The last post of Australia

My program is now pretty much finished and we are spending our last week in Byron Bay hanging out and soaking up as much Australian beach culture as we can.

We turned in our big projects of Friday and gave presentations on Saturday and Sunday. Everyone felt really rushed to get them in but all the presentations turned out well and it feels SO GOOD to have it done.

Just a quick recap of my project…..I did a review of the Lennox Head Strategic Plan (a strategic plan is like our city plans in the US). I was specifically interested in their goals of ecological sustainability and environmental protection. I talked to community members, environmental groups, city councilors, planners who work for council, and pretty mush any one I could find who was somehow involved with the strategic plan. I also read lots of council documents and research done about how planning can be used to encourage sustainability. Through all of this I found out that land-use planning can be an effective tool in building sustainable communities but it is important that plans are implemented well. Most plans are great in the beginning but then fall apart in implementation. If you have any more questions about my project just shoot me an e-mail or ask me about it when I get back.

On to this week…….today I went sea kayaking! It was so amazing……we kayaked out to the point of cape Byron and watch the dolphins swimming in the waves. They even came right up to our boats are were jumping out of the water! I also saw a shark jump straight up out of the water….but I was happy that he did not feel the need to come right up to my boat. It was a great activity for our last ‘organized’ fun event. It will be really sad to leave Australia but most of all to leave all of the friends that I have made this semester! We have all become quite close and comfortable around each other.

anyway…..on Thursday about half of the group is leaving on the group flight and the rest of us our spliting up and going to all different parts of Australia. Audrey and I are taking the train down to Sydney where we will be until Saturday morning. I am going to see the Sydney Symphony perform in the Opera House on Friday and Audrey is meeting her stepdad who has just flown in from the states. On Saturday I am getting on another train to go through the Blue Mountains and on to Lightning Ridge, an opal mining town in the outback. I will not get to stay in Lightning Ridge very long because I have a plane to New Zealand to catch on Monday but I hope to get a little taste of life in the desert.

….the next time I write will be from New Zealand!

A Ticket to Ride

As I was doing some reading today I came across a quote from a resident of Ballina, the larger town just to the south of Lennox Head.

“Living in Ballina is like a ride in the best seat in a first class train traveling in the best parts of the world.”

There was no name attached to the quote (I can understand why, their friends would never let them live it down) but I am beginning to understand why the people in this part of the world love it so much. Today it did not rain. That is an occasion in itself. Yesterday it only rained once for a short time during lunchtime. I was finally able, after being here for a week, to walk up to the headland and watch some of the world’s best surfers take on the surf break. The view was amazing, everything seemed to sparkle and was lush from all the rain. I stopped for some ice cream on my way back down the beach and relished in the fact that I can go anywhere I want in this town without any shoes on. Everyone is really friendly and will give you a wave and a g’day whenever they see you. Today I went for a morning swim in Lake Ainsworth and then some sunbathing/people watching on the beach to dry off. It was the perfect temperature.

It seems this area even attracts happy friendly tourists. The people who move in an out of the hostel are characters. I will start with George…..oh George. He is from Germany and has been here even longer than I have. I would put him in his mid 60s but that does not stop him from sporting a ponytail and an earring. He sits around the hostel soaking up the sun (when he can find it) and reading a whole library of German books that I assume he brought with him. Everyday we have more and more of a conversation but neither of us is proficient enough in the other’s language to really get anywhere. He surprises me every once in a while by doing things like whipping out a tool kit and performing surgery on the TV and sunbathing in his man thong in the courtyard. I must say, I look forward to his cheerful hello in the morning and whatever eccentricities he may be up to during the day. There is currently the cutest Dutch couple in the entire world (no joke) staying 2 rooms down from me. They are in their early 30s and decided to quit their jobs and travel the world. They have seen a lot of Australia and are soon heading in Indonesia. It seems that just like all the other Europeans I have met they are well traveled, intelligent, fun loving, and don’t quite understand why anyone would want to live in the US. Haha…after getting to know what it is like to live in the other English speaking parts of the world I tend to agree with them. Today during my beach walk I saw the guy trying (and failing) to surf on the baby waves. I laughed, not because I could do any better, but because I hope I will have the guts to do what they are doing later in my life. Just do what I want and live life to the fullest.

