Charlie's Australia Journal

The Aquarium and the Zoo

2010-05-01T07:35:00.000-04:00

1 May, 2010

Sydney

Cloudy am, partly cloudy pm, mild

Last year, I left out the Sydney Aquarium. It was always so crowded and noisy that I felt that the students never really got from it what they should. A few of the students went on their own in 2009, and told me that the problem was that we had always gone in the afternoon; the morning was much better. So, this year I decided to give that a try.

They were completely correct! I am so glad they made that suggestion. At 9am this morning, we almost had the entire aquarium to ourselves. No crowds around the crocodile tank or the little penguin display, no mobs clogging the tunnels in the oceanarium tanks. I'll spend the next few days editing my photos, but may put a couple up this evening when I check for student posts on the other blog. So, the Sydney Aquarium is back in the line up.

The afternoon was fine; the Taronga Zoo is always busy, but is set up so well that the crowds are pretty tolerable. The Bird Show runs at 3pm as well, so there's a chance to see it anyway. And the timing on the Saturday ferries works out perfectly, too. The Aquarium at 9am; catch the 10:55 ferry from Darling Harbour to Circular Quay; transfer to the Taronga Zoo Ferry leaving at 11:45, get to the Zoo at 11:57. Students get lunch at the food court at the Zoo, walk the exhibits on Australian wildlife, and end with the Bird Show. We left at 4pm.

Tomorrow, it's the Blue Mountains.

Rainy First Day in Sydney

2010-05-01T07:34:00.001-04:00

30 April, 2010

Sydney

Rainy, mild

Welcome to my course journal for the 2010 trip. Here, you will find my personal reflections about the trip as it progresses. For accounts of what the students and I do on the trip and for the photos, video, and other media files we might create, check out either the course blog at ecaustralia10.blogspot.com or our Facebook page Elmira College's Australia Course.

Our plane flight was uneventful, except that it was late enough getting into Sydney that it upset our schedule for the first day a bit. Because I would drift in an out of sleep, I failed to watch several movies: Avatar, Sherlock Holmes, The Men Who Stare at Goats. Their 'on demand' entertainment system did not work -- again! -- so some of the Australian television programs I had wanted the students to watch were unavailable. I think QANTAS should not advertise their on-demand service if they do not intend to maintain it.

As a part of the trip preparation, I tell the students that they should expect that the topic of race will come up in their conversations with Australians, and that they should strive to be simply observant and not overly judgmental of what they hear. I had the chance to practice what I preach during the flight. While stretching my legs, I got into a conversation with an Australian returning from a tour of South America. We chatted very pleasantly for awhile about our families and travels and such, and then she brought up the subject of Aborigines. Sometimes, white Australians will feel that they must educate white people from other countries about 'the Blacks,' that they're lazy and smelly and incapable of reasoning -- after all, they are a Stone Age people. The most common phrase I hear is that "They're like children." (The feeling is mutual. I've had similar conversations with indigenous Australians as well, and they tell me that the elders of yesterday would be reluctant to share the stories of their culture with whites because white people wrer like children -- big children with dangerous toys that they didn't know how to play nice with, but children nonetheless, and not ready to hear the stories intended for men or women.) Anyway, I did what I could to steer the conversation away from race, and eventually we got back onto safer topics.

We did eventually land, clear customs, drop our bags at the Y Hotel, and head off to our first stop. There was a light drizzle as we walked through Hyde Park to the Barracks, but the walk was still pleasant enough, though very quiet -- in fact, the entire city seemed unusually subdued. The food court at the Pitt St. Mall where I had lunch was not nearly as hectic as I've seen it. A little rain does not explain it; I don't think that's ever slowed Sydney down before.

My lunch was beef vindaloo. The young Indian woman who took my order warned me that it was very hot. I guess she heard my accent and figured I didn't know what I was doing. I'm guessing that Indian food is toned down here in Australia as much as it is in the States. It was tasty enough, for a food court meal.

As I was waiting for the students to return to Archibald Fountain after lunch, there was a bride and groom having wedding photos taken. It was very cute, though the wedding photographer, in his enthusiam, followed the couple as they were walking along, leaving his bag full of very expensive equipment unguarded. It was fine; he retrieved it minutes later; I was stuck though by the level of trust he had.

Our tour guide for the Indigenous Australians Exhibit at the Australian Museum was a jolly-angry person. By that, I mean that she was very pleasant and funny, but quite direct in expressing her opinion of the poor relationship between white and indigenous peoples here. She was less charitable than most regarding things like native schools, the Christian missions, the official apology from Kevin Rudd, and the possibilities for imrpoving things between white and black.

(It is Saturday evening as I finish writing this, and I must tell you about an incident in a footie match that is on TV. One of the players dislocated his shoulder during a play. The trainers came out to him, popped the shoulder back in, and then the player continued in the game! What on earth are these folks made of?!?)

The Smirking Kookaburra

2009-05-21T03:15:00.002-04:00

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.

The camping trip I missed

2009-05-21T03:12:00.002-04:00

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:

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

2009-05-21T03:10:00.001-04:00

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.

The Daintree

2009-05-15T20:13:00.002-04:00

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.

Kuranda

2009-05-12T21:53:00.001-04:00

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.

Reef Cruise

2009-05-12T21:51:00.001-04:00

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.

Arriving in Cairns

2009-05-09T22:18:00.002-04:00

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.

Koala Sanctuary

2009-05-06T02:24:00.001-04:00

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 Tour

2009-05-05T02:59:00.001-04:00

(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.

On the Sunlander Train

2009-05-05T02:58:00.001-04:00

(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.

Hervey Bay and Fraser Island

2009-05-05T02:55:00.002-04:00

(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

2009-05-05T02:53:00.001-04:00

(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.

A Quick Note

2009-04-30T04:33:00.002-04:00

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

Sydney to Canberra

2009-04-28T16:59:00.001-04:00

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.

Free Day in Sydney

2009-04-27T16:55:00.000-04:00

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.

The Blue Mountains

2009-04-26T17:27:00.000-04:00

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.

ANZAC Day

2009-04-25T05:20:00.001-04:00

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.

We're here in 2009!

2009-04-24T17:10:00.000-04:00

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.

Our Tour of Alice

2008-05-19T20:35:00.001-04:00

May 19
Alice Springs
Sunny, warm, and dry.

I do apologize for being away for so long. Our schedule has been hectic enough so that it's been pretty much impossible to get some time for writing, let alone getting on the internet to upload journal entries.
Were back from our Central Australian camping trip, and have but a few things left in the course. Tonight, after their final quiz, we will have dinner at the Red Ochre Grill, followed by a didgeridoo concert at Sounds of Starlight. Tomorrow we head back to Sydney for a couple of free days before returning home.
Let me first write about our day tour of Alice Springs. Though Alice is very small as cities go, with a population of just over 25,000, it is the largest city within 1000 miles in every direction, and thus serves as a hub for much activity. So, there is actually a fair amount of things to see here.
We began our day at the Alice Springs Desert Park. The park is a zoo of sorts, though the emphasis is much more on presenting the habitats one is likely to encounter in Central Australia. The students thus had the chance to see the sorts of conditions that they would encounter while camping.
The Bird Show is particularly interesting. Though it is a free flight show, the birds are clearly well-trained to display their natural behaviors. The species we saw were the standard birds of prey one finds in the wild, with the exception of the wedge-tailed eagle. But we saw plenty of kites, a magpie, an owl, and a tawny frogmouth as a part of the show.
We stopped at the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS) Visitor Centre for a tour and a lunch. The RFDS is the first line of medical care for anyone in the remote Outback, providing over-the-phone emergency care, emergency airborne medical transport, clinics in villages and on stations, and medical evacuation. They do this with a small fleet of planes, a staff of pilots, mechanics, nurses, doctors, and radio operators.
We had a leisurely lunch at the RFDS Cafe. Since we had so much time, I wandered about the neighborhood, as our coach driver had suggested that I take a look at the nearby Old Gaol. This old eyesore is being refurbished as a museum celebrating Australian pioneer women. Perhaps we'll include it in the tour for next year.
We continued to the School of the Air. The running joke is that tourists often think that it's a school for pilots, though our students always arrive knowing that it is in fact a school conducted from Alice Springs and other central locations in Australia, for the children in remote stations and Aboriginal communities. Because many of our students are preparing for careers in education, this visit usually turns into a long question-and-answer session during which the students learn a lot, not only about the School of the Air, but also about the educational system in Australia.
The Telegraph Station is the reason Alice Springs is located where it is. During the 1800s, Australia underwent tremendous economic growth, and needed therefore to be in touch with the rest of the world. The plan was to run a telegraph line from Asia undersea to Darwin, and then down the middle of Australia to Adelaide. The terrain itself certainly represented a barrier, but gaps in the central ranges needed to be located as well. Most importantly, repeater stations needed to be located every 150-200 km to amplify the signal, and the people staffing those repeaters needed water.
The local river, now named the Todd River, had an unusual amount of surface water in it when the explorers came through; they thought they had discovered a spring, though there was no reason for a spring to be located at that point. The telegraph station was located on the spot, and a town named Stuart soon flourished nearby. Of course, everyone knew the name Alice Springs, since that was the telegraph station, so the citizens of the town eventually renamed their city Alice Springs.
The telegraph station was closed in the early 20th century, but the history of the place continued. Under the name of the Bungalow, it was used as a native school for some of the children of the Stolen Generation until the mid 1960s -- in fact, our tour guide, Merrill, was the daughter of a woman who was a resident of the Bungalow, and had several other relatives who had passed through there. So, her lecture about the place had an extra dimension to it.
I'll recount our camping trip in my next post.

The Daintree

2008-05-18T21:09:00.002-04:00

May 12
Daintree Rainforest
Partly sunny and warm. Early afternoon shower.

(Of course, I am posting this after our camping trip to Central Australia. Just catching up....)

Our visit to the Daintree took place today. On this day, we go the farthest north in Australia as a group that we will, past Port Douglas and Mossman, across the Daintree River, and continue up the Bloomfield Track to Emmagen Creek. It's usually a very good day, and this one was no exception -- except for a personal stupid moment that did not end well.

Our guides were John and Matt. John is a old friend of the course; I think he's been one of our guides almost every year we've included Billy Tea Bush Safaris as a part of the excursion. We started very early, as it is a ways up the coast -- we'll be over 150 km north by the time we get to Emmagen Creek, and we have several stops before then.

At 8 am -- the same time the children were going to school -- We stopped in Mossman to pick up some fruit for lunch and our afternoon billy tea break. I went in the Yum-Yum Tropical Fruit Store along with John just to have a look around the place. It's a small food store with an eye toward supplying folks in the more remote areas of the north with quantities that will last a few months.

We continued up north to a river boat stop where we boarded for our cruise on the Daintree River. This cruise serves two purposes: it gets us across the river; and it gets us pretty close to a wild saltwater crocodile. There are five dominant male crocs along the stretch of river that we visit, along with about 20 or more females and many additional juveniles and hatchlings. The tour guides have names for the males, though I can recall only three at the moment: Gummy, Fat Albert, and Scarface. Gummy has no teeth; he has lost them all in fights with the other males. Fat Albert is huge. Scarface has an obvious scar on his snout, no doubt from a fight.
Males fight over territory; whoever controls a section of the river has mating rights with all the females in that section. Fights typically occur when one croc challenges another in an adjacent territory. It is rarely a fight to the death; like most fights for dominance among animals, it's over when one backs off. But fights almost always result in crocs losing some teeth, thus eroding their ability to catch and hold prey.

Most of the crocs were in hiding during our visit, but we did get a good look at Scarface today. I've seen Gummy and Fat Albert before, but this was my first glimpse of Scarface. He's somewhat smaller than the others, though he routinely holds his own in frequent clashes with the other males along the river. I got many really good shots of Scarface -- but more about that in a moment.

Of course, there's other wildlife on the river besides the crocs. We saw some tree snakes, as well as an azure kingfisher -- and I had very nice photos of those, too. (My guess is you sense that the disaster coming involves my camera in some way.)

We got off the Daintree river at the cable ferry crossing, where our 4WDs were waiting, having crossed while we were on our cruise. Our next destination was a rain forest walk in the Daintree.

The rainforest walks in the Daintree take place on boardwalks built slightly above the forest floor. You are thus not crushing anything valuable, and will tend to not take anything as a souvenir (which is a crime and is punishable by a fine). Since the boardwalk is raised, the small animals of the forest can get underneath and are unimpeded; the larger ones like cassowaries can easily cross it.

The numbers about cassowaries are depressing. The last authoritative number I heard was 2500 left in the wild, but the tour guides are all saying that it's more like 1100-1500 left. It seems to be a quick downward spiral to extinction, and I have heard of no successful breeding programs at any zoo or sanctuary. Needless to say, we saw no cassowaries during our travels today -- I think that the responsible guides probably stay away as much as possible from areas in which particular birds are known to range.

The cassowaries have lost much of their habitat, and the introduction of feral pigs into the rainforest has had an additional negative impact. The chief thing that kills them these days, though, is the automobile. As the roads improve, the threat grows for the bird. There was some attempts by developers to pave the road north of Cape Tribulation; this would of course increase the property values. But the regional councils and ratepayers (= homeowners, I think) associations put a stop to it by getting the entire area World Heritage listed. So, nothing but dirt north of the Cape.

Okay, the disaster was that I lost the roll of film in the camera. I was at the end of the roll, and push a little too hard on the advance lever without thinking and snapped the roll. Of course, the whole roll was ruined at that point, since I had no changing bag and would have had no place to put the film anyway, and no way to get it to a developer willing to try to save it. So, I threw the film away. Arrgh! I know, I know; it wouldn't have happened if I used a digital SLR...

We had lunch at a small resort in the Daintree, one that we've stopped at many times before. John prepares fantastic steaks, complemented with salads and avocado slices. While he was busy cooking those up, a few of the students visited the kangaroo refuge. There were only two red kangaroos and two wallabies; two of the kangaroos that had been there in 2006 had died. Since it is a refuge for kangaroos that could no longer survive in the wild, they often have ailments that will limit their time, so it was not really a surprise to find some gone. Of course, it did not mean as much to the students as it did to me, since one of the ones who had passed on had given me the strongest 'kangaroo hug' after I had given him a particularly tasty treat back then.

The kangaroos and swamp wallabies were very sweet, of course, and seemed very grateful for the attention. The reds were both very old, and one who clearly had difficulty moving about had hip displacia, according to Matt. I suspect that it's a common complaint for elderly kangaroos, as their hip joints probably get quite a pounding over the years.

After lunch, we continued north, through the tea plantations and the forest, until we left the paved road at the Cape Tribulation and continued north through the forest to Emmagen Creek. The creek is a freshwater stream up the mountainside, well away from the crocs and any other nasties, and is a place where the students could have a bit of a splash in the water while John and Matt got the billy tea going.

The 'billy' in billy tea refers to the can in which the tea is boiled. A billy is a can with a wire handle that probably holds about 2 litres of water. The word 'billy' is a corruption of a French word that means 'to boil,' and refers to the cans of 'bully beef' from which the billy cans were originally made.

The process of making billy tea is straightforward: get the water boiling in the billy, throw the tea in, wait a few minutes, and then whirl the hot tea water overhead to force the tea leaves to the bottom of the billy. This was demonstrated for us by Matt this time, though I suppose it's something anyone could do. You must simply trust the physics of it.

They also served a sweet bread, a sort of raisin loaf, with golden syrup made from cane. Along with that, we were treated to several exotic fruits. These are grown in Tropical North Queensland but are not native to Australia, and included familiar items like bananas, papayas, and pineapples, but some unusual things too, like Amazon custard apple and mammy sapote. They were all very tasty, though some of the students were a little intimidated by the latter two.

We did stop at Cape Tribulation on our way back. The Cape was so named by Captain Cook, as he felt that all his troubles with the voyage started at this point: running aground on the reef and tearing a hole in his ship; ravaging the crew; and many other difficulties began at this point.
The Cape has a lovely stand of mangroves on its northern side; at low tide, the complex root system is revealed. It's also a good place to watch for wildlife. Some students found small translucent crabs on the beach, and many saw a variety of birds about. There was an enormous golden orb spider hanging around outside the women's toilet, and apparently an even larger one inside -- needless to say, I couldn't see that one, and had to take the students' word for it.
We made a stop at a tropical ice cream store, where I got my yearly taste of wattleseed ice cream. Someone must bring this to the US! It has a taste somewhere between chocolate and coffee, but lighter. It's very good. If I can, I will find some roasted wattleseeds, bring them back, and make some for folks back home.

The tropical ice cream store sells one item only, a cup containing four flavors of the day. They were wattleseed, black sapote, soursop, and macadamia nut. All were very good, of course -- but I was waiting for the wattleseed.

After the ice cream store, we came back to Cairns and said our good-byes to John and Matt. A note to Larry: John sends his regards.

Tomorrow is a free day. And then on the 14th we're off for our final round of adventures in Alice Springs and Central Australia.

A quick note from Alice Springs

2008-05-14T02:52:00.002-04:00

This is a very brief note to let you all know that we are down here in Alice Springs, where it is sunnay, warm, and very dry. We seem to have the rooms at Toddy's sorted out, and will have an evening meal there with an Aboriginal didgeridoo player giving a concert this evening.

Everyone is fine and in good spirits. We are not weary of Australia yet!

--charlie

Kuranda

2008-05-12T20:31:00.000-04:00

May 11
Cairns
Cloudy, then rainy and cooler.

Today was our day to head up to Kuranda via Sky Rail, and then pay a visit to Rainforest Station.

Sky Rail is an interesting enterprise. The system consists of a series of stanchions supporting a cable car system that has occupants glide over the rainforest, probably about 50 feet or so above the canopy. There are two stops along the way: one that lets out to a boardwalk permitting a short walk through the rain forest, the other with an education center and a second walk along the Barron River gorge, a major hydroelectric works. From this second stop, one can see the Kuranda Scenic Railway on the other side of the gorge as it brings its load of tourists to the top.
We do not have time for a walk through Kuranda itself, but our driver did drive us through for a quick look. Kuranda is very much a tourist village, with many craft shops alongside souvenir stores and eateries. There are a few interesting attractions: a butterfly garden, and sanctuaries for koalas and birds.

Our tour guide, David, is a native of the area, and told me a little bit about the history of Rainforest Station. It started off in the late 1800s as a coffee plantation, and one can still find coffee plants growing in the surrounding forest. During David's childhood in the 1970s, he remembers it as a citrus fruit orchard. The theme park started in the late 1980s, with the wildlife exhibits, the Army DUKW("Ducks") tours, and the restaurant. The Pamagirri Aboriginal Dance troupe was added in 1993, and the Dreamtime Tour in 1995.

We first took a tour of the wildlife park. Much of it repeats things that we have seen elsewhere. We then walked over to the Pamagirri Aboriginal Dance theatre for the noon show. The dancers have a very good sense of humor, and entertain the tourists very well. I was the butt of one joke; they do a snake dance in which they go into the audience, behaving like snakes, waiting to strike a victim. I was watching one of the dancer on the far side while, unknown to me -- and in full view of most of the audience behind me -- another dancer had positioned himself directly behind me and ready to strike. All the other dancers were a distraction; the surprise attack on me was the whole point, I guess. It was a very good laugh all around. The dance ended with some audience participation, and I am happy to report that two of our students got up right away to volunteer. The dance consisted of two steps and a pose, all of which look simple enough, though as the father of two dancers, I am very certain that what the Aboriginal dancers are doing is quite difficult to do well.

During the performance, the rains came. (We are in the wet tropics, and there's a reason it's called the rain forest.) Most of the areas for the tourists are under corrugated tin roofs for this reason. There have been times when we've visited Rainforest Station and it's been dry and sunny, but this day was not at all untypical. The rain continued as we we guided along the Dreamtime Walk, during which an Aboriginal guide shows us how to throw spears and boomerangs and how to play a didgeridoo. I did feel a little sorry for the guide, as he had to stand out in the rain during all of this. My boomerang throw was shameful, though my colleague and many of the students did quite well.

Lunch was a little disorganized; this is probably the weak link in the setup. In the past, our Aboriginal guide would lead us to our lunch spot, but not this time. So, when we arrived at the buffet area, no one told us what to do. Since there were many tour groups being seated or already eating, we felt a little at sea, though once I got a staff member's attention we got it all sorted out. Their buffet lunch is very good: many choices, all of it fresh and well-prepared. They feature a pumpkin soup that is particularly good.

