1 May
Sydney
Rainy and cool with a breeze
We leave for America tomorrow.
For the students, it's a mixed feeling. One month is probably just long enough to get a taste for the country, but not nearly enough time to get to know the people well at all. So, there are a lot of students who tell me -- with tongue firmly in cheek, of course -- that no, they will not be getting on the plane tomorrow; that I would get a big pile of (Australian) money if I would tell their loved ones that we lost them in the rainforest somewhere; they don't think their parents would mind at all if they just didn't come back. I'm pretty sure that I have no legal authority in Australia to make them get on the plane -- but I'll keep that to myself. Of course, those same students are getting tired and running out of money, so they're ready to get back home.
These days, we're pretty big on assessing outcomes for our courses. In this course, almost everyone has grown at least a little bit. We have some seasoned travelers in the group who have another country under their belt, now, but then we have someone who had never flown before in her life until this trip, and now appears to be completely infected with the travel bug. Another student tells me that I should offer this course as a 'backpackers course,' presumably meaning that we would live for a month as the backpackers do in Europe, Asia, and Australia. What a romantic life it must be -- as long as you don't have to do any sharecropping to support yourself. Others are pondering grad school or career options that might land them here for awhile.
Students who were scared of every little thing early on ate raw wichetty grubs on the camping trip, and have lived to tell the tale. Some who were certain that every shark on the reef wanted to gobble them up now want to get their dive certification and go exploring other reefs. People who look and sound different from them and their friends don't make them as nervous.
On the other hand, they know that there are things that can hurt: beautiful plants that contain silica stingers, miniscule jellyfish with enough venom to kill a person; cuddly koalas that actually have three-inch claws and a grouchy disposition. None of that freezes them, though. There is great beauty in nature, but one better have a little respect.
Everyone would like to climb Uluru. The view must be spectacular, and there are things up there very much worth seeing. There's actually a water source up at the top that is a men's sacred business site -- that water hole is the actual site of Uluru; the rock just got the name because it supports the site. The students would love to see the top. And if they had climbed it, I would have never known, but they chose not to out of respect -- the local indigenous people asked, and they listened. One of the students posted a photo on the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com) showing the line of tourists, marching right past the sign saying 'please don't' and marching up the hill like a lot of little ants. The students have something in their character worth having.
I will not take credit for their character traits; they own those. A course like this one allows students to begin to identify and nurture those qualities within themselves, though, and I'm gladdened when students more often than not leave this course on that path. It's one of the reasons I will offer this course as long as students will take it.
The other reason I will come back here is that I must someday take a decent photo of a kookaburra. I'll close this year's journal with my pathetic attempt this year. What follows is written in the form of a Zork text adventure. It is an account of my encounter with the king of the bush at the apartments on Magnetic Island.
---
CHARLIE VS. THE SMIRKING KOOKABURRA.
> walk west
You begin walking toward the swimming pool.
> look around
The pool water is inviting.
> lean on the fence
As you begin to lean on the fence, you notice that just a few feet away from you is a kookaburra! It is gazing at you expectantly.
> photograph kookaburra
You cannot take a picture without a camera.
> get camera
There is no camera here!
The kookaburra grooms his feathers, then looks at you expectantly.
> take camera out of bag.
You're wearing the bag.
> take off bag
You place the bag on the ground.
> get camera
There is no camera here!
The kookaburra appears to be restless.
> open bag
You carefully open the bag.
The bag contains:
a water bottle
sunblock
a notepad
a pen
a camera
> take camera
You are now holding the camera.
The kookaburra looks at you expectantly.
> photograph kookaburra
The camera is switched off.
The kookaburra looks amused.
> turn camera on
You flip the switch on the camera.
The camera begins its boot up sequence.
> photograph kookaburra
The camera is not ready.
The kookaburra snorts in disgust and flies away, laughing madly as it goes.
---
Well, maybe next year.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The camping trip I missed
19 May
Alice Springs
Sunny and mild
The students returned from their camping trip last night. I was very nervous about how they would react to the camping tour of the rocks without me along, since it was unusually cloudy. But as they emerged from the bus, they were bubbling over with enthusiasm; they had so much fun. There were a few other campers along, and a second coach ran alongside ours with another group, so they met lots of people their age from all over the place.
The only moment of drama was that a trailer latch had come undone and one of the students had her camping bag fall out along the road, a potential disaster, as her passport was in the bag. After a few anxious hours, it was -- incredibly! -- found by some people who turned it over to the Australian Army. It turns out that because the course booklet mentions ANZAC Day, the folks who found it thought it belonged to them, and so brought it to an army base. The folks at the army base figured out -- again I guess from the course booklet -- that we were staying in Alice Springs and had been camping with The Rock Tour. And so they found us! Far above and beyond the call of duty, that one. All is well.
Our tour guide was a young woman named Hayley. Though I only spoke with her before the students left and after they returned, I was pretty impressed with her understanding of the job and of her clients. And the students adored her. Less-than-ideal weather must put additional pressure on the tour guide to keep the campers engaged, but Hayley clearly was equal to the task.
Women as tour guides are a relatively new thing here; it is one of those jobs that were populated for a long time by Crocodile Dundee wannabes. That's changing in the industry, and it's a good thing. While the students were on the trip, I had a nice conversation with the owners of The Rock Tour, Rob and Joe. They are very careful to train their tour guides to conduct the tour in such a way so that the clients not only have fun, but also learn some important things about central Australia and how to treat the country.
The students spent the evening telling me all their stories about the trip:
Alice Springs
Sunny and mild
The students returned from their camping trip last night. I was very nervous about how they would react to the camping tour of the rocks without me along, since it was unusually cloudy. But as they emerged from the bus, they were bubbling over with enthusiasm; they had so much fun. There were a few other campers along, and a second coach ran alongside ours with another group, so they met lots of people their age from all over the place.
The only moment of drama was that a trailer latch had come undone and one of the students had her camping bag fall out along the road, a potential disaster, as her passport was in the bag. After a few anxious hours, it was -- incredibly! -- found by some people who turned it over to the Australian Army. It turns out that because the course booklet mentions ANZAC Day, the folks who found it thought it belonged to them, and so brought it to an army base. The folks at the army base figured out -- again I guess from the course booklet -- that we were staying in Alice Springs and had been camping with The Rock Tour. And so they found us! Far above and beyond the call of duty, that one. All is well.
Our tour guide was a young woman named Hayley. Though I only spoke with her before the students left and after they returned, I was pretty impressed with her understanding of the job and of her clients. And the students adored her. Less-than-ideal weather must put additional pressure on the tour guide to keep the campers engaged, but Hayley clearly was equal to the task.
Women as tour guides are a relatively new thing here; it is one of those jobs that were populated for a long time by Crocodile Dundee wannabes. That's changing in the industry, and it's a good thing. While the students were on the trip, I had a nice conversation with the owners of The Rock Tour, Rob and Joe. They are very careful to train their tour guides to conduct the tour in such a way so that the clients not only have fun, but also learn some important things about central Australia and how to treat the country.
The students spent the evening telling me all their stories about the trip:
- Everyone did the climb up 'Heart Attack Hill,' the ascent to the rim of Watarrka that begins the hike. We sometimes will have a few students who for health reasons do not make the climb, choosing instead to do the gorge walk, but not this year. I must say, I wonder if some would have made the choice to do the gorge walk if I had been along.
- Hayley dug out a wichetty grub, the larva of the ghost moth. This grub is bush tucker for the Aboriginal peoples; it is thrown on the fire and seared, or eaten live. The taste -- I am told -- is like egg. Hayley got some of the students to give it a go, and I must confess, that alone impressed me.
- Though they were nervous about the 'rustic' camping, ultimately the students seemed to be of the opinion that they preferred that type of camping over the more comfortable camping at Yulara. At Curtain Springs, it was dark away from the fire, so they sat on their swags in a circle around the fire to socialize and eat. At Yulara, the campsite had a large lighted area where everyone gathered. And the lights at Yulara bothered them, as they did not have the same chance to see the stars.
- Not that there was much to see. The cloudy conditions persisted throughout the trip, so that they had only a few moments of star-gazing, around 3am one morning. The weather has been a point of ongoing frustration throughout the trip -- and one does not expect it to be overcast that much in the Centre. It's not just the star-gazing; the lack of sun impacts some viewing opportunities. For example, when we watch either sunrise or sunset at Uluru, the rock goes through several changes in its color when one views it at a distance. Again, the students did not complain much about it.
- One of the tasks that passengers must complete is the collection of firewood. Typically, the tour guide will pull over at a location where there was a controlled burning in the last few years, jump out, and tell everyone to start tearing down the burnt-out trees and breaking them up. I've done this every year, so it was no surprise to learn that the students did this as well. But another way in which their tour guide impressed them was this; after instructing the students to go knock down a tree, she demonstrated by running up to a tree and knocking it over with one scary-looking flying kick.
- Uluru is Aboriginal name for the big orange rock seen in most commercials about Australian tourism; white Australians call it Ayers Rock. At a somewhat inconveniently located Cultural Centre, the Aboriginal people, who are the traditional custodians of the rock, make their wishes known about how it should be treated. At the beginning of the course, I discuss with students the importance of deferring to the wishes of the indigenous people on matters like these, and it comes up several times, so that by the time the opportunity is offered, no one is interested. I am happy to report that none of the students made the climb, and everyone did the walk around -- one learns more about the Rock anyway.
So, even though I was not with them, it sounds as though they learned a lot of nice things while camping. Students usually come back from the camping trip a little different: more confident and stronger. When I return to America, you'll notice a change in these students.
But first, it's back to Sydney.
Alice Springs
15-17 May
Alice Springs
Partly sunny and mild
I wish I had better news to report abut my own health. At the Cock 'n' Bull dinner on the 13th, I could only manage to eat a bite or two of my meal, and things got much worse afterwards. I awoke in the early morning hours with a pounding headache and shivers, and started having bouts of diarrhea. I got myself over to a 24-hour clinic nearby, where the doctor diagnosed me with a viral infection. He said I should expect the symptoms to lessen over the next few days, and prescribed medication to control my guts. MY main concern was whether I could continue to travel with the students. He thought that plane flights were fine, but that I needed to rest for awhile.
I could eat hardly anything yesterday -- it was not that I couldn't keep food down; I just had no appetite at all! I had no breakfast at all, and maybe a cracker or two during the flight. After we landed in Alice Springs, I told the students what was going on, and some of them brought me some fruit and crackers, which I have since managed to eat.
It is now the morning of the 15th. I sent the students on their day tour of Alice Springs with Brook, one of the staff members here. The tour is a visit to the Alice Springs Desert Park, the Royal Flying Doctors Service, a reptile zoo, the School of the Air, the old telegraph station, and ANZAC Hill.
The Desert Park is a park-style zoo and botanical garden devoted to the types of environments encountered in central Australia: red sand desert, scrub woodlands, and 'upside-down' rivers. it has several walk-through bird enclosures, as well as a free flight bird show that I've told the students they must attend.
The Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) was started by John Flynn in the early 20th century as a means of delivering health care to remote regions of the Outback. When there is a medical emergency on a cattle station, the nearest doctor may be hundreds of miles away. Medical help is available via the phone, and most stations will have a color-coded medical kit on hand so that the people on the station can administer a more extensive first-aid to victims. If required, the RFDS will fly out to the station with a medical team to transport the patient to hospital. RFDS also conducts health clinics on a regular basis, where people on the stations can receive physicals, vaccinations, and consultations.
I have not been to the reptile zoo before; the folks here at Toddy's suggested it and I added it to the tour. I will depend on student reports to decide if I want to keep it as a part of the tour. They have seen so many zoos at this point that I fear it might get a little repetitious, but since this place concentrates on desert species, I thought it was worth a try.
The School of the Air (SOA) is another way of addressing the needs of people living in remote regions of the Outback. The SOA is a school, conducted via satellite internet, to children in cattle and sheep stations, in Aboriginal villages, and anywhere else there are children isolated by distance who need schooling. The presentation is an all too brief introduction to the SOA and a bit of its history. At its inception in the 1950s, instruction was conducted via two-way radio, with exams, papers, textbooks and other course materials delivered by mail. Since then, the SOA has taken advantage of technological advancements as they've become available to enhance the educational experience of the children.
Alice Springs is where it is due to a few specific reasons. In the 19th century, telegraph lines were connecting all parts of the British empire to London, and the plan was to run a line from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north, where an undersea cable would then run up through Asia and continue on. Railways would run alongside the telegraph, thus providing a means to move freight more easily and cheaply.
But several expeditions revealed -- sometimes tragically -- just how forbidding the center of Australia can be. Several mountain ranges run east to west, providing a barrier to the straight level land needed for rail lines. Water would be needed, not only for human survival, but for the steam engines of the day. The gap between the mountains plus the availability of water in the nearby 'upside-down' river meant that the location was ideal. The explorers mistakenly thought that there was a spring located in the riverbed, but the standing water was only the result of a recent rainfall. Nevertheless, they found a reliable source of water, and a gap in the mountains, and so the Alice Springs Telegraph Station was founded.
The telegraph station operated for many years, but as technology improved and new means of communication came online, the need for it eventually lessened and it was closed down. By this time, of course, the city of Alice Springs had sprung up just south of the station, and served as a bit of civilization in the center of the young country. Th buildings of the telegraph station were converted for use as a native school called 'The Bungalow' by the local Aborigines. When the policies that created the Stolen Generation were finally abandoned in 1970, the Bungalow was shut down and languished until it was reopened as a living history museum.
It is now the morning of the 17th. While my condition has improved, I was clearly not well enough for camping, so I made the hard choice yesterday to send the students on the camping trip without me, in the capable hands of their tour guide, Hayley. The only alternative would have been to keep all of them here at Toddy's with nothing planned, and that just seemed so unfair. While they were disappointed that I wouldn't be along, they still seemed excited about getting out in the bush. I'm looking forward to seeing their photos.
They return to Alice Springs tomorrow, and then we return to Sydney and start making our way back home.
Alice Springs
Partly sunny and mild
I wish I had better news to report abut my own health. At the Cock 'n' Bull dinner on the 13th, I could only manage to eat a bite or two of my meal, and things got much worse afterwards. I awoke in the early morning hours with a pounding headache and shivers, and started having bouts of diarrhea. I got myself over to a 24-hour clinic nearby, where the doctor diagnosed me with a viral infection. He said I should expect the symptoms to lessen over the next few days, and prescribed medication to control my guts. MY main concern was whether I could continue to travel with the students. He thought that plane flights were fine, but that I needed to rest for awhile.
I could eat hardly anything yesterday -- it was not that I couldn't keep food down; I just had no appetite at all! I had no breakfast at all, and maybe a cracker or two during the flight. After we landed in Alice Springs, I told the students what was going on, and some of them brought me some fruit and crackers, which I have since managed to eat.
