It's Too Hot To Type

Just wanted to post a short update so as you don't all think I've been eaten by a snake or something...

I heard Ottawa had inclement weather today. You probably won't agree, but it's kind of inclement weather here too... too freakin' hot! Honestly, it is possible. Think of those awful summer days when kids with asthma can't go outside and you go door-to-door checking on the elderly. It's like that here - except they don't check on the elderly (meanies). So, needless to say, I lie under the fan a lot and try to avoid all movement. 

I am still searching (scavenging?) for housing - facing the toughest market I've ever dealt with. They've apparently got a little bit more competition from the flooding (put some places out of commission, put some people out of their own homes and requiring temporary accommodation). It's also a more - how shall I say this - laid back job market? For example - you call a property agent (everything's managed here, there are very few individual landlords). You say you have an interest in X apartment. They say "Ok, we have a viewing for that in a week or so. Come by then. But make sure to double check with us first." Nothing happens quickly - not even when they could turn a profit from it! So I'm stuck on the air mattress for some time yet.

I had my first day of school yesterday and that was quite fun (no joke). My biostats professor quotes Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and I'm thinking my PHAC courses have given me a pretty solid base in epidemiology. And best of all? NO EXAMS THIS SEMESTER! No more last-minute studying (I was never good at studying) and panicking and failing (oops). 

More updates to come, I promise - I'm just adjusting to the Australian way of doing things - very slowly :)

Communication Breakdown

'Tis the season for travellers from Europe, and I am finding myself at a severe disadvantage.

Don't get me wrong. I thoroughly appreciate that English is my first language, and it makes life a heck of a lot easier. English is also the 'common denominator' language - so when we're in a group, I always have top language skills (yes!). 

But speaking English also means that I cannot tell secrets. And when you're in a room with multiple strangers, quite often you find yourself wanting to tell secrets. I've noticed others do and I am infinitely jealous of their unique language that they can be quite confident others won't know. For example, Norwegian. Lovely country, lovely people. But who, apart from a native Norwegian, would ever learn the language? They are safe in the knowledge that no one will know who or what they are complaining about. 

The Swiss (of whom there were several on my Kangaroo Island tour) also have a great advantage. They speak Swiss-German, which they consider its own language separate from German, with its own rules and accents. However, they can also speak German without any problem. Oh, and they also speak French, English, and sometimes Italian. Why wasn't I born in Switzerland?

My French is poor but manageable, but the girl I am travelling with does not speak French, so that's of no help to me. Besides, lots of Europeans learn some French anyway, so I wouldn't be getting away with anything there.

Must learn Swahili.

My Valentine Was A Penguin

Last tour before starting school - am happysad. 

We started off in Adelaide - which seems to be a bit of a forgotten city ("You're going to Adelaide? Why?") in the grand scheme of Australian things. We landed on a Sunday and immediately went out for a walk around town, hoping to find a restaurant or grocery or the like.

And it was deserted. 

I'm talking Stephen King's "The Stand", where everyone on earth dies from some sort of alien thinger except for a dozen people that were on a plane and mysteriously survived (and landed the plane? illogical) and I think won in the end. Or maybe got eaten by aliens.

Kangaroo Island

But yeah, back to Adelaide - the deserted city. Apparently these guys take their Sundays very very seriously. And with multiple beaches within a half-hour drive of the city, who wouldn't? We finally came across the place where they hid all the people - Rundle St. Mall, full of buskers and shops and with a small carnival of freaks (no, really, they called themselves that) at the north end. Ended our day in the Adelaide Botanical Gardens. Apparently every major Australian city has botanical gardens, but I have to say Adelaide's are the best - massive garden of succulents, lots of shady trees for reading, and minimal crazy wildlife. 

The next morning, at lovely 6:15 a.m., we headed off to Kangaroo Island. KI is Australia's second-largest island, behind Melville Island (don't worry, no one else has heard of it either). It was named by an Englishman named Matthew Flinders in honour of - no joke here - the kangaroos that he ate for dinner when he landed on the island. To honour their memory. He then proceeded to name the rest of the island after himself - except I don't think he had to get eaten to do it.