The DUKW is a WWII vehicle brought over by the USA for use as an amphibious troop transport vehicle. The 'Duck' has six-wheels on the ground, all of which are driven (6WD). It also has a propeller, and so can scoot around in the water when need be. The DUKWs were just abandoned by the US after the war's end, and so many Aussies took them over and put them to use in various ways. Rainforest Station has six, I believe, and spare parts from many others. They have more or less the same appearance they had back in WWII, though they probably did not have the name 'Rainforest Station' stenciled on. They have all been converted to run on propane, too.

The rains returned for our Army Duck tour of the rainforest, but our driver passed around ponchos, so we were all fine. And seeing the rain forest while it's raining makes a point, too, as one can watch what the water does on its way down. The tour is a short one in terms of distance covered -- they run these Ducks in low gears and make a lot of stops. But it is informative; the guides always seem to be knowledgeable about the plants, and there is a lot to see. We were probably the only non-Asian tourists at Rainforest Station in the afternoon. Cairns has become a popular destination for large tour groups from Japan, China, and Korea. David estimates that about 75% of the tourist business he sees comes from those three countries. The rest are mostly Europeans, with a very few Canadians and even fewer Americans.

The students took their third quiz after we returned to the hotel; they did quite well, by and large. After that, we all got involved in our evening activities and got a good night's rest for tomorrow's tour of the Daintree.

A Free Day

2008-05-12T20:29:00.001-04:00

May 10
Cairns
Cloudy, then partly sunny. Warm.

I realized that I failed to post my May 7th journal entry. I'll post that before this one.

Today was a wash day for me, so I did not get away from the Queenslander until almost 11am. The washers and dryers here are only $2/load, but it seems that every dryer I encounter in Australia turns wet clothes into damp clothes. Once in awhile, I find one that works well.

There was not much new for me today: taking a few more photos, getting some developed, a few other errands. My underwater photos are only OK; you can see the better ones at Flickr. They are not as blue-green as the ones I've had in the past -- they're just grainy. The camera has a 28mm wide-angle lens, with fixed aperture of f/8 and 1/100 sec shutter speed. So the flash sort of does the work, although with preloaded 800 ISO film, there's plenty of light without. I think that it leads to an overexposed shot with some fuzziness. Preloading it with 800 ISO makes it the right thing for divers, as things will be darker farther down. Since I cannot dive, I'm snorkeling up at the top where all the light is. Next year, I'll try it with 200 ISO film and see if things look a little better.

The purpose of the flash in this case is less about making the objects brighter, and more about restoring some color balance. The water absorbs the reddish end of the spectrum, hence the blue-green tinge to a lot of underwater photos. I suppose a red fliter might do the trick as well. Since the underwater camera is really a regular camera in an underwater housing, there\'s no reason I couldn't just fit a bit of red filter material in front of the lens. Maybe I'll try both next year.

I did manage to get what I hope,is a nice photo of a willie wagtail, a small perching bird with clack feathers and a white underside. The pronounced tail wags back and forth along with the bird's head as it moves about while foraging. Some years ago, an Aborigine told me that for his people, willie wagtail is the watcher for the departed elders, keeping an eye on the people and making sure that they follow the law.

I ran into a few students as I walked around today. They are having wonderful adventures: one group went horseback riding on the beach at Port Douglas, another group went whitewater rafting on the Barron River. The 13th is our last free day in Cairns, and several have told me tghat they are planning additional reef cruises and fishing tours for the day. I'm glad that they keepme in the loop. Not only does it help to know ehere folks are, but also as they learn more about the place4, so do I.

For example: the group of students who went horseback riding needed to take a trip of about an hour or so up to Port Douglas, and were faced with the problem of how to get there. The outfitg that they were riding with arranged for a coach transfer, done by a local man who makes his living shuttling tourists between the two cities. He was especially kind to the students when their tour ran late, making sure to wait fo0r them. The students got his business card and gave it to me -- so now I know tyhe name of a good coach driver who works the Cairns-Port Douglas run.

The only other task for the day was making the 3rd quiz, which the students take tomorrow. It has been a challenge to get these quizzes together this year, though I suppose that means that it will be much easier next year. For the current quiz, I could find no copier service open on Saturday anywhere in Cairns, until I walked pastv the library and realized that, of course, they would have one! So, that's done.

====

It is the morning of the 11th, and we've just had a power failure in the building. I seem to recall that this would happen from time to time here in Cairns. Since I'm on batteries on the handheld computer, it really does not affect me.

Today we will head up the mountain via Sky Rail to Kuranda, where we will visit Rainforest Station, a wildlife and cultural theme park.

The forgotten post!

2008-05-12T20:26:00.001-04:00

May 7
Cairns
Sunny, pleasant

This is not in the correct order! Sorry about that; I never posted this one. What follows was written when we arrived in Cairns.

It is now the evening; we've been in Cairns a few hours. I have now once more had my very favorite meal in Australia: coral trout, blackened, at Barnacle Bill's on the Esplanade. It has become a bit of a joke on the course that I've planned the entire experience just so that I can get back to Cairns and eat here. I missed it last year, of course, as we did not go in 2007, so it's been two years. It is still a very good meal, cooked exactly right with a wonderful Cajun coating with jerk overtones. If ever you're in Cairns ...

The remainder of our trip north on the train was uneventful. We passed through field after field of crops; mostly sugar cane, but there are banana, pineapple, and pulpwood plantations, along with some citrus orchards. There are a number of sheep and cattle stations along the way, too, as well as open scrubland. I only saw a few kangaroos, but some of the students tell me they saw many.

It is typical to see kangaroos wherever one finds grazing animals, as the conditions favorable for the one are also good for the other. Add to that the fact that the kangaroo is a 'dawn and dusk' animal, just like our deer, and the right times and places for watching for 'skippy' are pretty easy to figure out. I get up very early while in Australia anyway, so I go to the buffet car or the club car and gaze out the window right around dawn just in case.

This far north, the main Bruce Highway has become just one lane in each direction, with rail stops blocking it in some towns. As we passed through Innisfail, one such town, I was struck by how well it has rebounded from the hammering it took from Tropical Cyclone Larry a few years ago. The cyclone had charged ashore with winds around 120 mph, ripping off roofs and flattening cane fields and banana plantations. The estimates at the time were that 80% of the crop was destroyed. Of course, they replanted right away, and the stuff grows very fast, so in 9 months time the fields were full once more.

The land is flat for several hundred kilometers along the rail route, punctuated here and there on the east by hills and small mountains that just rise out of the ground for no apparent reason. Off to the west lie the Great Dividing Range. As the train moves closer to Cairns these two converge, so that by the time the train moves north of Innisfail on the last couple of hours of the trip, the land has become rolling, with high hills on both sides.

Cairns is the place where at least three ecosystems meet: the mountainous tropical rainforest, the Atherton Tablelands, and the Great Barrier Reef. The Tablelands serve as one of the breadbaskets of Australia; there is a lot of cultivated land throughout. Together with the coastal plantations, this entire region sees huge agricultural activity. Runoff from these finds it way into coastal waters and eventually into the ocean, where it has an impact on the Reef. We will no doubt hear more about that tomorrow night at Reef Teach.

We actually arrived a little ahead of schedule. Our driver was waiting nevertheless, and we arrived at the Cairns Queenslander without any problems. All our rooms are on the first floor (you and I would call it the second floor) -- the students were a little grumpy about that, but we should get less patio noise higher up.

After getting settled in, we all met for a few minutes by the pool so that we could go over the lodging rules and the schedule for the next few days. It was pretty clear that the students were already thrilled with the place, and particularly interested in the patio BBQ. Some of the students left with my colleague and me for a guided walk down the Esplanade, while others took off for the nearby IGA for provisions for an evening meal.

After dinner, my colleague and I walked back, stopping to buy a few things for the next couple of days. And a note to my lovely wife: I am able to get back on my healthy diet for awhile.

Great Barrier Reef Cruise

2008-05-09T22:22:00.001-04:00

Katie, Amber, and Vanessa on Passions of Paradise
Originally uploaded by chazjac

May 9
Cairns
Sunny, breezy. Cloudy late.

We have returned from our Day cruise on the Great Barrier Reef on the good ship Passions of Paradise. It is actually early in the morning on the 10th, a free day in the calendar, though my colleague will host a group dinner tonight at the Cock 'n' Bull restaurant nearby.

The day cruise was a little different than the ones we have done in the past. We have always used the same outfit. Passions of Paradise (PoP) is a sailing catamaran, a vessel large enough to hold about 80 passengers. The name refers to Paradise Reef, a part of the patches for which the PoP holds exclusive visitation rights. several bits of the Reef are franchised this way, while others are off limits to any commercial or private use. The idea, of course, is to keep the reef as pristine as possible.

The Reef is being threatened by many things: rising ocean temperatures cause coral bleaching, a phenomena in which the coral expel the algae that they host, leading to the coral starvation. Agricultural runoff from the large cane fields and other farms enrich the waters around the reef, causing rises in the population of species such as the crown-of-thorns that predate upon the coral. Mangroves act as a barrier between ecosystems, and, among other things, hold such runoff in check. Thus, the removal of the mangroves to create oceanfront and increase property values also threatens the Reef. And of course, the ignorant tourist contributes as well, by touching the coral, and in some cases, walking on it.

The only thing that was different was the order of the day: we visited Michaelmas Cay first, a huge bit of patch reef with a small stage I island at the back. This island is a bird sanctuary; we are only allowed to stand on a small portion of the coral sand beach as we swim out to the snorkeling sites.

The snorkeling I did was most pleasant. I invested finally in an underwater camera with a flash, preloaded with high-speed (800 ISO) film. It's a good investment, though the prints are still developing. In the past, I was pretty uncomfortable being in the water, and I was not sure I was going to even get in, but I'm glad I did. I saw the cleaner wrasses busily at work at their cleaning stations, parrot fish crunching away at algae, all manner of damsel fish, wrasses, angel fish, and many of the others we learned about at Reef Teach. My hope is that some of the flash pictures will lose that blue-green cast.

Some of the students found a neat device for rent the day before: underwater digital cameras. One rents these before leaving on the cruise, takes all the pictures desired, and then returns the camera. The shop then transfers all the photos onto a CD, together with some of additional professional photos. A very nice idea that I will definitely think about for next year.

The weather was great in the morning. They collected us for lunch, and as we began heading toward Paradise Reef for our second snorkeling experience, it started clouding up- a bit. I stay on the boat the second time, but most of the students went in for a second visit. A few grumbled afterwards, as the sea was getting some moderate swells -- nothing dangerous, just annoying. I suspect that this is the reason that the boat visits Michaelmas Cay first; it's the one most likely to draw folks, and fewer passengers decide to snorkel at Paradise Reef, thus making their custodial role a little easier.

After returning to Cairns, my colleague and I visited the Cock 'n' Bull ourselves for dinner and to make the arrangements for tonight's group dinner. We were both tired, and so turned in pretty early. All in all, a pretty nice day for the course.

Reef Teach

2008-05-09T22:21:00.001-04:00

Batfish nearby Passions of Paradise
Originally uploaded by chazjac

May 8
Cairns
Sunny, warm

It is mid-afternoon on the 8th, and I have a little time before I start dinner for my colleague and me. It is a beautiful day here in Cairns, sunny, slightly warm and humid, but with a very stout breeze. I am sitting on the second level patio of the hotel, just watching the palms wave about.

There are so many types of palms that I think I cannot even begin to get them all straight. Of course, there are the ones that produce crops, such as date palms or coconut palms. And there are short ones, tall ones; some have a different leaf structure, like the fan palms; others are characterized by their vines, like rattan... I am sitting at this table looking at two palms. Both have fruits: one has a number of short stalks from which tiny green buds sprout and grow into a red berry; the other has a similar but thicker stalk, and the fruit appears to be a nut that turns from green to a deep red. It might be a date palm, I suppose ...

We have an evening activity, but the day was free, so I spent the morning walking along the Esplanade and taking some photos. I found a few nice blossoms, including the sensitivity plant with its light purple fuzz ball flower. I know little about it, other than that I've seen it here, but do not know if it is native or not. I also got a couple of mudskippers and a crab; I hope they turn out.

Dinner tonight is a pork and vegetable stir-fry with rice. I'll probably throw in some curry powder I bought for a little kick. It is incredibly expensive even to make a meal this simple! The meat was $14/kilo -- that's about $7 per pound. I used the smallest package I could find. Vegetable prices were outrageous, too. But, still, it's no doubt less expensive than what we'd pay to order it in a restaurant.

===

Reef Teach is a two-hour evening lecture to which we have brought our students every year we have offered the course. In years past, the lecture was run by an Irish fellow named Paddy, a marine biologist committed to protecting the Reef by educating tourists on how to best prepare for their cruise. Paddy retired and sold the business last year, so our host this time 'round was Natalie. She is not so much older than our students -- I would guess her at about 30 or so -- so the students warmed up to her very quickly.

The lecture itself was as informative as ever: we are introduced via slides and pass-around exhibits to the types of creatures we might find on the Reef: fishes, turtles, sea stars (incorrectly a.k.a. 'star fishes'), octopuses, prawns and shrimp, dolphins, dugongs, and whales. And of course, coral.

Natalie's style is very different from Paddy's. Paddy was sometimes a little over the top in his mannerisms and his sounds, and, while entertaining, these things sometimes got in the way of student learning, as though the show was the thing, not the reef. I never thought that was his intention; he was the same fellow that would be on the Passions of Paradise cruise with us the following day answering additional questions the students would have, the same man who would spend his off-days planting trees along estuaries to help stop agricultural runoff. Natalie's presentation style is more accessible to a crowd like ours, though.

The facility that Reef Teach uses is the fourth one they've occupied. For the first few years of the course, they had a store front on the ground floor of one of the streets just off the Esplanade and across from the casino, a very nice location. Then they moved to a first floor location on the same street; Paddy told me that this was due to an increase in the rent -- sounds like a similar story to what all too often happens to small businesses in America. The new owners occupied a ground-level storefront again for a short time, before moving to this second floor location a few blocks away on Lake Street. We were the first to arrive, and I was afraid that it would be only us, but the lecture room filled up pretty quickly. So, I am hopeful that this is not a business withering away; a lecture like this before we go on the cruise is an important piece of understanding the Reef.

Sunlander at Townsville

2008-05-07T21:02:00.001-04:00

Sunlander at Townsville
Originally uploaded by chazjac

May 6
Sunlander Train
Sunny, pleasant

(I am actually uploading this on the 8th. So, the shot of the Townsville platform might be problematic if you are following our progress with a map, as Townsville is much farther north than the city of Rockhampton that I mention below.)

We're on the train taking us from Brisbane to Cairns, passing through the immense sugar cane fields and the eucalyptus scrubland tracts. It's about a half hour before dinner begins in the buffet car, so I thought I'd write down a few notes about the last couple of days.

I think I had mentioned that there was a cold circulating through our ranks. The first student reported getting a scratchy throat the night before we left for Fraser Island, with others -- myself included -- becoming symptomatic shortly afterwards. I am still fighting the cold, but it does not appear to be too severe in my case. One student seemed to have it pretty rough on the island, but reports feeling much better now that we're on board.
------
My colleague and I just returned from dinner in the buffet car -- which is not a dining car, as the conductor informed me via a somewhat stern lecture this morning. I guess it's not a dining car because the table service is not complete; one orders at a window, sits down, and then the food is brought to you. So, buffet, not dining. It's important to have this right, y'know. By the way, 'buffet' rhymes with 'little Miss Muffett.'

I had the steak, with mixed vegetables and roasted potatoes. Very good, and only about $15. My colleague had the fish and gave it a very good report. The train food on the Sunlander has always been quite good and reasonably priced. The dining-- buffet -- car was very crowded, as a number of our students arrived at 6 pm right along with the older crowd with us up here in the single berths.

As usual, the presence of our student group has not gone unnoticed on the train. Some of the other passengers have asked my colleague and I about the course. And the Club Car hostess just came on the PA system and announced that in honor of the special group from New York, the next movie they show will be Hairspray. I do not have the heart to tell them that the movie is set in Baltimore.

Back to the 5th of May: that was Labour Day here in Australia. I confess that I did not know that they celebrated it here. But it is a holiday that honors workers, particularly union workers. Some of the papers published articles on Monday examining Australian attitudes about the holiday. Many people do not know what the holiday represents, and treat it as another day off-- that's true of a lot of Americans, too. Some business folks want the holiday abolished, since only about 19% of the labor force here is unionized. Others want it moved to a different time of the year; since it falls so close to ANZAC Day, they claim that productivity falls during this time. I just wanted more shops to be opened.

What we would call a 'pharmacy,' Australians call a 'chemist.' There were no chemists open during the day, so I could find no cold medicines. And when one was open in the evening, I found the experience of shopping there strange; I am used to just going to the shelves and finding the product that I need, but that is not at all how it works in Australia. One must tell the chemist behind the counter the symptoms, and then he/she will recommend a medication. I felt so confused by the process that I didn't get anything.

Mostly, I just rested on Monday, like a lot of the students who have the cold. But some students went up to the Australian Zoo at Beerwah, about a hour north of Brisbane. This is the zoo of the late Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. The zoo is run by his widow, Terri, and their daughter Bindy is prominently featured these days, with her own nature show and many personal appearances. This was the second group of students to go this year; another group had gone before we left for Fraser Island. We had taken the students there in 2006, and it is a nice zoo -- I like Taronga Zoo better, but that's not meant as a knock on the Australian Zoo at all. It is a tribute to Steve Irwin that he could take his parents' small reptile park and turn it into a huge commercial success, and going beyond that to fund wildlife research and rescue efforts in many parts of the world. We might think of Steve as a bit of a nut -- many Aussies do -- but the man did truly good work, spotlighting endangered species and working with governments on the animals' behalf-- he was especially vigorous in his work with the Bengal tiger. And his zoo reflects his love of animals with many mega-habitats for creatures from all over. Both groups of students thoroughly enjoyed their visits this year.

I did get out a bit to develop some photos, walk around the Botanical Gardens, and shop a bit. I found two books for the train: War Letters of General Monash, and The Bone Man of Kokoda. General Monash was one of the first significant military leaders of the ANZACs, and was a brilliant strategist, some say the best ever. He was responsible for many ANZAC and British victories on the Western Front in WWI. I just finished his letters about the battle of Gallipoli, and hope to get through the Western Front letters this evening.

I wrote a little about the Kokoda trail last week. The 'Bone Man' is Kokichi Nishimura, a Japanese soldier and the only member of his troop to survive the battle along the trail. Determined to find the remains of his fellow soldiers, in 1979, he gave away all his assets to his wife and children, and went back to New Guinea. Not only did he work at finding his comrades, but he also began helping the impoverished Papuans. Some friends of my wife were missionaries in Papua New Guinea during this time; it's possible that they might know this fellow. But it looks like interesting reading; I hope to start it in the morning.

We have stopped at Rockhampton for about a half hour, and will depart shortly. The Tropic of Capricorn runs through this city, so we are truly entering the tropics right now. The train will cruise through the night; we will be in Townsville in the morning, and arrive in Cairns in the later afternoon, around 4:15 pm.

Fraser Island. part 3

2008-05-05T16:51:00.001-04:00

Cycad seed pods at Fraser Island
Originally uploaded by chazjac

May 4
Fraser Island
Sunny, breezy

This is the last of three blog entries about the Fraser Island camping trip. I am writing this one on the 6th, shortly before our departure on the Sunlander for Cairns. Once again, I will be out of touch for a day or so as we travel up to the tropics.

The morning started out cloudy and slightly rainy, but it never did much more than sprinkle a little. One of the students had taken his sleeping bag outside to sleep by the campfire and had to relocate under the dining area tarp.

After breakfast, we drove up the beach for our last lake visit. We met two more dingoes, one of them quite large, according to the guide. I got no photos, as I had given up the front seat to one of the students who was nursing a cold. Butt a couple of the students did, so I am hopeful that they will share some with me.

Lake Wabby is a barrage lake, created when a sand dune moves to cut off a stream. The effect is reminiscent of an oxbow lake sometimes formed when a river changes course, though the process is quite different. The lake is at the end of a 2 km walk, one kilometer of scrubland forest, the other of sand dune. It is a challenging walk, especially for an older out-of-shape guy like me -- my legs are still a little sore from it.

The students actually found the lake a little boring, and many left by an alternate path early to head back to the seashore. That's another thing we'll change about the tour next year: more time on the walks to and from Lake Wabby; less time at the lake itself.