It is now the morning of the 15th. I sent the students on their day tour of Alice Springs with Brook, one of the staff members here. The tour is a visit to the Alice Springs Desert Park, the Royal Flying Doctors Service, a reptile zoo, the School of the Air, the old telegraph station, and ANZAC Hill.
The Desert Park is a park-style zoo and botanical garden devoted to the types of environments encountered in central Australia: red sand desert, scrub woodlands, and 'upside-down' rivers. it has several walk-through bird enclosures, as well as a free flight bird show that I've told the students they must attend.
The Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) was started by John Flynn in the early 20th century as a means of delivering health care to remote regions of the Outback. When there is a medical emergency on a cattle station, the nearest doctor may be hundreds of miles away. Medical help is available via the phone, and most stations will have a color-coded medical kit on hand so that the people on the station can administer a more extensive first-aid to victims. If required, the RFDS will fly out to the station with a medical team to transport the patient to hospital. RFDS also conducts health clinics on a regular basis, where people on the stations can receive physicals, vaccinations, and consultations.
I have not been to the reptile zoo before; the folks here at Toddy's suggested it and I added it to the tour. I will depend on student reports to decide if I want to keep it as a part of the tour. They have seen so many zoos at this point that I fear it might get a little repetitious, but since this place concentrates on desert species, I thought it was worth a try.
The School of the Air (SOA) is another way of addressing the needs of people living in remote regions of the Outback. The SOA is a school, conducted via satellite internet, to children in cattle and sheep stations, in Aboriginal villages, and anywhere else there are children isolated by distance who need schooling. The presentation is an all too brief introduction to the SOA and a bit of its history. At its inception in the 1950s, instruction was conducted via two-way radio, with exams, papers, textbooks and other course materials delivered by mail. Since then, the SOA has taken advantage of technological advancements as they've become available to enhance the educational experience of the children.
Alice Springs is where it is due to a few specific reasons. In the 19th century, telegraph lines were connecting all parts of the British empire to London, and the plan was to run a line from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north, where an undersea cable would then run up through Asia and continue on. Railways would run alongside the telegraph, thus providing a means to move freight more easily and cheaply.
But several expeditions revealed -- sometimes tragically -- just how forbidding the center of Australia can be. Several mountain ranges run east to west, providing a barrier to the straight level land needed for rail lines. Water would be needed, not only for human survival, but for the steam engines of the day. The gap between the mountains plus the availability of water in the nearby 'upside-down' river meant that the location was ideal. The explorers mistakenly thought that there was a spring located in the riverbed, but the standing water was only the result of a recent rainfall. Nevertheless, they found a reliable source of water, and a gap in the mountains, and so the Alice Springs Telegraph Station was founded.
The telegraph station operated for many years, but as technology improved and new means of communication came online, the need for it eventually lessened and it was closed down. By this time, of course, the city of Alice Springs had sprung up just south of the station, and served as a bit of civilization in the center of the young country. Th buildings of the telegraph station were converted for use as a native school called 'The Bungalow' by the local Aborigines. When the policies that created the Stolen Generation were finally abandoned in 1970, the Bungalow was shut down and languished until it was reopened as a living history museum.
It is now the morning of the 17th. While my condition has improved, I was clearly not well enough for camping, so I made the hard choice yesterday to send the students on the camping trip without me, in the capable hands of their tour guide, Hayley. The only alternative would have been to keep all of them here at Toddy's with nothing planned, and that just seemed so unfair. While they were disappointed that I wouldn't be along, they still seemed excited about getting out in the bush. I'm looking forward to seeing their photos.
They return to Alice Springs tomorrow, and then we return to Sydney and start making our way back home.
Friday, May 15, 2009
The Daintree
13 May
Cairns
Sunny, breezy, and warm
Finally! The sort of weather one associates with Cairns has arrived: sunny with a nice breeze and warm temperatures. It's a shame that we won't have more of it before we take off for Alice, but at least the students got a taste of it. Today is a day for errands and such; I did laundry in the morning, then posted the prior entry to this journal, went over the student entries at the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com/) and added a few of my own, and made a few phone calls to confirm things for tomorrow and the next day.
Yesterday was our visit to the Daintree rainforest to the north. This tour package includes a cruise on the Daintree River to search for crocs and other wildlife, a rainforest walk, a buffet lunch, an afternoon tea on Emmagen Creek, and a visit to Cape Tribulation, our northernmost point on the course. Our guides this time were Findlay and John.
John is a old friend to the course. We started using Billy Tea Bush Safaris several years ago, and John has been one of our guides every year. He is very knowledgeable, and is very good with the students. By the way: to my senior colleague, John sends his regards. Watch for a picture of him cooking our lunch on the course blog.
Our drive up the coast was pleasant, though rainy. We stopped in Mossman to pick up avocados for lunch and fruits for the afternoon tea. It is often the case that we are doing this while children are on their way to the nearby school, so we get a chance to see the school uniforms and the crossing guards directing children and cars about.
After Mossman, we continue up the road for another half-hour, until we near the Daintree River. There is no bridge across the Daintree; one must cross on a boat or by ferry. For our first crossing, we use a boat that takes us on a cruise of the river searching for crocs. Of course, with the cloudy and rainy weather, the big adult males that dominate the river were off in their lairs, so we only saw a small hatchling swimming by the side. It was a shame, but there's no controlling the weather, of course. We did see a python and a few tree snakes, as well as an azure kingfisher, a brightly colored bird of the river.
Our tour guides met us on the far side of the river, and we continued our drive into the Daintree Rainforest National Park. This park is a part of the tropical rainforest of north Queensland, and is thus listed as a World Heritage Site. We drove into the mountains for our rainforest walk.
The boardwalk we use takes about 45 minutes to complete, and runs through a typical portion of the forest, complete with the ferns, cycads, satinays, paperbarks and strangler figs that make up the major portion of the forest. There are the epiphytes, too: the staghorn and elkhorn ferns, as well as huge basket ferns far above the forest floor. We even saw a couple of lizards clinging to small tree ferns.
The fate of the cassowary has been on the minds of the people here for a long time. A cassowary is a large flightless bird, similar to the emu, the ostrich, and the kiwi. It is a keystone species of the rainforest; remove it, and the forest will undergo dramatic changes. And the cassowary is endangered; the current estimate is that there are about 1500 left. Since the area has been World Heritage listed, loss of habitat is no longer an issue. The biggest threats to them are cars, and competition from feral pigs.
No one is certain, but it was a common practice for mariners to release pigs into the areas around beaches at which they would land. This would often guarantee a supply of meat when they would return. The thinking is that the feral pigs in the Daintree are the result of such a release, though it is impossible to be certain. IT is also impossible to say who did so, or when. But the pigs have been in the Daintree for a few hundred years now, slowly eating the ecosystem out from under the cassowaries. It is uncertain if there is a way to save the birds. And since no one has successfully bred them in captivity, it is very possible that the cassowary will go extinct in the coming years, thus drastically altering if not destroying the rainforest.
On these walks in past years, I've seen a lot of the damage done by the feral pigs. They often tear up the forest floor, exposing the earth that then sheds moisture, leaving less for the plants. The pigs go after young plants, making it difficult for new growth to get started. But this year, I noticed a lot less. I asked John about it, and he said he had noticed it too, but was uncertain of the reason. There have been culling programs in place; perhaps they are having an effect. In any case, it's a bit of good news for the rainforest.
We stopped at a roadhouse higher up in the mountains for our buffet lunch, prepared by John. Steaks and sausages, four different types of salad, coffee and tea service, all very good. The roadhouse keeps a menagerie as well: a few tropical birds, some kangaroos and wallabies, and two snakes. Some of the students went with Findlay to feed the kangaroos while John prepared lunch.
After lunch, we made our way up the Bloomfield track, a dirt road that runs up to Cooktown. We went past Cape Tribulation to Emmagen Creek, the northernmost point of our travels, stopping at the creek for afternoon tea, damper bread, and exotic fruits. Th sun began to show while we were at the creek, as the rainy weather system finally started breaking up and moving out.
On our way back to Cairns, we made three stops, one at Cape Tribulation for a quick look-see, a second at a tropical fruit ice cream shop, and a third brief stop at a lookout on the Coral Sea. All in all, a very lovely day.
It is now around 5:30 pm on the 13th. In a little while, I am going to take the students over to the Cock 'n' Bull, a local restaurant, for a group dinner. And tomorrow, we take off for Alice Springs and our visit to Central Australia.
Cairns
Sunny, breezy, and warm
Finally! The sort of weather one associates with Cairns has arrived: sunny with a nice breeze and warm temperatures. It's a shame that we won't have more of it before we take off for Alice, but at least the students got a taste of it. Today is a day for errands and such; I did laundry in the morning, then posted the prior entry to this journal, went over the student entries at the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com/) and added a few of my own, and made a few phone calls to confirm things for tomorrow and the next day.
Yesterday was our visit to the Daintree rainforest to the north. This tour package includes a cruise on the Daintree River to search for crocs and other wildlife, a rainforest walk, a buffet lunch, an afternoon tea on Emmagen Creek, and a visit to Cape Tribulation, our northernmost point on the course. Our guides this time were Findlay and John.
John is a old friend to the course. We started using Billy Tea Bush Safaris several years ago, and John has been one of our guides every year. He is very knowledgeable, and is very good with the students. By the way: to my senior colleague, John sends his regards. Watch for a picture of him cooking our lunch on the course blog.
Our drive up the coast was pleasant, though rainy. We stopped in Mossman to pick up avocados for lunch and fruits for the afternoon tea. It is often the case that we are doing this while children are on their way to the nearby school, so we get a chance to see the school uniforms and the crossing guards directing children and cars about.
After Mossman, we continue up the road for another half-hour, until we near the Daintree River. There is no bridge across the Daintree; one must cross on a boat or by ferry. For our first crossing, we use a boat that takes us on a cruise of the river searching for crocs. Of course, with the cloudy and rainy weather, the big adult males that dominate the river were off in their lairs, so we only saw a small hatchling swimming by the side. It was a shame, but there's no controlling the weather, of course. We did see a python and a few tree snakes, as well as an azure kingfisher, a brightly colored bird of the river.
Our tour guides met us on the far side of the river, and we continued our drive into the Daintree Rainforest National Park. This park is a part of the tropical rainforest of north Queensland, and is thus listed as a World Heritage Site. We drove into the mountains for our rainforest walk.
The boardwalk we use takes about 45 minutes to complete, and runs through a typical portion of the forest, complete with the ferns, cycads, satinays, paperbarks and strangler figs that make up the major portion of the forest. There are the epiphytes, too: the staghorn and elkhorn ferns, as well as huge basket ferns far above the forest floor. We even saw a couple of lizards clinging to small tree ferns.
The fate of the cassowary has been on the minds of the people here for a long time. A cassowary is a large flightless bird, similar to the emu, the ostrich, and the kiwi. It is a keystone species of the rainforest; remove it, and the forest will undergo dramatic changes. And the cassowary is endangered; the current estimate is that there are about 1500 left. Since the area has been World Heritage listed, loss of habitat is no longer an issue. The biggest threats to them are cars, and competition from feral pigs.
No one is certain, but it was a common practice for mariners to release pigs into the areas around beaches at which they would land. This would often guarantee a supply of meat when they would return. The thinking is that the feral pigs in the Daintree are the result of such a release, though it is impossible to be certain. IT is also impossible to say who did so, or when. But the pigs have been in the Daintree for a few hundred years now, slowly eating the ecosystem out from under the cassowaries. It is uncertain if there is a way to save the birds. And since no one has successfully bred them in captivity, it is very possible that the cassowary will go extinct in the coming years, thus drastically altering if not destroying the rainforest.
On these walks in past years, I've seen a lot of the damage done by the feral pigs. They often tear up the forest floor, exposing the earth that then sheds moisture, leaving less for the plants. The pigs go after young plants, making it difficult for new growth to get started. But this year, I noticed a lot less. I asked John about it, and he said he had noticed it too, but was uncertain of the reason. There have been culling programs in place; perhaps they are having an effect. In any case, it's a bit of good news for the rainforest.
We stopped at a roadhouse higher up in the mountains for our buffet lunch, prepared by John. Steaks and sausages, four different types of salad, coffee and tea service, all very good. The roadhouse keeps a menagerie as well: a few tropical birds, some kangaroos and wallabies, and two snakes. Some of the students went with Findlay to feed the kangaroos while John prepared lunch.
After lunch, we made our way up the Bloomfield track, a dirt road that runs up to Cooktown. We went past Cape Tribulation to Emmagen Creek, the northernmost point of our travels, stopping at the creek for afternoon tea, damper bread, and exotic fruits. Th sun began to show while we were at the creek, as the rainy weather system finally started breaking up and moving out.
On our way back to Cairns, we made three stops, one at Cape Tribulation for a quick look-see, a second at a tropical fruit ice cream shop, and a third brief stop at a lookout on the Coral Sea. All in all, a very lovely day.
It is now around 5:30 pm on the 13th. In a little while, I am going to take the students over to the Cock 'n' Bull, a local restaurant, for a group dinner. And tomorrow, we take off for Alice Springs and our visit to Central Australia.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Kuranda
12 May
Cairns
Rainy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon
Yesterday was our trip up to Kuranda and Rainforest Station. I am sorry to report that it was a little disappointing, owing only in part to the weather. The day's schedule seemed poorly planned, with unexpected gaps in the early part of the day. Since the tour company was arranging it, I expected something better.
Our driver picked us up at 9am. In other years, he would have taken us to Sky Rail, a unique cable car system that takes its passengers on a 7 km ride above the rainforest canopy. But since Sky Rail was closed for maintenance, we were scheduled to go to a butterfly sanctuary at 9:45. Since it takes less than a half-hour to get from Cairns to Kuranda, we arrived about 20 minutes early -- the trouble is that it was too early to really do anything in the village.
The butterfly garden is a lovely exhibit, and a great place to see the butterflies of the rainforest in a controlled settings. We saw Ulysses butterflies, the brilliant blue ones typically seen high in the canopy. We saw the Australian birdwing butterfly, another typical resident of the rainforest, and many others. Our guide was very thorough in explaining the life cycle of the butterfly, as well as the care that the Garden has taken in recreating an environment conducive to the species represented. It's a good place, and I hope make it a regular part of the course.
Our time there was up at 10:30, but we were not due at Rainforest Station until 11:30, so we had an hour to spend in Kuranda. Now, this is not a bad thing at all; Kuranda is a cute little tourist village and a great place to spend far too much money on souvenirs. Since we would not be served lunch until 1pm, some of us has a mid-morning snack -- I had an okay kangaroo meat pie. Some of the students discovered the photo gallery of a well known Australian photographer and ordered a few prints.
