to start the field report due soon with  4000 words....blah. Wish me luck!

It is the wet season

Sorry everyone for the delay of a new post.
My school work as finally caught up with and as a matter of fact right I should be writing an essay but I figured this is important to..well anyway.

Last night I experienced the effects of a cyclone! Meaning LOTS AND LOTS OF RAIN! The underpass where I walk to UNI is now flooded and a bunch of guys last night decided it would be fun to mud wrestle each other. I did not participate! With all the rain we have been getting sadly I have no new adventures to talk about.

However, I did make plans to go to New Zealand for my break in April. A group of 7 of us are renting campervans and driving across New Zealand! I am so excited! We will be camping our way through the South Island and I cannot even imagine what we will see! I am definitely going to be thinking of LOTR the whole time! We do not have a set plan yet but I know we will see Fox Glacier and visit Queenstown, where I hope to go bungy jumping!

Also,  my roommate, Ruth,  has invited me to come back to her home near Brisbane for a couple of weeks after the semester is over! It will be so exciting to see how she lives, although it wont be that different, but still it will exciting to meet her family. Her parents are so nice for letting me come visit! I could not have picked a better roommate!

PICTURES!

Hey everyone!
I made by Australia photos public on Facebook in case you wanted to see more!
Check them out!
https://www.facebook.com/amanda.styers/photos

My UNI experience so far..

So I have had a request to post more about my classes  (cough cough Grandma) in Australia. I have been meaning to also post about some of the main differences in higher education here than in the US so I am so just going to combine both into what my overall experience has been like at James Cook University in Cairns, Queensland Australia! WARNING: This is LONG!

So just to start off with some basic understanding of what I mean by UNI. The term UNI obviously is short for University but rather than calling it “going to college” like the US likes to do, here you say “going to UNI”. For example; “Were do you go to UNI?” or “How was UNI today?”.  It is not only the word UNI that is different but more importantly the idea of going to UNI. UNI is in fact not the same as our American colleges. Unlike in the USA, first year UNI student do not take what we call basic studies classes or general education courses. They jump right into the core classes that are required for their degree, this means that they do not waste time or money on classes that have nothing to do this their major/degrees. However, this also means that first year UNI student do not get time to mess around. They have to know exactly what they want to study and what they want to specialize in. People who want to study law go right into law classes, people who what to be dentists go right into dentistry classes. That being said there are a lot of first year UNI student who are not straight out of high school. It is fairly common to go do an apprenticeship or go to trade school after high school before going to UNI. Unlike in the US where it is expected for every single young person right out of high school to spend thousands of their(or the parents or grandparents) money on higher education in the form of College. In case you cannot tell by the way I am typing this out I like the Australian idea of higher education a lot more then what we as young Americans are expected to do.

In addition most standard degrees only have course work that last for 3 year instead of the US standard 4, classes are called subjects, grades are called marks, and overlapping of your subjects times is accepted as long as you confirm with you professor. Also, the subjects are based more like what we would call a graduate/masters level. For example, in every single one of my subjects I have to write at least 1 2000 words essay. It might make more sense when I tell you that two of my subjects are environmental science courses not liberal art courses. Well at least this is new to me. We also have what are called tutorials. Basically an hour or two after our lecture for that subject we break up into smaller groups lead by a TA to discussion and go over what the professor spoke about in lecture…again new to me. But with all the differences I have to say I still like this system better.

Now more on my subjects aka classes. Well every Monday I have my Australian History subject which is taught by the TA that I spoke about earlier in my blog. True outback explorer! The lecture is broken up into 2 one hour lectures with a break in between for the first group’s tutorial. I am in the 2^nd group’s tutorial which is after the 2^nd hour lecture. Yes I know strange but somehow it works out. So basically I have a 3 hour subject with an hour break in between. In my tutorial for this class I have to do an independent research project on bushrangers (more about this when I actually start so called research project) and present in to the class via PowerPoint. It has to be ten minutes long but simple enough. So far in lecture we have gone over Captain James Cook (who my UNI is named after case you didn’t catch that) who named almost every single town, creek, bay, etc along Australia’s east coast. Also talked about British’s first contact with aboriginal people, some good some bad, and how the Australian Commonwealth country was founded by British convicts in Sydney. FYI: commonwealth meaning that they still recognize the British Queen as their Queen.  So that is subject numero uno!

Subject numero dos is Conservation of Tropical Rainforest ever Wednesday! This subject seemed fitting seeing as how my UNI is in the middle of the Wet Tropics, one of Queensland’s 5 World Heritage Sites! ( Google the others…I’ll give you a hint to one of them…you can dive it!) This subject last for four hours straight!!!! Two hour lecture and tour tutorial right after! But I have to admit very important! So far we are going over the basics of what is a rainforest , why are they being destroyed, and why we need to preserve them. Tutorial for this subject has not yet been underway but I feel it may be more discussion based. The awesome part about this subject is the 2 day field trip we are all are going to take together into the Daintree Rainforest in the heart of the Wet Tropics region! Well known for its biodiversity and awesome waterfalls and gorges! This I cannot wait for and will happen in about a month! PICS WILL BE UP! PROMISE!

On to subject numero tres! Tourism and the Environment! This subject is on Thursdays and consists of a 2 hour lecture followed by a 1 hour tutorial. Again tutorial in group discussion based and so far in the lecture we have talked about briefly the impact that tourism has on the environment. Is it good or bad? What is eco-tourism and why is it so popular? What makes a good eco tour? Etc… Again for this subject we go on a field trip as a class to Green Island. Which I have already been to but nerveless I will take any opportunity to have my classroom be the on the Great Barrier Reef!