And the walks were interesting: more cycads, including a couple with ripening seed pods -- I hung a photo of these at the Flickr site. We also started to see some of the tropical birds: cockatoos, lorikeets, and parrots. No photos yet, but I should have opportunities in Cairns.

We returned to Brisbane with only a minor incident. The van holding the other American group was pulled over for speeding. That group was a bit wild for my taste anyway.

There is a bit of a cold running through the students and faculty. I have it but am recovering. I think we all agree that the train travel today (May 6) will be exactly the rest we need after our intense camping trip at Fraser Island.

Fraser Island, Part 2

2008-05-05T03:02:00.001-04:00

Cycad plant at Fraser Island
Originally uploaded by chazjac

May 3
Fraser Island
Sunny, breezy

This is the second of three blog entries about the Fraser Island camping trip. One more will follow. I am writing these on the 4th and 5th, after our return to Brisbane.

I get up pretty early in the morning, and even earlier while down here, since my internal clock is still a bit messed up. The campsite we use on Fraser Island has a dingo-proof fence around it -- not that the dingoes would come into a camp site populated by humans and get vicious; it's mostly to keep them out of the rubbish bins. There's a nice little path just outside the fence that's perfect for a pre-dawn stroll.

I found this wooly caterpillar chain. Eight of them marching along a sandy road, head of one direct behind the backside of another, slowly crossing the road. Nearby, several more seemed to be writhing about in a ball. When I asked Reg about these later in the day, he told me that they were poisonous to the touch.

Breakfast at the campsite was simple: cereal and toast, with coffee, tea, and juice. The toast spreads included the usual: margarine and jam, peanut butter -- and of course Vegemite. Vegemite is a 'yeast extract.' I've never been completely clear on what that means, and the rumors about the way it's made vary, with some saying it's a byproduct of beer-making and others saying grosser things about yeast 'poo.' It's a dark brown in color, and has a consistency about like peanut butter, though not as sticky. The taste is tangy and very salty. I like the stuff just fine, but in very small doses. Americans generally do not seem to like it much. I do suspect that half the reason Australians have it around is to get some amusement out of tourists trying to cope with the stuff. I will bring a jar to the course reception at the end of the trip for those brave enough to try it.

Because Fraser Island has such a high water table, many streams pop out of the sand, cutting deep sandy gorges as the fresh water finds it way to the sea. When these reach the beach, they fan out and become very shallow. The larger ones will have steep banks that the tour guides must slow down for and maneuver through, while the small ones are a quick bumpy thrill when taken at high speed. The map of these streams is ever-changing: some dry up, others change course, new ones appear.

The largest and most permanent of these is Eli Creek, about 2/3 of the way up the eastern side of the island. We spent about an hour walking through the lower part of the creek -- literally walking in the water of the creek at some points. Th water was pleasantly cool, and the plant life abundant. Some of the students saw some eels, but I only noticed some fish that may have been Moses perch.

Right after we pulled away from Eli Creek, our tour guide stopped and had us dig up pippis, small mollusks similar to clams. Once I knew what I was doing, I managed to find about a half-dozen. That evening, we cooked them and had them as an entree dish. Their taste is like a clam or mussel but a little more delicate. I've never been a fan of either, but the pippis were not too bad if you like that sort of thing. One of the tour guides encouraged our students to eat them raw, and one actually did -- I was not nearby to discourage her. (For the parents: she's fine.)

We had lunch at Indian Head near the northern tip of the island. The climb up to the lookout point was challenging, especially for those of us who were barefoot, but the view of the water below was breathtaking. Some of the students reported seeing sharks and manta rays from their vantage point. Indian Head also seemed to be a chance for some of our younger tour guides to go surfing. They seemed to be quite good; but I know little about the sport. One of them came in very quickly after seeing a shark only a few metres from him, one of the same sharks our students saw from the lookout point.

After lunch, the students had a chance to visit some nearby tidal pools. There was a barnacle-like animal lining the seaward side of the pool that would squirt water when stepped on. The pools also had some fish, small stripeys and whiting. The students had a good time splashing about.

Later in the day, we went for a subtropical rainforest walk. It was a little unfortunate that the student groups arrived at different times, as we were unable to offer them a consistent guided experience. I was able to talk to my group about the rainforest canopy, a few of the trees found in the rainforest, strangler figs, epiphytes, and cycads, but other groups were left without any such commentary. It was also late in the day, so they were all a little tired. The order of the day's activities is something that we will change next year.

The evening was pretty much devoted to card games. Some students played Uno, while another group attempted to teach me how to play Pitch. It seems to be a relative of the bridge/euchre style of games, with a complex point structure. We played a few hands and then stopped for a simple dinner of hamburgers and sausages. I was exhausted enough to turn in early and get ready for our last day on the island.

Fraser Island, Part 1

2008-05-04T20:38:00.003-04:00

My Shadow at Lake Mackenzie
Originally uploaded by chazjac

May 2
Fraser Island
Sunny, breezy

This is the first of three blog entries about the Fraser Island camping trip. Two more will follow. I am writing these on the 4th and 5th, after our return to Brisbane.

The drive from Brisbane to Rainbow Beach is a little tedious, and one of the things I will seek to alter in the future. But there's little to be done about it; it's not likely that we'll move the island closer to the city -- and I don't think we'd want to, anyway.

But I cannot say that the scenery is bad; quite the contrary. And it is really only the second chance the students have had to see something outside the city. One of the things I think I might want to do in future offerings of the course is to decrease the big city portion and have more country experiences. But that's for another day. North of Brisbane on the way to Rainbow Beach lies a lot of pulpwood plantations that we passed through, so that's perhaps what made it a little boring.

We stopped for lunch at the seaside village of Rainbow Village, a pleasant little town just a few minutes from the barge ferry that would take us to Fraser Island. We had about an hour to wander around and eat. I ordered a hamburger made in the Aussie fashion -- and that means beets. Yes, they put a slice of beetroot on their burgers. Now I love beets, and having them on a burger is fine -- but definitely an Aussie thing.

Our tour guides are Reg, Wes, and Graham. Joining us for the first days were eight American students; they are on a weekend jaunt from some universities and are led by another guide, Matt. And Brendan, a guide I knew from years past, just showed up on the night of the 3rd with some backpackers.

Reg is the oldest of the bunch, roughly my age (early-mid 50s). He's had an interesting life in and out of the tourism industry; I think this is a semi-retirement position for him, taking jobs as he pleases. A very pleasant fellow that the students like a lot. The other guides are much younger. Wes is the driver of the LandCruiser I am riding in. He and Graham are both surfers, and in fact ran off several times looking for the perfect wave during today's stops. He's a nice man, but very young. The girls adore him. They like Graham too. He's a lot like Wes -- I think they're mates away from the job -- but sports a large set of dreadlocks, as does Brendan. Matt reminds me of the sidekick in Shaun of the Dead.

We crossed over to the Island via a small ferry barge. There were three that I saw operating, and probably were normally kept busy. Th island does seem oddly quiet -- it is, after all, a holiday weekend. Once on the island, we went driving up the beach at highway speed.

Fraser Island is a sand island, an accumulation of sand against a harder undersea mountain, taking place over eons. It is the largest such island in the world. This gives the island a very unique geography: sand dunes held in place with dense vegetation; sub-tropical rainforests inland; about 75 miles of beach on the seaward side; mangroves on the side facing the mainland.

Dingoes are the wild dogs of Australia, and Fraser Island is the last place on earth that one can find dingoes that have a purely dingo ancestry -- I am reluctant to call them 'purebred' because that implies a breeding program that does not exist. But most of the dingoes on the mainland have interbred with the European dogs brought by the settlers, so the pure dingo line no longer exists there. To keep the population on Fraser Island pristine, no one can bring a dog onto the island for any reason.

As we were driving along, we saw a woman outside a truck with a medium-sized dingo with dark honey-colored fur. It was very comfortable with her, and did not run away when we pulled up for a photo. But once several other cars pulled up for a photo, it ran off. Wes told us the woman is a researcher who is studying the dingo; apparently befriending them and gaining their trust along the way.

We also saw a sea snake as we drove along, and stopped for some pictures of it. It was a sad event, though; the snake had been washed ashore with the tide and was clearly exhausted with the struggle to regain the water. They are highly venomous and aggressive, so there was nothing we could do. The tide was coming in, but the guides figured that the snake would become a meal for a dingo or a sea eagle in awhile.

After dumping our bags at camp, Our first stop was Lake Mackenzie, a window lake. Window lakes are clear like a pane of glass, but they are so named for a different reason. Fraser Island has a fresh water table about 30 metres above sea level -- though they do mix, fresh water will tend to float on salt water. When the sand dune level on the island drops below the water table, a pool of fresh water forms, essentially a window into the water table.

The water in Lake Mackenzie is acidic, enough so that the acid combined with the fine silica sand will act as a metal polish. Tour guides often invite people to put rings or other jewelry into the lake to see the effect. The acid level keeps most fishes out; only a few turtles populate the lake. The water is one of the deepest blues one might ever see, and the sand is as white as snow and as fine as popcorn salt.

The walk-around would take too long to complete for the time we have at the lake, but I do manage to get to the second beach, effectively hidden from the first by a stand of paperbark trees. Since it is seldom used, this beach does sport some life not found on the heavily used main beach. There's a small red carnivorous plant called a sundew that secretes a sweet and sticky substance to attract ants and other small insects. Once the animal has approached, the red branches curl over it and the plant proceeds to digest it.

After the evening camp meal, my colleague gave a lecture on the Southern Sky. Because our heads are inverted in relation to yours in America, the constellations that we both can see appear upside-down to us. Leo is lying on his back, for instance. On the other hand, Orion is still in the West in the evening, and because of its proximity to the celestial equator, does not appear much different. And there are some things that we can no longer see down here: we can only see some stars in the handle of the Big Dipper, though it is almost directly overhead for you at night.

Just as pointer stars in the Big Dipper helps one locate the relatively dim North Star, anyone in the Southern Hemisphere can use the Southern Cross to find south. And because there are 'false crosses' in the sky, the Southern cross itself is located with two bright pointer stars in the constellation Centaurus. One of those, Alpha Centauri, is the closest visible star outside of our solar system.

The Southern Cross lies in the Milky Way, the edge-on view we have of our home galaxy. One can see much of the Milky Way in the Southern Sky at this time of year, and the view is spectacular. The Cross and the constellation next to it, Carinae, contain the Carina Arm of the Galaxy, the one in which our own solar system lies. The constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius contain the galactic center, an area so bright that we would cast shadows at night from it were it not for the immense dust clouds that block our view. Still, the image of the Milky Way Galaxy spread out before us like that is pretty unforgettable.

Toward the south celestial pole are many celestial sights of interest. There are two objects that look like clouds at first, until one realizes that they move with the sky and not with the wind. These are the Small and Large Magellanic Clouds, small dwarf galaxies that orbit our own. The clouds themselves are visible with the naked eye, though a small pair of binoculars would reveal individual stellar structure.

After the Star lecture, we all went off to sleep, resting up for the next day's adventures. I will write about those in the next entry.

Off to Fraser Island

2008-05-01T16:17:00.001-04:00

This is a quick note to let everyone know that we're off to Fraser Island for a two-night camping trip. I will be out of touch until May 4. Check back then.

--charlie

A quick note

2008-04-30T20:56:00.002-04:00

I just noticed that there are news accounts of a boat accident in Sydney Harbor in which some people were killed. This is a note to any parents reading this blog: our students are fine. We're in Brisbane, many miles north of Sydney. None of us were involved in that accident. We're fine.

It seems that the accident involved a pleasure boat and a fishing trawler. Neither of these are the sort of craft the students are likely to be on while in course activities. We do use the ferries in Sydney Harbor, but they are run by very capable folks and are quite safe.

So, if you saw this on CNN or some other network and had a moment of worry, put your mind at rest. Everyone's safe, and all seem to be having a good time.

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

2008-04-30T17:33:00.001-04:00

Koala at Lone Pine
Originally uploaded by chazjac

April 30
Brisbane
Sunny and Mild

So much has changed in Brisbane sine I was last here in 2006. There had been a construction project that seemed never-ending, spanning several of our visits, by the river between the Queen St. Mall and the Victoria Bridge, across from the casino. It's all finished now, yet another high-rise structure along the Brisbane River. But they do have a very nice plaza complementing the Mall across George St.

On the other hand, some things have not changed. Every year I have been here, there is an African fellow playing a set of steel drums outside the casino. I did not think street musicians would stay at it that long, but he does appears to make very good money at it. Maybe he catches a lot of folks leaving the casino who have just won big and are feeling generous, although I have listened to him and think he's quite talented.

One thing that has changed is the location from which we board the Mirimar Cruise that takes us to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. In the past, we would board on the north side of the river, but the captain e-mailed me before we left with the news that we must go to the south side, nearby the State Library. I learned yesterday that there had been plans to build up the North Quay, the former location of the dock for the Mirimar and several other tour boats, with a large entertainment complex that would jut out about 1/3 of the way into the river. So, the boat docks were closed and the Mirimar found another mooring place. Needless to say, the plans for the entertainment complex were scrapped, once people pointed out to the city planning board that restricting the river by that much would have serious consequences and increase the risk of upstream flooding. But the docks are still gone.

We boarded the boat and started up the river under a cloudless sky. The cruise is only slightly different now from the past. The Brisbane River still meanders about, creating long fingers of land and islands about which the river winds. The flying fox colony on Indooroopily Island has dwindled as it often does this late in the season, with the fruit bats often heading north for better pickings. One year, there were none at all when we went on the cruise. This year, there were only about 1/5 as many as we've seen in peak years. The cruise has a pre-recorded guide, who pointed out that the flying foxes can now transmit a deadly fever to humans if they scratch. Coming into contact with them seems very unlikely, though.

One notable change this year was the absence of a former eyesore along the river. There had been a large old coal-fired power plant, long since abandoned, that had been sitting unused and decaying for nearly a quarter-century. No one wanted to demolish it because of the heavy use of asbestos in it construction, so it just sat. But sometime after 2006, it was knocked down, and construction on a tennis complex has commenced. It will be interesting to see what it looks like in a few years.

Since the Brisbane river is a tidal river, the trip to Lone Pine will vary in the time it takes; when the current is against the boat, it can take up to an hour and a half. Today, though, the tide was with us, and we arrived in about 75 minutes. That was nice, as it takes a little while to do the paperwork so that we can enter.

We began the visit with a BBQ lunch, the first of several we will have during the trip. It's a nice feature of many of the tourist attractions over here, and allows us more time to enjoy whatever the spot has to offer.

After lunch, many of the students went to the 'koala cuddling' area, where for a fee they could hold a koala for a moment. My colleague took several photos of the students doing this, and will probably post some of them on the course site.

The koala show illustrates the koala life cycle, the threats to the koala, and some of the work that Lone Pine is doing to help the koala survive. The koala is a marsupial -- it is not a bear! -- and thus gives birth to a highly immature cub with the appearance and size of a jellybean. This cub must crawl on the mother's fur from her cloaca to her pouch, where it attaches to a teat for some weeks before emerging as a cub recognizable as a young koala. Too large for the pouch, the cub clings to the mother's back for a few more weeks until it is weaned. During this time, the koala cub must ingest a special type of feces that the mother excretes; this feces contains important bacteria that the koala's digestive tract must be inoculated with in order to digest eucalyptus leaves. After weaning, the cub begins foraging for itself and drifts away from its mum.

Koalas lead solitary lives except when mating. They forage for food about four hours a day and sleep the rest of the time, snuggled safe in the crotch of a eucalyptus tree, high overhead. Their fur helps them retain body heat that would otherwise be lost in the breeze. They have little body fat; their plump appearance is due to a very long intestinal tract necessary to extract as much as possible from the nutrient-poor leaves in their diet.

Koalas are always described a 'fussy eaters,' as they will consume only eucalyptus leaves, and only a few varieties at that. Depending on who is doing the speaking, I have heard that they consume only 8, or 25, or 50 varieties of the 700 or so types of eucalyptus in Australia. So, I don't know the number, and I guess the experts don't really, either, but it's small. They will rarely drink water, obtaining what they need from the leaves they consume most of the time.

That they are fussy eaters probably comes from the fact that they have a limited set of behaviors generally. The koala's brain is very small, and has no folding typically seen in other mammals. They are cute, but unfortunately not very bright.

Since they live high in the trees, what threatens the trees threatens them. Loss of habitat is the chief danger facing koalas today. Much of the eucalyptus on which they depend is being cut down as Australia's population and economy grows. Related to this is the issue of roadkill. Many koalas are killed by motorcars and trucks on the highways, as the koalas attempt to cross the road in search of food. Some of the highways in New South Wales and Queensland have specially constructed tunnels and koala-proof fencing as a means of keeping them off the roadways, but it's an incomplete measure at the moment.

Though they do live in the trees, they do come down to forage, and are thus exposed at times to predators: dingoes and other dogs, feral cats, and quolls. The very young and very old koalas are particularly vulnerable.

The Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary acts as the koala's advocate in the legal system, and also educates Australians about the animals and the dangers facing them. But it also houses many other animals. They have exhibits on the wombat, the dingo, many birds, and a couple of crocodiles. They have an open feeding area where one can feed kangaroos and wallabies. There are even a couple of emus wandering in the enclosure. They have small animal demonstrations throughout the day, including a sheep dog show that's quite good.

For this visit, the students stayed at the sanctuary as long as they wanted, and took the city bus back to the hostel when they felt like leaving. We gave them each the bus fare to get back. Much less expensive for the course than hiring a coach or taking the boat back, and much more time for the students to enjoy the animals. And it's easy, since Lone Pine is a terminal of one of the bus routes.

Tomorrow is a free day. There's a botanical garden on this side of the river that I've never gotten to visit, so I'll be doing that. And then we're off camping.

Danielle with Emu

2008-04-30T16:11:00.001-04:00

Danielle with Emu
Originally uploaded by chazjac

Yesterday was our trip to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, and I will have a proper post about it tomorrow. But I wanted to add this separately from the regular posts.

Many years ago, Danielle's cousin Robin was a part of the course, and posed with an emu. Danielle returns the favor in this photo.

So, Robin, if you're following the blog ... yes, she really is in Australia.

Arrival at Brisbane

2008-04-29T17:33:00.002-04:00

brisbane1
Originally uploaded by chazjac

April 29
Brisbane
Sunny and Mild

What a change from Canberra. It is a sunny and warm afternoon here, just made for a stroll about the town. I just got back from a very nice walk using a couple of the bridges over the Brisbane River.

It was cold but sunny this morning in Canberra. While I was uploading the journal entry and a few photos from yesterday, I noticed that our coach had already arrived, about 45 minutes early. He thought he was to pick us up at 7:30, while my contract said 8am. It of course was not a problem for us, but I felt badly for him, as he had nothing to do for about a half hour. The students started showing up at 7:30, and we had the coach full and ready to go by 7:45. So, it's all good!

As we drove to the airport, we saw frost on the ground. It was really cold in Canberra last night! There had been snow in the mountains south and west of us, which means that skiing season is arriving for Australians about a month early. But I have seen frost only one other time while in Australia: our second year, while on a sunrise camel tour in the desert.

The flight from Canberra to Brisbane was an uneventful 90 minutes. Our train ride into Brisbane made me a little nervous, as the recorded announcement kept saying that the train was an express and would only be making limited stops. But it stopped at Roma St., and we got off, walked out of the station and over to the Tin Billy.

Tin Billy is a very simple hostel: clean, nice features, and a good location. Of course it's near the station, so that helps a lot. There is a pub adjoining it so students can get a meal that's fairly inexpensive, and it's a short walk to the city center. We've used it for several years now, whenever the course has gone through Brisbane. It's also pretty quiet, and this year, our rooms are not on the street side. That was one drawback of the Y Hotel: the rooms faced a very busy street, and it could get quite loud. But I anticipate quiet evenings here.

For the first time on the trip this year, my colleague and I will share a room. That's a departure from past years, where Larry and I usually had twin shares, and I am a little mystified that the Y Hotel and Canberra YHA gave us two singles -- we were charged for one twin share in both locations. I did not complain; it's always nice to have some space. But it will be fine, and the room is very nice.

I spent the afternoon looking for the new dock for the Mirimar. In past years, the boat would depart from the north side of the river -- that's the side we're on. But this year, it leaves from the south side, so we need to cross to get to it. It's about a half hour walk; not too bad. From the maps, it appeared that there were two bridges that would serve us equally well in getting to the boat, so I wandered about to figure out the shortest route.

