Heron Island

This is a white tip reef shark. About 1.5 - 2 meters

This is Ben, but I did the same thing just before there was a camera

Doing a lot of work

The second half of my Australian spring break was spent on one of the most southernly parts of The Great Barrier Reef - Heron Island.  It's a 10 hour bus ride north of Brisbane then a 3 hour boat ride east. Everyday had at least one planned snorkel with the class, but most of the time I was in the water snorkeling 2 or 3 times a day. We did one night snorkel which was a lot of fun but didn't see as much as during the day. Everyone was equipped with a glow stick and a torch (flashlight). Independently from the class, we also did one sunrise snorkel which we found out is the best time to go. The most stunning sight was by far the sharks which I saw up close and personal. The island waters were populated with numerous white tipped reef sharks, black tipped reef sharks, sting rays that were longer than myself, loggerhead turtles which the shell easily had a diameter of my wingspan and fish that ranged from cute and pretty to big massive ugly things. By the end of my second snorkel, having 3 sharks swim only a few meters under you became a common occurrence. Same goes for seeing sleeping rays at the ocean floor or massive turtles gracefully swim by.

Fraser Island

This is my "classroom"

Here is my "bus"

No I'm not kicking him in the head, but instead I successfully jumped over his head

Lake Mackenzie

Sunrise

My October Spring Break was completely booked with two school field trips. The first half was spent on the world's largest sand island, Fraser Island.  Fraser is also where you can find the most pure breed of Dingo, where they roam wildly and in many numbers. The days were structured that the first half (until lunch) was spent doing minimal amounts of work. "Work" included playing on dunes, setting spider traps, looking for different types of snakes or measuring and identifying different types of fauna. I know, I lead a tough life. The rest of the day was spent relaxing/swimming in some sort of water hole. The second day we swam at Lake Mackenzie where my Biology professor (Steve) proved to be to coolest teacher I've had yet. Steve, a few classmates and myself were playing volleyball when out of the blue he took off into to lake. Roughly 10 minutes later he emerged out of the lake holding two turtles (one baby turtle about the size of a grapefruit) and another about the size of a basketball - he caught them both with his hands. 

Noosa

Wild Koala!

One of the many turtles that swam over to say hello

Turtle watching in what we coined turtle cove

Left to right: Sam (Pennsylvania), Courtney (Santa Clara Univeristy), Jessi (New Jersey), Katie (Illinois), Me, Chelan (Canada).

This rock was very tough to climb

 

One of my favorite things to do at the beach! Build a castle and protect it from the waves/tides.

If you travel by train three hours north east of Brisbane, you'll come across another small beach town of Noosa. Some other Americans/one Canadian (practically American) and I spent one night at a hostel. During our trip while bushwalking to some beaches that were off the road we spotted a koala fast asleep (pictured above). Because these guys sleep for 20-22 hours a day, you can probably guess that he hadn't moved an inch when we were walking back at the end of the day. The ocean water was warm enough that you can stay in as long as you want without even coming close to needing a wet suit. We also explored and found a cove which had dozens of sea turtles. While watching these guys, we all wanted to jump in and swim with them for we could snap some great underwater pictures. Also it was very hot and the water looked so refreshing. However, after contemplating for a while our decision was instantly decided for we saw a two meter sea snake swim by (thats over 6 feet)! This is really rare for a sea snake to be so close to the shore because they like deeper colder water. Also this snake was swimming on the surface which they don't tend to do either. I guess we are lucky to see such a sweet sight, but we were all very glad we didn't jump in.

Weekend in Sydney

On top of the Sydney Space Needle. It's an amazing view which you can see the entire city and even the beach towns far away like Manly and Bondi.

All dressed up for DLC (Dunmore Lane College) Ball!

California is that way. 

After my last class for the week I flew to Sydney to visit Alyssa. She goes to uni at Macquarie University and is staying in a college (dorms) on campus called Dunmore Lane College (DLC). The college is very nice, and has much newer facilities than where I'm staying. I was lucky enough to spend a good amount of time with her friends, all of which are good people. I just wish I had a longer time so I could get to know everyone better. The highlight of the trip was going to their Ball which turns out was structured similar to mine in Brisbane. It was held at the well known Queen Victoria Building in city central. We also spend a day at a beach and another day where Alyssa showed me around Sydney. I was truly impressed with the cleanliness and great views. 