Rainforest Station has five venues: a wildlife park, an Aboriginal dance theater, a Dreamtime Walk, a buffet lunch, and an Army 'Duck' tour of a patch of rainforest. We've done this many times, and in various orders. The rain put a damper on the wildlife park, but we still received a competent show. This was also the chance for the students to see a couple of predators up close, a quoll and a dingo. Since the rain would later prevent our seeing large crocodiles on the Daintree, it was their best chance to see just how big they can get.
The Aboriginal dancing is always humorous. The Pamagirri Dance Company was among the first such troupes created in the 1990s after Cairns became a tourism center, and though is fortunes have been eclipsed by the larger Tjapukai enterprise, they do alright. They perform a series of short dances, getting the audience involved, and generally displaying a very good sense of humor. Of course, they only do dances appropriate for children -- after all, Aborigines think of whitefellas as children, so it's consistent with their dealings with whites.
The dancing is followed by a 'Dreamtime Walk,' a short program in which we are instructed in playing a didgeridoo, witness spear throwing, and learn to throw a boomerang. Some aboriginal instructors talk a bit about bush 'tucker' (food) and bush medicine, but ours did not. A bit disappointing. On the other hand, our guide had to do a lot of his work in the rain, wearing nothing but his loincloth and a bit of paint that started washing off. so, on balance, the Aboriginal experience was okay.
Lunch is very good: lots of choices, and all very fresh and tasty. Since it is autumn here, winter squash dishes do show up. The Rainforest Station kitchen prepares a pumpkin soup that is wonderful. When I first had this a few years ago, it inspired me in my own kitchen, and I now serve a squash soup to the family from time to time.
The 'Duck' tour was bad from the start. The ducks are converted U.S. Army DUKWs, an amphibious vehicle; these were abandoned by the US at the conclusion of WWII. They are thus over 60 years old! Ours broke down once on the tour, and we needed a mechanic to come and restart the vehicle. But that was not the problem.
The tour consists of a ride through a bit of rainforest patch, along with a bit of a ride on a reservoir lake on the Station grounds. It's a chance to see some tropical rainforest plants up close, and a chance to glimpse some wildlife. Of course, to do this, one needs to look up, hard to do when the vehicle is covered on top. Though this is a rollback cover and the students and in were in good raingear, the driver left the canopy on, rolling it back occasionally, resulting in big dump-s of water on some students. And the driver slid off the road! The ducks move very slowly, maybe 4 mph, and they have a large turning radius, so some maneuvers are a little tricky; turns that one would easily negotiate in a car become three-point turns, maybe even five-point turns. But that's normal. However, on a level stretch after a not very difficult turn, the driver hit a mud patch and slid into the trees on the right. We had to abandon the duck and wait for another to come pick us up. It was a mediocre tour and a but of poor driving.
There's nothing that we do at Rainforest Station that we could not do elsewhere, and there are other worthwhile experiences that we could do with other tours that we have come to trust. So, we will probably abandon Rainforest Station for next year. We'll still do Sky Rail, and add the Butterfly Garden, the Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park, and perhaps the Venom Zoo, and so we should have a good bit of fun.
This is the following day. We have returned from the Daintree, but I will write about this very pleasant experience in my next entry. I should warn you that we are entering the portion of the course that involves some camping, so my entries will become spottier, as internet access will become less consistent.
Cairns
Rainy in the morning, sunny in the afternoon
Yesterday was our trip up to Kuranda and Rainforest Station. I am sorry to report that it was a little disappointing, owing only in part to the weather. The day's schedule seemed poorly planned, with unexpected gaps in the early part of the day. Since the tour company was arranging it, I expected something better.
Our driver picked us up at 9am. In other years, he would have taken us to Sky Rail, a unique cable car system that takes its passengers on a 7 km ride above the rainforest canopy. But since Sky Rail was closed for maintenance, we were scheduled to go to a butterfly sanctuary at 9:45. Since it takes less than a half-hour to get from Cairns to Kuranda, we arrived about 20 minutes early -- the trouble is that it was too early to really do anything in the village.
The butterfly garden is a lovely exhibit, and a great place to see the butterflies of the rainforest in a controlled settings. We saw Ulysses butterflies, the brilliant blue ones typically seen high in the canopy. We saw the Australian birdwing butterfly, another typical resident of the rainforest, and many others. Our guide was very thorough in explaining the life cycle of the butterfly, as well as the care that the Garden has taken in recreating an environment conducive to the species represented. It's a good place, and I hope make it a regular part of the course.
Our time there was up at 10:30, but we were not due at Rainforest Station until 11:30, so we had an hour to spend in Kuranda. Now, this is not a bad thing at all; Kuranda is a cute little tourist village and a great place to spend far too much money on souvenirs. Since we would not be served lunch until 1pm, some of us has a mid-morning snack -- I had an okay kangaroo meat pie. Some of the students discovered the photo gallery of a well known Australian photographer and ordered a few prints.
Rainforest Station has five venues: a wildlife park, an Aboriginal dance theater, a Dreamtime Walk, a buffet lunch, and an Army 'Duck' tour of a patch of rainforest. We've done this many times, and in various orders. The rain put a damper on the wildlife park, but we still received a competent show. This was also the chance for the students to see a couple of predators up close, a quoll and a dingo. Since the rain would later prevent our seeing large crocodiles on the Daintree, it was their best chance to see just how big they can get.
The Aboriginal dancing is always humorous. The Pamagirri Dance Company was among the first such troupes created in the 1990s after Cairns became a tourism center, and though is fortunes have been eclipsed by the larger Tjapukai enterprise, they do alright. They perform a series of short dances, getting the audience involved, and generally displaying a very good sense of humor. Of course, they only do dances appropriate for children -- after all, Aborigines think of whitefellas as children, so it's consistent with their dealings with whites.
The dancing is followed by a 'Dreamtime Walk,' a short program in which we are instructed in playing a didgeridoo, witness spear throwing, and learn to throw a boomerang. Some aboriginal instructors talk a bit about bush 'tucker' (food) and bush medicine, but ours did not. A bit disappointing. On the other hand, our guide had to do a lot of his work in the rain, wearing nothing but his loincloth and a bit of paint that started washing off. so, on balance, the Aboriginal experience was okay.
Lunch is very good: lots of choices, and all very fresh and tasty. Since it is autumn here, winter squash dishes do show up. The Rainforest Station kitchen prepares a pumpkin soup that is wonderful. When I first had this a few years ago, it inspired me in my own kitchen, and I now serve a squash soup to the family from time to time.
The 'Duck' tour was bad from the start. The ducks are converted U.S. Army DUKWs, an amphibious vehicle; these were abandoned by the US at the conclusion of WWII. They are thus over 60 years old! Ours broke down once on the tour, and we needed a mechanic to come and restart the vehicle. But that was not the problem.
The tour consists of a ride through a bit of rainforest patch, along with a bit of a ride on a reservoir lake on the Station grounds. It's a chance to see some tropical rainforest plants up close, and a chance to glimpse some wildlife. Of course, to do this, one needs to look up, hard to do when the vehicle is covered on top. Though this is a rollback cover and the students and in were in good raingear, the driver left the canopy on, rolling it back occasionally, resulting in big dump-s of water on some students. And the driver slid off the road! The ducks move very slowly, maybe 4 mph, and they have a large turning radius, so some maneuvers are a little tricky; turns that one would easily negotiate in a car become three-point turns, maybe even five-point turns. But that's normal. However, on a level stretch after a not very difficult turn, the driver hit a mud patch and slid into the trees on the right. We had to abandon the duck and wait for another to come pick us up. It was a mediocre tour and a but of poor driving.
There's nothing that we do at Rainforest Station that we could not do elsewhere, and there are other worthwhile experiences that we could do with other tours that we have come to trust. So, we will probably abandon Rainforest Station for next year. We'll still do Sky Rail, and add the Butterfly Garden, the Tjapukai Aboriginal Culture Park, and perhaps the Venom Zoo, and so we should have a good bit of fun.
This is the following day. We have returned from the Daintree, but I will write about this very pleasant experience in my next entry. I should warn you that we are entering the portion of the course that involves some camping, so my entries will become spottier, as internet access will become less consistent.
Reef Cruise
10 May
Cairns
Rainy, Windy, and Humid
(Partly sunny on the reef)
The 8th was a free day during the day, with a visit to Reef Teach in the evening. Reef Teach is an organization devoted to educating people about the Great Barrier Reef and the wildlife that lives on it. Our visit consists of a two-hour slideshow that goes over the animals we will see on our visit, the types of coral, and the threats to the Reef. Though a two-hour slide lecture sounds dull, the students always have enjoyed it, and put what they learn to good use the next day on the reef cruise.
There are thousands of types of fish on the Reef, and there's no way we could learn them all -- in all likelihood, the experts do not know them all. Reef Teach sets a more modest goal of getting to recognize the general categories of fish we'd be likely to see: the wrasses, the damselfish, the angelfish, the surgeons, the butterfly fish, the triggerfish, and the sharks. They also showed us other animals we might see: turtles, octopuses, urchins, nudibranches and squid.
And, of course, there's the coral itself. It is animal, though it does behave like a plant in some ways. The coral begin as a small larva that attaches itself to a bit of rock and creates a small protective shell. It periodically leaves its old shell and creates a new one atop the old; hence, the coral colony grows in size at a rate of about 1 cm per year. So, when one sees a boulder coral that is 3 m across, that boulder coral is about 300 years old. And there are boulders much large than that. There are also coral colonies that take the shape of elkhorns, fingers, plates, and other shapes and configurations.
Coral have two sources of nourishment. They have small tentacles that wave in the current, catching what they can. That is usually not enough, so coral will ingest a small amount of algae, which embeds in the tissues of the coral and begin photosynthesis. This is the reason that coral have such beautiful colors.
When the waters get too warm, the algae produce toxins along with the nutrients, and so the coral expel the algae, causing the coral to appear white and colorless. This coral bleaching is very dangerous for the coral, since they lose an important source of nutrition and are thus weakened. As ocean temperatures continue to rise, the Great Barrier Reef, like many other coral reef systems in the world, will be severely stressed.
Coral mate once a year, in a process that that biologists figured out only a few decades ago. A few days after the October full moon, the tides and the temperatures will be exactly right for all the corals -- all of them -- to release sperm and egg into the water, forming a huge slick on the waters above the reef. Much of this slick is gobbled up by fish and some waterbirds, but the eggs that get fertilized will produce larvae that begin the cycle again.
Our reef trip was the next day, Saturday the 9th. The poor weather was in full force as we left the slip, with sprinkles and wind, but a brief break in the clouds produced another rainbow similar to the one we saw at Fraser Island. Nevertheless, the water was choppy, and many people on board got sick. I don't think any students did, though some felt queasy; I did, too. But since our first stop at Michaelmas Cay was on its north side, we were in gentler water, and we did get a bit of sun while we were snorkeling.
I don't think I'm very good in the water. The instructors on the boat give us all these signals and tell us to pay attention in case they call for us to move this way or that. Once I get in the water, I am pretty much disoriented, and can focus on nothing other than the stuff right around me. People bump into me, the current pushes me about. I do enjoy watching the fish, and think I got a couple of passable shots. But when I hear about the things that others saw, I think that I must be doing something wrong.
But I did get a nice photo of a giant clam, so I'm happy about that. I bought this plastic bag that seals completely against the water, so that I can put my digital camera in it and essentially have an underwater digital camera. Needless to say, I did not put the Canon Rebel XS in; I have an old Kodak 7300 that did quite well. The bag is supposed to be good to about 4 meters, but since I stay on the surface, the bag never gets more than an arm's length under.
The students saw so much! Sea turtles, reef sharks, lion fish, sea cucumbers, and many other things. Of the 14, 9 went on dives, and getting lower in the water means seeing more. I do not know how many had underwater cameras, but if we get a few photos, that will be great.
Being on the boat is also a great time to meet other people. I struck up a conversation with a Sydney couple who had taken advantage of some weekend fare discounts from Qantas. The wife had been in Cairns many years ago as a child, but the tropics were all new to her husband. The students found many new friends among the other passengers and the crew -- I'm told that the male divers were very cute. One of the crew told a ribald joke to a group of the students, and so they demanded a similar joke from me. If you don't mind, I will not share it with you -- and even if you do mind ...
The ride back was better than the one out, though it was still a bit rocky. I find that a little TravelCalm plus staying outside on the deck keeps the seasickness at bay, though I must admit that I get a little queasy when it's choppy. But the weather could not dampen the students' spirits; they clearly had a great time and learned a lot about the Reef.
It is now the evening of Mother's day here, though it's early Sunday morning in the USA too early for a phone call. I'll call my mother early tomorrow morning. Then it's off to Kuranda for a look at the Butterfly Garden and Rainforest Station.
Cairns
Rainy, Windy, and Humid
(Partly sunny on the reef)
The 8th was a free day during the day, with a visit to Reef Teach in the evening. Reef Teach is an organization devoted to educating people about the Great Barrier Reef and the wildlife that lives on it. Our visit consists of a two-hour slideshow that goes over the animals we will see on our visit, the types of coral, and the threats to the Reef. Though a two-hour slide lecture sounds dull, the students always have enjoyed it, and put what they learn to good use the next day on the reef cruise.
There are thousands of types of fish on the Reef, and there's no way we could learn them all -- in all likelihood, the experts do not know them all. Reef Teach sets a more modest goal of getting to recognize the general categories of fish we'd be likely to see: the wrasses, the damselfish, the angelfish, the surgeons, the butterfly fish, the triggerfish, and the sharks. They also showed us other animals we might see: turtles, octopuses, urchins, nudibranches and squid.
And, of course, there's the coral itself. It is animal, though it does behave like a plant in some ways. The coral begin as a small larva that attaches itself to a bit of rock and creates a small protective shell. It periodically leaves its old shell and creates a new one atop the old; hence, the coral colony grows in size at a rate of about 1 cm per year. So, when one sees a boulder coral that is 3 m across, that boulder coral is about 300 years old. And there are boulders much large than that. There are also coral colonies that take the shape of elkhorns, fingers, plates, and other shapes and configurations.
Coral have two sources of nourishment. They have small tentacles that wave in the current, catching what they can. That is usually not enough, so coral will ingest a small amount of algae, which embeds in the tissues of the coral and begin photosynthesis. This is the reason that coral have such beautiful colors.
When the waters get too warm, the algae produce toxins along with the nutrients, and so the coral expel the algae, causing the coral to appear white and colorless. This coral bleaching is very dangerous for the coral, since they lose an important source of nutrition and are thus weakened. As ocean temperatures continue to rise, the Great Barrier Reef, like many other coral reef systems in the world, will be severely stressed.