The Brisbane River is a tidal river, salty for much of its length, then brackish. Like any tidal river, it changes course four times a day. Sharks do inhabit the river, so humans tend not to use it so much for swimming, though I have seen water skiers on it in some years. The river does empty into the ocean, widening as it becomes the waterway for a major industrial port.

In the city, it is lined with parklands and docks. The parklands are like most in Australian cities: kept up well and friendly to the users. Since swimming in the river is problematic, many of the parklands will have swimming pool areas as well that include artificial beaches. Most of the docks are private; there is a lot of pleasure boating on the river, and some folks will have craft worthy enough for the coastal ocean waters. Brisbane Public Transit does operate RiverCat ferries, so some of the docks serve as terminals for these. There are only a few bridges across the river, so certainly there are traffic snarls; the RiverCats presumably alleviate that.

And tomorrow, we will sail up the Brisbane River to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.

Canberra Tour

2008-04-28T17:22:00.001-04:00

Parliament House, from the ANZAC War memorial
Originally uploaded by chazjac

April 28
Canberra
Rainy and Cold

Our tour of Canberra is always one of the most interesting days of the course. We visit the Australian Parliament House, the US Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial. It's the day that the students learn about the important relationship between the USA and Australia.

We began at Parliament House at 9am. Our tour guide, John, was a former ministerial aide, and certainly an expert on the workings of Australian government. He was also a well-traveled man, and understood US government as well. As a result, he was a perfect guide for our students, pointing out similarities and differences between the two systems.

Australian government is bicameral, like ours, with one house elected more or less proportional to the population, the other with equal representation for the states. Of course, the head of the government is a prime minister; the executive portion of the government is not a separate branch, but contained within the majority party or coalition of the legislature.

The building is remarkable, containing many layers of symbolism to remind the citizens and government officials alike of their roots and their mission. The colors are chosen to reflect the land: the reds of the harsh interior; the greens of the eucalyptus forests. Most of the building is underground with parkland above, so the government building literally supports the citizens above. It is a beautiful building, and reflects the finest in Australia.

This year Parliament House was very quiet. I think we hit the very tail end of the school field trips (down here called 'school holidays'), so probably will not see a lot of children at most of the places we visit, as we sometimes have in past years. I did learn something interesting that explains the high level of knowledge most Australians have of their government: travel for schoolchildren to Parliament House is subsidized: the farther one lives from Canberra, the higher the level of subsidy. The chambers of both houses are equipped with classroom areas into which teachers can bring their classes and have them watch Parliament in action.

Our trip to the U.S. Embassy often is a moment when some of our students get a glimpse of a possible career in the Foreign Service. We meet with four embassy staff, officers from some of the sections. The generalist officers we meet with rotate their post every two years; this policy prevents them from getting to know the country so well that they become its advocate rather than ours. It's a perfect career for someone who wants to travel around a lot and get to see many parts of the world.

The ANZAC War Memorial also houses one of the best military museums one will find. The matching of memorial and the museum was intentional and wise; placing the Roll of Honour and the Tomb of the Unknown in a moving context.

For this visit, I concentrated on the battle of Gallipoli and the Kokoda trail. Since I've already written about Gallipoli, I'll explain what little I know of Kokoda. This trail cuts across Borneo; the Japanese in WWII intended to use this as a route by which they would stage an invasion of Australia. Keeping this from happening was a key objective of the Battle of the Coral Sea. Defending this trail was a band of Australia militia that faced incredible odds. They were successful in keeping the Japanese from completing the trail, but suffered heavy losses. Along with Gallipoli, Kokoda is remembered as another in a long line of battles that showcased to the world the character of the Australian solider.

AT the ANZAC War Memorial shop, I found a very cute little book that I had to have: a reproduction of the US War Department's 1942 booklet "Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia." It contains a lot of interesting facts, along with a fair amount of misinformation. But I will think of my Uncle Burt Jacobson, who was stationed in Australia at the time, every time I look at the book.

It is now early on the 29th, and we will fly out to Brisbane soon. It's sunny and in the 70s there, so we'll shake the chill off.

The Trip to Canberra

2008-04-27T17:05:00.000-04:00

April 27
Canberra
Rainy and Cold

The truth is, much of the day was sunny and pleasant. The chilly rain did not move in until after our arrival. But it is cold here -- this is the southern most part of our tour, and it is in the middle of their autumn, so the weather is not surprising at all.

It was sunny in Sydney when we left this morning for Canberra on a Murray's coach. Our driver's name was Arthur, and he turned out to be an excellent driver and guide, even taking us on a side trip for lour first encounter with wild kangaroos.

The daily life of a kangaroo has many points of correspondence to that of the deer in North America. Just like deer, kangaroos feed at dawn and dusk, and spend the middle of the day resting under the shade of a eucalyptus stand. The alpha male will stand guard, keeping some level of alertness while the females and juveniles relax. Kangaroos are also creatures of habit, using the same areas for foraging and resting. So, Arthur could be reasonably certain that there would be a mob on the outskirts of Canberra.

Many of the students got some pretty good photos of the mob. In addition to the alpha male, there were probably three females and as many juveniles -- at least seven in the mob. They were watchful of us but not terribly frightened; some of the students got within 50 feet or so of the alpha male without it fleeing. No doubt many tourist coaches come by this location, and the kangaroos are used to it.

We always go up Mt. Ainslie for the view of Canberra. I usually prepare a few remarks about Canberra at this point: the city layout was done by American architect Walter Burley-Griffin; the line of sight between the War Memorial and the Parliament House is kept unobstructed by design; the city layout is radial, and so on. But Arthur went ahead and spoke about all this and more -- it made an impression on the students that this fellow had that much pride in his country and such a sense of history about it. We gave him a round of applause at the end of the trip.

Canberra is very cold right now. Some snow is forecast to the west, but we're under a cold rain here. Th rooms are comfortable and clean, and we were ushered in pretty swiftly. Their elevator is broken, so we had to carry the bags up a flight, but that's wasn't too bad.

We had the students do their first quiz right away after getting settled in their rooms. They did fine; most of the scores were 7-9 out of 10, which is pretty good. They get so nervous about these things, as though a miss or two on a quiz will ruin their chance for passing. I want my students motivated to do well, but sometimes their obsession for good grades gets in the way of their learning -- some seem to spend their intellectual energy trying to figure out what my colleague and I might ask on a quiz rather than taking the travel experience all in and processing it. And the fact is that the students who get past that behavior of trying to guess what's on teacher's mind are often the ones who do better on quizzes and other course grades.

Since it is still a holiday weekend, the shops closed up early here, so there was even less to do than usual. My colleague and I had dinner at an Irish pub off the main shopping area; some of our students went there as well. My meal of a steak sandwich was okay, but my colleague had fish and chips that looked very good. Then it was back here for a quiet night.

It is now about 6:45 am; I'll upload this in a few minutes. I will run the students through the continental breakfast line at 7:30; then we take our tour of Canberra.

Koala at Taronga Zoo (A Test Post)

2008-04-27T05:16:00.001-04:00

Koala at Taronga Zoo
Originally uploaded by chazjac

I'm just checking out this ability to post my Flickr photos here. You can see more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/chazjac/.

Our First Free Day

2008-04-26T17:16:00.002-04:00

April 26
Sydney
Mostly sunny and mild

We were awakened twice during the night by the hotel fire alarm. It's a little different than what I've experienced in the States; the alarm sounds in the room as well as in the halls, and one then hears a voice saying that the fire alarm system has been activated and the hotel guests should stand by. So, one has time enough to throw a few clothes on and retrieve the passport and money. After a few minutes, the sound changes from a beep to a wail, and the voice instructs the guest to evacuate.

The first alarm was at 3:30am. After getting downstairs, we waited outside for just a moment before the firefighters arrived, and then a little while longer before they gave the all-clear for us to return to our rooms. The firefighters said that someone was probably smoking and set off the alarm.

We were all awakened again around 6am. The drill was more or less the same, but then they discovered smoke coming from an electrical closet on the third floor, and kept us out while they checked it out and let the smoke dissipate. They shut down the suspicious air conditioning unit and stuck around for a while to make sure that there was not anything else going on. WE all got to go back to our rooms around 6:45 but like many of the students, I just stayed up and started my day. My guess is that we'll have some repair guys in the building soon.

As my lovely wife will attest, this is not my first experience with hotel fire alarms. But I have to say that the Y Hotel's fire alarm system seems to be more considerate of the guests. Announcing that the alarm has been activated but that we should stand by presumably allows the hotel staff to check out whether an evacuation is truly necessary. That's more than we got at the Holiday Inn at Atlantic City, where my lovely wife and I found ourselves outside in our pajamas on the Boardwalk at midnight -- in January -- with our two children who were very young boys at the time. That time, it turned out that some idiot was smoking in the stairwell and set off the alarm. A whole building evacuated and a fire department called because of a cigarette?!

--------------

I spent the day on laundry, errands for the course, and a walk around the Botanical Gardens. I always get a bit of sticker shock the first time I do laundry over here. The machines are $3 for a load of wash, $3 for dryer time. I bought a box of laundry soap that should last me the course with some left over for my colleague or the students.

In general, the cost of food and other daily needs has risen a troubling amount in the last two years. And since we're much closer to parity between Australian dollars and US dollars, we really feel it more while traveling. The course money is good, and my colleague and I plan on throwing in some extra meals along the way, so the students will be fine. But I can see that it's affecting the Australians; the economy is a constant topic on the news. There are two forces driving food prices here at the moment: the price of oil; and the severe drought affecting much of the country's breadbasket. So, Australians are hunkering down for a rough patch.

------

The Botanical Garden was very pleasant. The weather has improved, so a lot of folks were out walking, picnicking, playing rugby or Frisbee, and generally enjoying the return of good weather. We arrived at the tail end of a two-week period of dreary skies and showers. It was good for filling the catchments and easing the drought, but the gloom was foreign to Sydney; it's tuned to sunshine.

The flying fox colony in the Gardens put on a very good show for the camera bugs. They were squabbling and flying about. Though they are classified as bats, they are neither nocturnal nor carnivorous, preferring to eat eucalyptus blossoms and/or farmer's fruit. A couple of them even obliged flying about for a moment so that I could get a good couple of photos. We'll see how they turn out.

It is now the morning of the 27th; we will leave in a little while for Canberra. The course is off to a very good start. The students are good traveling companions: not too many problems, and when problems have come up they've let me know right away. Of course, sometimes there's nothing I can do, but it's still good for me to be in the information loop. And they've acquitted themselves well also, doing what we've asked of them with little complaint. I am very happy to have this group traveling with me.

On to Canberra!

ANZAC Day

2008-04-26T17:12:00.002-04:00

April 25
Sydney
Partly Sunny and Mild, Windy

(NOTE: This didn't upload properly the first time around, fo that's why it's out of order. Sorry about that!)

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance and commemoration for those who have served in the defense of Australia in some way.

The date of April 25 commemorates the ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) troops joining the Battle of Gallipoli against the Turks. The Gallipoli Peninsula is a mountainous region alongside the Dardanelles, the strait leading to Constantinopole. Control of Gallipoli was therefore critical for the British; with the strait open to the British, an attack on the Turkish avenue into Europe was possible. Of course, the Turks had gun emplacements on the hilltops, heavily protected with machine gunners dug in all along the hillside. The ANZAC objective was to assist in capturing the hilltops by fighting their way up the hill, trench by trench. That they threw themselves into this with grit, tenacity, and pluck, earned the ANZAC soldier a reputation that has become legendary.

Of course, this came at a heavy cost to the ANZAC troops, with thousands dying in the battle. Moreover, the British commanders had their priorities backwards in the battle, worrying about freeing the channel for the British ships instead of concentrating on the hills on Gallipoli first. Without support, the ANZAC troops had no hope of taking the summit; the greatest success was getting so many ANZAC troops down from the hillside that had pretty much turned into a trap for them.

ANZAC Day became a day of remembrance in 1916, though it caught on as a national holiday only slowly. But by the late 1940s, the holiday began to look much like it does today. The events of the day include: 1) a pre-dawn 'stand to' attended by veterans and immediate family; 2) a parade march through the city; and 3) a commemorative service following the parade. Some Australian cities will vary this a bit, but the format is pretty much followed in Sydney. And of course, the holiday has grown in meaning so that it now is a day of remembrance and commemoration for all veterans in any military action in which Australia has taken part.

The pre-dawn service is considered private, so I skipped that one and advised the students too do the same. (I certainly could have gone, as I am still jet-lagged enough so that I am awake and ready to start my day at 3:30am! I'm sure the same is true for many of the students.) I put the 9am parade into the student's planner, though I told them that they did not need to attend the parade as a group.

I wandered around Hyde Park for awhile before the parade began. The area to the north was serving as a staging area for the marchers, and there were some vendors selling tea and sausages. A group of youngsters sold me a sprig of rosemary, an herb worn on this day in remembrance.

I watched the parade from a very nice vantage point along George Street, across from the Queen Victoria Building. I hope I got some nice photos of the event; I'll post them if they turn out. Standing next to me was a man from California visiting Sydney for the third time, so we chatted a bit during the parade. I was eventually muscled out of my spot by a family that was rather rude, but I was pretty much ready to go anyway, as the parade had already gone on for two hours.

The format of the parade is pretty straightforward: lots of marching bands, lots of bagpipes and drums, and lots of marching veterans. No floats. Veterans and sometimes their families march behind the banners for their battalion, regiment, or corps. Almost every type of service is honored. Of course infantry, light horse, armored divisions, naval, and air force were present. Signal corps, intelligence units, medics and nurses had their banners. Even ones that I would not have thought of were there: the Dental Service had a banner, as did the Entertainment Corps and the Carrier Pigeons. Even the War Correspondents had a banner. There was a unit of French and Polish veterans, and US veterans of the small ships corps had their place as well. No wonder it lasted so long.

The bagpipes and marching bands seemed to play either Scotland the Brave or Waltzing Matilda. I must have heard both of those half a dozen times each. But I love bagpipe music, so I enjoyed it.

The commemorative service began in the early afternoon, and lasted about an hour. It featured a choir and another bagpipe and drum corps. The speeches were not very memorable -- but I don't suppose the speeches at these services ever are. It was moving in the same way that a Memorial Day service is. During both the parade and the service, I was struck by the personal connections between the participants and the bystanders; a portion of the crowd would start cheering for a particular veteran who was also a great-grandfather; or a mother would take a picture of her son as he marched with the band.

I spent the rest of the day running a few errands regarding the course and photographing ibises in the park. Tomorrow is a free day, so I'll use the time to get my photos developed and do laundry. I also hope to wander about the Botanical Garden and maybe get a picture or two of a flying fox.

Photos on Flickr

2008-04-26T02:27:00.001-04:00

If you look at the left side of the page, you'll see a link to my Flickr account. I've uploaded a few photos I took with the Canon and the stupid digital camera. Enjoy.

Taronga Zoo and Sydney Aquarium

2008-04-24T23:58:00.000-04:00

April 24
Sydney
Breezy and cloudy with afternoon rain

Finding the Kinkos this morning facilitated uploading the journal entries, and should help also with uploading what photos I do take. I'm doing much less than I did in the past -- my colleague is doing the course blog at http://ecaustralia08.blogspot.com and should have many nice ones there.

I'm pretty happy that I've gone back to film. It lacks the immediacy of feedback, but the shutter opens without a delay when the button is pressed. And I just went too long with cameras that behaved that way to ever be comfortable with the digitals -- at least until they find a way to shorten the delay so that I don't notice it.

We introduced the students to Sydney's mass transit system today, taking them on the subway and then a couple of ferry rides. My colleague went out earlier and bought day passes for all of us. $16 (Australian) gets a ticket that is good until 4am the next day on all the subways and most of the ferries.

Our ferry to Taronga Zoo was one of the rivercats, which is a little different than what we encountered in the past. The older green and yellow ferries are still in use, and in fact we did ride on those back from Taronga and over to Darling Harbour later in the day. I prefer the older ones; ferry rides are best done on an outside deck, and there's only space for 28 outside on the rivercats. There's plenty of outside room on the older ferries.

So far, I'm pretty impressed with this group of students along with us. They've been engaged in the course experiences with little complaining. More importantly, they seem to be pretty friendly with one another. A group that looks out for one another will do very well as we progress through the course.

The last time I was in Australia was 2006, and in that two years a lot has changed at Taronga Zoo. Several habitats have come online, such as the one for the elephants. The cable cars we ride up to the top of the zoo glide right over the elephant habitat, much to the delighted surprise of the students who rode up with me. The ocean animal exhibit that includes the sea lions and the little penguins has been relocated into a more sophisticated viewing area, though the old empty and drained pools have not yet been dismantled.

New to me was an outdoor riverbank habitat that includes a platypus -- it was in its burrow when I was there, unfortunately. I also did not get a photo of the echidna, though my colleague did. But I did get nice photos of some black swans and other birds, and can also include photos of tree kangaroos and swamp wallabies in next year's course booklet.

The bird show had an unexpected moment involving an Andean Condor, the only non-native bird in the show. It's an enormous bird, with a wingspan of nearly ten feet, and when it soared above the crowd at the show, it startled several birds in the area, who started squawking and chasing it around. Though the host treated it as a humorous event, it was pretty clear that the handlers were concerned. The birds used in the show all have tracking devices installed, and so the bird would be found should it not return; the staff was no doubt more concerned about what damage the local birds might do to the condor. But it did come back eventually and finish the show. All in all, it was an enjoyable experience, as usual.

There is also a new attraction nearby the Aquarium, a nature center called Wildlife World. I hope to scout it out on Saturday to see whether it would be suitable for future years. It looks to have several enclosed ecosystems and might serve as a good introduction to the rainforests and plains regions.

We arrived at the Sydney Aquarium in mid-afternoon, right around feeding time for the estuarine crocodile. The handlers come out with a large fish that looked like a barramundi, and, protected by a thick Plexiglas shield, held the fish over it and waited for the croc to jump up to take the fish. It obliged after a moment, much to the delight of the crowd.

It was also feeding time for the little penguins. They are every bit as cute as the koalas, and seem to have a better temper about them.

One exhibit feature that caught my attention was a visitor-controlled camera that allowed enhanced views of some of the tanks. The visitor could manipulate the position of the videos camera and control the zoom factor, with the image showing up on a screen nearby the tank. This allowed a person to concentrate on features of the small fish not otherwise visible.

We dispersed at the Aquarium. It's located in Darling Harbour, a very busy area that caters to tourists with many restaurants, shops, and other museums. I came back to the hotel to begin working on their first quiz, taken on Sunday.

When my colleague returned in the evening, we went out for dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and then visited a nearby supermarket. Food prices down here have gone up so much in the last two years! It is quite unbelievable. Bananas have always been ridiculously high here -- they grow the darned things in Queensland, but I think those are shipped to Asia, with Australians buying imports from the Philippines. But everything else is expensive as well, very different from what I had become accustomed to in past years. It's oil prices, of course, but also the drought here has driven up food prices, too. It's worse than in the states.

Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, and I hope to see some of the students at the parades and services. It will be interesting to see what the Australians do.

The Barracks and the Museum

2008-04-23T18:13:00.001-04:00

April 23
Wet and Cloudy

We arrived about a half-hour late, after a flight that was a little choppy at times. The pilot told us that he was battling headwinds all the way down, and that was the result of the delay. Looking at the flightpath -- one of the things you can do on the QANTAS 747s -- we could see that he made some course corrections, most likely to avoid the more intense storm activity.

The airport was a little nuts with the arrival of Fifty Cent, the Wiggles, and a woman who I think was the actress who played the female barber in the movie Barbershop. Fifty Cent had a police escort out of the building. Lots of paparazzi. I had never seen that in person before; it is very reminiscent of the way our guppies behave in the tank at home at feeding time. But, we eventually got to our coach, and the driver brought us straight away to the Y Hotel just off Hyde Park.

It has been raining here for 11 consecutive days. They have been living with a severe drought, sop they really need it. And we thus far have been able to dodge the raindrops. But it made the walk through Hyde Park less than spectacular. The weather should improve today and tomorrow.

Our visit to the Hyde Parks Barracks was very good, as usual. The Barracks was one of the first public buildings constructed in Sydney. Governor Macquarie, determined to create a true colony from the tent city around Port Jackson, had the convicts construct the Barracks so that they would have a proper building to live in. The conditions inside were appalling by modern standards, but no doubt an improvement over life in a small tent.