Kangaroo Island has got a massive population of wallabies (so many that they have to kill them off, apparently, which sucks for the wallabies...), koalas (they had to sterilize a bunch of them to stop them from taking over - those buggers were eating all the trees!), and seals and sea lions.

What's the difference, you ask? (I did. So don't be ashamed.) The New Zealand seals have proper fur - so they don't get wet. They just looooved to bask in the sun and generally laze around. And they're not only from New Zealand - they just happened to be spotted there first. Australian sea lions, on the other hand, have hair rather than fur. We got to walk along the beach amongst them, as they're no longer afraid of humans. (Although if they knew what we were doing to their environment, I'm sure they'd change their tune.) Just to confuse you, Australian sea lions are also found in New Zealand. 

 We also saw the Remarkable Rocks - can you guess the origin of their name? I expect Mr. Flinders said "they're remarkable!" and someone wrote it down, thinking he'd named them, but it was an accident because he wanted to call it Flinders' Rocks and he was really bummed that he only had 20 things named after him instead of 21. That's my guess. But yeah, they're remarkable. And, um, rocks.

Saw a 'Bird of Prey' show - got to hold an owl in my lap (super soft). Did not get to hold the eagle, despite me telling them that I've held bigger birds as a kid (no joke - a hawk or something like that). But probably a good idea as I value my skin and eyeballs. And life.

Tried sandboarding down Little Sahara (the sit-down kind), but I have to say I'm still more of a fan of tobogganing - sand just doesn't allow for speeding the same way a sheet of ice does :), plus the walk up the sand dune is enough to break anyone.

A final highlight of Kangaroo Island was the Little Penguins viewing session (wildlife, not wine). Our guide was whinging about the lack of penguins, and hemmed and hawed about their "molting season" meaning they would be hiding on account of not being waterproof, but due to my magical powers of persuasion (I offered to buy many cases of their wine), we saw TWO little penguins hiding in the shoreline on Valentine's Day night. I'm sure they were offended by our interruption, but at least we brought them some red spotlights to get them in the mood. And also to not blind them, which is helpful.

Aquarium'd Out

Loves the camera.

Sydney is Australia's largest city, and Sydney-siders (as they refer to themselves) generally consider their city to be extremely cosmopolitan, international, and full of excitement.

A face only a mother could love!

So it would make sense if I spent my days in Sydney seeing unusual museums, trying out new restaurants, attending various festivals (there's always one floating around), or just generally being a cool person, because that's what Sydney-siders are.

Did I do that? No. I went to not one - but TWO aquariums (Sydney Aquarium and Oceanworld Manly) over the span of 3 days. I also went to the Sydney Tower. Having been to the CN Tower - can't say I was over the moon about that one. Now, don't get me wrong - the aquariums are very cool. They both have underwater viewing tunnels where you can tease and poke at the animals, engage in as much flash photography as possible, and generally be an annoying tourist. Oceanworld even had a scuba diving option into their main tank. (I think they also call it feeding time - it's very cost-effective.) 

But when you have a giant outdoor aquarium called the Great Barrier Reef at your fingertips (if you had Michael Jordan's armspan), the aquariums are a little underwhelming. But I do have nearly 2 years - I will get there! 

I also hung around the Sydney Opera House for an hour or so - but it definitely makes a stronger impression from the water, or when it's all lit up at night. Also, other annoying tourists simply refused to get off the steps so I could have a person-free photo. How rude!

A local highlight of Sydney was Manly Beach. (I say local highlight because my local friend suggested it, making it really cool and special and making me part of a secret club that only hundreds of thousands of others know about. Super exclusive.) Only a half-hour ferry ride (and a pretty one at that) from Sydney, Manly has a huge white sand beach (with lifeguards, phew) that offers a nice break from built-up Sydney. Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in Sydney.

Oh, and a final highlight? The Oceanworld Aquarium in Manly - a place for families, keep in mind - had a lovely feature that one might call a "Wheel O'Death" - in essence, a wheel detailing all the ways that one is more likely to die than from a shark bite. You were encouraged to spin the wheel and... er... see which way you were going to die? Definitely an Australian sense of humour...