Coral mate once a year, in a process that that biologists figured out only a few decades ago. A few days after the October full moon, the tides and the temperatures will be exactly right for all the corals -- all of them -- to release sperm and egg into the water, forming a huge slick on the waters above the reef. Much of this slick is gobbled up by fish and some waterbirds, but the eggs that get fertilized will produce larvae that begin the cycle again.
Our reef trip was the next day, Saturday the 9th. The poor weather was in full force as we left the slip, with sprinkles and wind, but a brief break in the clouds produced another rainbow similar to the one we saw at Fraser Island. Nevertheless, the water was choppy, and many people on board got sick. I don't think any students did, though some felt queasy; I did, too. But since our first stop at Michaelmas Cay was on its north side, we were in gentler water, and we did get a bit of sun while we were snorkeling.
I don't think I'm very good in the water. The instructors on the boat give us all these signals and tell us to pay attention in case they call for us to move this way or that. Once I get in the water, I am pretty much disoriented, and can focus on nothing other than the stuff right around me. People bump into me, the current pushes me about. I do enjoy watching the fish, and think I got a couple of passable shots. But when I hear about the things that others saw, I think that I must be doing something wrong.
But I did get a nice photo of a giant clam, so I'm happy about that. I bought this plastic bag that seals completely against the water, so that I can put my digital camera in it and essentially have an underwater digital camera. Needless to say, I did not put the Canon Rebel XS in; I have an old Kodak 7300 that did quite well. The bag is supposed to be good to about 4 meters, but since I stay on the surface, the bag never gets more than an arm's length under.
The students saw so much! Sea turtles, reef sharks, lion fish, sea cucumbers, and many other things. Of the 14, 9 went on dives, and getting lower in the water means seeing more. I do not know how many had underwater cameras, but if we get a few photos, that will be great.
Being on the boat is also a great time to meet other people. I struck up a conversation with a Sydney couple who had taken advantage of some weekend fare discounts from Qantas. The wife had been in Cairns many years ago as a child, but the tropics were all new to her husband. The students found many new friends among the other passengers and the crew -- I'm told that the male divers were very cute. One of the crew told a ribald joke to a group of the students, and so they demanded a similar joke from me. If you don't mind, I will not share it with you -- and even if you do mind ...
The ride back was better than the one out, though it was still a bit rocky. I find that a little TravelCalm plus staying outside on the deck keeps the seasickness at bay, though I must admit that I get a little queasy when it's choppy. But the weather could not dampen the students' spirits; they clearly had a great time and learned a lot about the Reef.
It is now the evening of Mother's day here, though it's early Sunday morning in the USA too early for a phone call. I'll call my mother early tomorrow morning. Then it's off to Kuranda for a look at the Butterfly Garden and Rainforest Station.
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Arriving in Cairns
10 May
Cairns
Rainy, Windy, and Humid
(Partly sunny on the reef)
It is the morning of Mother's Day here in Australia. It's been a busy time, but I finally have a few moments to recount the last few days.
The rainy weather has been less than perfect for frolicking, but it does illustrate why we call them rain forests. As I write this, the sun is just beginning to break through the morning clouds. Perhaps the weather system is moving on.
Our travels on the 7th took us from Magnetic Island to Cairns. The region around Townsville, which includes Magnetic Island, is called the dry tropics, and the flora reflect this, favoring more the eucalypus and less the tropical. So, as we move north, we head into the wet tropics, a region more dominated with the strangler figs, tea trees, and turpentines.
The soil from Brisbane to Cairns is rich enough to support a lot of agriculture. DUring the 19th century, a lot of the rainforest wascut down and replaced with farmland and pasture for dairy cattle. as we drove along, we saw many cane fields, pineapple and banana plantations, and grazing cows.
We stopped at the Sugar Museum just south of Innisfail, for a presentation on the sugar industray and a peek at some of the tools of the trade and its history. After wool and minerals, sugar is ne of Australia's most imprtahnt eports, traded with many countries in Asia and the Pacific, as well as the USA and Canada. The curator of the museum had a surprise for us. AFter the tour, he produced a couple of cane toads to show us. They're everywhere in Queensland, so he had little trouble catching them the night before. One had exuded a bit of it's venom, and so had a bit of a dull white coating above one eye, but he handled them, not us. I do not understand why Aussies like these animals; they are ruining the ecosystem here. But clearly the curator was very fond of them.
After lunch at Innisfail, our afternoon stop was a visit to the Curtain Fig Tree, an amazing natural work-in-progress. A strangler fig has a most unusual life cycle. A bird or a bat eats the fruit of the fig and then deposits the seeds in the branches of another tree -- which need not be a fig tree. The seeds sprout and begin life as an epiphyte, a plant that uses another plant for support but not for nutrients as a parasite would. The young plant sends out vines that reach toward the forest floor, where they take root and turn hard and woody. as the plant sends more vines out, those that have taken root begin to merge into a large hollow trunk that surrounds the host tree. The fig continues to grow and envelop the host, which eventually dies as its ability to perform photosynthesis is compromised. At this point, only the fig remains, with the dead encased tree slowly decaying. This process can take hundres of years.
The Curtain Fig Tree is a stuinning example of this process. This strangler fig is encasing not one but two trees, one of which fell during a storm and is leaning against the other. Thousands of vines dangle down, others have combined into trunks. The host trees are still alive, though it's only a matter of time. Nearby trees are being affected as well, so there may well be at some point in the future where this fig takes over four or five trees and becomes some scary super-fig. Out driver estimated that this tree was 450 years old, but I suspect it's much older. Some of the strangler figs we will see in the Daintree are a few thousand years old.
We arrived in Cairns late in the day on the 7th. Since we have kitchenette units, some of the students went off to the local IGA to shop, while I led another group down the Esplanade along the mud flat. We saw a few things, but the weather was cloudy and the tide was in, so much of the interesting of the ecology was hidden.
We visited Reef Teach the evening of the next day, and went on our day cruise of the Reef the day after. I will write about those in my next entry.
Cairns
Rainy, Windy, and Humid
(Partly sunny on the reef)
It is the morning of Mother's Day here in Australia. It's been a busy time, but I finally have a few moments to recount the last few days.
The rainy weather has been less than perfect for frolicking, but it does illustrate why we call them rain forests. As I write this, the sun is just beginning to break through the morning clouds. Perhaps the weather system is moving on.
Our travels on the 7th took us from Magnetic Island to Cairns. The region around Townsville, which includes Magnetic Island, is called the dry tropics, and the flora reflect this, favoring more the eucalypus and less the tropical. So, as we move north, we head into the wet tropics, a region more dominated with the strangler figs, tea trees, and turpentines.
The soil from Brisbane to Cairns is rich enough to support a lot of agriculture. DUring the 19th century, a lot of the rainforest wascut down and replaced with farmland and pasture for dairy cattle. as we drove along, we saw many cane fields, pineapple and banana plantations, and grazing cows.
We stopped at the Sugar Museum just south of Innisfail, for a presentation on the sugar industray and a peek at some of the tools of the trade and its history. After wool and minerals, sugar is ne of Australia's most imprtahnt eports, traded with many countries in Asia and the Pacific, as well as the USA and Canada. The curator of the museum had a surprise for us. AFter the tour, he produced a couple of cane toads to show us. They're everywhere in Queensland, so he had little trouble catching them the night before. One had exuded a bit of it's venom, and so had a bit of a dull white coating above one eye, but he handled them, not us. I do not understand why Aussies like these animals; they are ruining the ecosystem here. But clearly the curator was very fond of them.
After lunch at Innisfail, our afternoon stop was a visit to the Curtain Fig Tree, an amazing natural work-in-progress. A strangler fig has a most unusual life cycle. A bird or a bat eats the fruit of the fig and then deposits the seeds in the branches of another tree -- which need not be a fig tree. The seeds sprout and begin life as an epiphyte, a plant that uses another plant for support but not for nutrients as a parasite would. The young plant sends out vines that reach toward the forest floor, where they take root and turn hard and woody. as the plant sends more vines out, those that have taken root begin to merge into a large hollow trunk that surrounds the host tree. The fig continues to grow and envelop the host, which eventually dies as its ability to perform photosynthesis is compromised. At this point, only the fig remains, with the dead encased tree slowly decaying. This process can take hundres of years.
The Curtain Fig Tree is a stuinning example of this process. This strangler fig is encasing not one but two trees, one of which fell during a storm and is leaning against the other. Thousands of vines dangle down, others have combined into trunks. The host trees are still alive, though it's only a matter of time. Nearby trees are being affected as well, so there may well be at some point in the future where this fig takes over four or five trees and becomes some scary super-fig. Out driver estimated that this tree was 450 years old, but I suspect it's much older. Some of the strangler figs we will see in the Daintree are a few thousand years old.
We arrived in Cairns late in the day on the 7th. Since we have kitchenette units, some of the students went off to the local IGA to shop, while I led another group down the Esplanade along the mud flat. We saw a few things, but the weather was cloudy and the tide was in, so much of the interesting of the ecology was hidden.
We visited Reef Teach the evening of the next day, and went on our day cruise of the Reef the day after. I will write about those in my next entry.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Koala Sanctuary
6 May
Magnetic Island
Sunny and very warm on the 5th
Morning showers on the 6th
We woke up today to rain and cloudy skies, the first day of really poor weather in our travels thus far. The weather system that's been sitting off the coast a hundred kilometers or so appears to finally be moving inland, so there's rain all along the Queensland coast, from Brisbane to Cairns. Since the brunch the students planned is an indoor event, there should be no problems with it, but I know that a group was planning to go horseback riding on the beach this afternoon, so we'll have to see what the day brings to them. I have little planned, apart from course business and laundry.
Yesterday, we visited the Bungalow Bay Koala Sanctuary, located at the Magnetic Island YHA near Horseshoe Bay. In past years, we have often gone to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, in Brisbane, but as we did not visit Brisbane this year, we substituted Bungalow Bay instead.
I had asked our apartment managers to arrange this for us, and they seemed to agree to do so, but I had no evidence that it was happening, so I went ahead and booked it myself. It's easy enough to get there, as it's right on the bus line and we all have passes for the three days, and there's no reason for me not to do it, apart from the fact that when the lodging managers make the booking they earn a 10% commission. But when planning this course, I depend on people doing what they say they will do. So, it was a little disappointing.
But it changed nothing as far as the students were concerned. Our tour began at 10am, and lasted about two hours. Our tour guide Tony led us out to the exhibits, beginning with two small estuarine crocodiles. They were about 2 feet long, typical for three-year olds. We each had a chance to hold one of them. On the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com), I posted a photo of one of the students holding one; I had a chance to hold it, too. The croc skin feels smoother than one might imagine, though I suspect that the older crocs feel rougher, owing to the years taking their toll and adding scar tissue. When I held it, it closed it eyes and appeared to go to sleep.
Tony editorialized a fair amount during his talk, but he did make an interesting point about global warming. Crocs have been around for hundreds of millions of years. They have endured ice ages, periods of mass extinction, and other global calamities. Perhaps crocs have a lot less to worry about from global warming than we do.
We next went to a central patio area where there were a couple of cockatoos, a black cockatoo we were able to hold and feed, and a sulfur-crested cockatoo with a bit of an attitude. The black cockatoo would perch on a person's arm, who would then hold a sunflower seed between his/her lips. The cockatoo would then take the seed, giving the illusion of the bird and the person kissing. Several of us did this, too.
There was also a rock wallaby running around, too: an orphan rescued when its mother was killed on the road. It had no fear of people at all -- it attacked my shoes, biting at my shoelaces and the loop at the back. It was a cute little rascal.
In the next exhibit, we saw some bearded dragons, a blue-tongued lizard, and an echidna. The echidna is an unusual animal; it is a monotreme, an egg-laying mammal, like a platypus. They are an ancient mammal, with a line diverging from the rest of the mammals not long after the mammals and the reptiles split. Their bones are lighter and some skeletal features are similar to reptiles. The echidna has a long tongue used to get into termite and ant mounds for its staple diet. It's covered with extremely coarse and thick hairs that appear to be spikes; it thus has few predators. Its hind legs are oddly constructed, facing backwards. when threatened, the echidna will dig into the ground quickly, leaving only its coarse hairs above ground, so that it appears to be a small bit of scrub grass. I have long wanted to get a picture of an echidna for the course booklet, and got plenty. So, that was nice.
We next moved to the koala exhibit, where the students had the opportunity to hold it and be photographed. This experience a little from the other places that offer such an opportunity in a couple of ways: (1) we all held the same koala; and (2) it was a male koala that we held. At Lone Pine and at Rainforest Station, the koalas are rotated so as to minimize the stress the holding session puts on them. Koalas have a pretty primitive brain, their behaviors are somewhat limited, and they have a grouchy nature, so stressing them increases the chance that they might misbehave in some way and harm the holder. That it's a male koala can only compound the problem, as the males can be aggressive when provoked. In addition, the males have a scent gland on their chest used for marking trees, so holding a male might result in getting ones clothes a little smelly. Nevertheless, the students enjoyed it, and no one got hurt.
The final exhibit of the tour was the python. The one that Tony brought out was about 5 feet long, so it was pretty small. Quite playful, too, and very comfortable being handled. I think by the time it was my turn, it was a little tired, so we cut my holding it short, but it was still a fun experience. One of the things hat Tony pointed out after we had held the koala was that while the python had never bitten anyone, the koala had bitten 35 people over the last three years.
After we were done, we went our separate ways, with some students heading back to Nelly Bay for lunch, while others staying to have lunch there at the hostel. I walked over to Horseshoe Bay for a quick bite and an unsuccessful hunt for a good internet cafe. Later in the day, one of the students told me about a spot a few blocks from our apartments, so I was able to upload the previous entries and a few photos.
It's now 11:30 in the morning. We've had a very nice brunch, and several of the students have left for their adventures for the day. Though the skies look a little gloomy, we've had no rain since early this morning, so we hope that they will have a good time. I'm doing a little laundry and phoning ahead to get ready for our next destination, Cairns.
Magnetic Island
Sunny and very warm on the 5th
Morning showers on the 6th
We woke up today to rain and cloudy skies, the first day of really poor weather in our travels thus far. The weather system that's been sitting off the coast a hundred kilometers or so appears to finally be moving inland, so there's rain all along the Queensland coast, from Brisbane to Cairns. Since the brunch the students planned is an indoor event, there should be no problems with it, but I know that a group was planning to go horseback riding on the beach this afternoon, so we'll have to see what the day brings to them. I have little planned, apart from course business and laundry.
