In Exmouth, WA
Well, it's been a while, sorry guys. Internet so far after my last post has been both dial-up and expensive. We've finally come to a place where the connection is relatively cheap. (5 AUS$ for 1.25 hours) That's the best I've seen since Sydney. Things have been awesome here.
After Perth, we travelled to Cervantes where the Pinnacles Desert is located. The Pinnacles are totally awesome. They are limestone formations that were left after rainfall leached lime from the sand and formed limestone. A calcite cap formed on top of the limestone. Then plants grew on top of the limestone and started sending roots down and widening cracks. Sand filled the cracks and gradually wind eroded away the sand, leaving the limestone with the cap exposed to the air and showing the pinnacles that are out there today. The red rock was completely amazing and I wish that people weren't complaining about the (cool) weather and having to use the bathroom. I would have loved to see the sunset there, we heard it was something to NOT miss (grrrrr). I did get to see kangaroo tracks and myself and Matt Scripter took off from the rest of the group to go see more. The whole desert looks like another planet.
After Cervantes we drove to Kalbarri and hiked through the National Park there. Kalbarri has this awesome gorge formed by the Murchison River and we hiked the 9 km trail that goes around one of the bluffs. That's about 7-8 miles according to Dr. Shenkers GPS. The river was kind of high and we had to crawl along the rock cliffs because the usual path was underwater. It was quite the adventure!!! We also did a marine portion in Kalbarri since the town is right on the coast of the Indian Ocean. There was a beautiful Rocky Inter-tidal coast and we went and waded around. Matt caught an octopus (take that Jamaican trip!!! we can catch them too!!!) and we all got to play with it.
We left Kalbarri and drove up to Monkey Mia (My-a) which has an absolutely BEAUTIFULL resort. We stopped on the way to see the really cool, yet slightly unexciting, stromatolites of Shark Bay and Hamelin Pool. It was a nice hike to see them at least and the water looked REALLY inviting. I wanted to swim, it was so clear. Monkey Mia is the second oldest running Dolphin research center. There are over 900 Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins that live in the Shark Bay area and about 4 of them are called Beach Dolphins. These dolphins have been fed by the people of Denham for a long time and a couple generations keep returning. In an effort to reduce the impact random and uncontrolled feeding would have on their behavior, only four dolphins are fed, they are adult females, receive only 1/5 of their total need and only the fish they would eat anyway. Otherwise they are encouraged to forage normally. We got to watch the dolphin feeding each morning and both times I saw it I was ALMOST picked. In fact, the people on either side of me were picked each time, but not me. Grrrr. Oh well, I got bumped by one of the dolphins :-) We also went snorkelling, sailing on a catamaran and night hiking looking for marsupials (A gondwanan distributed animal! :-)) The night hike was cool even when Kevin and Matt hid in the pitch black and jumped out at us.
Now we are in Exmouth, just arrived today (add 12 hours to the timestamp guys) and tomorrow we board our dive boat for three days of diving, including one day with the Whale Sharks!!! I'm so excited!!! Bye for now!
In Australia!!
Well then, here I am in Australia! Today is May20, time is 3:30 pm, not 1:30 am like the post says, due to the wonderful time change. Jet lag is crazy and I think I have finally recovered and this is the third day I've been here! Our group from Florida Tech is pretty cool. I have a feeling that there will be some issues that come to a breaking point later in the trip but right now we're content to ignore and live and let live. I'll touch on those in a bit. There are a total of 23 people all travelling together and this includes 15 girls, Matt Scripter our TA/GSA, Dr. Shenker and his wife Sandy and 5 guys.