The Hills Are Alive

This is the "before" shot. I refuse to show you the after.

When I was younger, my family would often visit Quebec (maternal family lives there). Every time that we did, my siblings and I would be taken for a "fun, relaxing" day of climbing up Cap-Trinite - a.k.a. climbing up stairs to 411 m elevation (thanks Wikipedia), down another 100 m on the other side, and then back up and over to get to the bottom. 

This activity went on until the day that I threw up a double chocolate muffin before we'd even made it 200 m up. On the plus side - I am no longer tempted to eat double chocolate muffins, and I didn't have to climb the stairs that day.

Big people rocks.

But it appears I did not learn my lesson, because today I engaged in the same activity - only voluntarily, and down a much less established trail. (If you can call it a trail. I think trail means something else in Australian English. Possibly "established route for certain death".) 

Stairs of doom.

I was very keen to see Govett's Leap, which was recommended by a British couple that I'd met on Fraser Island. They said the view was lovely, and you could walk to the bottom of a waterfall and walk under the waterfall, which was lovely except for the leeches. (Leeches don't worry me as much, because another childhood activity was swampwalking. Yep.) So we set off on the "trail" to the base of Bridal Veil Falls - "snakes are active" sign be-damned. And it was nice for the first 20 mins - before we started hitting see-through metal staircases down sheer cliff-sides, mud-washed stairs with nary a railing to protect us from Scenic Railway-type drops, and 'rock' staircases that were not made for short person legs. 

More stairs of doom.

Leech-free beauty.

And all for 5 minutes (sadly leech free) at the bottom of Bridal Veil Falls - but what a cool 5 minutes it was. Seeing the misty spray virtually float down from the cliff above was, in a word, awesome. And it was even worth the pain of getting all the way back up again.

At least that's what I keep telling myself. A day later, it is strangely enough my arms and shoulders that are in the most pain - which is a bit worrisome when one thinks about it, because it means I was truly gripping those railings for my life. Or maybe it was just for show - those snakes needed someone to entertain them!

And The Band Played... Indiana Jones!

The Blue Mountains are a very famous Australian sight - particularly the Three Sisters. And no matter how many postcards you may see of the view, it doesn't do it justice.

No, to truly enjoy the view, you must first walk down into the valley - and then back up again. Only through such pain can you truly appreciate the beauty of the Blue Mountains.

Or, if you were smart, you could take the Scenic Railway down and the Cableway back up - and then take the Skyway across the valley to finish off your "walk" :)

 Being unfamiliar with the route and feeling somewhat adventurous (or caffeinated?), I ended up doing Option 1 plus Option 2. As pain-inducing as it is, the hikes are awesome - a little piece of home in my new country. Minus the frequent lizard sightings of course. 

The Scenic Railway, found at Scenic World (like DisneyWorld for non-commercial type), is the steepest railway incline in the world (and they don't just mean in the Scenic World World, although that'd be a creative advertisement), descending 415m in about 5 minutes. And to what tune do you descend through rock, vegetation, and soil? The Indiana Jones theme song of course! I swear this ride was made for me. The Railway was originally used to transport shale from the Megalong Valley (I think that's a reflection of the fact that it's mega long, but that's my powerful deductive reasoning at work).

Lots of beautiful nature below, blah blah blah (really, you just have to see it), and then a slower ride up on the Scenic Cableway, passing over the remnants of a once-used rollercoaster (not even kidding). Finally, a trip across the Valley on the Skyway with a see-through glass floor (that's not scary or anything) and a 30 min walk to Echo Point - home of the Three Sisters. 

Even in Australia, I can't escape my three sisters - a special hi to Heather, Lizz and Emmy :)

Kung Hei Fat Choy - Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Apparently this week is the celebration of Chinese New Year in Sydney.

And by apparently, I mean if you Google "Chinese New Year", the second listing that comes up is Sydney's Chinese New Year festival. (The first is Wikipedia - as there is no more reliable source on the planet, of course.)