Yesterday, we visited the Bungalow Bay Koala Sanctuary, located at the Magnetic Island YHA near Horseshoe Bay. In past years, we have often gone to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, in Brisbane, but as we did not visit Brisbane this year, we substituted Bungalow Bay instead.
I had asked our apartment managers to arrange this for us, and they seemed to agree to do so, but I had no evidence that it was happening, so I went ahead and booked it myself. It's easy enough to get there, as it's right on the bus line and we all have passes for the three days, and there's no reason for me not to do it, apart from the fact that when the lodging managers make the booking they earn a 10% commission. But when planning this course, I depend on people doing what they say they will do. So, it was a little disappointing.
But it changed nothing as far as the students were concerned. Our tour began at 10am, and lasted about two hours. Our tour guide Tony led us out to the exhibits, beginning with two small estuarine crocodiles. They were about 2 feet long, typical for three-year olds. We each had a chance to hold one of them. On the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com), I posted a photo of one of the students holding one; I had a chance to hold it, too. The croc skin feels smoother than one might imagine, though I suspect that the older crocs feel rougher, owing to the years taking their toll and adding scar tissue. When I held it, it closed it eyes and appeared to go to sleep.
Tony editorialized a fair amount during his talk, but he did make an interesting point about global warming. Crocs have been around for hundreds of millions of years. They have endured ice ages, periods of mass extinction, and other global calamities. Perhaps crocs have a lot less to worry about from global warming than we do.
We next went to a central patio area where there were a couple of cockatoos, a black cockatoo we were able to hold and feed, and a sulfur-crested cockatoo with a bit of an attitude. The black cockatoo would perch on a person's arm, who would then hold a sunflower seed between his/her lips. The cockatoo would then take the seed, giving the illusion of the bird and the person kissing. Several of us did this, too.
There was also a rock wallaby running around, too: an orphan rescued when its mother was killed on the road. It had no fear of people at all -- it attacked my shoes, biting at my shoelaces and the loop at the back. It was a cute little rascal.
In the next exhibit, we saw some bearded dragons, a blue-tongued lizard, and an echidna. The echidna is an unusual animal; it is a monotreme, an egg-laying mammal, like a platypus. They are an ancient mammal, with a line diverging from the rest of the mammals not long after the mammals and the reptiles split. Their bones are lighter and some skeletal features are similar to reptiles. The echidna has a long tongue used to get into termite and ant mounds for its staple diet. It's covered with extremely coarse and thick hairs that appear to be spikes; it thus has few predators. Its hind legs are oddly constructed, facing backwards. when threatened, the echidna will dig into the ground quickly, leaving only its coarse hairs above ground, so that it appears to be a small bit of scrub grass. I have long wanted to get a picture of an echidna for the course booklet, and got plenty. So, that was nice.
We next moved to the koala exhibit, where the students had the opportunity to hold it and be photographed. This experience a little from the other places that offer such an opportunity in a couple of ways: (1) we all held the same koala; and (2) it was a male koala that we held. At Lone Pine and at Rainforest Station, the koalas are rotated so as to minimize the stress the holding session puts on them. Koalas have a pretty primitive brain, their behaviors are somewhat limited, and they have a grouchy nature, so stressing them increases the chance that they might misbehave in some way and harm the holder. That it's a male koala can only compound the problem, as the males can be aggressive when provoked. In addition, the males have a scent gland on their chest used for marking trees, so holding a male might result in getting ones clothes a little smelly. Nevertheless, the students enjoyed it, and no one got hurt.
The final exhibit of the tour was the python. The one that Tony brought out was about 5 feet long, so it was pretty small. Quite playful, too, and very comfortable being handled. I think by the time it was my turn, it was a little tired, so we cut my holding it short, but it was still a fun experience. One of the things hat Tony pointed out after we had held the koala was that while the python had never bitten anyone, the koala had bitten 35 people over the last three years.
After we were done, we went our separate ways, with some students heading back to Nelly Bay for lunch, while others staying to have lunch there at the hostel. I walked over to Horseshoe Bay for a quick bite and an unsuccessful hunt for a good internet cafe. Later in the day, one of the students told me about a spot a few blocks from our apartments, so I was able to upload the previous entries and a few photos.
It's now 11:30 in the morning. We've had a very nice brunch, and several of the students have left for their adventures for the day. Though the skies look a little gloomy, we've had no rain since early this morning, so we hope that they will have a good time. I'm doing a little laundry and phoning ahead to get ready for our next destination, Cairns.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Magnetic Island Tour
(This is the last of four posts that I have accumulated over the last few days when we could not upload.)
4 May
Magnetic Island
Sunny and very warm
It is now the first evening of our stay on Magnetic Island. After an uneventful transfer from the mainland to the island, we got a bus transfer to our apartments, found some lunch nearby, took an afternoon tour of the island, and bought cooking provisions.
Our ferry ride across the channel had a few fun moments. Though it's a large ferry, we hit some waves that were big enough to send some water splashing over the front and sides and soaking those passengers who were exposed, including a few of the students. But no one was hurt, and everyone was in good spirits when we arrived.
I was a little annoyed about the coach for our transfer to the apartments. I did tell them ahead of time that we are arriving with a month's worth of luggage in the hope that they might provide a coach with luggage bays, but to no avail. We had to put our luggage on board with us. What a pain! Well, if it's the worst thing that happens, then we've done alright. The apartment manager met us and distributed keys, and as we had about a hour before our tour of the island, we went to a nearby bistro for lunch. I had a Thai beef wrap that was only okay, though the students seemed to enjoy their meals.
We spent the afternoon touring the island by coach. Our driver Harold kept up a commentary on the history of the island, its flora and fauna, and some of the current events. Magnetic Island is poised to undergo some extensive development, and it seems that there are mixed feelings about this among the locals. I know that should the island become too commercialized, it would be a reason for us to skip it -- apart from the Forts, there's little here that we could not do elsewhere.
Having said that, there were many unique moments on the tour. Our students got to feed rock wallabies, timid creatures that live in the tumble-down rocks off Alma Bay. We also saw a wild koala resting in a tree, as well as many kangaroos that have been released onto the island. Evidently, they've become a problem, as they are not native, but their population is expanding.
We concluded the day with a shopping visit to the island's IGA. Since we have kitchen units, it made sense to buy provisions for meals for the next few days. The students also want to do a brunch on Wednesday -- I am to bring the coffee, tea, and juices.
Tomorrow, we go to the koala sanctuary.
4 May
Magnetic Island
Sunny and very warm
It is now the first evening of our stay on Magnetic Island. After an uneventful transfer from the mainland to the island, we got a bus transfer to our apartments, found some lunch nearby, took an afternoon tour of the island, and bought cooking provisions.
Our ferry ride across the channel had a few fun moments. Though it's a large ferry, we hit some waves that were big enough to send some water splashing over the front and sides and soaking those passengers who were exposed, including a few of the students. But no one was hurt, and everyone was in good spirits when we arrived.
I was a little annoyed about the coach for our transfer to the apartments. I did tell them ahead of time that we are arriving with a month's worth of luggage in the hope that they might provide a coach with luggage bays, but to no avail. We had to put our luggage on board with us. What a pain! Well, if it's the worst thing that happens, then we've done alright. The apartment manager met us and distributed keys, and as we had about a hour before our tour of the island, we went to a nearby bistro for lunch. I had a Thai beef wrap that was only okay, though the students seemed to enjoy their meals.
We spent the afternoon touring the island by coach. Our driver Harold kept up a commentary on the history of the island, its flora and fauna, and some of the current events. Magnetic Island is poised to undergo some extensive development, and it seems that there are mixed feelings about this among the locals. I know that should the island become too commercialized, it would be a reason for us to skip it -- apart from the Forts, there's little here that we could not do elsewhere.
Having said that, there were many unique moments on the tour. Our students got to feed rock wallabies, timid creatures that live in the tumble-down rocks off Alma Bay. We also saw a wild koala resting in a tree, as well as many kangaroos that have been released onto the island. Evidently, they've become a problem, as they are not native, but their population is expanding.
We concluded the day with a shopping visit to the island's IGA. Since we have kitchen units, it made sense to buy provisions for meals for the next few days. The students also want to do a brunch on Wednesday -- I am to bring the coffee, tea, and juices.
Tomorrow, we go to the koala sanctuary.
On the Sunlander Train
(This is the third of four posts that I have accumulated over the last few days.)
4 May
Sunlander Train
Sunny and warm
At the moment, we are pulling into Ayr, a small stop a couple hours south of Townsville. It's about 7:30, so the train is on schedule for the most part -- it may be a little bit behind. But the train ride has been most comfortable, long enough to get us well into the tropics, short enough so that we'll have most of the day before us when we arrive on Magnetic Island.
The Sunlander runs service from Brisbane to Cairns twice a week, on Sundays and Tuesdays. It offers dining services, a club car, and seating cars in addition to the sleepers we use. The sleepers that the students are in are triple berths with a long sofa that folds into two beds; the third one folds down from the top. They are a little narrow, but quite comfortable. My room is a single in the next car. It's smaller than theirs, of course, but still quite nice.
We boarded the train yesterday at Maryborough West. Maryborough is a large city a little ways inland from Hervey Bay, so my assumption was that the station was on the west side of the city, and that we would have some time to visit some surrounding shops and perhaps pick up a meal. But Maryborough West is far west of the city, essentially in the countryside. So, no lunch until we were on board.
The students took their second quiz and turned in their course journals. They are doing quite well. I designed the quizzes to test whether they are paying attention to the tour guides and travel experiences, so I'm pretty confident that they are taking from the course what I hoped they would. We still have a ways to go, of course.
As we ride along, we pass field after field of sugar cane, a major crop of Queensland. The fields are a few weeks away from being harvested; I doubt that the course timing will ever permit us to witness that. Of course, these days they do not burn the fields as they did in the past, but rather use the leaves and other trash generated by the harvesting to help fuel the refineries. This results in a lot less pollution -- and a lower chance of bush fires.
There's a lot of wildlife to see out the windows. I've seen some kangaroos, and a lot of birds: cattle egrets, bustards, birds of prey, lorikeets. One of the students saw a wombat waddling by a roadside during a slow spot. I have not talked to everyone yet, so I'll be interested to hear what else they noticed.
We should be arriving in Townsville shortly, and the it's on to Magnetic Island.
4 May
Sunlander Train
Sunny and warm
At the moment, we are pulling into Ayr, a small stop a couple hours south of Townsville. It's about 7:30, so the train is on schedule for the most part -- it may be a little bit behind. But the train ride has been most comfortable, long enough to get us well into the tropics, short enough so that we'll have most of the day before us when we arrive on Magnetic Island.
The Sunlander runs service from Brisbane to Cairns twice a week, on Sundays and Tuesdays. It offers dining services, a club car, and seating cars in addition to the sleepers we use. The sleepers that the students are in are triple berths with a long sofa that folds into two beds; the third one folds down from the top. They are a little narrow, but quite comfortable. My room is a single in the next car. It's smaller than theirs, of course, but still quite nice.
We boarded the train yesterday at Maryborough West. Maryborough is a large city a little ways inland from Hervey Bay, so my assumption was that the station was on the west side of the city, and that we would have some time to visit some surrounding shops and perhaps pick up a meal. But Maryborough West is far west of the city, essentially in the countryside. So, no lunch until we were on board.
The students took their second quiz and turned in their course journals. They are doing quite well. I designed the quizzes to test whether they are paying attention to the tour guides and travel experiences, so I'm pretty confident that they are taking from the course what I hoped they would. We still have a ways to go, of course.
As we ride along, we pass field after field of sugar cane, a major crop of Queensland. The fields are a few weeks away from being harvested; I doubt that the course timing will ever permit us to witness that. Of course, these days they do not burn the fields as they did in the past, but rather use the leaves and other trash generated by the harvesting to help fuel the refineries. This results in a lot less pollution -- and a lower chance of bush fires.
There's a lot of wildlife to see out the windows. I've seen some kangaroos, and a lot of birds: cattle egrets, bustards, birds of prey, lorikeets. One of the students saw a wombat waddling by a roadside during a slow spot. I have not talked to everyone yet, so I'll be interested to hear what else they noticed.
We should be arriving in Townsville shortly, and the it's on to Magnetic Island.
Hervey Bay and Fraser Island
(This is the second of several entries I have accumulated over the last few days.)
30 April - 2 May
Hervey Bay
Partly sunny and warm
The 30th was devoted to travel, as we combined a 90-minute flight from Canberra to Brisbane with a 4-hour coach ride from Brisbane to Hervey Bay. Going from Canberra in the southeast to the Brisbane area is always a bit of an adjustment for the students, who have decided at this point in the course that Australia is pretty much cold and autumnal. Landing in the warm subtropics is yet another reminder that we are not in New York State anymore.
The drive up from Brisbane was pretty uneventful. We did stop for lunch at a roadhouse that I recognized. A roadhouse is a combination of a truck stop and a camp ground; one finds these all along the coastal highways. The one we stopped at was a Matilda's, a popular franchise. The reason I recognized this one was because of the picnic area populated by several water birds. There were about two dozen white ibises, many swamp hens, and a species of duck that I did not recognize. The food was okay, though a little greasy.
We also encountered some roadworks outside of Hervey Bay that delayed us for awhile. Still, we arrived at the YHA here before 4pm. The Colonial Inn YHA is on the eastern end of Hervey Bay, in the area called Urangan. Though it's a few blocks to the beaches, marinas, and shops, it is a little secluded, perfect for the students. Inexpensive meals are served nightly; there are a variety of evening activities; the place is beautiful and clean. My senior colleague and I were here many years ago, and it is pretty much as I recall it from then. Instead of cabins, most of the students are in small twin rooms -- the male students did get a cabin, and got scolded a bit from the women for it, all in good fun.
The manager is an American from New Jersey who is desperately trying to get her work visa extended. The world economy being what it is, She's having a hard time of it, as the trend in Australia at the moment is to hire an Australian when possible. It's easy to feel sympathy for her, but it's also easy to see the government's point of view, too. I just hope happier days lie ahead for everyone.
After a good night's rest, we set off early on a tour of Fraser Island, the world's largest sand island. We first crossed the channel between the mainland and the island around sunrise. No matter where you are in latitude, being on the water around sunrise is always a little chilly! There was a mist hanging over the island, and we did get sprinkled upon a bit when we arrived. Our tour guide met us at the boat, and led us on a short nature walk before getting on board our massive 4-wheel drive bus to begin our tour.
Fraser Island is a huge mound of sand that has accumulated due to ocean currents over eons on Australia's east coast at its easternmost point. As it piled up and the ocean levels change, the sand began to acquire organic material, and soon various types of forest developed on the island: eucalyptus and banksia in some parts, subtropical with satinays and turpentines in others. Many portions of the island have moving dunes called sand blows. Little vegetation grows on these dunes as they roll on in slow-motion collisions with forests and streams.