We all met at the Los Angeles airport on Monday May 16 and waited in the airport for what seemed like a god-awful long time then took the 11:50 pm flight to Sydney. The flight lasted 13 hours and 55 minutes and it was SOOOOO long. Luckily there were movies continually playing and the seats were fairly decent for sleeping, unlike the planes that I normally fly in from CT to FL. Thank goodness. We arrived at Sydney at 7 am on May 18. May 17 never existed for me. We took abus to our hostel in Sydney, called Footprints Westend. It's really awesome!! After getting all of our luggage up to our rooms we were forced out and walked to the Sydney Aquarium. 23 Marine Biology majors in an aquarium is a really funny site and I thought pretty dangerous to do. After that, we walked to the Sydney Fish market for lunch/early dinner. All of the fish for sale was amazing. Afterwards, I chose to go shopping with Sandy and a couple other girls and we went Opal shopping. Australia has many opal mines so you can get jewelry for fairly low cost compared to the states. Additionally, the quality of the stones is far better and you can find black opals, not just the white ones in the states. I bought myself a ring, it is absolutely gorgeous. We came back to the hostel and crashed. I was asleep by 6 pm.
Our room woke up by 3:30 am, which really stunk. Stupid jetlag. I managed to fall back asleep and woke again at 7 am. We went out to breakfast at this awesome little cafe. It had awesome food. We then took a walk through Hyde Park, to the Botanical Gardens, through the Gardens and on to the Opera House. Hyde Park was really pretty. The Botanical Gardens were very cool. There were TONS of Flying Foxes, a type of fruit bat, nesting in the trees. There were also some very cool Golden Orb spiders everywhere. Oh yeah, and plants :-) We even saw a Kookaburra! We walked around the outside of the opera house then took a ferry over to the Taronga Zoo. Supposedly Steve Irwin's crocodiles lived there while he was renovating his own zoo thing. The entire zoo was on a hillside and you could take a ski lift to the top then just walk down the hill and see all the animals. There was a baby wombat that was SOOOOO cute! I even got my picture taken with some Koalas, up close! I'll have pictures to share when I get back. We took the ferry back across Sydney Harbour then walked back to the hostel through Hyde Park again which was beautiful at night. The Eucalyptus trees form a natural cathedral ceiling above you as you walk down the main path and the tree trunks are lit with lights. It was amazing. Brenda, Dana and I then went out to find a movie theatre because Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith opened today! Hah!! We saw it before the states!!! Except for midnight showings. Either way, we watched it. Movies are way more expensive here then in the states even with the exchange rate. Got back to the hostel around midnight and went to sleep. Dana and I decided that Padme was a goody-two shoes and didn't deserve Anakin and we wouldn't mind be seduced by a guy heading for the Dark side, especially one as good looking as Hayden Christenson.
This morning I went to the same cafe for breakfast then headed back to the room and waited for Dana to get ready to leave. We went to Paddy's Market which was so cool! There was a whole bunch of stuff, tourist traps for sure but some of it was neat. I got an awesome massage. I realized that I have several people I need to buy stuff for to bring back but I really shouldn't get it now seeing as though I still have 5 1/2 weeks left. They are as follows: Mom, Scott, Eric, Eric's sister and my cousin Laura. All of the stuff in the market though was cheapy and not good.
Well, that's been my trip so far. I have 5 minutes left on the computer. Got to go!!!
I can't resist....sorry
Btw, Happy 16th Bday Scott.
Wow, so many of these are true.......
You have hiked up a big hill or small mountain at least once for a keg party.
You never went to a bar in high school.
You thought that the only highways were 91 and 84.
You thought everyone couldn't buy beer after 8 pm
You actually thought that Hartford was big
You or someone you know has attended UCONN
You drive a JETTA
You still think that the Whalers are cool.
You have been to Misquamicut and to that little hot dog place.
There is a farm within miles of your house
You thought bars were really for people over 21
Your high school thanksgiving football game was the highlight of your school year.
You don't have an accent when you talk
You have known at least 2 preppy rich kids from Fairfield who listen to Phish.
You love Hilton Kaderli and your mom cried when he retired.
UConn basketball rules and no one can tell you different
You have deer in your backyard.
You didn't drink or do drugs until 10th grade.
You still don't understand why people say that Connecticut is the richest state.....
Your best friend went to Central, Western, Eastern and finally Manchester Community College.
Your mom works at Travelers and your dad works at Pratt and Whitney.
You have been drunk at the Meadows and don't remember the concert.