There have been Canadian, South African, Australian, Swiss, British, Japanese, Scottish, and Spanish people staying for varying lengths just in the time I have been here. I have yet to meet another American. I feel really lucky to get to spend some time in this place….now I just have to try to get some work done

ISP in Lennox Head

I am now settled into the YHA hostel in Lennox Head where I will be for the next 5 weeks. The weather has been mostly rainy but the few times it has broken have been gorgeous! (check out the photos) Most of my time is taken up with reading planning documents for my project and trying to arrange interviews with people who were involved in preparing the Lennox Head Community Aspiration Strategic Plan and following documents (it is really interesting…I swear! I usually just get blank looks when I explain my project to people…oh well….everyone can’t be as excited about planning as me). The only bummer about Lennox is that internet is hard to find/expensive so I have not been online as much as I would like. I recently became a member of the local library so now I am entitled to an hour of free internet a day (plus all that boring stuff like checking out books ). Hopefully my new found internet will help move my project along.

That is all I have for now. Next time I will try to do a little character sketch of some of the people staying at the hostel with me…..they provide endless entertainment!

Melsydabocamper Island

(aka Melboure, Sydney, Aboriginal Camping trip, Fraser Island and my last week of class)

There is so much to say! Easter break in Melbourne was fantastic. Is was sunny and the perfect temperature the whole time. There was one of girl from my program, Audrey, saying in the city so we met up about once a day for a meal and a walk. I spent most of my time in the Victoria Gardens and the Royal Botanic Gardens but I also saw Federation Square, some art galleries, the Melbourne Book Market, the Shrine of Remembrance, the International Comedy Festival, the funky Richmond district, some great architecture, and some of the best ethnic food restaurants in the world! (I also managed to get some work dome in there) The last day of my break I had a train layover in Sydney. When I first got there it was raining and I was kinda bummed but it soon stopped, I stored my luggage and set off. I picked up some breakfast and explored the beautiful Hyde Park. It has an amazing central corridor that is lined with trees with a fountain at the end. I could not have imagined a better place for breakfast. From there I decided to make my way to the Royal Botanic Gardens and the Opera House (a side note- I think I should have renamed this trip Royal Botanic Gardens of Australia: 2008). I did not actually have a map so I did a bit of wondering but I knew if I just kept heading north I would run into the harbor at some point. I made it to the gardens and got my first glimpse of the Opera House. It is such an iconic image that it was bit strange seeing it in real life. I walked out to Mrs. Maquarie’s Point for some nice views of the Opera House, the city and the gardens. Then I slowly made my way through the gardens until I made it to the base of the Opera House. They don’t really let you go inside unless you pay for a tour. (I however have fixed this problem because I got a ticket to see the Sydney Symphony play there after my program is finished!) By then it was time to make my way back to the train station for my night train back to Lismore.

Christine and I (Christine had been staying in Sydney) arrived at 4:30am in Lismore. Nothing much was open (understandably) so we decided to take a nap on some park benches. I felt a bit like a person experiencing homelessness (that was for you dan!) but with more stuff to lug around. We were able to drop our stuff off at the hotel at about 7:30am and then I spent the rest of the day by the pool doing reading and laundry (no I was not doing my laundry in the pool).

The next morning we set off for our Aboriginal camping trip. We were not allowed to bring watches, notebooks, journals, pencils/pens, or cameras. The goal was to try to live for a few days totally immersed in another culture. We were met with open arms be the community we were staying with and they really let us see what it is like to be an Aboriginal person to modern day Australia. We learned a little about what you can eat in the bush, we saw a lot of art cooperatives and spent the evenings around the campfire talking about life, the universe and everything. It was an amazing experience that I am sure you will all hear me talking about for quite some time.