Our morning walk took us through Rainbow Gorge, a system of sand blows cut by a stream. One of the dunes had swallowed a stand of woods long ago. The dune is shifting and uncovering the wood again, revealing a ghost forest reminiscent of those on the shores of Lake Superior. One particular steep dune offered a challenge that many of the students could not resist; there will certainly be several uploads of photos of footprints up the dune and students at the top.
After a very nice buffet lunch served at one of the resorts on the eastern side, we drove inland again to Central Station, so named as it was a central point for the logging trolleys that were on the island long ago. Many of the woodlands of the island were cut down for timber, leaving a changed forest that will take hundreds of years to heal. But the section we walked through, happily, was untouched, and so we were able to see kauri pines, tea trees, turpentines, as well as king ferns, cycads, and many epiphytes like staghorn and elkhorn ferns. The other effect at Fraser Island due to so much sand is the presence of water. The sand of Fraser Island acts like a huge sponge, soaking up all rainfall, creating a huge reservoir resting above the salt water below. The water slowly leeches out of the sand, forming many freshwater streams flowing into the ocean, as well as several lakes. Some lakes result from the sand level going below the water table; these lakes are window lakes, as they are a window into the waiter system. In cases where the sand has combined with other material to create anon-porous layer, the water is trapped and the lake is a perched lake -- somewhat like a bird bath, A third type of lake is a barrage lake, resulting from a sand dune trapping a bend in a stream, producing a boomerang shaped lake.
The chemistry of perched lakes is interesting, and varies from one to the next. Some perched lakes are filled with tannins and other chemicals from decaying organic material, while others appear pristine owing to higher acidity. Our final visit of the day was to Lake Mackenzie, a perched lake surrounded by the whitest sand I've ever seen. We had about an hour there, so the students had some time to splash about in the refreshing waters, while I walked about to photograph some of the plant life.
I am sorry to report that I saw no dingoes this time while on the island. Because of a recent cyclone, there was enough beach erosion to expose some areas of coffee rocks, sand that has been compressed and mixed with organic material to form a harder material. Not quite sandstone, but on its way. The coffee rocks are treacherous to navigate, and people have died when they've attempted. So, the driver would not take us up the long stretches of beach where dingoes sometimes come out for an afternoon romp. We also could not see the wreck of the Maheno, a rusting hull of a ship from the WWII era, nor could we wade in Eli Creek, a cute freshwater stream that goes back several hundred meters into the dunes. A bit disappointing, but....
As we boarded our ferry back to the mainland, it began to sprinkle a bit, but at the same time, the Sun dipped below the clouds in the west, giving us one of the loveliest rainbows. It appeared to begin right at the jetty from which we departed, and persisted form quite some time. So, though we missed some nice things about the island, we still saw some pretty special things.
May 2nd was a free day. For me, it was mostly running errands, doing some things to get ready for the train trip on the 3rd, and of course doing laundry. Some of the students had a picnic, some went bike riding the length of the esplanade at Hervey Bay, and a few went kayaking in the bay. I think they'd like to stay here, but we do need to move on. Next, it's the train to Townsville and the ferries to Magnetic Island.
Canberra
(This is the first of several entries that I have been accumulating. )
29 April
Canberra
Sunny and pleasantly cool
Our trip to Canberra culminates with a day tour that includes visits to the Australian Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial and Museum.
Our tour guide for Parliament House was Irina, who sounded as though she hailed originally from Russia. She spoke about the design of the embassy and its architecture, and the government and how it works.
The building is striking n its appearance. It is dominated by a four-posted tower that swoops up to hold an enormous flagpole, visible from almost anywhere in Canberra. Most of the building itself is below ground, with grassy parkland and walkways above, a reminder that the government is there to support the people. Inside, there is a great hall in the middle with a huge tapestry depicting a eucalyptus forest. Though this is the site for state dinners and national events, the hall is available for private functions; Irina tells us the rent is pretty steep, but that it has hosted both weddings and birthday parties.
Australia's government is a mixture of the British and American models. Their seat of government lies in the House of Representatives, much like the House of Commons. The majority coalition elects a Prime Minister, who is the head of the government. In this way, it is much like Britain, with executive duties and legislative duties mixed within the same branch. But they have a Senate much like ours. And like our Congress, both houses must pass a bill, so there is a check to the government's power.
After we left Parliament House, we drove over to the U.S. Embassy, where we met with several staff members from the various sections. The Embassy was constructed during WWII, a signal to the Australians that we were going to take our relationship with them seriously -- more about that when I write about the Museum in a moment. It was built in the Colonial Williamsburg style, setting a trend that other embassies in Canberra follow. This makes a drive in the Embassy section very entertaining, as one can see many different architectural styles reflecting the cultures of the countries.
Listening to Foreign Service personnel discuss their careers is always interesting. They rotate in their assignments every 3 years, so that they do not get too attached to one country and forget that they represent the USA. SO, they travel a lot. One of the staff members was an accountant who had been posted in at least eight different countries, including Kenya, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Jamaica. Needless to say, the job does involve some danger. One of them recounted a story of being evacuated from Khinshasha during the revolution in the Congo.
After our visit to the Embassy, we had lunch, followed by a walk down one side of the ANZAC Parade, a boulevard lined with memorials to various wars and various branches of the service. There is one that is particularly striking to me. It is a memorial to the Turkish soldiers against which the Australians fought at the WWI battle of Gallipoli. This would be like the USA building a memorial to the Viet Cong on the National Mall! I do not think I would be ready to do such a thing. It shows just how big the Australian heart can be.
Canberra is laid out to keep a clear line of sight between Parliament House and the ANZAC War Memorial. The reason is simple; those in government need to keep it in mind that their decisions can cost Australian lives. After they vote to put troops in harm's nway, the lawmakers traditionally will stand atop Parliament and face the Memorial, knowing that they have just voted to, among other things, add names to the walls there. It's a way of making sure that when Australia puts troops on the line, the cause is worth it.
This year was a little different, in that I did the Checkpoints tour for the students, as there were no docents available to do it. It is of course better if an Australian does the introduction to the Museum, but I guess I did alright. I showed them the memorial itself and explained a bit of its meaning, the battle diagrams of Gallipoli, the dioramas of the European battles of WWI, the displays on the forging of the alliance between Australia and the USA in WWII, and the big submarine and airplane displays in the rear of the building. After that, they were left to explore on their own. So, I did alright, but I think that next year, we'll get a tour guide if at all possible.
Well, we came to Australia to enjoy warm weather, and it's about time we got some. Tomorrow, we head up the coast to subtropical Hervey Bay.
29 April
Canberra
Sunny and pleasantly cool
Our trip to Canberra culminates with a day tour that includes visits to the Australian Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial and Museum.
Our tour guide for Parliament House was Irina, who sounded as though she hailed originally from Russia. She spoke about the design of the embassy and its architecture, and the government and how it works.
The building is striking n its appearance. It is dominated by a four-posted tower that swoops up to hold an enormous flagpole, visible from almost anywhere in Canberra. Most of the building itself is below ground, with grassy parkland and walkways above, a reminder that the government is there to support the people. Inside, there is a great hall in the middle with a huge tapestry depicting a eucalyptus forest. Though this is the site for state dinners and national events, the hall is available for private functions; Irina tells us the rent is pretty steep, but that it has hosted both weddings and birthday parties.
Australia's government is a mixture of the British and American models. Their seat of government lies in the House of Representatives, much like the House of Commons. The majority coalition elects a Prime Minister, who is the head of the government. In this way, it is much like Britain, with executive duties and legislative duties mixed within the same branch. But they have a Senate much like ours. And like our Congress, both houses must pass a bill, so there is a check to the government's power.
After we left Parliament House, we drove over to the U.S. Embassy, where we met with several staff members from the various sections. The Embassy was constructed during WWII, a signal to the Australians that we were going to take our relationship with them seriously -- more about that when I write about the Museum in a moment. It was built in the Colonial Williamsburg style, setting a trend that other embassies in Canberra follow. This makes a drive in the Embassy section very entertaining, as one can see many different architectural styles reflecting the cultures of the countries.
Listening to Foreign Service personnel discuss their careers is always interesting. They rotate in their assignments every 3 years, so that they do not get too attached to one country and forget that they represent the USA. SO, they travel a lot. One of the staff members was an accountant who had been posted in at least eight different countries, including Kenya, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, and Jamaica. Needless to say, the job does involve some danger. One of them recounted a story of being evacuated from Khinshasha during the revolution in the Congo.
After our visit to the Embassy, we had lunch, followed by a walk down one side of the ANZAC Parade, a boulevard lined with memorials to various wars and various branches of the service. There is one that is particularly striking to me. It is a memorial to the Turkish soldiers against which the Australians fought at the WWI battle of Gallipoli. This would be like the USA building a memorial to the Viet Cong on the National Mall! I do not think I would be ready to do such a thing. It shows just how big the Australian heart can be.
Canberra is laid out to keep a clear line of sight between Parliament House and the ANZAC War Memorial. The reason is simple; those in government need to keep it in mind that their decisions can cost Australian lives. After they vote to put troops in harm's nway, the lawmakers traditionally will stand atop Parliament and face the Memorial, knowing that they have just voted to, among other things, add names to the walls there. It's a way of making sure that when Australia puts troops on the line, the cause is worth it.
This year was a little different, in that I did the Checkpoints tour for the students, as there were no docents available to do it. It is of course better if an Australian does the introduction to the Museum, but I guess I did alright. I showed them the memorial itself and explained a bit of its meaning, the battle diagrams of Gallipoli, the dioramas of the European battles of WWI, the displays on the forging of the alliance between Australia and the USA in WWII, and the big submarine and airplane displays in the rear of the building. After that, they were left to explore on their own. So, I did alright, but I think that next year, we'll get a tour guide if at all possible.
Well, we came to Australia to enjoy warm weather, and it's about time we got some. Tomorrow, we head up the coast to subtropical Hervey Bay.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
A Quick Note
This internet cafe has no way for me to upload the journal entries I've written. So, I may be delayed a few days as I search for another. I owe you a journal entry for the 29th, on Canberra. It will be coming soon.
Today was a travel day. We left the Canberra YHA around 7:30 and arrived here at the Hervey Bay YHA at 4:30. The only interesting thing to report is the bush fire we saw in the diatnce as we drove north from Brisbane. I will hang a photo of it on the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com) as soon as I can.
--charlie
Today was a travel day. We left the Canberra YHA around 7:30 and arrived here at the Hervey Bay YHA at 4:30. The only interesting thing to report is the bush fire we saw in the diatnce as we drove north from Brisbane. I will hang a photo of it on the course blog (http://ecaustralia09.blogspot.com) as soon as I can.
--charlie
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Sydney to Canberra
28 April
Canberra
Patches of sun and clouds, some rain, cool
We relocated from Sydney to Canberra today, via coach. Such rides are usually pretty uninteresting, but this time, the trip was unusually entertaining and informative, owing to the efforts of our coach driver, Ron.
Ron is an interesting character. He spent a good portion of his career as a tour guide for coach tours in many places: Europe, Great Britain, the USA, and Asia, and so easily fell into his old habits, becoming our tour guide for the day as well as our driver. Over his microphone, he would tell us jokes and ask questions of the students. An example of one of his jokes:
Ron: "Have you heard of a kangaroo?"
Students: "Yes."
Ron: "A wallaby?"
Students: "Yes."
Ron: "A wallaroo?"
Students: "No."
Ron: "It's a small kangaroo." [n.b.: This is true.]
Ron: "Have you heard of a wasaroo?"
Students: "No."
[some silence]
Ron: "So, ask me what's a wasaroo."
Students: "What's a wasaroo?"
Ron: "It's roadkill." [was - a - 'roo]
Typical Aussie tour guide humor. In the early years of this course, we would get a lot of that from the coach drivers.
But Ron threw in several additional little things for us, too. He took us on a detour off the Hume Highway to some backroads, on which we saw some wild kangaroos, delighting the students who thus far have only seen 'roos in the zoo. We also saw some working dairy farms, and an alpaca ranch -- I suppose it would be called an 'alpaca station' here.
We ate lunch at a McDonalds by the highway, after going through the town of Goulburn. Ron pointed out that the coaches all go on a recently constructed bypass and so miss the town center. Goulburn was the first inland city in Australia, so it's probably worth a look. In future years, maybe we'll find a cafe in the city for lunch. "Macas" is the same whether in the USA or Australia; we don't need to eat there.
When we arrived in Canberra, I have the coach driver take us to an overlook at Mt. Ainslie, a nice overlook that allows one to take in the entire city. Canberra is a planned city. When Australia confederated in 1900, there was a controversy over where the capital would be located, with the rival cities Sydney and Melbourne the chief each vying for the honor. As a compromise, the decision was made to locate the capital in a suitable location halfway between. An international competition was held to find a suitable design for the city, and the winner was Walter Burley-Griffin, an American from Chicago. The city's layout is quite geometrical: three central areas form an equilateral triangle. That triangle is bisected by a line running from the Parliament House to the ANZAC War Memorial. At right angles to that line is a reservoir lake. It is quite picturesque.
Ron knew of a nice way to end the tour. After we left Mt. Ainslie and before we got to the YHA where we would spend the evening, he took us on a side trip to a pavilion nearby Lake Burley-Griffin, where there is an extensive exhibit on the city and the surrounding area. Certainly seems like a good thing to add to the course, so I think we will do that in future years.
The YHA is much nicer this year than last, with a working elevator now -- it was broken down and being repaired last year. They also now have Global Gossip as an internet provider, so that's a good source of stability. Canberra has not changed a lot, though since we are here on Tuesday and Wednesday, there's more to do than there was on the Sunday we were here last year. Still, the town is pretty dead after 6pm. I think most of the students hung out here and socialized.
I should write a little about the swine flu, as I'm sure that anyone reading the blog might be a bit worried for us. I will not lie; we're a little nervous, too. But if we were exposed while enroute, we would have already begun exhibiting symptoms, and no one in the group is doing so. There are a few cases here and there in Australia, but they seem to be catching them early on and isolating them straight away. We'll actually have an opportunity to speak with the embassy staff tomorrow about it. So, I'd advise us all to not get too far ahead of ourselves in our worries over the students. I promise to keep you posted about it.
Canberra
Patches of sun and clouds, some rain, cool
We relocated from Sydney to Canberra today, via coach. Such rides are usually pretty uninteresting, but this time, the trip was unusually entertaining and informative, owing to the efforts of our coach driver, Ron.