You go to Riverside at least once a summer
Your parents actually care about the Governor, the Patriots coming to Hartford, the lights at Christmas in Hartford & Channel 3 news.
You have a UCONN flag outside of your house year round
You think New Jersey was a toxic waste dump
You hang out at Denny's
You've partied at bonfires
You have at least one friend with a pickup
You think everyone works tobacco in the summer
You think Old Lyme is a shore town
You've been to Cape Cod
You think the Connecticut River is endless
The town diner is the only place open after midnight.
You have at least 4 friends who drive Jeep Grand Cherokees
You root for all the New York sports teams
If anybody asks, you're from just outside of New York.
You've never looked at a public bus schedule
You have both girlfriends and guyfriends with the same name as you.
You go to the diner late night to post party.
You think New Haven is the worst ghetto you've ever seen
You can proudly tell an outsider about Nutmeg.
You weekend either on the Cape or Rhode Island at a summer home
You have said... " I'm in a good location... Between both Boston and New York."
You can carry on a conversation about Mike Liut, Torrie Robertson, and the Brass Bonanza.
You have to explain Cow Tipping to people from out of state.
When you go to a real city, you sincerely feel bad for every poor / homeless person you see.
You get pissed at anyone who doesn't know how to drive in the snow.
You can name all the members of the UCONN men's and women's basketball teams.
You still can't find your way in Hartford (except for that bar area near Union Station.)
You hold the door open for someone and they don't say "Thank You."
You own a golden or a lab (used to...)
You own real Oakley's
You only know Westbrook and Clinton because they have good outlets
You don't think you're a yuppie, but the rest of the country does
You only ski in Vermont or out West
Your mother is the head of the PTA
There is absolutely nothing to do in the winter
You live twenty minutes form either an Abercrombie & Fitch, J. Crew, or GAP.
You sail, or know someone who does.
You don't understand why everyone else has not been to Europe.
You can't get through the week with out a Coffee Coolata
Your family owns more cars than legal drivers
School attire is a North Face fleece jacket, a North Face Fleece or L.L. Bean back pack, a plaid shirt, khakis, and Doc Martins.
Summer footwear is either Reefs or Birks
You carry your keys on a carabineer, but you don't know how to rock climb.
You feel for the homeless, but are not willing to give up the golf course land to develop a homeless shelter.
As a child you took horseback riding, golfing, tennis and swimming lessons.
You grew up wanting to be a lifeguard
You own every DMB CD
The state is so small you know where all the speed traps are
You can't understand why people don't understand what your talking about when you refer to a "package" store
You went to prep school even though your public schools are awesome
People actually wear sweaters around their necks
You've never taken public transportation
You know of at least one person who's house was totally trashed after a huge party
Your mom drives a Volvo wagon
You have at least one friend whose house was built in the 1800's
You live in a huge colonial
You know at LEAST one person who has been pulled over and found to have weed in their car
The only overcrowding is of deer in your backyard
Your house would cost half as much in any other state
Your wardrobe contains at least three pairs of cords and five wool sweaters
Half of your friends are from another town because yours is so small
At least one of your friends has a sick house right on the water
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Connecticut.
Time for a Rant
Well, unfortunately this movie was recommended to me by none other than Eric. Well, I have news for you. NOTHING will ever replace the musical.
Issue #1 - The voice track did not match emotion expressed on actor's faces. Do I need to count how many times I grimaced as Emmy Rossum (granted she has a wonderful voice) did not even look like she was really singing her songs?
Issue #2 - Argh!! Gerald Butler, the Phantom you will never be. YOU CANNOT SING!!! Yelling at different pitches to match the music does not a singer make. Michael Crawford, I miss you.
Issue #3 - WTF? What is up with the Chandelier NOT falling when it should? No, the Chandelier crashes BEFORE Masquerade, not during Don Juan. No. It completely SCREWS up the rest of lyrics.
Good points are few and far between. The visual effects and set are stunning. They incorporated things from Gaston Leroux's original novel when they told the story behind the Phantom as a boy. That was cool. Sorry Eric, if you've ever seen the musical, nothing can compare. I'll take Broadway over Hollywood any day.