Next we had a few days in Byron Bay and the more notable thing we did was celebrate Earth Hour! This was a worldwide thing as far as I know where everyone was supposed to turn off their lights for an hour. Australia got really into it and all the citys had be campaigns to get people involved. At our apartment the owners put on a free Barbie and then shut off power to the entire complex for an hour….kinda like mandatory participation ☺.  Then we traveled to Brisbane for a night where most of us spent our time doing homework. We did go our for a farewell dinner (yummy yummy Indian food) for Amber, the SIT grad student who has been along with us since the beginning of the semester. Her next stop is the SIT program in Ecuador!

Our next stop was Fraser Island, the largest sand island in the world. We had gorgeous weather and it felt like we were on a vacation. Our guide was John Sinclair, the man who is almost single-handedly responsible for the preservation of Fraser Island. He was even Australian of the year in 1976.  The only downside was the killer dingoes….no joke they have killed children as old as 15 and will attack adults. The reason they become aggressive is that people feed them and then they lose their fear of humans. If they were allowed to remain wild they would not be a problem. Anyway, we did some amazing stargazing, climbed up the sandblows, ‘hunted’ for wongs (oyster like things), swam in some of the freshest water in the world, and had a costume party! Look at the pictures for the full story.

This week I am finishing up my study project proposal and studying for my final exam (it is tomorrow…eeeek!). For the next 5 weeks I am going to be in Lennox Head, a costal village about 20km south of Byron Bay. I should have pretty regular internet during that time but I am going to have lots of work to do so I don’t know how much you will hear from me.

I hope everyone is enjoying spring back in the states….it is now autumn here so it is getting cooler.

Melbourne and Tasmania

So much has happened since I last updated! It all started with a 26 hour journey from Byron Bay to Melbourne. We took buses, trains and more buses along the coast (most of the time it was dark and we could not see) all while trying to sleep and do homework. We arrived in Melbourne in time to eat dinner and collapse into our beds. In the morning we explored the neighborhood of Fitzroy a bit and ate lunch at an amazing place called the Veggie Bar. We had class in the afternoon in a ‘sustainable’ building that had some pretty cool design features for capturing water and sunlight. After class we had just enough time to grab food and make it down to the docks to catch our ferry to Tasmania! The ferry was very nice, almost like being on a cruise ship.

We arrived in Tasmania at about 7am and began our trek down the island to the southern city of Hobart. On the way we traveled through the Great Western Tiers, stopped at Pencil Pine Lake, drove over the central plateau, had lunch by Great Lake (I tried kangaroo!), stopped in the town of Bothwell (where the oldest golf course in the southern hemisphere is located) and finally made it to our hostel in central Hobart. That evening we found a bar with some fun live music and it was nice to all hang out together. The next day was a free day. In the morning some of us caught a bus over to the Cadbury factory for a tour inside a real working chocolate factory. It was amazing! They did not let us take any pictures but they did let have lots of samples! After that I checked out the Hobart Botanical Gardens and historic Battery Point. For dinner we went to an amazing little Indian curry house that Peter had suggested. yummy!

Then the real field trip began… we left Hobart and drive up the Derwent river valley past paper mills (logging is a very big industry in Tasmania and the logging company, Gunns, pretty much owns the government), hops fields, and the old salmon ponds (the tried and failed to introduce salmon into the lakes here- they were successful with trout and it is now one of the best fly fishing areas in the world). We stopped briefly to drop off our food at our cabins in Maydena before we headed off to the area of former Lake Pedder (the lake was ‘drowned’ to make way for a large water impoundment for one of the state’s many hydro-power schemes). From here we did two walks- one to look at highland vegetation and the other called the ‘creepy crawly walk.’ When we got back to our cabins we went out to the lakes in the back to look for platypus and we saw one! My picture is not very good but it was there- I promise! For dinner we had all local Tasmanian cheese, meat and veggies out on the veranda.