Ron is an interesting character. He spent a good portion of his career as a tour guide for coach tours in many places: Europe, Great Britain, the USA, and Asia, and so easily fell into his old habits, becoming our tour guide for the day as well as our driver. Over his microphone, he would tell us jokes and ask questions of the students. An example of one of his jokes:
Ron: "Have you heard of a kangaroo?"
Students: "Yes."
Ron: "A wallaby?"
Students: "Yes."
Ron: "A wallaroo?"
Students: "No."
Ron: "It's a small kangaroo." [n.b.: This is true.]
Ron: "Have you heard of a wasaroo?"
Students: "No."
[some silence]
Ron: "So, ask me what's a wasaroo."
Students: "What's a wasaroo?"
Ron: "It's roadkill." [was - a - 'roo]
Typical Aussie tour guide humor. In the early years of this course, we would get a lot of that from the coach drivers.
But Ron threw in several additional little things for us, too. He took us on a detour off the Hume Highway to some backroads, on which we saw some wild kangaroos, delighting the students who thus far have only seen 'roos in the zoo. We also saw some working dairy farms, and an alpaca ranch -- I suppose it would be called an 'alpaca station' here.
We ate lunch at a McDonalds by the highway, after going through the town of Goulburn. Ron pointed out that the coaches all go on a recently constructed bypass and so miss the town center. Goulburn was the first inland city in Australia, so it's probably worth a look. In future years, maybe we'll find a cafe in the city for lunch. "Macas" is the same whether in the USA or Australia; we don't need to eat there.
When we arrived in Canberra, I have the coach driver take us to an overlook at Mt. Ainslie, a nice overlook that allows one to take in the entire city. Canberra is a planned city. When Australia confederated in 1900, there was a controversy over where the capital would be located, with the rival cities Sydney and Melbourne the chief each vying for the honor. As a compromise, the decision was made to locate the capital in a suitable location halfway between. An international competition was held to find a suitable design for the city, and the winner was Walter Burley-Griffin, an American from Chicago. The city's layout is quite geometrical: three central areas form an equilateral triangle. That triangle is bisected by a line running from the Parliament House to the ANZAC War Memorial. At right angles to that line is a reservoir lake. It is quite picturesque.
Ron knew of a nice way to end the tour. After we left Mt. Ainslie and before we got to the YHA where we would spend the evening, he took us on a side trip to a pavilion nearby Lake Burley-Griffin, where there is an extensive exhibit on the city and the surrounding area. Certainly seems like a good thing to add to the course, so I think we will do that in future years.
The YHA is much nicer this year than last, with a working elevator now -- it was broken down and being repaired last year. They also now have Global Gossip as an internet provider, so that's a good source of stability. Canberra has not changed a lot, though since we are here on Tuesday and Wednesday, there's more to do than there was on the Sunday we were here last year. Still, the town is pretty dead after 6pm. I think most of the students hung out here and socialized.
I should write a little about the swine flu, as I'm sure that anyone reading the blog might be a bit worried for us. I will not lie; we're a little nervous, too. But if we were exposed while enroute, we would have already begun exhibiting symptoms, and no one in the group is doing so. There are a few cases here and there in Australia, but they seem to be catching them early on and isolating them straight away. We'll actually have an opportunity to speak with the embassy staff tomorrow about it. So, I'd advise us all to not get too far ahead of ourselves in our worries over the students. I promise to keep you posted about it.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Free Day in Sydney
27 April
Sydney
Sunny, Cooler and Breezy
Today was a free day for the students. Some planned to go to Bondi Beach, but it was really too windy and cold, so most wound up visiting the wonderful Royal Botanical Gardens to the east of Circular Quay. This parkland on the south side of the harbor is one of the jewels of Sydney. Lots of people think of the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge as synonymous with Sydney; for me, it's the Gardens. Plants from all over the world, spacious lawns for picnics or games, and of course the flying fox colony.
My main goal was to capture a good photo or two of the flying foxes. (I have several shots, but I do not yet know if any turned out.) Flying foxes are not nocturnal, feeding at dusk and dawn, and resting at night and during the heat of the day. But they do fly about from tree to tree during the day, noisily squabbling over space on a branch from which to hang and cover themselves with their wings. They will also sometimes stretch their wings wide as if to catch a cooling breeze. I find them fun to watch.
The colony in Sydney is considered a nuisance by the local folks, and there have surfaced plans to force the colony to move elsewhere. The bats feed on fruits and blossoms, and so are nothing but a pest as far as orchardists or gardeners are concerned -- they do not eat insects. It would be a shame to lose them from the Gardens, though.
I took the students to dinner at the Australian Hotel, a favorite spot of my senior colleague from prior years. It's a gourmet pizza place in the Rocks, a region west of Circular Quay that at one time was a rougher part of town, a sort of Hell's Kitchen. Now, it's an upscale high-rent area for the tourists. Though the weather has been cooler and windy, we still had a pleasant sidewalk dinner, followed by gelato at Circular Quay.
IT is now early morning on the 28th. I will upload this journal entry and get some photos up, and then we leave Sydney for awhile to go to Canberra, the country's capital.
Sydney
Sunny, Cooler and Breezy
Today was a free day for the students. Some planned to go to Bondi Beach, but it was really too windy and cold, so most wound up visiting the wonderful Royal Botanical Gardens to the east of Circular Quay. This parkland on the south side of the harbor is one of the jewels of Sydney. Lots of people think of the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge as synonymous with Sydney; for me, it's the Gardens. Plants from all over the world, spacious lawns for picnics or games, and of course the flying fox colony.
My main goal was to capture a good photo or two of the flying foxes. (I have several shots, but I do not yet know if any turned out.) Flying foxes are not nocturnal, feeding at dusk and dawn, and resting at night and during the heat of the day. But they do fly about from tree to tree during the day, noisily squabbling over space on a branch from which to hang and cover themselves with their wings. They will also sometimes stretch their wings wide as if to catch a cooling breeze. I find them fun to watch.
The colony in Sydney is considered a nuisance by the local folks, and there have surfaced plans to force the colony to move elsewhere. The bats feed on fruits and blossoms, and so are nothing but a pest as far as orchardists or gardeners are concerned -- they do not eat insects. It would be a shame to lose them from the Gardens, though.
I took the students to dinner at the Australian Hotel, a favorite spot of my senior colleague from prior years. It's a gourmet pizza place in the Rocks, a region west of Circular Quay that at one time was a rougher part of town, a sort of Hell's Kitchen. Now, it's an upscale high-rent area for the tourists. Though the weather has been cooler and windy, we still had a pleasant sidewalk dinner, followed by gelato at Circular Quay.
IT is now early morning on the 28th. I will upload this journal entry and get some photos up, and then we leave Sydney for awhile to go to Canberra, the country's capital.
Sunday, April 26, 2009
The Blue Mountains
26 April
Blue Mountains
Partly Sunny, Cold and Windy
Sunday was our day to go to the Blue Mountain for a hike around Katoomba Falls. The Blue Mountains region is about two hours west of the city, so the first leg of our trip was a train ride to Katoomba, one of the major jumping-off points for excursions into the area.
It was a tight schedule in the morning, as we had to leave by 6:45 in order to make the proper connections. In future years, I may try to get the tour guides to move the tour an hour later so that we have a chance at breakfast before we take off. But, we have about 25 minutes at the Katoomba station before beginning our tour, so the students who didn't get up early enough to get breakfast still had a chance. (I was up at 4:30 so that I could get the tickets, so I was ready for a second breakfast by 9:30.)
The train ride took us through the western suburbs and then through tunnels and passages into the eastern portions of the Blue Mountain area. They're not actually mountains at all -- the region is a plateau with deep gorges cut by eons of water activity. Think of it as an older, wetter grand canyon. Very pretty, lots of wildlife, and of course it's covered with a huge forest.
Like most of the forests in the southern part of Australia, this one is dependent on periodic burnings in order to remain healthy. The Aborigines practiced controlled burning before whites arrived here, thus preventing the sorts of wildfires that have plagued the southeast in recent years. The reluctance of property owners to manage forest undergrowth, coupled with the incredibly dry conditions here, conspire to create a dangerous situation. The wildfires in Victoria earlier this year claimed around 200 lives, and caused massive property damage. The first responders during the fires received a special mention at the ANZAC Day ceremonies I saw on television; it will continue to be on the minds of Australians for years to come.
The Blue Mountains region is not immune to fires, though we were in little danger today. And thankfully, I have a group of non-smokers, so we were unlikely to cause damage in any case. But I have been out there at times after controlled burnings, and expected to see the effects of that in some regions today.
The only disciplinary thing that has happened in our travels so far has been an admonishment this morning from the train personnel to keep our voices down. Americans just seem to be louder than Australians, and I have a bubbly, enthusiastic group along with me. I do not want them to change their behavior, but I suppose that I'll have to ask them a little more often to quiet down. But they are constantly asking questions of me and of the people they meet, which I think is great, and would hate to see that vanish. They have already had conversations with Australians about America, our new president, New Zealand, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Aborigines, sports in Australia, and many other topics. One student has relatives in the Sydney area, and has been able to spend some time with them. They are taking to the traveling quite well.
After a couple tight connections, we made it to the Katoomba Falls Kiosk, where we were to meet our guide. A few students had not heeded my advice about dressing for chilly conditions, and so were probably a little cold at first. We all felt more comfortable waiting inside the warmth of the kiosk, though, with time for coffee and muffins.
Our guide Warren proved to be knowledgeable and friendly, and the students took to him pretty quickly. Our walk took us from the top of the gorge to the bottom, crossing the falls four times as we did so. Warren focused on geology and trees as we went along, giving us some valuable lessons about the nature of the forest.
The top of the plateau is covered with a eucalyptus forest that depends on fire and arid conditions for its health, certainly not what one thinks of when describing a rain forest. The temperate rain forest properly begins once we begin descending into the gorge, with the eucalyptus trees and the banksia giving way to the coachwoods, turpentines, and ferns. The ferns are smaller than the ones we will see up north, and there are no palms, cycads, or paperbarks that populate the more tropical rain forests.
Owing to the weather, there was little wildlife. One of the students and I spotted a pair of crimson rosellas, a type of parrot that is common to the Blue Mountains region. They were not close enough to obtain a picture. We did get a black bird to strike a very nice pose for us. I did not hear what Warren called it, but from the photo, I'd say it's some version of a magpie or currawong. The students who were closer to him will have the proper name, I'm sure.
The tour ended with a brief visit to the coal mine remnants at the bottom of the gorge, followed by a ride on the Scenic Railway, a 'vertical' trolley that takes us from the bottom of the gorge to the top in a few moments. It's an exciting ride that takes us inside the rocks of the bluff.
After the conclusion of the walk, the students were free to use the remainder of the day as they wished. Some returned to Sydney on the earlier trains, while others stayed after I left to do some additional exploring. After a lunch with some of the students, I contented myself with a walk over to the Three Sisters, an interesting geological formation. It holds some special meaning for me, as some students conspired with my wife a few years back to give me a framed panoramic photograph of the formation. The Aborigines of the region have some stories about the Three Sisters, but there is no agreement between the language groups about the stories and there are many false stories as well. But my interest is purely in the science of it and the beauty it generates.
Tomorrow is a free day for us. I have modest goals: laundry, getting a quiz ready, and arranging to take the students out to dinner at the Australian Hotel.
Blue Mountains
Partly Sunny, Cold and Windy
Sunday was our day to go to the Blue Mountain for a hike around Katoomba Falls. The Blue Mountains region is about two hours west of the city, so the first leg of our trip was a train ride to Katoomba, one of the major jumping-off points for excursions into the area.
It was a tight schedule in the morning, as we had to leave by 6:45 in order to make the proper connections. In future years, I may try to get the tour guides to move the tour an hour later so that we have a chance at breakfast before we take off. But, we have about 25 minutes at the Katoomba station before beginning our tour, so the students who didn't get up early enough to get breakfast still had a chance. (I was up at 4:30 so that I could get the tickets, so I was ready for a second breakfast by 9:30.)
The train ride took us through the western suburbs and then through tunnels and passages into the eastern portions of the Blue Mountain area. They're not actually mountains at all -- the region is a plateau with deep gorges cut by eons of water activity. Think of it as an older, wetter grand canyon. Very pretty, lots of wildlife, and of course it's covered with a huge forest.
Like most of the forests in the southern part of Australia, this one is dependent on periodic burnings in order to remain healthy. The Aborigines practiced controlled burning before whites arrived here, thus preventing the sorts of wildfires that have plagued the southeast in recent years. The reluctance of property owners to manage forest undergrowth, coupled with the incredibly dry conditions here, conspire to create a dangerous situation. The wildfires in Victoria earlier this year claimed around 200 lives, and caused massive property damage. The first responders during the fires received a special mention at the ANZAC Day ceremonies I saw on television; it will continue to be on the minds of Australians for years to come.
The Blue Mountains region is not immune to fires, though we were in little danger today. And thankfully, I have a group of non-smokers, so we were unlikely to cause damage in any case. But I have been out there at times after controlled burnings, and expected to see the effects of that in some regions today.
The only disciplinary thing that has happened in our travels so far has been an admonishment this morning from the train personnel to keep our voices down. Americans just seem to be louder than Australians, and I have a bubbly, enthusiastic group along with me. I do not want them to change their behavior, but I suppose that I'll have to ask them a little more often to quiet down. But they are constantly asking questions of me and of the people they meet, which I think is great, and would hate to see that vanish. They have already had conversations with Australians about America, our new president, New Zealand, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Aborigines, sports in Australia, and many other topics. One student has relatives in the Sydney area, and has been able to spend some time with them. They are taking to the traveling quite well.
After a couple tight connections, we made it to the Katoomba Falls Kiosk, where we were to meet our guide. A few students had not heeded my advice about dressing for chilly conditions, and so were probably a little cold at first. We all felt more comfortable waiting inside the warmth of the kiosk, though, with time for coffee and muffins.
Our guide Warren proved to be knowledgeable and friendly, and the students took to him pretty quickly. Our walk took us from the top of the gorge to the bottom, crossing the falls four times as we did so. Warren focused on geology and trees as we went along, giving us some valuable lessons about the nature of the forest.
The top of the plateau is covered with a eucalyptus forest that depends on fire and arid conditions for its health, certainly not what one thinks of when describing a rain forest. The temperate rain forest properly begins once we begin descending into the gorge, with the eucalyptus trees and the banksia giving way to the coachwoods, turpentines, and ferns. The ferns are smaller than the ones we will see up north, and there are no palms, cycads, or paperbarks that populate the more tropical rain forests.
Owing to the weather, there was little wildlife. One of the students and I spotted a pair of crimson rosellas, a type of parrot that is common to the Blue Mountains region. They were not close enough to obtain a picture. We did get a black bird to strike a very nice pose for us. I did not hear what Warren called it, but from the photo, I'd say it's some version of a magpie or currawong. The students who were closer to him will have the proper name, I'm sure.