Our tour guide Sarah was engaging and informative; the students learned a lot. (or so I hope!) But they were pretty worn out from their flight and had few questions. I always learn something new from the tour guides, as each new one has something a little different to offer. Sarah spent a lot of time discussing the Convict architect Greenway, and interesting character. He was cheeky enough to insult Governor Macquarie's wife for some of her suggestions about her design of the Barracks.

The Barracks now sports a wing on the hulks, the floating prisons Britain used before and during the colonial times. I always thought that the hulks were just moored on the Thames somewhere, but they were distributed throughout the Empire, including three off the Australian coast. The museum has recreated some of the rooms on the hulks. It was dreadful. Twenty people crammed into a room the size of a dorm. Those confined on the hulks described it as worse than death.

In the afternoon, we went to the Australian Museum for our tour of the Aboriginal Exhibit. This is the season for a lot of 'school holidays' in which the school children visit museums and parklands. The museum was very loud and crowded, and we could tell that it was stressing out our tour guide Sheryl. But she, too, was very engaging and informative, and doing her best to keep a good humor while trying to talk to us over the din.
The exhibit presents Aboriginal spiritual beliefs, daily life, ongoing culture, and survival in the face of white conquest. Much of the exhibit is concerned with the Stolen Generation, those Aborigines who were taken from their families as children and sent away to native schools to learn white ways.
Turns out that Sheryl was almost a part of that. Her mother was Aboriginal but her father was white. She and her mother were not accepted by the father's family, and so her mother took her back to her home mission in outback New South Wales. But as a light-skinned Aborigine, she could very well have been a part of that episode in Australian history.
Sheryl's description of her mother reminded me of Ruth, the mother of author James McBride. You can read about Ruth in his book The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother. Both women had large family's and, though dirt poor, saw to it that their children received the very best education possible. I gave Sheryl the title and suggested that she take a look at it.

For dinner, my colleague and I went to an Indian restaurant nearby, and had a very nice meal. I had beef curry, and Dale had Tandoori chicken. Very nice and reasonably priced.

Tomorrow: the Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium.

The Plane Flight

2008-04-23T18:11:00.001-04:00

21 April, 2008
Los Angeles Terminal
About 10:45 pm local time

We've been traveling for about 14 hours, now, and are not quite halfway to our destination. Our flight QF 108 stops at LAX for a crew change and plane servicing for not quite two hours, so we have about an hour before we re-board.

Our travels have been pleasant thus far. We arrived at JFK about 45 minutes ahead of schedule, and were whisked through an expedited group check-in arranged by a very nice fellow at the QANTAS desk. I lost my extra toothpaste to the good folks at TSA -- it was a last-minute decision I made to take the extra tube from my office, with the intention of transferring it to my checked bags, but I forgot. No big deal.

The students this year have already shown me up. I have always taken a bit of pride in my ability to pack light, but several of them are carrying much less than I am. Of course I can make the excuse that since I am more or less running things (with all due respect to my able junior colleague), I have to carry extra stuff -- but the truth is that I felt the need to just pack a little more. Some of it is the old guy stuff that I need these days, but I'm carrying a lot of photographic equipment that is adding weight. I'm tired of digital, and I've pulled the old 35mm Canon AE-1 out of mothballs and will load it in Sydney for some serious work once I get there. So, the bags are fully loaded.

This is a personal newsflash for my nephew Davis. The Wiggles are sitting next to me here in the waiting area of the airport. Some Australian mothers with children in tow came up for autographs; I spoke with them for a moment about their good work, and some of my students took some pictures -- so I guess one of my personal missions has already been accomplished.
We're back on the plane now, about 9.5 hours left on the flight. As far as my body is concerned, it's around 9:30 am, well past the time I'd be getting up. My in-flight entertainment system is not working properly, so all I can do is to jump into the middle of movies, and I'd rather write in the journal instead.

At that stage of the flight when we are waiting at LAX, word often spreads about any special passengers we have on board, so we all learned pretty quickly that we were flying not only about the Wiggles but also of the rapper Fifty Cent (fiftycent? Fiftycent? FiftyCent?). I wonder if they might perform together?

Okay, that's sort of a joke. And for the benefit of folks my age and older ... Fifty Cent is a rapper, as I said. The Wiggles have children's TV show that is similar to Barney and Friends -- I make that comparison for two related reasons: 1) it is the show that my sons insisted on watching when they were very small; and therefore 2) it is most likely the show that my students watched when they were toddlers, as my students are my older son's age or a little older. For my generation: think of Barney with Dr. Dre (I guess?)

I only learned about the Wiggles a few weeks ago while visiting my wife's brother and his family, helping to welcome their latest addition, daughter Evelyn. Her older brother is the nephew I wrote about above. He is completely mesmerized by the Wiggles show, dancing and moving right along with it. My brother-in-law watches along with him, and reports that the show contains humor for the children as well as for the parents.
The Wiggles began as a rock band called the Cockroaches, and enjoyed some success. Their leader left the band to pursue a degree in early child development, and slowly, with the help of some others in the band, reinvented itself into the Wiggles.

=====

It's much later in the flight now; we are just 4.5 hours out of Sydney. The organization UNICEF has an interesting way of fund-raising on these international flights. The headphones that the crew distributes comes with a small envelope into which you are invited to put the loose change from the country you've departed. The pitch is this: you won't need that change and you won't get rid of it, so you may as well give it to them.
Now I have a special place in my heart for UNICEF. For many years, I have used data published in the annual State of the World's Children in my statistics course, and have thus read about and seen some heartbreaking stories and what they do to help. When I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006 and underwent the surgery, it was certainly tempting to feel sorry for myself and wallow in self-pity. I kept one of those annuals with me at all times then- the one that focussed on child labor. And every time that I started feeling that life was so unfair to do this to me, all I had to do was to find a photo of a child engaged in some dangerous and/or degrading job. Shame cures a lot.

We've had a bit of a bumpy flight, not horrible, but more than I'm used to on these flights. Of course, this is only my 12th time across the Pacific, so I hardly qualify as an expert. But it was bouncing around enough to make me feel a bit queasy -- I hope it wasn't the salmon.

Truly, QANTAS does know how to treat its customers well. The meals are excellent, the entertainment system is rich enough to keep you busy for most of the flight -- even when its not working properly. If you wish, you can stay informed about the progress of the flight: position, flight speed, altitude, temp outside the cabin (roughly -40F), time to destination, and lots more. In addition to the three meals, you get a snack bag mid-flight, and they just woke us up a little bit ago with juice and fresh fruit.

The students appear to be handling the flight well: a few minor complaints that boil down to the universal one: this flight is too darned long! (Maybe they should move Australia closer.

I watched I am Legend earlier in the flight. I enjoy watching Will Smith; he always seems to be enjoying his work so much. The story follows the Richard Matheson book more or less -- I read the book many years ago, and therefore may not recall everything exactly, but I think the intelligent but vampiristic humans in the book were more like the ones seen in The Omega Man, an earlier movie based on the same book. I'm pretty sure that the circumstances at the end end of movie differ a lot from the book as well.

I also watched The Kite Runner, a movie set in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the USA. It tells the story of two boys: one the Pashtun son of a professor, the other the Hazarra son of a household servant. The boys are friends, and fly kites together in competition. The competition consists of two-person teams of kite fliers attacking the strings of the other fliers with the goal of cutting their strings. The winner gets to keep the kite of the loser, provided he can run and find it -- this was one of the duties of the Hazarra boy, hence the title of the movie. It is an incredibly sad and moving story, taking us from the Afghanistan before the Soviet invasion to the era of the Taliban.

Australian television showed a series a few years ago called Bush Mechanics, and they had three episodes for viewing on the plane. Every episode of the half-hour show features four Aboriginal men from the Warlpiri language group north of Alice Springs, and some adventure they have that somehow involves a car they must keep alive. In one episode, they must drive from their village to another over 700km away in order to perform a concert for some children. The car breaks an engine mount, and its roof caves in from weight of the instruments, and the men must figure out how to overcome these problems. In another episode, they have to stop a radiator leak, make brake shoes out of mulga wood, and repair a flat tire with spinifex grass. Interspersed throughout are stories from elders about their dealings with cars 'way back when, and little vignettes about problems people have encountered with their cars and the bushcraft they used to solve it. A neat weird little show. I had seen two of the three episodes they showed of the flight, but one of them was new to me.

On the Ground in 2008

2008-04-23T06:33:00.002-04:00

This is a very quick note to let all know that we have arrived safely in Australia and have begun the course. We visited the Hyde Parks Barracks in the morning and the Australian Museum in the afternoon. I will post more about this in the morning, but since there are some annoying yobbos nearby, I'm going to move along now.

--charlie

The final entry for 2006

2006-05-24T16:58:00.000-04:00

May 23
Alice Springs
Sunny, mild, clear

(and May 24 an 25 in Sydney)

We're in our room at Elkes Hostel waiting for the Mulga bus to take us back to the airport for our flight to Sydney, so I thought I'd close the journal by writing about some of the smaller anecdotes from the trip. These are in no particular order. It is possible that I wrote about some of these in my other entries, so please be patient if I am repeating myself in some of these.

When we arrived in Australia, the big story in the news was the mining accident in Beaconsfield, Tasmania. Three miners were trapped about a kilometer underground; one was dead, but two were still alive. The rescue efforts were agonizingly slow, and the miners digging the rescue shaft were in constant danger of another collapse. But they got those two out alive, and they are recuperating in hospital right now.
In Central Australia, the time after sunrise seems to be a little colder and windier. I suspect that there's a strong downdraft after sunrise, as the air to the east heats and rises, initiating a connection roll.
I am now sitting in a laundromat in Sydney, on Wednesday morning. We leave on Friday. I have used this laundry for years, and it does not change much at all, although all the places around it are closing up. The Potts Point / Kings Cross area is changing, and not for the better, I fear. Today, we will purchase day passes for the students for the mass transit. I really do not know how I'll spend the day.
As we pulled into the McDonald's at Innisfail for lunch, our coach driver referred to it as "the American Embassy." There is a move down here to ban toys in the children's meals -- small parts can choke.
While walking about, I saw some school childre4n performing a dance concert at a band shell at Hides Corner, a mall in central Cairns. They were clearly having fun, and a few showed some genuine talent. Since both of my sons have been involved in competitive dance, I always appreciate it when I see a group of boys dancing -- I don't know about Australia, but I do know that American boys can get teased a bit if they dance.
I had my very favorite meal in Australia twice this year. The coral trout, blackened, at Barnacle Bill's, on the esplanade in Cairns.
When I return home, I think I'll put some Cecil B. de Mille movies on the NetFlix list. There was a documentary of his career shown on TV down here, and I think I now know where Ed Wood (Plan Nine from Outer Space) got his inspiration.
One of the issues facing the tropical rainforest is the impending extinction of the cassowary. Many species of rainforest trees require that their seed pass through a cassowary before germination. Among the threats to the cassowary, one of the biggest is the introduced feral pigs. These animals also inhabit the rainforest, have no natural predators and are only checked by crocodiles and human culling. When we were walking in the Daintree rainforest, we saw plenty of evidence of the pigs rooting in the undergrowth. The problem is that the pigs will get at the cassowary eggs. The cassowary is an aggressive bird, and is capable of killing a person, using a jumping attack and tearing with its leg claws, like a raptor. But they can only do so much against the invaders.
My colleague is a train buff, and so it made the trip for him when we saw a cane train motoring up the tracks alongside the highway.
It is now Wednesday evening. After a meal at a German restaurant (to my lovely wife: wiener schnitzel and red cabbage!), we are now watching the first game in the State of Origin series. This is a sort of an all-star game of the NRL, the National Rugby League. If you've watched rugby played, this game is slightly different, though I am unfamiliar enough with either form that it really does not matter. The game has now ended, with the Blues hanging on to win 17-16.
As I walked through Hyde Park yesterday, just after visiting the very solemn ANZAC War memorial at the south end, I saw ahead, near the fountain, hundreds of school children at play, having a day off from school. To the east, the bells of St. Mary’s cathedral were ringing gaily, as though for a wedding. The sun was shining through the trees, from a clear blue sky. You probably have those perfect moments in your life from time to time, too.

I’ll think I’ll just leave it like that. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this year’s journal. Thank you for your comments and suggestions. We are already thinking about the 2007 course, so please check back next year for our new stories.

Camping part three

2006-05-22T04:54:00.000-04:00

This is the last of three entries about our camping trip. I am now in Alice Springs, an the internet kiosk. It's going to be a bit of a hassle to upload photos here, so I will probably do so tomorrow. Please visit the Flickr site then if you want to see some photos from the camping.

May 22
King's Creek Station
Sunny, mild, clear (again!)

We are on the coach, in fact, returning from our walk at Watarrka (King's Canyon). We will stop a moment at the station where we camped last night, and then push on to Alike Springs.

As I've done this sort of tour several times now, I've noticed that I am beginning to value different things about it. We walk at Uluru, Kata Tjuta, and Watarrka, and in that order, almost all the time. Uluru is very touristy, and I find that I am noticing that more and more, as though the things of real value are vanishing.

The walk at Kata Tjuta is more of a physical challenge. There are at least two step climbs and a climb up a tilted sandstone face. The ground is more difficult to traverse as well. Unlike Uluru, which is pretty much a big piece of sandstone slowly eroding from the wind, Kata Tjuta is a sandstone-volcanic rock conglomerate. Think of boulders held together by a sandstone matrix and you've got the idea. The sandstone still undergoes the wind erosion, but now the result is a surface in which relatively large sections can fall out at once. The loosening of a boulder the size of an emu egg is a small matter, but a car-sized boulder falling suddenly from a cliff face must be terrifying. As we walked, we saw much evidence of exactly that. Of course, once a large boulder has been dislodged, the wind works on the weak sandstone behind it, creating numerous depressions and mini-caves along the cliff faces. We stopped at the top of a passage between two large stones. The view was wonderful. One of the other tour groups was kind enough to take group photos of us using our own cameras, and we returned the favor.
Because the track we used goes up and down a lot, the return trip is about as taxing as the first half. Since it was later in the morning, a few people were more easily tired out by it. No injuries or sickness at all, parents, but a few decisions to take it easy on our final walk at Watarrka.

While I prefer Kata Tjuta to Uluru, Kata Tjuta is frustrating, as it generates questions that I know I will never have answered -- I have my guesses about how Aboriginal men use Kata Tjuta, but I know I won't ever really know.

The first night of our camping takes place at Ayers Rock Resort, the commercial portion of the enterprise at Uluru. It is pretty crowded, and while pleasant, you do not feel as if you're really out in the wild. King's Creek Station is where we spend our second night, and the camping here is much more satisfying. We are away from the crowds of Uluru, and still have a full-featured camping area. King's Creek Station is a working cattle station, one of the smaller ones, with the camping resort as a secondary venture. Nonetheless, they do offer toilets and showers; a camp store; attractions such as station tours by camel, 4wd, or even helicopter; a coffee shop with gourmet coffee; even an (expensive) internet connection! So, it was a nice night. The weather was not so cooperative, clouding over just enough to make star-gazing difficult, but all in all, a pretty good night. A few sprinkles, but nothing that the swag can't repel.

. . .

There is one incident that the students insist I share with you. During our drive from Kata Tjuta to King's Creek Station, we made a roadside stop. The first reason we stop is to collect firewood. One of the features of the Central Australian landscape is the presence of many dead trees: mulgas, desert oaks, gum trees. The trees die when the water table shifts of when other trees take their water supply. (Everything out here is about the availability of water). Collecting firewood is nothing more than going off the road a few dozen metres and picking up old dried-up dead bits. It takes only a few moments to collect more than enough for the night. We do this every year when we camp.
The other reason we stopped is to find a wichety grub. The wichety grub, the larval stage of the ghost moth, lives inside the roots of certain bushes, like the Gidgee or the mulga. Aboriginal women would find a likely bush, dig down to the woody roots, looking for one that is bulging. Breaking open the roots reveals the cream-colored grub, about the same size as your index finger. The Aborigines eat the grubs, raw if necessary, but more often cooked. The flavor -- I am told -- is like egg, but nuttier.

Now it is the usual practice for the tour guide to offer the grub to one of the students to eat. Every year, the students have refused, though, so the guide has always wound up eating it for us, holding the head and biting quickly right behind it. It's over pretty quick.

This year, two of our students ate wichety grubs. It is the first time this has happened. Now I am sworn to secrecy, so I cannot tell you who. Parents, it's their little puzzle for you. I can tell you that I have seen no ill physical effects from their doing this, although the culture of the group seems to have altered somewhat.

. . .

Today began with an early morning walk at Watarrka, a canyon system at the end of the Gill Range. This has become my favorite part of the camping trip; I never fail to learn some new things while on the walk.

The first part of this walk is a steep climb up Heart Attack Hill, aptly named -- unprepared tourists have died here. I am afraid that I started off at too fast a pace up the first hill, and my legs soon cramped. And after telling the students that it wasn't a race! I was embarrassed, but recovered and made it up to the top, where everyone was waiting for me.

The view is unique. The colors are actually simple: the rusty red earth, the clear blue sky with a few white clouds, the green leaves of the plants and the silvery gray of the dry and dead wood. At the top of the canyon, we're about 100 metres above the plain, and can therefore see for perhaps a hundred miles or more. The rock that makes up most of the canyon area is a sandstone that develops a tough rust-red coating when exposed to air.

Watarrka was important to the tribes in the vicinity for two related reasons. It was a reliable source of water, perhaps the only one until Uluru, a couple of hundred of kilometers away. The sandstone acts as a sponge and absorbs most of the rainwater that lands.

And of course, the presence of water means that there's a lot of bush tucker, the food gathered by the Aborigines. Our guide was able to offer us a lot of information about the plants on the canyon rim and their uses as bush tucker and bush medicine. I have some photos that I'll upload to Flickr, together with some explanations.

After a lunch stiop at Mt. Ebeneezer,we are on the last leg back to Alice Springs. The students are in a good mood, listening to and singing along with songs the guide is supplying from his iPod. There are clouds ahead, so perhaps it will be raining in Alice Springs when we arrive. Tonight I will try to find the time to upload these journals, after we have a group dinner.

Tomorrow, we will return to Sydney for our last few days in Australia.

Camping, part two

2006-05-22T04:52:00.000-04:00

This is the second of three posts that I wrote while on our camping trip. Please make sure that you read all three. I will upload photos when I return to Sydney.

May 21
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park
Sunny, mild, clear

We have just finished watching the sunrise from a platform nearby Kata Tjuta, one of the other rock formations of interest in this neck of the woods. I hung back this time and let the others fight for their spot at the viewing rail. I've seen it before, after all. Most of the time, tourists look over at the sunrise taking place just to the left of Uluru in the distance.

I should explain a little about each of these several rock formations. Uluru is the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock, the worlds largest monolith (single stone). It's the big orange rock you see in any commercial about Australia, a genuine icon of the country. It's not very surprising to learn that Uluru is sacred ground to the Anangu ("AHN-na-nu"), the indigenous people of these parts. As a part of the general consciousness raising in Australia about Aborigines and their history (after and before whites), many sacred and culturally important areas have been returned to control of the peoples who inhabit (or inhabited) the region. These folks are often referred to as the traditional owners, or traditional custodians.
Not only Uluru, but also Kata Tjuta is a part of the national park. Kata Tjuta means "many heads" and it really does look like a lot of large Cyclopean heads coming from the ground. The place has more cultural significance than does Uluru, especially to the men (men and women live very different lives in the Anangu world). The Anangu do not discuss this with outsiders, and little is known about the way this area is used.
I've written elsewhere about the reluctance of Aboriginal elders to share their culture and beliefs, so I won't repeat myself, except to say that it appears that some things are changing. Stories are being shared, whites are being invited to corroborrees, Aborigines are gaining control over the presentation of their lives in the media. At Uluru and Kata Tjuta, the cultural centre has been remodeled to reflect this new openness.
After we arrived yesterday, we went for a base walk around Uluru. This is a flat walk of about six miles, quite easy but long. The weather was cool enough so that no one was taxed by the heat. The students didn't like the flies much, though they were not as bad as they have been in years past -- they're just not used to them. The flies don't bite; they just want a bit if a drink, so they'll go after eyes, mouth, nose, and any bit of sweaty clothing. They're just annoying.