All Dude Road Trip to Byron bay

Yup, Ben and I are inside of that thing

Blue Bottle Jellyfish (or Portuguese Man o' War). Ben's foot is there for scale. This thing is HUGE. [side note - I don't know why his toenails are pink]

One saturday morning I was abruptly awoken to the excited yell of "Oi, check out our car!" Apparently I had agreed to take a small road trip to a very popular beach town of Byron Bay. Me and four other guys packed in the car and were on the road within a half hour. Ben, from Canada, felt comfortable enough to drive on the "wrong" side of the road. After a full three months of being over here I however still wouldn't want to drive, but Ben handled it well. We explored the town, saw Australia's Most Easterly Point, got in plenty of beach time and even did a thing called Zorbing. Basically where you're strapped on the inside of a giant plastic ball and rolled down a hill. It was a lot of fun. While walking along a beach (not the main swimming beach) we spotted dozens of Blue-Bottle Jellyfish that had been washed up onto the shore. One in particular (pictured above) was massive - the biggest Brodie (an australian) had ever seen. If you're unlucky enough to come in contact with one of these, the venom causes very serious pain to humans, and if big enough (like the one in the picture) can kill you. WATCH YOUR STEP!!

International House Ball '08

Left: Ben (From New york) Middle: Sean (from Pennsylvania) Right: Brodie (from the outback). Ben is very good at Basketball and we co-coached the IH team together. Sean and I play tennis all the time. Brodie is just a worthless Australian :D

Middle Front: Fabien (france) Far right: Sam (Pennsylvania) Black shirt right: Ben (Hong Kong) Right in back: Rammage (Canada/Australia) Far left: Jared (Tennessee)

Bottom right: Joel (Brisbane) Left of Sean: Sea Wok (Hong Kong/Australia) In front of me: Max (Belgium) Left of Max: Jarryd (Australia) Left of Jarryd: Ben (Canada)

Left: Chelan (Canada) Middle short: Mike (New Jersey) Right of Mike: Katie (Colorado) Right of Katie: Christiana (New York)

Every year International House has a ball where we are taken to a mysterious location and served a 3 course meal. It's very formal; all guys wore suits and all girls dressed up like Prom. We ate at one of the nicest restaurants I've been to which was in city central right on the Brisbane river. There were numerous games and events throughout the night.

Always something to do

View from the city cat going into central

Dancing with my sister at her wedding reception in California.

Moreton Bay at low tide

A long time has pasted since my last post, which I apologize for, but there is always something to do, or something new to see over here. The weather has changed from cloudy skies and cold nights to everyday being a warm tropical paradise environment. Every now and then a warm thunder storm will roll in for a night which lights up the sky to an extent I have never witnessed in California.

I feel like I have now become too familiar with airports and taken full advantage of public transportation because I often find myself on a short bus going into central, a train for a weekend trip or a plane for some amazing adventures.

The long traveling trip "home" to cali for my sisters wedding proved to be just as exhausting as everyone predicted.  However, it was so nice to being a part of the Morton/Jolley wedding and seeing everyone!

My Address

This is mostly for me so that if I need my address somewhere all I need to do is get on the internet. But feel free to send large amounts of cash or maybe a MacBook pro too, I'm in need of one.

16/5 Rock Street
ST LUCIA QLD 4067
International House
Australia

UQ Campus

The Bus stop on the other side of campus from college. The bridge behind is just for pedestrians and city bus that leads to city Central.
This part of campus is mostly lakes, grass and other colleges. I have a class in that big building on the left.
The main walkway through campus.

The backside of the Great Court.
The bus stop that's right next to my college. The Great Court is though that archway in the center of the picture.
Tennis courts and Rugby fields.
The Great Court.About a 1/5 of the giant Union where there are numerous restaurants, shops, a bar, post office, book store, computer stores, and many other various stores/services.

International House

The Cafeteria.
Part of my walk from International House to Campus.

Int. House has the biggest dorms out of all the colleges on campus.

My view outside my windows from my desk. I'm on the third floor, but the main floor is the secnod.

Here are a few pictures of my dorm room and the college or as Americans know it dorm buildings.