The tour ended with a brief visit to the coal mine remnants at the bottom of the gorge, followed by a ride on the Scenic Railway, a 'vertical' trolley that takes us from the bottom of the gorge to the top in a few moments. It's an exciting ride that takes us inside the rocks of the bluff.
After the conclusion of the walk, the students were free to use the remainder of the day as they wished. Some returned to Sydney on the earlier trains, while others stayed after I left to do some additional exploring. After a lunch with some of the students, I contented myself with a walk over to the Three Sisters, an interesting geological formation. It holds some special meaning for me, as some students conspired with my wife a few years back to give me a framed panoramic photograph of the formation. The Aborigines of the region have some stories about the Three Sisters, but there is no agreement between the language groups about the stories and there are many false stories as well. But my interest is purely in the science of it and the beauty it generates.
Tomorrow is a free day for us. I have modest goals: laundry, getting a quiz ready, and arranging to take the students out to dinner at the Australian Hotel.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
ANZAC Day
25 April (ANZAC Day)
Sydney
Sunny and Breezy
Today we saw a portion of the ANZAC Day March in Sydney, and then spent the reminder of the day at the Taronga Zoo. It was also a day to acquaint the students with Sydney's subway system and the ferries. And what a fun day it was, too!
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and constituted the main contribution of the Australians to the British efforts in WWI. "Diggers" (the nickname the ANZACs earned) fought in the major campaigns throughout Europe, but it is their service in the battle of Gallipoli that the people of Australia remember the most.
The Gallipoli Peninsula lies between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles, the straits that lead to Constantinople (as it was named then). Whoever controlled Gallipoli controlled the strait, so if the British could take the peninsula, they could then send ships in to assault the stronghold of the Turks. The role of the ANZACs was to attempt to take the bluffs held by the Turks. Of course, the enemy was dug into the hilltops, and could spray the slopes with machine gun fire and shell many of the positions on the beaches. It would be a tough fight.
On April 25, 1915, the ANZAC troops landed at what would come to be called ANZAC Cove. They dug trenches into the hillside, slowly making their way up the hill. Several of the skirmishes of the battle have become legendary themselves; in particular, the high-water mark of the battle occurred at Lone Pine and the Nek, two attempts at assaulting the Turkish trenches that proved to be especially bloody -- and unnecessary, since they were intended as diversions to permit a British landing that actually went unchallenged before the assaults began. In all, about 8000 ANZAC troops were killed in the battle.
The objective of taking the Turkish trenches was impossible, and though they never achieved it, the heroic character of the ANZACs, and by extension all the Australian military, became evident to soldiers everywhere. ANZAC Day began as a day of remembrance for these particular soldiers. Over the years, it has evolved into a day of remembrance for all Australian veterans; it thus plays a role similar to the one played by our own Memorial Day. Because it occurs in late autumn here, ANZAC Day will often turn into a long weekend for families during which they might plan their last getaway before winter; it thus bears some resemblance as well to our Labor Day.
We arrived at the parade shortly before it began at 9 am and stayed about an hour. The march was a lot more festive than the rainy one I saw last year, and the students were very happy to cheer right along with the Australians. Many marching bands throughout, along with just about every military unit imaginable. Not only were combats units represented, but all the support units: intelligence, hospital, communications, and many others.
But this march in Sydney lasts over four hours, and we had other things to do. We left a little after 10 am for our visit to Taronga Zoo.
The Zoo has changed a bit since last year's visit, with a remodeled entrance and a new venue for the seal show, but many of the familiar things were still in place. In particular, we all attended the free flight bird show. Most of the birds in the show were predators, but there were a few galahs, cockatoos, and other parrots in minor roles. The star of the show is an Andean condor; with a wingspan of about 10 feet, it is quite an impressive sight -- especially when it flies just a few inches over your head!
The Zoo has many other pleasant features: walk-through enclosures for encounters with kangaroos, wallabies, emus, and tropical birds; darkened halls for the night animals; a play area for families with children; and many others.
Including a seal show! In past years, we would leave the Zoo at 1:30 and head over to the Sydney Aquarium, but I found it to be too crowded and hectic last year, and so decided to drop it from this year's course, and simply letting the students spend more time at the Zoo to compensate. So, I got a chance to see the seal show, at which they introduce the audience to several seal, some from Australian water and some from elsewhere. The seals are very smart, capable of many complicated behaviors. One jumped from the later and did an aerial summersault; another balanced a ball on its nose, yet another waved to the crowd with its flippers.
We broke up for the day at the zoo; some students staying to visit the other animals, others going off on new adventures. I came back to the hotel to write this journal and to plan tomorrow's Blue Mountain Adventure.
Sydney
Sunny and Breezy
Today we saw a portion of the ANZAC Day March in Sydney, and then spent the reminder of the day at the Taronga Zoo. It was also a day to acquaint the students with Sydney's subway system and the ferries. And what a fun day it was, too!
ANZAC stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, and constituted the main contribution of the Australians to the British efforts in WWI. "Diggers" (the nickname the ANZACs earned) fought in the major campaigns throughout Europe, but it is their service in the battle of Gallipoli that the people of Australia remember the most.
The Gallipoli Peninsula lies between the Aegean Sea and the Dardanelles, the straits that lead to Constantinople (as it was named then). Whoever controlled Gallipoli controlled the strait, so if the British could take the peninsula, they could then send ships in to assault the stronghold of the Turks. The role of the ANZACs was to attempt to take the bluffs held by the Turks. Of course, the enemy was dug into the hilltops, and could spray the slopes with machine gun fire and shell many of the positions on the beaches. It would be a tough fight.
On April 25, 1915, the ANZAC troops landed at what would come to be called ANZAC Cove. They dug trenches into the hillside, slowly making their way up the hill. Several of the skirmishes of the battle have become legendary themselves; in particular, the high-water mark of the battle occurred at Lone Pine and the Nek, two attempts at assaulting the Turkish trenches that proved to be especially bloody -- and unnecessary, since they were intended as diversions to permit a British landing that actually went unchallenged before the assaults began. In all, about 8000 ANZAC troops were killed in the battle.
The objective of taking the Turkish trenches was impossible, and though they never achieved it, the heroic character of the ANZACs, and by extension all the Australian military, became evident to soldiers everywhere. ANZAC Day began as a day of remembrance for these particular soldiers. Over the years, it has evolved into a day of remembrance for all Australian veterans; it thus plays a role similar to the one played by our own Memorial Day. Because it occurs in late autumn here, ANZAC Day will often turn into a long weekend for families during which they might plan their last getaway before winter; it thus bears some resemblance as well to our Labor Day.
We arrived at the parade shortly before it began at 9 am and stayed about an hour. The march was a lot more festive than the rainy one I saw last year, and the students were very happy to cheer right along with the Australians. Many marching bands throughout, along with just about every military unit imaginable. Not only were combats units represented, but all the support units: intelligence, hospital, communications, and many others.
But this march in Sydney lasts over four hours, and we had other things to do. We left a little after 10 am for our visit to Taronga Zoo.
The Zoo has changed a bit since last year's visit, with a remodeled entrance and a new venue for the seal show, but many of the familiar things were still in place. In particular, we all attended the free flight bird show. Most of the birds in the show were predators, but there were a few galahs, cockatoos, and other parrots in minor roles. The star of the show is an Andean condor; with a wingspan of about 10 feet, it is quite an impressive sight -- especially when it flies just a few inches over your head!
The Zoo has many other pleasant features: walk-through enclosures for encounters with kangaroos, wallabies, emus, and tropical birds; darkened halls for the night animals; a play area for families with children; and many others.
Including a seal show! In past years, we would leave the Zoo at 1:30 and head over to the Sydney Aquarium, but I found it to be too crowded and hectic last year, and so decided to drop it from this year's course, and simply letting the students spend more time at the Zoo to compensate. So, I got a chance to see the seal show, at which they introduce the audience to several seal, some from Australian water and some from elsewhere. The seals are very smart, capable of many complicated behaviors. One jumped from the later and did an aerial summersault; another balanced a ball on its nose, yet another waved to the crowd with its flippers.
We broke up for the day at the zoo; some students staying to visit the other animals, others going off on new adventures. I came back to the hotel to write this journal and to plan tomorrow's Blue Mountain Adventure.
Friday, April 24, 2009
We're here in 2009!
24 April
Sydney
Sunny and Mild
Welcome to the 2009 edition of my Australia journal. Things will be a little different this year, as I am also doing a course blog for the college, http://ecaustralia.blogspot.com. Students will also be posting to that blog -- you should find a lot of very nice photos along with accounts of their experiences. So, I will use this blog to record my own, thoughts, as I have in the past.
I brought the Jornada once more, so I will be writing my entries on it and posting later. For those of you who enjoyed reading all my mistakes from years past -- tough!
I also have a very nice camera, a Canon Rebel XS. This is a digital SLR, which means for me that I can enjoy the benefits of both. But, I do not know just how much image editing I will be doing while down here.
The rules will be the same as they have been in years past: I will never use the names of anyone on the course; I will keep the blog rating at 'PG' -- after all, my lovely wife's young cousin is reading this. The goal of this blog is the reader's enjoyment, with the added hope that the reader will learn something about Australia and why it's important to know these things. And, to be truthful, a secondary goal is for me to outgas a little.
With that in mind ... the trip down was unusually stressful this year. We left the college on time, and were sailing down Interstate 81 with no cares, when we suddenly found ourselves at a dead stop in the midst of snarled traffic. We probably waited a half hour before the driver got us off 81 and onto one of its side roads into Scranton. The delay percolated for us, since that meant we got into NYC right around the rush hour.
Of course, none of it mattered, since the flight was about an hour late getting into JFK. The 747s that Qantas uses on the QF107-108 route from JFK to Sydney are cycled, so as soon as the passengers got off the plane and it was serviced, we got right on. But that hour delay persisted until we arrived in Sydney.
After that, things went pretty smoothly. The Hyde Park Barracks tour guides were happy to accommodate our late arrival, and so we were back on track pretty quickly.
The Hyde Parks Barracks was built in 1817 at the direction of the legendary governor Lachlan Macquarie. It's original purpose was to house convicts; before this, convicts lived in tents or sheds. It was not a prison -- the land of Australia would serve as that just nicely. Convicts who ran off into the bush faced so many dangers that few ever attempted it. After about 30 years, the flow of convicts to New South Wales stopped as new colonies were founded, so the building became a dormitory for women immigrating to Australia. Still later, it was used for government law offices, until the 1980s, when work began to convert it to a museum.
Our next venue was the Australian Museum for a tour of the Indigenous Australians exhibit. Our tour guide was a young woman, perhaps a little older than the students. The museum's plan had been for me to do the bulk of the talking, with her adding a few bits here and there, but it quickly became apparent that she was very much ready for the job of giving us a quality tour of the exhibit, and I gladly let her take it over. Needless to say, she has credibility to speak about her people in a way I just lack. She spoke of her father and of his life as a member of the Stolen Generation, those aboriginal children who were taken from their families when young and raised in boarding schools far away, disconnecting them from their culture, and preparing them only for a life of servitude. She also spoke of other family members and their struggles to rebuild their lives and communities. And she did it all in a way that was friendly and cheerful, without any anger at all.
One of the other tour guides was shadowing us -- I think that our guide was new, and on probation. I made sure to tell the veteran guide that I thought ours was doing a magnificent job.
After the museum, the students' time was their own, and I came back here to write in the journal and rest up for tomorrow. ANZAC Day.
Sydney
Sunny and Mild
Welcome to the 2009 edition of my Australia journal. Things will be a little different this year, as I am also doing a course blog for the college, http://ecaustralia.blogspot.com. Students will also be posting to that blog -- you should find a lot of very nice photos along with accounts of their experiences. So, I will use this blog to record my own, thoughts, as I have in the past.
I brought the Jornada once more, so I will be writing my entries on it and posting later. For those of you who enjoyed reading all my mistakes from years past -- tough!
I also have a very nice camera, a Canon Rebel XS. This is a digital SLR, which means for me that I can enjoy the benefits of both. But, I do not know just how much image editing I will be doing while down here.
The rules will be the same as they have been in years past: I will never use the names of anyone on the course; I will keep the blog rating at 'PG' -- after all, my lovely wife's young cousin is reading this. The goal of this blog is the reader's enjoyment, with the added hope that the reader will learn something about Australia and why it's important to know these things. And, to be truthful, a secondary goal is for me to outgas a little.
With that in mind ... the trip down was unusually stressful this year. We left the college on time, and were sailing down Interstate 81 with no cares, when we suddenly found ourselves at a dead stop in the midst of snarled traffic. We probably waited a half hour before the driver got us off 81 and onto one of its side roads into Scranton. The delay percolated for us, since that meant we got into NYC right around the rush hour.
Of course, none of it mattered, since the flight was about an hour late getting into JFK. The 747s that Qantas uses on the QF107-108 route from JFK to Sydney are cycled, so as soon as the passengers got off the plane and it was serviced, we got right on. But that hour delay persisted until we arrived in Sydney.
After that, things went pretty smoothly. The Hyde Park Barracks tour guides were happy to accommodate our late arrival, and so we were back on track pretty quickly.
The Hyde Parks Barracks was built in 1817 at the direction of the legendary governor Lachlan Macquarie. It's original purpose was to house convicts; before this, convicts lived in tents or sheds. It was not a prison -- the land of Australia would serve as that just nicely. Convicts who ran off into the bush faced so many dangers that few ever attempted it. After about 30 years, the flow of convicts to New South Wales stopped as new colonies were founded, so the building became a dormitory for women immigrating to Australia. Still later, it was used for government law offices, until the 1980s, when work began to convert it to a museum.
Our next venue was the Australian Museum for a tour of the Indigenous Australians exhibit. Our tour guide was a young woman, perhaps a little older than the students. The museum's plan had been for me to do the bulk of the talking, with her adding a few bits here and there, but it quickly became apparent that she was very much ready for the job of giving us a quality tour of the exhibit, and I gladly let her take it over. Needless to say, she has credibility to speak about her people in a way I just lack. She spoke of her father and of his life as a member of the Stolen Generation, those aboriginal children who were taken from their families when young and raised in boarding schools far away, disconnecting them from their culture, and preparing them only for a life of servitude. She also spoke of other family members and their struggles to rebuild their lives and communities. And she did it all in a way that was friendly and cheerful, without any anger at all.
One of the other tour guides was shadowing us -- I think that our guide was new, and on probation. I made sure to tell the veteran guide that I thought ours was doing a magnificent job.
After the museum, the students' time was their own, and I came back here to write in the journal and rest up for tomorrow. ANZAC Day.
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