The next day we went over to the Styx River valley to see the tallest hardwood and flowering trees, the majestic Eucalypt regnans. They were just amazing to see and the thought I kept having was…it is no surprise that they choose this part of the world to shoot Lord of the Rings. It really does look like some sort of fantasy world…almost too beautiful to be real. We went of two trails to see the tall trees. One made by the government which is very pro-logging and the other made by protesters who at one point lived in the trees in this valley to save them from being logged. On the protesters trail was this amazing stump house. It was big enough for a few people to be in at a time and Peter said that during the protest people lived there on and off for about 2 years. Lots of us did not want to leave! Then we went down and had a swim in the Styx River. Sadly I left my water bottle there…hopefully some one will pick it up and use it. After lunch we hiked up to an outlook in the upper Florentine region where we could see a couple of the Tasmania mountain ranges. After the hike we visited the protester camp where they are stopping the logging of the upper Florentine region. They had quite a set up and I was very impressed by their dedication. They were willing to die to save the forests they are protecting. The final stop of the day was a cave very close to our cabins. We did not get to go inside because the cave was filled with water!

The next morning we got up early and set off to climb Mt. Field. It was a really nice hike with some great views at the top. In the afternoon we drove north to Lake St. Clair and had dinner on the beach while watching the sunset. This is also the first time we encountered possums…like the Australian raccoon. They just walk right up to you with no fear and will go to great lengths to steal your food.

The next day was St. Patrick’s day! I couldn’t really see any evidence that the Australians celebrate it but then again I was out in the bush and not very connected to society. We moved from the Lake St. Clair region to the town of Strahan on the west coast. On our way there we did lots of nice short walks and even got to see Nelson Falls. In the afternoon we noticed the sky turning strange colors and then we realized it was from nearby forest fires. Everything took on a strange dark orange haze.

The 18th was cruise day! We went on a cruise down the Gordon River and it was beautiful. (a word of warning to all who are still reading…I am very tired after 2 nights on the train so while I am committed to finishing this blog post it may not make much sense) The cruise also included a stop on the old penal colony of Sarah Island. It was generally not a happy place but I was just excited to see it because if its name! In the afternoon we traveled to Cradle Mountain National Park and stayed at cabins inside the park. The tracks close to our cabin were gorgeous and I am sad I did not have more time to explore them.

The next day was our last day in Tasmania. We packed up fairly early and headed off to hike up to an outlook near Cradle Mountain. The fog was pretty thick so we could not see much…just a few glimpses of Dove lake. The rest of the day was spent driving up to Devonport in time to catch the ferry back to the mainland.

I have lots of pictures of all the things I just described on the picture site but I have not put up captions yet. There are new pictures in the post homestay adventures album, all the Tasmania albums and the Melbourne album. As soon as I can I will write more about Easter break but for now just know that I had an amazing time and Melbourne is one of the nicest cities I have ever been in.

The last part of my homestay and Byron

I do not have too much time to write this post so I think I will do it in more of a list format….

The last weekend of my homestay we stayed in a little cabin in Lennox Head (another beach town south of Byron Bay). It is unique because it has a freshwater lake that is stained brown from all the tea trees growing around it.

After the homestay we came back to Byron Bay and had a really cool sustainability workshop with a city planner. You can check out his website here.

Yesterday we had a big fieldtrip day! We started out the day at an organic farm that supplies food to the stores in Byron Bay. They gave us bananas, macadamia nut cookies, and lemon myrtle and davidson plum juice!

Next stop was a permaculture training farm. The women who runs it was been living there for about 20 years and she is a world expert on permaculture. As we were leaving a camera crew came from the Discovery Channel to interview her for a new show they are doing about the Australian Great Dividing Range. Everyone will have to look out for that one!

Then we went to the Rainbow Power Company outside of Nimbin, the marijuana capital of NSW (New South Wales). The company was started in the early 80s to provide alternative energy setups to people in Australia. We got to talk to the founder, Peter Pedals. He is a huge supporter of pedal power and he showed us the awesome bike that he rides to and from work. Now I am inspired to hook up the TV to a bike so I can feel productive at least some of the time .

The last stop of the night was at Peter’s (our Academic Director) house. He has GORGEOUS views from his veranda. If I lived there I would never want to leave. He and his wife Laura fed us a dinner of wonderful pizza and they even got out their ukuleles and sang us a song…..I got a video!