Our walkaround ended late enough so that we left immediately for a sunset viewing of Uluru. As the sun goes down, the rock goes through a series of color changes. I think every tour company in the Northern Territory was there to see this, and the scramble for a viewing spot was disappointing. Companies set up chairs and snack tables so close to the ropes that one could not get to a good photo spot without appearing rude. I finally stepped in front of one group briefly to take a photo, and said that I had come a long way to see this, too. I suppose it was the end of the day, and I was a little grumpy.

We made camp at Ayers Rock Resort, and had a very good chili made by our tour guide. He used camel meat. I generally don't like camel, but presented this way it was fine. While he was making dinner, I gave a brief star lecture which I think the students tolerated fairly well. The Southern Sky has some things that you just cannot see in New York. The interesting thing is that some of the things you can see are here, also, just in unexpected locations and orientations. We can see the handle of the Big Dipper, at least, though it is on the horizon. We can also see Leo overhead, just as you can right now, though here, it appears to be upside down. It isn't; we are.

But of course, one of the highlights of the southern sky is the Southern Cross, the five-star constellation seen on many of the national flags of the Southern Hemisphere. Just as you and I can use the Big Dipper to find north, one can use the Southern Cross to find south. The last two stars in the cup of the Big Dipper are pointer stars, in that they point at the north star Polaris, the star that appears to stay still as the rest of the celestial sphere rotates about it (it's Earth that's doing the rotating, of course). Once you've found Polaris, you know where north is. There is no south star (there actually is one, but it's far too dim to be seen without a telescope). But the South Celestial Pole, the spot in the sky about which the heavens spin, lies on a line drawn through the top and bottom stars of the Southern Cross. Those same stars also serve as a measuring stick, so you can find it even more easily -- count four of those units below the bottom star, and you've got it.

There is a star pattern called the False Cross; it's a part of the constellation Carina. It's somewhat larger that the true Cross, so someone using it for navigation or orienting would need to be able to distinguish the two. That's where more pointer stars come into play. The constellation surrounding the Cross is Centaurus. Stars in a constellation are named with Greek letters in descending order of brightness. The two brightest stars in the constellation Centaurus Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri, form a line that passes through the Cross before getting anywhere close to the False Cross.

So, you see, it's really quite simple(!) Throw out your compasses and GPS locators. May 21
Uluru - Kata Tjuta National Park
Sunny, mild, clear

We have just finished watching the sunrise from a platform nearby Kata Tjuta, one of the other rock formations of interest in this neck of the woods. I hung back this time and let the others fight for their spot at the viewing rail. I've seen it before, after all. Most of the time, tourists look over at the sunrise taking place just to the left of Uluru in the distance.

I should explain a little about each of these several rock formations. Uluru is the Aboriginal name for Ayers Rock, the worlds largest monolith (single stone). It's the big orange rock you see in any commercial about Australia, a genuine icon of the country. It's not very surprising to learn that Uluru is sacred ground to the Anangu ("AHN-na-nu"), the indigenous people of these parts. As a part of the general consciousness raising in Australia about Aborigines and their history (after and before whites), many sacred and culturally important areas have been returned to control of the peoples who inhabit (or inhabited) the region. These folks are often referred to as the traditional owners, or traditional custodians.
Not only Uluru, but also Kata Tjuta is a part of the national park. Kata Tjuta means "many heads" and it really does look like a lot of large Cyclopean heads coming from the ground. The place has more cultural significance than does Uluru, especially to the men (men and women live very different lives in the Anangu world). The Anangu do not discuss this with outsiders, and little is known about the way this area is used.
I've written elsewhere about the reluctance of Aboriginal elders to share their culture and beliefs, so I won't repeat myself, except to say that it appears that some things are changing. Stories are being shared, whites are being invited to corroborrees, Aborigines are gaining control over the presentation of their lives in the media. At Uluru and Kata Tjuta, the cultural centre has been remodeled to reflect this new openness.
After we arrived yesterday, we went for a base walk around Uluru. This is a flat walk of about six miles, quite easy but long. The weather was cool enough so that no one was taxed by the heat. The students didn't like the flies much, though they were not as bad as they have been in years past -- they're just not used to them. The flies don't bite; they just want a bit if a drink, so they'll go after eyes, mouth, nose, and any bit of sweaty clothing. They're just annoying.

Our walkaround ended late enough so that we left immediately for a sunset viewing of Uluru. As the sun goes down, the rock goes through a series of color changes. I think every tour company in the Northern Territory was there to see this, and the scramble for a viewing spot was disappointing. Companies set up chairs and snack tables so close to the ropes that one could not get to a good photo spot without appearing rude. I finally stepped in front of one group briefly to take a photo, and said that I had come a long way to see this, too. I suppose it was the end of the day, and I was a little grumpy.

We made camp at Ayers Rock Resort, and had a very good chili made by our tour guide. He used camel meat. I generally don't like camel, but presented this way it was fine. While he was making dinner, I gave a brief star lecture which I think the students tolerated fairly well. The Southern Sky has some things that you just cannot see in New York. The interesting thing is that some of the things you can see are here, also, just in unexpected locations and orientations. We can see the handle of the Big Dipper, at least, though it is on the horizon. We can also see Leo overhead, just as you can right now, though here, it appears to be upside down. It isn't; we are.

But of course, one of the highlights of the southern sky is the Southern Cross, the five-star constellation seen on many of the national flags of the Southern Hemisphere. Just as you and I can use the Big Dipper to find north, one can use the Southern Cross to find south. The last two stars in the cup of the Big Dipper are pointer stars, in that they point at the north star Polaris, the star that appears to stay still as the rest of the celestial sphere rotates about it (it's Earth that's doing the rotating, of course). Once you've found Polaris, you know where north is. There is no south star (there actually is one, but it's far too dim to be seen without a telescope). But the South Celestial Pole, the spot in the sky about which the heavens spin, lies on a line drawn through the top and bottom stars of the Southern Cross. Those same stars also serve as a measuring stick, so you can find it even more easily -- count four of those units below the bottom star, and you've got it.

There is a star pattern called the False Cross; it's a part of the constellation Carina. It's somewhat larger that the true Cross, so someone using it for navigation or orienting would need to be able to distinguish the two. That's where more pointer stars come into play. The constellation surrounding the Cross is Centaurus. Stars in a constellation are named with Greek letters in descending order of brightness. The two brightest stars in the constellation Centaurus Alpha Centauri and Beta Centauri, form a line that passes through the Cross before getting anywhere close to the False Cross.

So, you see, it's really quite simple(!) Throw out your compasses and GPS locators.

Camping, part one

2006-05-22T04:47:00.000-04:00

This is the first of three entries that I wrote while on our camping trip. Please make sure you read all three.

I am not going to upload any photos at the moment; it'll be easier at the Global Gossip location in Sydney. So watch for those tomorrow.

--charlie

May 18-19
Alice Springs
Sunny, mild, clear

Currently, we are riding on the coach on our way to Uluru. We just left Noel Fullerton's Camel Farm, where we had our morning breakfast and restroom break. We've stopped there several times over the years; it's a very welcome sight on the lonely Stuart Highway. Students can go for a camel ride, or just wander about in the animal sanctuary. There's a pet dingo, and many magpies and galahs hanging about. But I want to write more about our two days in Alice Springs first, so I'll return to our camping trip later.

Our first evening included a concert given by Andrew Langford at his home shop, Sounds of Starlight, on the Todd Mall. A small didgeridoo shop fronts for a larger studio theatre, where Andrew and his two percussionist sidemen give a very nice concert lasting about 90 minutes. The concert includes a light show and a slide show, as well as the opportunity to interact with the musicians either by playing a didgeridoo or a percussion instrument. I was a maraca. Andrew displays a good knowledge of the indigenous people in the area, and freely acknowledges that the didgeridoo is not an instrument played by the language groups near and south of Alice Springs. Nevertheless, his concert reflects the creative artistic spirit that one sees expressed in many ways in Central Australia.

The second day was our tour. It was a little disorganized, as the tour company had one of their coaches break down and could not easily accommodate a group our size otherwise. I had to attend to another matter, and so missed out on the Desert Park, catching up with the group at lunch.

Sometimes, the 'can do' attitude leads to problems. A group of 25 showing up at a small eatery with little warning can create problems, especially if that group is on a schedule. Such was the case for this poor restaurant. They had very nice food, and the setting was a pleasant outdoor patio, but there was one table server and one cook, so we lost a lot of time at lunch. Our stops at the Telegraph Station, the School of the Air, the Royal Flying Doctors, and ANZAC Hill were therefore rushed.

The Telegraph Station is a living history museum adjoining a public park. When we arrived, there were many school children having an outing. One of the students started playing 'catch' with some of the Aboriginal youths who had a rugby ball. They were kicking it as much as throwing it, of course. The children were packing up to go, and we had our schedule to keep, so the catch game was frustratingly short, but it was nice to see even that small a connection made.

Our students arrived at the station in time to have a guided tour of the buildings. The telegraph station was one of several repeaters that linked Adelaide (and therefore early urban Australia) to Darwin. Darwin was linked to Asia via underwater lines, and so Australia was ultimately linked by telegraph back to mother England. Information from the central government could reach the Australian Outback in a matter of hours rather than weeks.

That we were rushed at The School of the Air was probably the biggest disappointment to me, since this stop is the one that resonates with students the most often. Certainly our education majors get a lot out of the brief visit to the nerve center of this unique school system. The School of the Air began as a side function of the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RFDS). The RFDS mission is to provide emergency medical care and transport, requiring radio. A teacher recognized that the radios, when not being used for medical emergencies, could be used as an educational aide for the children on the remote cattle stations or communities. After operating this way for some years, the School of the Air got its own frequencies and funding. It's been providing this service now for over 50 years, and have recently switched from radio to broadband satellite internet. It's a marvelous service, and, for those of us who sometimes get a little jaded with our huge educational industry in the State, drives home the point of just how important it really is to help our children everywhere learn as much as they can.

We do visit the RFDS centre as well. There were two emergency medical transports in progress while we were there, underscoring the importance of the service. The presentation consists of a short video, and Q&A session. They also have a small museum, gift shop, and grill. They are funded mostly from donations, including the ones they receive at centres like this one. I always drop most of my change into the bin when I visit -- I might need them before the day is over!

Our tour was a little taxed by the small bus we had to work with, so a few of us walked to ANZAC Hill to end the day. The view of Alice and the surrounding area is quite nice; the climb is well worth it. We could see what appeared to be controlled burns in the distance, as well as the portion of the MacDonnell range that are called the Caterpillars by the indigenous peoples.

The hill is located just north of the Todd Mall, so after a short walk down and some time at an internet stop (where I put in the previous short entry), I met my colleague and some students for a pleasant evening dinner at Keller's, a restaurant that features Swiss cuisine and Indian cuisine, an odd mix. I had beef vindaloo, a spicy beef stew (like yours, Dad, but a lot spicier) served with rice. A very pleasant way to end the day.

It is now midmorning; we've been on the road for a few hours. We just left our second stop of the day at Mt. Ebeneezer, a roadhouse located nearby the Aboriginal village of Imanpa. I finally took the plunge and bought a few Aboriginal prints made by local artists. One pays less here than in Sydney, and the artists get more since there are fewer middlemen taking their cut. I get it a little more than I did at first, but I have a lot to learn. Of course, the artists use modern media and have a lot more Western-style representation than they would have in the past -- I doubt that Aboriginal artists of a century ago even made prints as we think of them, probably using their skills to decorate their tools and utensils. In any case, not only do I get the prints, but a brief biography of each of the artists and a pamphlets describing the basics of the symbolism generally used in the art.

Alice Springs I

2006-05-19T04:33:00.000-04:00

Hello, all. I just wanted to send a quick note up to the folks reading the journal to let you know that I have not gone away -- though I will tomorrow. We begin our camping adventure early , and will not return until two days later. So, I will probably not be able to post anything until we return.

And I only have a few moments to do this entry, so I will post more complete accounts of what we've been doing in Alice Springs later. We've had a lot of fun, and the weather has once again been most cooperative. We arrived yesterday, and spent the afternoon getting our bearings. In the evening, we were treated to a wonderful didgeridoo concert performed by Andrew Langford, an internationally known 'didge' virtuoso. He was also kind enough to help willing students learn the basics about the instrument, and involved most of the audience in a large jam with didges, rhythm sticks, and shakers.

Today we took a tour of Alice Springs. The Desert Park is an outdoor wilderness park that duplicates the environments found in Central Australia, red sand desert, dry riverbed woodlands, and salt pans. They also have exhibits for the flora and fauna of the area, and a free flight bird show. Very nice, and good preparation for our students brfore the camping adventure.

After the Park and a lunch, we made brief visits to each of these: the Telegraph Station, the School of the Air, the Royal Flying Doctors Centre, and ANZAC Hill. The Telegraph Station is the reason Alice is here, as one of teh spots with enough water to host a repeating station on the line from Darwin to Adelaide. The School of the Air is an educational services for children living in areas of Australia to remote for a school -- they go to school via the Internet, though it was by radio only a few years ago. The Royal Flying Doctors offers medical emergency service and transport to those injured in the remote Outback (I always make a donation. You never know ...). And ANZAC Hill is the town's memorial to teh soliders, and affords the best view of Alice Springs there is.

Well, I must go. I apologize for the typos and mistakes; I am not on my handheld as I write this. Please return in a few days for the rest of the story.

Our Rainforest Adventures

2006-05-16T21:13:00.000-04:00

May 15 (-17)
Cairns
Cloudy, rainy (but nice on the 17th)

The weather continues to dampen our spirits -- it's too bad, since during this portion of the course, we are in a rain forest, so I suppose it's not terribly unusual to find it raining. We just returned from the Rainforestation, the final stop on our day up into the rain forests on the mountains just north of Cairns.

We began today with a ride up the Kuranda SkyRail, a cable car transit system that takes you up the mountain and just over the forest canopy. This unique viewpoint allows you to view the levels of the rain forest at once.

But the rain forest looked sick today. Maybe it was just the rain, but leaves looked yellowish and trees looked bare. Our coach driver had earlier said that there was wind damage to the trees here, as well as farther south, from Cyclone Larry. Perhaps that was what I was noticing.
There were two stops along the way. AT the first, there is a boardwalk that takes a few minutes if you race through it, but about 20 minutes if you follow one of the guides at the stop. Ours was a young Aboriginal man, who discussed the basics of a few of the more common plants of the rain forest.

The 'wait-awhile' cane is what you would call rattan, the cane commonly used to make furniture. It got the name 'wait-awhile' from the early European explorers, who would get hooked on the minute barbs on the vine, and then call out to their colleagues to wait awhile until they got loose. Aborigines would use it as a building material, and also as a water source when in need; cutting one of the vines is like opening a spigot.

The most striking tree of the rainforest is the strangler fig. The strangler is a parasite, starting off life high in the forest canopy, where the seeds are in bird droppings deposited in another tree that is the host. The seeds germinate, and send out vines seeking out the forest floor. Once the vine has found its way to the floor, the vine takes root and begins to grow thicker and harder, and sending out more vines all the time. After many years, the strangler has enclosed the host tree completely, which then dies. But the strangler has developed enough structural strength by then to support itself.

One of the huge trees of the rainforest is the kouri pine, among the largest evergreens in the world. The ones in Australia are relatively small, measuring only five feet in diameter or so. The tree has an excellent defense against the strangler fig, as it sheds its bark and lower branches as it grows, so any vines that start are thrown off before they can reach the ground.
There are plants that use other plants for scaffolding but are not parasitic. The elkhorn fern and the basket fern are examples of epiphytes, plants that live attached to or supported by a tree but do not use their host for any food, and do not kill the host. These plants collect nutrients from debris that falls from above, and water from rain. At Flickr, I have a photo of an elkhorn fern that I took at the Australian Zoo.

After the first stop, we resumed our ride up the mountains and over the canopy. We were high enough up the mountain at this point to be literally in the cloud cover, so that our visibility was limited. but as we glided into our second stop, the clouds parted long enough to reveal a very nice view of the Barron River Falls.

The Barron River flows through the tablelands before descending to the ocean through a series of falls. The Kuranda Scenic Railway runs along one side of the gorge through which the river falls, the SkyRail on the other. At the second stop of SkyRail, we are treated to not only several great views of the falls, but also of the Railway across the gorge, as well as some history of the installation of the power generating station located at the falls. The stop also has a very informative interactive center for learning more about the rainforest.

Our final stop on the SkyRail was in the mountain village of Kuranda, where our coach driver was waiting for us. We really have no chance this day to visit Kuranda, which is a shame for those who want to do some tourist shopping. They will have a free day on Wednesday. But today, our destination was Rainforestation.

Rainforestation is a private nature park that abuts the nearby national rainforest area that SkyRail goes over. At Rainforestation, we take a tour on Army DUKWs ("ducks") through the forest and on a small pond that lies above a private dam. The Army Ducks are US leftovers from WWII; we abandoned several thousand of these land/water hybrid vehicles behind after the end of the war with Japan, and many Aussies found uses for them. There are currently 12 in use at Rainforestation; they maintain them, including machining replacements parts and retooling engines to run on propane. Though the weather was not cooperating at all, the tour was just fine and informative.After our tour, e were treated to Aboriginal dancing. Though I have seen this show a few times, I still find it a very nice introduction to the Aboriginal life style that was. I do not believe that most of the indigenous people of Australia live this way or desire to. In fact, I think most of the dancers that we see at Rainforestation are middle-class Australians, much like anyone else. But the really important thing that I hope students get from the dance pieces is the humor that the dancers display, and how that comes from the dance itself. There's a sly wit that runs through a lot of the Aboriginal stories that I've heard, and I think it's actually an important part of their culture.

After the show, we had a very nice lunch followed by a visit to the animal park. But it was so rainy that it was not very enjoyable. The day was somewhat of a disappointment.

. . .

Today is May 16; we have just returned from our trip to the Daintree Rainforest. This was a very enjoyable introduction to the oldest rainforest in the world, at about 130 million years. Our early morning ride included a tour of Port Douglas and a brief stop in Mossman, before our arrival at the Daintree river for our river cruise.

The cruise on the river serves one purpose, really, to see crocodiles and pythons in the wild. For a change, the weather was nice and sunny, so we were successful, seeing two large male crocs, one smaller female, and a baby only a few weeks old. We saw two pythons curled up in trees by the river as well. But the crocs easily capture your imagination with their sinister ways. The truth is that they are simply very successful predators who have been at this millions of years longer than we have, and that our impression of their behavior says more about us than them.
After our cruise and a ferry crossing, we took a rainforest walk that was brief but informative. Evidence of the damage cased by feral pigs was apparent at many points on the walk.

We lunched once again as a part of the tour. While waiting for lunch, some of us visited an enclosure sanctuary for kangaroos that have been injured and cannot return to the wild. One of those kangaroos took a special interest in me, wrapping his forelegs around my leg and vigorous licking my leg and biting at y pants! I'll see if one of the students has a photo of this they're willing to share -- it was pretty funny. After our lunch, we drove farther up the coast, past Cape Tribulation to the Emmagen Creek, where we had a swim and an afternoon snack of tropical fruits, billy tea and damper bread. We then made our way back to Cape Tribulation for some time on the beach. After a brief stop for homemade tropical fruit ice cream, we drove back, ending a very nice day.

. . .

Today is May 17. I'm sitting at Hides Corner, a outside mall in central Cairns. The weather has finally turned beautiful, so I'm glad that the students will have at least one day in Cairns with decent weather. Yesterday was good, but we spent our time a couple hours north in the Daintree.

When I read over what I wrote yesterday, I realized that it was mostly a description of what we did with very little reflection. I was in a hurry to get all caught up with my journal writing before going to Alice, where I will once again likely be out of touch for a few days. Since I have a few moments now before the Cairns museum opens, I thought I'd write down a little bit more.

First, this morning I spent walking down the esplanade again, but I spent a lot more time examining the mud, and was rewarded in two ways. I finally saw some mudskippers! These are fish that have lungs as well as gills, and can therefore survive in the exposed mud flat at low tide. They were at play just below the boardwalk, and I even managed to get some video of them -- it's on the still camera, so I don't know that it will turn out well.

I also saw cone shells moving. The cone shell is a mollusk with a deadly venomous barb that one should always stay away from. I saw one in the mud, and noted that there was a curved trail away from it. Suspecting that I was seeing a trail it made on its own, I waited for a few minutes, and sure enough, it moved -- about an inch!. I waited awhile longer to make sure of what I was seeing. I have some video of this, too, but I don't think it will be very convincing.I did get a photo of pelicans flying to their morning gathering spot that I hope will turn out. I'll see in a bit when I go to the internet cafe. If they turn out, I'll upload them to Flickr.