Now before you go on saying that this doesn’t sound hard, this does not sound like school, blah blah blah. May I remind you about the graduate level expectations, the papers I will have to write, and the class presentation that goes with most of them.  Not to mention that the only exams I have throughout the WHOLE semester are just the finals that count for 50 PERCENT of my grade! Yeah so I DON’T want to hear it! As much as I say that I am living it up here and posting about all this awesome stuff I am doing pretty soon it will be crunch time and I will become a hermit! But until that time comes….. Australia you will explored! 

Into the Jungle We Go!

Over the weekend I decided to get a real feel of the rainforests here in Cairns! So I decided 1- to go on a hike   (by myself) and 2- to visit what are called the Tablelands. First let me tell you about my hike....

As you are already probably guessing I did get lost! I had never hiked by myself before let alone in a rainforest. I did however stay on the path I was just feeling a little too adventurous,  it being my first time and all, that I decided to take a different path back down the mountain. Well 2 hours later I ended up in a sugar cane field at the base of the mountain somehow! As you can imagine there are lots of animals that live in the sugar cane fields so my mind was racing the whole time trying to walk as fast as I can through the brush just waiting for a python to come out and grab me! Luckily I made it though fine and ended up back where I started! I guess I have a better sense of direction then I thought. Thanks Dad!

 All in all though it was a great hike! I ran into no other person and felt quite secluded from the rest of the world. It was just me, the trees, and the mountain. The mountain however was not making it easy on me. I did stay on the path but damn that path was steep. I final fully understand the meaning of an uphill battle. My calves were burning and the sun was only getting hotter and my water was slowly disappearing. I found myself jumping into shaded spots when ever I could just to breath in the cool air. That was what it was like up the mountain, once I got to the top the scenery made the hike all worth it! The view was spectacular and I could see the surrounding mountains so clearly. The canopy was nice and shaded which made for a nice rest before my hike back down the mountain which you know how that ends up.

At the end of the hike I felt very accomplished and satisfied that 1- I did not die, 2- I did not run out of water, 3- there was no snakes( that I saw), and 4- I may have got lost but I found my way back. I am quite the explore now!

Now to the Tablelands!

After my solo hike through the forest I just couldn't get enough! So I booked a trip to go visit the Tablelands of Queensland! The Tablelands are better described as a plateau of sorts that has rich volcanic soil great for rainforests and farming land! We had to drive up a windy road through the mountain that had a total of 84 turns to get to the top where the Tableland where. Thankfully I did not get car sick and I learned that Aussies are crazy drivers!

Anyway the trip induced 2 stops as volcanic crater lake that made for a nice swim! The crystal clear blue water was cool and refreshing compared to the ocean water that feels like bath water at the moment unfortunately. Then to a Killing Fig Tree that kills other trees around it so that it can grow bigger, then to Dinner Falls for some awesome photos, and then to Milla Milla Falls to swim underneath a water fall! This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. The  water was life a massage on your head as is came cascading down the cliff. The rocks behind the falls made for some great climbing as long as you didn't slip! Then to Devil's Pool which as you can guess by the name of it was too dangerous to swim in. people have died trying so we just gazed from distance. The whirlpool was cool to see! There we saw something that made the whole trip worth while though! It was a wild Cassowary! They are an endangered bird in AUS that stands about 4 ft and have huge crawls attached to huge feet. I am not a bird person so as cool and pretty as he was all I could think of was that damn rooster Dad use to have and how he liked to stalk you after you had your back turned. This bird was just as curious only 10 times as big and he came pretty close to kicking this one women who was coming too close. So I high tailed it back into the bus and took pictures from a safe distance. He walked around the parking lot but even the tour guide said they are dangerous just because they are so curious. Apparently they like to run into cars and chase people! Well now you know why they are endangered!

The day was awesome and even though it was cloudy and over cast spending the whole day in the Tableland's rainforest was awesome and beautiful! I falling in love with Australia!
Now I have to get back into school mode. :-(

First day of UNI!

So today was my first day of classes at James Cook University! I had Australian History and my lecturer looks like he just walked out of the outback! We was wearing high waisted jeans, cowboy boots,a collared button up, and a hugh brass belt buckle. What a cowboy! He also took a 5 month kick through the desert. Walking from Melbourne to northern Queensland. Look at a map and check it out! Crazy! Anyway classes seem to be going well so far but I still have the rest of the week to figure how hard it is going to get.

Cairns Tour!

Cairns is really paradise on earth! I went on a cursing tour of the city and surrounding areas yesterday! The tour was on a double decker bus just like the one in London. I sat up top with the wind in my hair and the sun beating down on my already burnt skin. We had to duck occasionally because of the low lying trees but luckily no one was wacked too hard.

Our first stop was to Trinity Beach. Close enough to take a bus and so beautiful.  There are palm trees everywhere and a swimming enclosure to protect you from the box jellies. Next to another beach farther north called Palm Cove. This beach was more of a resort with lots of shops and hotels but a great place to spend the day.

Then to Cairns but honesty the drive to Cairns was one of the best parts! The mountains covered with beautiful green trees was breath taking. Remember I come from Wilmington where there are no such things as hills. So this is very exciting!

After driving though the city the real fun began! We went into the mountains into Crystal Cascades! A cool river flowing over beds of rocks that called your name to climb and explore! Some of the rocks actually formed slides that were so much fun to slide down! There was even a water fall that was small but big enough to swim behind and watch the water fall in front of you!

It was so fun and I am so glad I decided to live here for 6 months. This place I never going to get old!