Now I am just back in Byron Bay, hanging around until Sunday when we start to make out way down to Tasmania. This week is also the Byron Bay Film Festival so I am going to see a few movies tonight and tomorrow! Yay for movies…..it has been too long since I have seen any.

The next time I post will probably be in about 2 weeks after Tazzie, as the locals call it because they shorten EVERYTHING, when I am in Melbourne for Easter.

leeches, lesbians, and lots of food!

Sunshine! It has been sunny for about 5 days now and I am finally getting to experience an eastern Australian summer, in all of its hot and humid glory. Every Australian I talk to has said that these are the first real summer days they have had and summer is almost over!

On last Wednesday Peter took us on a rainforest hike. We went to the other side of the national park where I had been to see the waterfall earlier in the week. It was quite wet in the forest (go figure…it is a rainforest after all) and there were leeches everywhere. Many of the girls were not sure they could handle the little bloodsuckers and there was much screeching. We did manage learn quite a bit about the geologic history of the area and the flora and fauna of the rainforest. About 20 million years ago the largest volcano in the world was located in this region and its center can still be seen at Mt. Warning.

Then on Thursday and Friday the group went on a retreat to a rustic Buddhist meditation center a couple of hills over from my homestay house. We spent the two days learning about different environmental philosophies and soaking in the rain-free days. The retreat was in a beautiful section of forest that is owned by an intentional community (a commune). Check out the photos to see the cute little hut I slept in and the forest in the sunshine!

After getting back from the retreat Meri, Colin (Meri’s boyfriend), and I went into Lismore to see one of the other hosts perform at a local pub. Mish is a wonderful singer who just put out her first CD (don’t worry, I have one ). The bar was full of Mish’s lesbian friends and much fun was had by all!

Saturday was amazing! At 4:30 we went down to the oval (the big cricket field outside of town) to learn how to throw boomerangs! Meri works with a guy named Mic who makes his own boomerangs and other aboriginal art and is also an elder in his tribe. Almost everyone in the group and some of their families turned up and we spent a great 3 hours in the sunshine learning how to not kill ourselves! I had a great surprise at the end when Meri told me she bought one of Mic’s boomerangs for me! Now I can teach all of you at home how to throw it like a pro. When it got dark we all headed over to Katie’s homestay house for an Australian barbie! (just a side note- Australians shorten EVERYTHING… mosquitoes become mossies, university become uni, sunglasses become sunnies, and the list goes on… it is actually quite amusing) At the barbie Mic showed us more aboriginal artifacts and we got to have some authentic Aussie desserts.

Sunday was the homestay picnic. We all went out to the beach and had a nice day in the sun. It was really cool to get to meet and hang out with the other homestay families. The food was amazing and hopefully I will be able to get my hands on the pumpkin salad recipe. This is the second time I have had it while I have been here and they tell me it is a really popular food.

I have just realized that this post has become very long so, I will end here and send you over to the other site to check out the photos.

p.s. If you are wondering where the lots of food comes in, it comes from the back to back picnics I went to this weekend!

Homestay with the Humphries’

It is now the third day of my homestay and I am loving it! I am staying with the Humphries’ which includes the mom Meri (short for Meredith), Blake (18), Genni (17, I think), Adam (10) and of course the cats Blossom and Max and the dog Sari. Living close by in Lismore is Libby (22). They live in a small community of about 200 people called The Channon (although Meri said the surrounding community has about 2,000 people) . The landscape is just amazing, full of huge valleys with green rolling hills. Every time we have driven past the really nice views I have forgotten my camera but I still have a while and I promise I will get some pictures before I leave. There are 5 SIT kids living in The Channon….Katie is just down the street with the friends of the Humphries, Danielle, Lars, and Audrey are just up the street and all right next to each other. On a side note, the back yard is FULL of morning glories. Here it is a weed that will just take over if you do not keep pulling it out. Meri was amazed that we actually try to grow the plant in our yards in the states. I have posted a picture of the huge vine in the backyard.