I guess a few parents read what I wrote about the reef cruise and expressed concern for their children. Everyone is fine; it was nothing more than some nausea induced by the choppiness of the waiter; it only affected a few of the people on the boat (one or two students and one or two other passengers), and it only lasted a little while. So, please, don't worry; they're having the time of their lives. By the way, if you like my journal, please let me know. You can post a comment, or you can e-mail me at chjacobson@elmira.edu. I do check my mail as much as I can, and am always happy to hear from parents, friends, family, and colleagues. So far, I've been able to answer every e-mail I've received.

Mother's Day

2006-05-13T22:04:00.000-04:00

May 14 (Mother's Day)
Cairns
Cloudy, breezy

Happy Mother's Day.

This is the beginning of our third full day in Cairns. Yesterday, as we got on the transfer bus for our Reef cruise, I briefly saw this strange yellow ball in the eastern sky; the coach driver said he thought it might be the sun, but he couldn't be sure as no one had seen it in recent memory. The students appear convinced that my colleague and I have been lying to them all along about beautiful, sunny Cairns in tropical north Queensland (TNG).

There's not too much to say about the transfer from Townsville to Cairns, apart from the destruction left behind by Cyclone Larry. This cyclone came ashore in Innisfail some weeks ago with 300 km/hr winds, comparable to Hurricane Katrina. The eye was 80 km wide, and the storm itself was some 350 km wide. The severe building damage was evident all around, though many roofs had already been repaired. Of course, once a roof has been peeled off during a storm, nothing stops the rain from getting inside and ruining everything. That 80% of the banana crop was destroyed was reflected in the ridiculously high prices we say in the stores: about $10 AUD per kilo -- that converts to about $3.60 USD per pound, about ten times what we normally pay in the States. The banana plantations we saw had new growth on the old, knocked over stalks, although it will be another 9 months before those plants bear fruit. 20% of the sugar cane crop was wiped out, though this was less evident from what we saw.

The biggest evidence of the cyclone by far was the damage to the forested hillsides. As we drove along, we could see that the trees had been stripped bare by the fierce winds. It seemed as though we were driving through the remnants of a massive forest fire -- this is the tropics; it's supposed to be lush growth! But the trees here are resilient, so I imagine that it will look just fine in a few months.

And, of course, no one was killed. That was the best news to come out of the storm. The early news reports credited this to the experiences of the citizens of New Orleans with Hurricane Katrina; when people realized that this one was comparable in size to Katrina, they boarded up and got out of the way fast.

We arrived in Cairns in a drizzle. After check in and bit of unpacking, we took the students over to the Cock 'n' Bull for a pleasant dinner. I spent most of Friday morning out and about in the city, doing some prep work for our reef cruise, answering e-mails, and ordering Mother's Day flowers (hope you liked them!). I sat out a rainstorm at an outdoor cafe on the esplanade eating a mediocre fish and chips lunch, and returned here to do laundry and get ready for the evening at ReefTeach.

We have done ReefTeach every year of the course. It is a two hour lecture, delivered by dive instructor/marine biologist/mad Irishman Paddy Coldwell. Backed with slides and props in his theatre/shop, Paddy delivers an animated introduction to the Great Barrier Reef, its flora and fauna, and how people ought to behave while snorkeling or diving on it. He's a little over the top at times, but his style involves a lot of repetition and distilling the essential knowledge tourists need in order to enjoy the reef without damaging it. When our students go on the cruise the next day, they invariably talk about the Reef in the terms that they learned at ReefTeach.

Yesterday was our cruise of the Passions of Paradise II (POPII), a twin-hull sailboat that takes us out about 90 minutes to the middle patch reef. The specific reef we go to is Paradise Reef, for which the POPII has the only license to visit. The result of this licensure is that the owners of POPII have a great incentive to keep their bit in good shape, and so we get a great view of the reef.

. . .

I've relocated to the downtown esplanade. It is about 10:30 am on Mother's Day, and already the grills nearby are up and running, as families are bringing their mothers out for a day of relaxing fun by the lagoon. Even though it continues to be overcast and rain threatens, it does not appears to have stopped the picnickers and sightseers. Children are kicking about rugby balls, people are enjoying ice reams, tour helicopters are flying low over the mud flats and the mangroves.

Back to the reef cruise ... I have usually bought a disposable underwater camera to take along, but I decided to do without this year, thinking -- correctly -- that the thing just took away from my enjoyment and appreciation of what I was looking at. So, I just went out snorkeling and watching, and was much happier with the experience. I saw all manner of fish, coral, anemones, and other sea life out and about. Mostly you see damsel fish, a broad category that refers more to the shape than anything else. Damsels have squaring bodies with some bullet-shaping to their head, a somewhat curved tail, and fins on their side that they use somewhat like birds use their wings. These small fins allow for both forward and backward motion. There are bluegreen damsels, striped damsels, chocolate-dipped damsels, just to mention a few; you can probably guess what they look like. Damsels can be quite small, as are the bluegreens, but can get to be about 6' long (like the chocolate dipped).

I also saw some clownfish living inside their anemones. I did not see Nemo. There are several varieties of clownfish, and the orange and white Nemo is only one of them. The ones that I saw were the black two-striped anemone fish -- again, I'll let you work out what they look like.

. . .

I've relocated to the Cairns library, just up the street from Global Gossip, where I'll upload this journal entry. As with the library in NSW, I am impressed with the extent to which it is used, even on Mother's Day. Of course, some folks are just in to use the internet service, but many families are here with their children. There seems to be more of that type of interaction here, as though they have time for it.

Okay, back again to the Reef ... what I really enjoyed doing this time was just looking at the coral. While there are many species of coral, they are not always identified by shape and color. The same species of hard coral can appear as a boulder, as a staghorn shape, a plate, or a bunch of conical fingers. The color can vary as well, determined by the nature of the underlying rock to which they're attached, the time in their life cycle, the water conditions around them, and other factors. Hard coral have a hard skeleton inside their bodies, so touching hard coral immediately injures the animals. We are told by every dive instructor around to never touch hard coral.

There's a lot of soft coral at Paradise Reef, too. Soft coral is a sort of group organism, with many individuals connected via a simple nervous system. They have a simple musculature that allows them to extend out beyond their shell to obtain nutrients from the water for the algae they host (and depend upon for food). Divers will touch the soft coral to observe it withdraw into its shells; the effect is striking. It also stresses the animals, so one should not do it very often.

The appeal of the hard coral to me is very mathematical, and is related to dynamical systems, my area of expertise. The behavior of the individual coral animal is governed by simple rules: grow to a certain size, then split into three and repeat. It seems reasonable to assume that their growth can be modeled mathematically, and that the different shapes that they ultimately assume can be thought of as arising from initial and/or boundary conditions. My assumption is that this is a well-studied topic, but I think I'll look around it as time permits.

We also visited Michaelmas Cay, a stage 2 reef island. As the ocean levels change, or as the coral dies and debris builds up, islands can emerge from the ocean. These islands are at first nothing but a little spot of sand and coral debris, and are called stage 1 islands. As time goes by, sea birds will find these islands and flock to them, and their droppings will fertilize the sand and permit the growing of grasses and other simple shore plants, creating a stage 2 island. Michaelmas Cay is one of these. When trees get hold, the island is called stage 3, and when a rainforest canopy develops, stage 4. The birds were everywhere! Not all of the students went to the island itself, probably recalling the Hitchock movie. Indeed, I suspect that the inspiration for The Birds came from visits to islands like Michaelmas Cay, where the sounds of the birds crying is continuous, and their behavior intense. We saw birds flying, birds hunkered down, birds fighting with other birds for territory, birds going through mating dances, burds hovering in the stiff breeze, birds swooping past you at close range, ... I spent about a half-hour filming and looking around before returning to the boat. Looking at my bird guide, I am fairly sure that I saw oystercatchers, masked lapwings, Australian darters, and of course gulls.

The sea conditions were only fair yesterday; we had swells of about 1 meter at the reef and up to over 2 meters when moving from site to site and returning to shore. It was cloudy all day, though it never rained and the sun did try to break through. Viewing conditions were also only fair, without the sunlight. Comfort was an issue, too; a few of the passengers on the boat became seasick, it's always a shame when that happens, though after the boat stops moving and you get into the water that usually goes away.

The crew on the boat is always great. One of the crew did magic tricks all day for small groups, others would spend time in small talk. One of the dive instructors was kind enough to extend an offer to my colleague and I for next year's course, a sort of preboard introduction to snorkeling and diving, something we might do the day before getting on board.

I talked for awhile with a teacher at the equivalent of our community colleges, who was finishing up a holiday that had included a visit to a corroborree, an Aboriginal gathering and celebration. It seems that there are many of these held, and that recently, the tribal elders have been inviting whitefellas. It's worth looking into ...

It's time to go and upload this ... I'm also going to find out whether there truly is baseball in Cairns. The day is improving, it appears nice and sunny outside now.

Charlie, the Food Critic?!

2006-05-11T02:26:00.000-04:00

This is the final of four entries that I wrote while on Magnetic Island and unable to upload my journal entries. Please make sure that you read all four. You might also want to check out my Flickr account to see any new photos that I've uploaded.

May 10
Magnetic Island
Mild, windy, and sunny

I'm still at Picnic Bay, having just had lunch, and I'm now waiting for the bus. Since I've about twenty minutes before it arrives, I thought I'd start my next entry.

I did just finish lunch, and it was excellent. I ate at Fred's Bar and Grill, and had the spicy green lentil soup. They serve it with a generous portion of bread, for $6.50 AUD. I realized while eating that I have not talked about food much since I've been here, and so I thought I'd write a little about Australian cuisine, Australian grocery and other food buying, and Australian restaurants.

When one thinks about Australian cuisine, probably the first question is whether or not there is a real Australian cuisine. After all, they started off as a British convict colony, and they continued to have very close ties to Mother England at least until WWII, so isn't it possible that what Australian cuisine is a British derivative?There are certainly aspects of Australian cuisine that resemble British cooking. Certain dishes continue to be featured prominently here: meat pies, bangers and mash, etc. There is the beetroot slice atop every burger. And even a lasagna might come with a side of mashed potatoes!Closely related to an inherited British influence would be an Irish influence -- not because of similarities between Irish cookery and British cookery (there are a few), but rather because of the ethnic makeup of the Convicts, many of whom were essentially Irish political prisoners. But the truth is that that there are many other influences on Australia, and the British and Irish influence might be waning. Australia is a nation of immigrants, really; the descendants of the Convicts account for about only 2% of the total population. People came to Australia in the later part of the XIX century seeking wealth through land and/or gold. In the twentieth century, European (read 'white') immigration was encouraged. In the first few years of the XXI century, this has shifted to Asian countries. Australian foreign policy has become much more pro-Asian, with the recognition that if for no other reason than geography, Australia will always be trading with countries like China, Japan, and Indonesia, probably more so than with any European country or the USA.

Of course, American popular culture spreads almost everywhere, so why not here? And while you do see McDonald's and KFC in every town, you do see signs that other cultures are at work here, particularly Asian cultures. We were just in Brisbane last week celebrating Buddha's birthday in a country with Christian roots! But every city has its variety of Asian eateries: Indian, Japanese, Vietnamese, Korean, and of course Chinese. Over the years, I've eaten Thai food served by immigrants from Thailand, Indian food served by Indians, Chinese food served by Chinese. Now that is not to say that there is only Asian influence here. There must have been a wave of immigration from the Mediterranean and Asia Minor at some point, as there are many restaurants featuring Italian, Greek, Turkish, Lebanese, and other middle eastern cuisines. Less often (but not absent) are European restaurants featuring German, French, or other cuisine; or African restaurants.Finally, there is the other American cuisine here, Mexican cuisine.

So, there are many imported cultures here to contribute to an Australian cuisine, but I have left out an important one: the indigenous culture of Australia, the Aboriginal culture. It certainly stands to reason that the natives knew a thing or two about cooking kangaroos and emus, though the settlers could have treated kangaroo like beef or venison and emu like duck or goose and obtained reasonable results. The more important ingredient that indigenous culture could add to Australian cuisine was the concept of bush tucker, food that you get by directly gathering from the land. I've written before about the reluctance of the Aboriginals to share their knowledge of the land with the whites, but that does seem to be changing, and certainly with food. There are now several books out on indigenous cuisine, and it has had an effect on the way people approach cooking. In Alice Springs, I've had kangaroo fillet in quodong sauce (quodong is a bitter fruit found in the drier regions of the Outback). Cuisine is also shaped by cultural attitudes. Australians are fit and active, are very conscious of their health, and adjust their eating habits accordingly. Many of the meals I've had here are 'low carb' although I don't think that the Atkin's diet is the reason. A typical luncheon or light dinner meal consists of a main course, with a vegetable and a salad, and possibly 'chips' (you'd call them 'fries'.) So, the main source of carbs is the potatoes. Salad is considered an ingredient as much as it is a course; one can get a 'sandwich with salad,' meaning that the sandwich will have lettuce and shredded carrot on it. The lettuce is often a variety called 'rocket,' a red leafed variety with pointed leaves vaguely reminiscent of dandelions. Side salads will often also have fresh bean sprouts and other raw vegetables in them.Restaurant menus are often set up to follows courses. One can order an appetizer, an entree, and a main. I think that Australians by and large are familiar with Americans' confusion about entree and main, since we as a rule don't really do that, substituting a soup/salad course in its place. The pricing appears to be almost always ala carte, although that seems to be changing in some spots.

Some grocery stores would be very familiar to Americans, while others have a more European look, with separate shops for meats, fish, produce, and baked good, and the grocery shop in the more limited role of offering processed foods and dairy. This type of food market appears most often in shopping malls, so one would have access to pharmacies and housewares stores as well. It's a way to shop, I'm sure, but it's not my style.

I've raved about a few meals in Australia. My very favorite meal so far over the years I've been doing this continues to be the blackened coral trout at Barnacle Bills in Cairns. It is a broiled fish with a very spicy seasoning that reminds me more of a Caribbean jerk seasoning than a blackening. But it is very tasty. It's served with a rocket salad and rice. There's a Thai dish I get at the Arun Thai Restaurant in Sydney that's very good. It's a beef dish in a sauce that is almost like the sauce in a Mongolian beef or lamb dish. The interesting thing they do at that restaurant is to sprinkle crunchy bits of spinach on top of the dish -- I'm certain they chop the spinach up and deep-fry it to get the right effect. It's served with rice.I've eaten at a few places on the Queen St. Mall in Brisbane that are pretty good. This year, the memorable meal there was Mongolian lamb at Jimmy's. I'm not a fan of lamb, but this was pretty good. It was also accompanied by rice. When we're in Alice, we have eaten at the Overlanders Steak House, and we'll probably take the students there this year. They have a huge meal on the menu, too big for me, that includes sample portions of kangaroo, crocodile, camel, and emu. Probably many of the students will try it. I'll have the kangaroo mignon cooked medium, and a crocodile croquette with a cream sauce. It's called 'mignon' only because of it's resemblance to the portion cut from a beef tenderloin, but this actually comes from the tail, where the best tasting meat is found. I'd have to add the lentil soup I had today to my list of favorite meals in Australia. The spicy part of 'spicy green lentil' came from the curry that formed the base of the flavoring, though there was cilantro present as well. There's a pepper used in some Asian dishes that is at once sweet and hot; there was some of that in this soup as well. Served with a nice hot baguette, it was simple and delicious.

I guess Australian cuisine exists more or less in the same way that USA cuisine exists, as a synthesis of several different immigrant cuisines, shaped by availability and necessity. We have our chili; they have their barramundi and chips. As they continue to be influenced by Asian cuisine, it will be interesting to see how their own shifts.

The Forts

2006-05-11T02:23:00.000-04:00

This is the third of four entries that I wrote while on Magnetic Island and unable to upload things. Be sure you read all four entries.

May 9
Magnetic Island
Hot, breezy, and sunny early
Cloudy in late afternoon

I wrote a short entry earlier today while at an internet kiosk over at Arcadia, but I suspect that I won't be uploading anything until I get up to Cairns on Thursday. Let me apologize if things are a little out of order, but I think that will be the way of it for now. Several of the places I've stopped at both here and in Brisbane have said that they anticipate having a connection like Global Gossip by next year, so perhaps the 2007 trip will fare better.

Today was my day to wander up to The Forts, a WWII relic on the island. During the war, Magnetic Island was considered a good spot for an observation and signaling post, since any Japanese attack on Townsville would need to go past here. Our tour guides have told us that there are still many old-timers on the island who can recall a lot about the US and ANZAC forces stationed here. But apart from a couple of shipwrecks, all that remains from that time are the gun emplacements and the reinforced buildings at the observation post. This area is called The Forts, and is about a 3km hike total: a little over 1km in, then an 800m circuit before coming back out. It's s significant hike up; you're changing elevation at least 300 feet from the beginning of the trail to the post itself. It's a very pleasant walk, though. The trail takes you past many striking rock formations. Magnetic Island is essentially a lot of volcanic granite rock with sandy soil on top that the plants grow in; the rocks are revealed when the sand is eroded away. The trail is also a showcase of almost all the exotic flora you might find over here: Norfolk Island pines, eucalyptus (of course), wattle, banksia, satanay; there's even a few strangler figs up there. The wildlife folks have attempted to introduce a koala colony on the island, and The Forts are considered one of the best spots to see one. I have not, though in both years when we've been here some of the students have. I'm usually so busy watching my feet that I'm sure I've passed within a few feet of them without noticing.

At the end of the walk is a 800m circuit that takes you through the remnants of the post: a couple of gun emplacements, the command center, and the signal station. The signal station is at the very highest point (of course) and affords the best views of the island, and the shipping channels. The mainland is on the other side, so you cannot see it so well. There were two men at the signal station when I got there, on holiday from Townsville with their families. We chatted for a bit, mostly about the weather, ad then I was on my way. I had begun the walk with my colleague, but he soon told me to go on ahead, that he was going to do it at a slower pace. I never saw him as a completed the circuit and headed back, but when I got to the bus stop, there he was! We figure that he must have passed when I was talking with those men. But talk about a tortoise and hare race .....

. .

It is now May 10, about 11:30 am. I just got done with a hike from Nelly Bay over to Picnic Bay, and then a climb up to Hawking Point, overlooking Picnic, Nelly, and Rocky Bays. I'm sitting at the Picnic Bay Mall, a sort of an esplanade from the old jetty that runs the length of the beach. It is a beautiful day, with a very nice breeze blowing -- and a chap with a weed whacker wandering about making lots of noise. Well, it is his job ...The view at Hawking Point is probably the loveliest that I've seen on the island thus far. You can see across the strait to Townsville, you can look down on Picnic, Nelly, and Rocky Bays, and you can get a pretty good feel for the geography of the southeastern portion of the island. At the bottom of the climb, there was an Australian couple who asked me if it was the trail. I must not look much like a tourist; I guess I'll have to dress better or something! They must have followed me up, since I saw them again after I stopped at a nice viewpoint about halfway up. It was a bit of a tricky climb, but the three of us managed to get to the top after only a couple of false turns. They were on holiday up from Brisbane, so we chatted a bit about the weather down south. Water is always on the mind of the Australians; it is so dry all over, but especially from Brisbane and on south. I know there are many people who think that this is nothing more than cyclical variation; they may be right and I hope that they're right, but I fear that the changes we're seeing in the climate are not going away. But enough about that. I'm going to have lunch and then head back to Nelly Bay for some relaxation and packing. We're going to have a group dinner tonight. Then tomorrow, it's off to Cairns.

Our Train to Magnetic Island

2006-05-11T02:20:00.000-04:00

This is the second of four entries that I've accumulated while out of internet touch. Please make sure your read all four.

May 8
Magnetic Island
Hot and muggy early, breezy and milder later

We are in our room at the end of our first of three days on Magnetic Island. I'll write about our tour today, but first I'll write about the train ride.

But before that, I should mention that my colleague has found game shows on tv just now. He's watching Deal or no Deal -- now he's watching Family Feud. Both are Australian versions of the US shows, although it is possible that our shows are the copies.