Not knowing this, I was wondering why it was extremely hard to book a hostel for the week. Silly me - have ended up in the Sydney YHA with a massive group of teenaged Australian schoolchildren. Reminds me of my old class trips... and makes me realize how much the other tourists must've hated us...

The City of Sydney graciously opened up the Chinese Gardens for free viewing. And I thought, what a generous city - they even let us dress up in traditional Chinese outfits for free!

That was before they took $10 from me.

Nevertheless - it was quite a fun experience. And oddly enough, I had my picture taken by several Asian tourists. I'd like to think it was because I suited the clothing... but more likely, they'll be taking them home to giggle about the silly Canadian girl (actually they'll probably call me American) in her too-long dress.

It's the Year of the Rabbit - according to the Sydney Chinese New Year website, "[p]eople born in the Year of the Rabbit are kind and loving, with grace, culture and beautiful manners." In particular, it is the Year of the Metal Rabbit - which is meant to make the rabbit more resilient, but in my opinion, just gives it back problems from all that armour. OR - turns it into Wolverine Rabbit - I can see the movie now...

Add Kangaroo Saliva To My List Of Allergies

Today we indulged in a bit of commercialism and went to Steve Irwin's Zoo - a.k.a. the Australia Zoo.

Highlights:

- Feeding numerous kangaroos and wallabies. Calmest things I've ever seen in a zoo - just lounging around without a care in the world. Which is probably pretty accurate - they're handfed like Egyptian pharaohs.

- Touching a snake - made me want some snakeskin boots. No, only kidding - it might encourage me to become sneaky and hide behind things and jump out at people.

Yep, that's the bum.

- Touching an alligator (baby) - apparently they are the "calm" versions of crocodiles - but paradoxically enough, mostly found in the U.S. 

- Feeding an elephant. No joke. I had carrots and watermelon, some in each hand, and that sucker just wrapped its massive trunk around my arm and WHOOSH - it was gone. The food, I mean. Not that it wasn't strong enough :)

Cassowary

- Seeing a cassowary in the flesh. These birds, sadly endangered, are Australian natives. They look a lot like the bird from the Pixar movie "Up". However, they do not respond to "Kevin". Even if you shout it multiple times. 

- Holding a sleepy koala for a photo. Cost me $20, but totally worth it to hold the little furball. Even if he did poo before every photo. And permanently smell of eucalyptus.

- Visiting the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital and seeing a poor widdle koala bear on an operating table. This probably doesn't sound like a highlight - but I suppose the highlight is that he's getting treatment? And they were only checking his heartbeat. Could be anxiety. Or the stress of being in the limelight. Koala rehab?

Lowlights:

Unimpressed Tassie Devil

- Having an allergic reaction to the kangaroo saliva. Finger swelled up and everything. How in the world does one become allergic to a random animal indigenous to a country she has never before been to??? Yeesh.

- Bindi Irwin. If I see one more Bindi mug, sticker, or book, it will be fed to a crocodile. Although I bet even the Zoo crocodiles are tired of Bindi merchandise.

- Tasmanian devil not impressed by my Tasmanian devil impression. Lousy sport.

I Stole From A World Heritage Site - Fraser Island Day 3

I stole a lot, actually. Of SAND. I've never had so much sand appear in my life. I couldn't even rub in sunscreen (except I did anyway, so don't worry) because it felt like I was scrubbing myself with sandpaper.

I know it's called the Great Sandy Island. But still. 

Today was the final day - so I got to sit up front in the truck. Which meant a front-row seat of the pitted, rough Fraser Island tracks. Nearly hit my head on the roof a couple of times - seatbelts are nice in theory, but remarkably useless in action. 

It DID afford me an upfront view of a dingo family, casually strolling along, looking for babies. (Only kidding, that story was totally made up.)

We saw the Hammerstone Sandblow, overlooking Lake Wabby - the sandiest of sandblows on a sand island. We trekked out to the beach for our last view of the 75 miles (er, 50-some odd miles) of beach highway. We hunted for turtle eggs (only to LOOK at them, don't think like that!) along the shores of Lake Birrabeen - but no luck. I hear they move pretty fast.