The first day I was here (Saturday) Meri and Katie’s host mom took Katie and I to Nightcap National Park. It is at the end of a really long dirt road that until recently was almost impassable from all the rain they have been having. (Meri said it has been raining nonstop since Boxing Day) The forest was amazing. It was cooler than I expected but everything just seemed to be radiating life. All of the rain made the waterfall at the end of walk huge! After dinner that night we went over to Danielle’s host-house. Her host mom, Mish was having a party and I found out that she is also a musician. I am going to try to get my hands on her CD.

The last 2 days have been spent doing normal family things like grocery shopping, watching TV, reading my homework and just chilling at home together. I did find out that most towns have something called a Tender Center, which is like a giant silent auction where people take stuff to sell instead of having a garage sale. We visited the one in Lismore and Libby bid on a few things. The other interesting cultural tidbit I learned is that Australians seem to like chicken flavored things. They have chicken flavored potato chips, popcorn, crackers and French fries. We stopped for coffee at a café and I had my first fries with chicken flavored salt….it was interesting.

Tomorrow I start having class again. It has been about a week since our last class session during orientation. It is easy to forget that I am still going to class…it feels more like I am on a really long vacation!

I posted some pictures of my apartment in Byron Bay, the rainforest and the house I am staying in.

Byron Bay

It is now my second day in Byron Bay and it is such a nice little town. It is a very big tourist destination so things are a bit expensive but walking on the beach is free and that is my favorite activity! Tomorrow I meet my homestay family and I am sooooo excited! I think it is going to be my favorite part of the trip.

I have finally put up pictures from the first week here…it is hard to imagine that I have been here a week. On one hand I feel like I have been here a long time because of all of the things I have experienced but on the other hand it feels like I arrived yesterday! Everyone keeps telling me that the semester is going to fly by because we are so busy all the time. After the homstay we come back to Byron for a few days and then we are going to Tasmania for a little more than a week, Melbourne for 5 days, our Aboriginal camping trip, trip to Fraser Island, back to Byron Bay for a week and all of a sudden we are half way through April. Then I go off on my own for 5 weeks to do my independent study project and I will be pretty much done with the program.

I also posted all of my photos! check them out (http://picasaweb.google.com/saimorgan)

I may not have a chance to get back on the internet for the next 2 weeks, it all depends on my homestay family. So, I wish love to everyone and I will talk to you soon!

7 Mile Beach

How can I possibly describe all the things I have experienced in the last few days?

I am currently sitting in a 350 acre private nature preserve that requires a 4 million dollar buy in (although by the time I post this I will be in the town of Byron Bay). They graciously let us camp on the land and use their amazing semi-private beach (no one can actually own the beaches in Australia, they are all public property). It is in an area called 7 mile beach just south of Byron Bay (Dad, maybe you can look it up on google maps ☺). We are here for orientation, which has basically consisted of getting to know each other and learning a bit about Australia and the Australian environment. The walks on the beach are breathtaking and more than one Australian has told me that this is the most beautiful area of the country (if you look at the pictures you can see why). The first morning we were here we got up early (this was not hard because most of us were still on American time) and drove about 20 min to the town of Byron Bay to see the sunrise at the lighthouse. Later that day, while walking down the beach back at the campsite, we came across 2 of the trustees (people who own part of the nature preserve) digging something up in the sand. They called us over to look and what they had found was an old brass engine that was once used in an operation that was trying to extract gold from the ocean. Apparently there is about 1 fleck of gold in every ton of seawater so the guy that started this operation thought he could extract that gold in such a way that it could be profitable. It obviously did not work but the remnants can still be seen today. I believe this all happened sometime in the early 1800s. The guys that had found this were really excited because to put it like they said, Australian’s don’t have very much history so they get excited about little things like this that happened not too long ago. Today after lunch we went back into Byron Bay for a surfing lesson! It was so much fun even though I am not good at it at all. I will hopefully have some pictures up soon. We were out in the water with our instructors for about 2.5 hours and I got to try it a bunch of times. I almost had it a few times but I definitely need more practice! Imagine, an academic orientation where they teach you how to surf on one of the prettiest beaches in Australia! Now it is after dinner and I am catching up on some journaling and reading. More to come soon!