And then... we left. And our departure was graced with a beautiful, large arc of a rainbow.

And the colours were all upside down.

The Burn to End All Burns - Fraser Island Day 2

I know I should know better.

I even had a minor burn in the beginning of the trip. And Victoria very rightly said she did not feel sorry for me. Because I should know better. Health promotion is my bread and butter.

But I did it again. And I was not the only one.

Day 2 on Fraser Island was warm, but very cloudy and overcast. Which naturally means I forgot sunscreen. And let me tell you - the skin is still recovering. People are still pointing it out. The Amnesty International girl offered me free sunscreen.

Don't worry - I promise I won't do it again. Can't afford the skin loss.

So, back to the trip;

Today was Beach Day - no, not lounging about on the beach - driving 80 KM/H (breakneck on the island) down Seventy-Five Mile Beach. Which, funny story, is not actually 75 miles - more like 55. But that's not important.

We stopped off at Eli Creek, a nice little spot for a raft. I happened to come across a massive 3 spider web near the toilets - these guys do NOT like to be poked at. So I will respect that wish.

We saw the Champagne Pools - so named because the ocean crashes over the rocks and bubbles up in a nice foamy... foam. We then headed to Indian Head, the point on the island where Captain Cook first spotted the Butchulla people, and had a march up to the 60 ft drop. No railings - only a little sign with a falling man. These Australians sure are trustworthy...

Final points of the day - the Coloured Sands, a brilliant array of reds, oranges, golds, and the like - coloured due to the oxides in the sand (mostly iron). Down the lane was the Maheno Shipwreck - purchased by the Japanese in the early 20th century to sell overseas, but didn't make it very far. The Japanese stripped it down for all sellable parts, and the sea did the rest!

This travel blog photo's source is TravelPod page: Great Sandy - Fraser Island

Tonight, some aloe vera. Tomorrow - last day on the island :(

Cyclone be damned - Fraser Island Day 1

Against my better judgment (what fun is good judgment anyway) and warnings of impending storms, I spent the past several days on "The Great Sandy Island" (to Captain Cook) a.k.a. "K'gari" (to the indigenous island folk, the Butchulla) to "Fraser Island" (to the rest of us).

Some background: Fraser Island, a World Heritage Site, is one of the world's few sand islands. Formed hundreds of thousands of years ago, the island was occupied by the Butchulla people until the world's most famous mistake - our friend, colonization. (I should say colonisation, but I can't let go of my z's. I barely get to use them as is. Uze them. Hehe.)

We started our trip with a ferry over from Hervey Bay. I'd spend more time on it, but I don't think anyone really does...

We drive around on a monster truck (no, seriously) - because of Fraser Island's tracks, all vehicles need 4WD to get around. 

First trip of the day was to the stunning Lake Mackenzie, one of Fraser's most notable sights. A clear blue sky and a low pH (that's p-haych, not p-aych) makes for a 'soft water lake' - one that has very softening effects on your skin, and protects against the monstrous CANE TOAD INVASION! 

Lunch was interrupted by a goanna lizard - these little(ish) buggers just loooove to hunt around tourists' feet looking for munchies. Key word is "around" - thankfully, these lizards do not munch on humans. (Although they apparently claw at those wanting photos.)

Lake no. 2 was Basin Lake - no swimming here, as too much sunscreen increased the pH to neutral, which allowed some unfortunate toad settlements to occur. Fortunately, the lake has restored itself, but better safe than sorry!

Final excursion of the day was a trek through the rainforest (make jealous noises here), visiting the towering satinay trees in Pile Valley, and trying (but failing) to listen to Wanggoolba Creek - because it runs over a sand bed, it makes no noise. Just like stealthy snakes and spiders, only not deadly. Except there was an eel in there. But I digress. 

Fun fact: eucalyptus trees, or 'ghost gums', regularly shed their bark and become totally white - hence the 'ghostly' appearance.

Next post: more Fraser Island. Always more to see on this island!