About the train: we boarded the Sunlander Sunday morning and arrived in Townsville on Monday morning, sleeping on the train over night. This was a first-time experience for most of the students, and I think it was a mixed bag for them. Some students enjoy the change of pace, others found it boring. For me, I enjoy just looking out the window and watching Australia go by. I saw several species of birds, one kangaroo, and four emus. Th emus were especially surprising, as I saw them in sugar cane field that had just been planted. The meals on the train were reasonably priced and quite a good value. I had also brought a few snacks along, so I was not going hungry. They showed movies in the club car to pass the time, too. But the movie they showed was National Treasure, one I had already seen and was not interested in seeing again. I am assisting a student via e-mail as he completes a study of dynamical systems, so I spent most of the rest of my time finishing up one of the chapters of that.

. . .

It is now the morning of May 9. I am sitting on the porch of our cabin at Magnetic Island, looking out over the resort. It's a quiet little park at the end of village street. The resort consists of a-frame cabins and cottages, with island wildlife roaming through. very tranquil and refreshing.

We hired a group tour for yesterday, and I'm very glad we did. We had been on the island several years ago, when we were first figuring out the course, and we had no guide then -- just some stupid 'party' bus for the resort we stayed at (not where we are now). We missed so much as a result! Our tour took us from Picnic Bay, nearest the mainland, to Horseshoe Bay on the far side. Our tour guide Steve is well on his way to becoming a classic Aussie character: a curmudgeon with a soft heart. But he was a lot of fun, and what he said was true most of the time. He did show us some great views of the bays and beaches; that's easy enough. But we also saw, fed, and petted rock wallabies living in a colony in the rocky crevices near the car ferry landing. We found a free range koala nearby Horseshoe Bay -- to the consternation of my colleague who had made it an assignment for the students to find a free range koala while they were here. (I'm sure they'll find others).

We will eat breakfast shortly, and then I'm off to hike about and explore. There a a lot of places that I hope to revisit today, and I'll tell you about it later.

The Australian Zoo

2006-05-11T02:17:00.000-04:00

This is the first of four journal entries that I've accumulated. Make sure your read all four.

May 6
Brisbane
Sunny and mild

We are on the way to the Australian Zoo, for a day of more sightseeing. It's already been an interesting trip, and we just started. The arrival and departure messages at the train station were a little messed up, and the express train platform was switched at the last moment. But, we're on our way. The trip will take a little over an hour, and then we will be picked up by a coach at Beerwah to take us over to the zoo. Since I have some time now, I thought I'd write a little more about Lone Pine, and then about some of the other things that are going on in Australia.

One of the things that I did not mention about Lone Pine was the children. There were several school groups visiting the sanctuary yesterday, so I had a bit of a chance to watch the children and their teachers. Of course, they all wear uniforms -- it's a look, but I always liken it to gang colors (I know, I know; I shouldn't). I think children are probably the same everywhere, before their culture begins shaping them (and, sadly, sometimes twisting them). Their behavior has no affectation; when they are happy they laugh; when they need us they cry; when they're learning something they care about they're intense. I was standing near the cassowary enclosure while a sanctuary worker was speaking to them, and was struck by the level of questions from the children about the bird.

But it's easy to imagine why they'd be so interested; the cassowary is such a striking animal: red, blue, and black, with a large horn on its head. I'll see if any of my photos of it turned out, and post them on Flickr if they did. The cassowary is another animal that is very endangered. The estimate is that there are fewer than 2500 left in the wild. The cassowary is a keystone species, too, in that the basic trees of the tropical rainforest depend upon the cassowary for their propagation. Seeds of the trees must pass through the gut of the cassowary before they can germinate. If the cassowary goes extinct, the tropical rainforest of Queensland will eventually pass away.

After we returned to the hotel, we took the students to the South Bank Parklands for a dinner at Kapsali's, a Greek restaurant in the park. The meal was okay, and some of the students said theirs was very good. I had fried ricotta and grilled vegetables with panini bread. The atmosphere was pleasant, and a good time was had by all.

Brisbane is celebrating the birth of the Buddha this weekend. It's a very happy affair; lots of red lanterns are hung throughout the park, there's a carnival ride area for the children, and there were Asian acrobats performing in a big arena. There will be fireworks tonight and tomorrow night. There are several statues of the Buddha set up all around that good Buddhists can wash. And a lot of information for the curious who want to learn more about Buddhism.

There was a Queensland Police booth set up, primarily for children. My colleague has been expressing interest for a few yearn now in getting a police hat, and they had color-and-cut-out hats that I think are the closest he'll come to getting one. Now all I need are some crayons ...

. . .

Now we are on the train on our way back from the Australian Zoo. The zoo is very well appointed; Steve has marketed himself well.Steve is, of course, Steve Irwin, the Crocodiles Hunter. The Australian Zoo began as a reptile park owned by Irwin's parents, where he spent his youth learning the business and rescuing crocodiles and other animals. He's parleyed the success of the television show into much more land for the zoo. It's currently 70 acres, with plans to expand to 315 over the next several years, including exhibits on Asia, Africa, Madagascar, and the Americas.

It compares favorably with most of what we've seen as far as exhibit quality goes. I found the 'Crocoseum' shows to be a little disappointing, though. A little too slick, with less substance than I would have liked. But, I'm probably just being snooty. The Crocoseum is a 5000 seat outdoor theatre designed for live interactive animal shows. The show lasted about 80 minutes, consisting of four smaller shows. The first was on snakes and included a somewhat hokey skit on snakebite. The second was on tigers and was pretty good. I was surprised to see tigers playing like kittens with toys their handlers tossed about. The third show was a free fight bird show that was okay (Taronga's is better). The last show was the crocodile show, and was nice. We haven't had that sort of experience since the first year at the Johnson Creek Crocodile farm, and I must say that this was much more civilized -- no beating the crocs with a leaf rake. The Crocoseum has a large video screen that captures the performance from a variety of angles, a refreshment concourse, and a food court nearby. It's quite a little setup. The zoo stresses interaction with the animals. One has opportunities to pet and hold many animals, including koalas and baby crocs, as well as opportunities to feed kangaroos and elephants. The enclosures for koalas and kangaroos have 'rest areas' -- for the animals, not for the people. These are portions of the enclosure with little wooden barricades with signs saying "Rest Area, Please Keep Out" or some variation on that. I guess the premise is that the animals will learn that when they are in those areas they are less likely to be bothered by people.

Though they are not Australian, of course, I found the exhibits on the cheetahs and elephants, along with the tiger show, to be very illuminating about Australians in general and about Irwin in particular. As a part of the show and exhibits, the animal handlers suggested that Australia, due to its wealth and stable government, has an obligation to act to protect not only its own wildlife, but to help to protect the wildlife in other countries as well, particularly those that are not wealthy or stable enough to do so. As far as I know, this is not official government policy, but rather the principles that guide Steve and the Australian zoo.

. . .

It is now May 7, at about 10:30am. We have been on the Sunlander train just under two hours, having made one stop at Caboolture. The ride is pleasant, and I hope it will be a time for relaxation for the students. I'll write more about the train in my next post. I wanted to finish my thoughts about yesterday.

Once Australians hear our accent and mark us as Americans, they will sometimes approach one of us and engage in conversation. I am sometimes surprised at the ease with which they'll do this. I had two such conversations yesterday. While we were waiting for the train that would tack us to the Zoo, an older woman came up to me and said "So you're the American group going to the zoo?" as though our presence was common knowledge throughout the land. But she was very nice, and eager to tell me about her trip to Colorado. On the way back from the zoo, a man in a waiter's uniform talked to me about sports.

I'll wrap this up for now and explore the train a bit. I'll write more about it later.

Yet another short note

2006-05-08T23:18:00.000-04:00

It would appear that I am doomed to not upload anything before I get to Cairns later this week, so I'm going to post a short note about some of the things we've done. Expect to see longer (and more grammatical) entries later on. But for now, I'll write a little about Magnetic Island.

First, the name. Capt. James Cook was the first whitefella to sail about in this part of the world, and so he named a lot of the places according to his whim. Cape Tribulation is so named because -- well, he suffered tribulation there. The day of the week he logged Thursday Island? Well, you get the idea. This island is called Magnetic Island because his compass went haywire while he was sailing by, and it could not possibly hve been because his compass was broken, right? So, the island must have mysterious magnetic powers. Of course, no one else has ever observed this, but the name has stuck.

It's the dry tropics here, so you get the heat but not as much humidity -- it's pretty pleasant. Yesterday, when we arrived, there was a cloud cover that our tour guide (I'll write more about him in a coming post) said was most unusual. Today is sunny, warm, and breezy, just about ideal. The island has many microclimates. While hiking about this morning, there were times when I was getting a wonderful cool onshore breeze, and other times when it was oppressively hot and muggy on the trail. I'm in shorts and SPF 30 sunscreen, and haven't noticed a burn yet (knock on wood). My early morning walk was just late enough to miss the sunrise a Nelly Bay, but the was enough wind to create tiny waves in the bay. The forecast was for small swells of about 1 meter or so during the day. Some of our students went out on the ocean for adventues, so they have excellent conditions.

The island folk are relaxed and friendly, perhaps a little more laid back than I'm used to, but if that's their biggest problem then something must be going right for them. There's a lot of development going on, so I suppose that in a few years this will be very different, much more touristy than it is now.

We watched a house being moved today. My colleague and I were waiting for the island bus to take us to a hiking trail when we saw a police cars coming down the road followed by an enormous trailer. It was a half-finished house that was being relocated to nearby our resort. I do wonder if it would be cheaper to just tear down and rebuild? But, it was amusing; there was a sign that said 'no entry' in the way, so the truck driver and his assistant just tore it down.

I am in a village called Arcadia, about 2 km away from Nelly Bay, where we are staying. I must finish this up in two minutes, and then I'll hit the trail back to the resort. Watch for more posts later on, when we get to Cairns. Bye!

Another short note

2006-05-06T06:10:00.000-04:00

This is another short note to let you know that I'm still around. Today was our trip to the Australian Zoo -- that's the one owned by the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. I'll upload a post to it as soon as I can.
We leave tomorrow for Townsville, so I am not sure when I'll be near a computer again. We will be on the train for 24 hours, and will be in Townsville itself for only a couple of hours before getting on the ferry for Magnetic Island. I do not know what conditions I'll find there. But, I will keep up on the writing, and post entries as soon as I can.

Several days into one

2006-05-05T01:38:00.000-04:00

There are svereal days here. This is the first day I could get to a machine.

May 2-4
Canberra
Partly sunny and cool

This was a day of travel, from Sydney to Canberra. Our drive was about six hours, leaving at 9 and arriving a little after 3. We made a few stops: at Berrima, at Goulburn, at Lake George, and at Mt. Ainslie. We finally arrived at the City Walk Hotel, where I am writing this.

Berrima is a pleasant village off the Hume highway, about 90 minutes south of Sydney. When driving in to the town, you could easily imagine that you were in a New England town in the autumn, as there are so many deciduous trees about. What makes this surprising to me is that the native trees in Australia: eucalyptus, banksia, paperbark, etc., are all evergreen. There should be no fall, no fall color. Yet, there it was, all around us. I don't know that the importation of the European species of trees has had a deleterious effect on the ecosystem in the same way as the introduced animals have, but it may well have. In any case, the upshot is that there is fall color here.

We stopped for lunch at a McDonald's just off the highway in Goulburn. The similarities and differences between McDonalds in Australia and in America are evident: there's a pastry shop built into the store, as well as a deli section. And of course, the burgers have a nice slice of beetroot on them. I don't know how that got started, but it's an interesting taste. One student pointed out that the beet adds a sweetness similar to ketchup. I think it's more like sweet pickle relish, but the idea is the same.

After lunch, we made our way down to Canberra. We stopped for a few minutes along Lake George, a dried-up catchment for the surrounding mountains. It is not so many years ago that the lake was full; one can find photos from the 50's of boating on the lake. The coach driver told me that there had been a few inches of water here and there last year after a winter storm, but that was the exception. The stations lease the lakebed for grazing; as we drove by we could see many sheep wandering about. The entire area is so very dry. They have been in the grip of a drought for several years now, with little sign of it abating. There are numerous water usage restrictions in place in the Goulburn area. It seems to be a very different situation from that which we've run into in the Alice Springs area. I do wonder if Australia is a continent in transition, with arid and arable regions interchanging.

Our hotel is the City Walk, a very nice budget hotel right off the central shopping area in Canberra. It's going through a remodeling right now -- hence the delays in posting these journal entries (no internet). But it's very clean and fairly roomy, so I think we'll be using it next year.

. . .

It's now May 4, and we are waiting at the Canberra airport for our flight to Brisbane. I thought I'd catch you up on our activities from yesterday: Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial.

We began our day tour at Parliament House, the seat of Australian government. It is a striking building, with architecture laden with symbolism. You can see it from anywhere in Canberra, it seems; four angled aluminum struts like boomerangs supporting a large Australian flag. The building itself though is mostly below ground, with parkland above it -- so the people are above the government, not the other way 'round. The interior of the building is very beautiful, with a freshness to its design appropriate to a young country.

Our guide was very friendly and knowledgeable, not only of his own government but also of our own. Australia's government is similar to ours in that it is bicameral, with a house of representatives apportioned by population, and a senate equally apportioned by state. It is unlike ours in that it is a parliament. The party that controls the house forms the government, with the party's leader becoming the prime minister. So, there's no real separate executive branch.

Oddly enough, I found a star guide with aboriginal constellations and legends at the souvenir shop. Seemed like an odd place to find such a thing, but I'll take it.

Our next stop was the U.S. Embassy. Now I'll frankly admit that this is a part of the tour that makes me the most nervous -- I don't think anything bad will happen, it's just that foreign policy stuff not my thing at all, so I assume that the students will be bored to tears by it. But the fact is that the students respond very well to the officers' stories, and I think we usually get a few students who begin thinking about a career in the Foreign Service after this meeting. We had brief presentations by three section heads: public affairs, economics, and political. These were followed by a question-&-answer session in which the students acquitted themselves very well, coming up with questions that I would not have thought of.

We broke for lunch at the city's central area, actually not far from our hotel. Most of the students opted to buy lunch in the food court on the lower level of the main shopping area. I had a kebab plate from a Turkish place, very good. It included tabouli salad and some humus, one of my favorites. There was a little boy and his mum sitting nearby us, and the boy kept his eye on me the whole time. The exotic American. Probably, I just had food in my beard.

Our last stop for the day was the ANZAC War Memorial. For me, the War Memorial is always a bit of an emotional stop. I do not think that there's one bit of romance to war, and it a testament to just how stupid we are as a species to get ourselves into these bloody debacles. But having said that, I have found in recent years a fascination with the strategies and tactics of battle, and the way that the will of the troops seems ultimately to be the deciding factor in who will carry the day. It seems that the best military leaders understand this, and the best troops will seek these leaders out and fight beyond their strength for them.

There's an example of this showcased at the ANZAC War Museum that involves US and Australian troops cooperating for perhaps the first time. In WWI, US troops were under orders not to take commands from the Australian General Monash, who they had heard was an excellent and unconventional tactician. So, they went to his camp. took off their US uniforms, put on the ANZAC's, and fought with Aussie troops in a successful battle in France (and I will look up the battle for you, gentle reader). It was the first of a series of cooperative ventures that would culminate in the ANZUS treaty.

Australia was attacked by Japan in WWII, and their troops were away defending British interests in Africa. There was very little to stop Japan from occupying at least the northern half of Australia -- except us. At least one objective of the Battle of the Coral Sea was to push Japan away from Australia, and Australians viewed our entry into that battle as a rescue. Australians have not forgotten that, and have stood with us ever since, even when they don't like our actions.

I found The Black Diggers at the ANZAC souvenir shop, too! I had read some at the NSW library, but am very happy to have my own copy now. When we're at Magnetic Island, I might take the ferry back into Townsville to do some more work on my project.

We are currently on the flight to Brisbane, and are about to start our descent, so I will sign off for now.

. . .

It is now May 5. We returned from Lone Pine Koala sanctuary awhile ago, and I wandered about until I found this Global Gossip location on Edward St. near the Eagle St. Pier. I am pretty impressed with Global Gossip, and will try to find them wherever I can.

Lone Pine is a wonderful sanctuary. If you've ever watched the Animal Planet channel and have seen a show on koalas, it's likely that it was filmed at Lone Pine. The sanctuary is committed to protecting the koala, which these days is very endangered due to loss of habitat -- that means that people are cutting down the eucalyptus forests to build more. It's probably a losing battle, but they're fighting the good fight.

But there's so much more at Lone Pine: kangaroos that you can feed by hand, emus, wombats, sheep and sheep dogs, injured birds that are cared for, dingoes, and many other Australian animals. We were there for over 2 1/2 hours, and the students could have stayed for the rest of the day.

The one disappointment was that the flying fox colony was gone! We always take the Mirimar Cruise up the Brisbane River to see the fruit bats, a huge colony that covers an entire island in the river. but as we approached the spot, the boat pilot told us that the bats had flown away a few days before. As we left the boat, I asked him what was going on, and he said that the bats had been leaving in the winter for the last few years, but they had never left this early. I wonder if this signals a change in their behavior. If so, that would be pretty sad; seeing the colony on the cruise has always been a high point.

I'll post some photos of the last few days at Flickr. We are at the Australian Zoo tomorrow -- that's the one run by Steve, the Crocodile Hunter. Then we leave Sunday for Townsville and Magnetic Island. If you don't see a new post for a few days, it's because I'm in transit. But I will write when I can.

A quick note

2006-05-04T05:24:00.000-04:00

May 4
Brisbane
Sunny and Warm

This is a very quick note written on a machine at which I cannot upload my extensive journal entry about our Canberra trip. I will try to find such a place tomorrow. I'll suffice it for the moment to say that Canberra was cool, and the weather threatened the entire time, but never really stormed. The places we visited: Parliament House, the U.S. Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial, were all very well-received by the students. In general, our students this year have been pretty willing to engage the course and get from it what we hope they will. Time will tell, of course, but I've been pleased at what I've seen so far.

Our flight to Brisbane was uneventful -- the best kind. Once we had arrived at the TinBilly and got the rooms straightened out, my colleague and I went off to the South Bank Parklands, an extensive park area on the Brisbane River. Tomorrow is the Brisbane celebration of Buddha's Birthday, and we plan to be right in the middle of it -- we have reservations for the group at a Greek restaurant nearby the main arena where the big events in the celebration will be held. It should be a very nice experience for the students.

I am about out of time, so I will be off.

Placid Monday

2006-05-01T02:58:00.000-04:00

May 1
Sydney
Sunny and pleasant(again!)

Today is a laundry day for me. We leave tomorrow for Canberra, so I want to get all my stuff in order.

I thought I'd write a little more about the group activities of the first two days: the Hyde Parks Barracks, the Australian Museum, the Taronga Zoo, and the Sydney Aquarium.

The very first thing we do after dropping our bags off at the hotel is to walk about a kilometer to the Hyde Park Barracks, one of the locations that housed the Convicts. You'll note the capitalization; the term 'Convict' in Australia refers only to those men and women that were sent to Australia from Britain for crimes (like stealing bread or being Irish). We like to make this our first stop; the students have just been through a 30-hour jaunt and might therefore feel some sympathy for the Convicts who had so much greater an ordeal.Our tour guide for the Barracks is different every year, and my colleague and I have noticed that each tour guide has a different aspect of the Barracks that they like to emphasize. One year it was the various uses of the Barracks, another year it was the more general history of immigration into Australia. This year, our guide concentrated on the punishments that the Convicts received. It was a little gruesome for my taste, but several of the students told me they thought it was great.

After the Barracks, we gather for a moment in Hyde Park to orient the students to the city. The park is beautiful, as are many of the parklands in the vicinity of Circular Quay and the Opera House. The students then have about 90 minutes for lunch and changing money before we move on.

Our next stop is the Australian/ Museum, where the students visit the exhibit on the indigenous peoples, the Aborigines and the Torres Strait Islanders. The exhibit includes both artifacts and testimony, and gives a fairly accurate perception of the state of affairs between white Australia and native Australia. After this visit, the students are on their own for the rest of the day.

The second day introduces the students to the fauna of Australia as we visit the Taronga Zoo and the Sydney Aquarium. We get to both via subways and ferries, so this is also a day to get the students familiar with these. Our hotel is very close to the Kings Cross subway station on the Eastern Suburbs line. Someone traveling to the end of this line would find themselves at Bondi Junction, where one could board a bus to get to the famous Bondi Beach. But we go the other way, toward the main loop. We make one transfer, which takes us to Circular Quay (pronounced "key"). It's one of those memorable moments in our course when the subway goes above ground, makes a turn, and the students get their close-up view of the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House. We usually take a few moments on the platform so the students can snap a few photos, then we move down to the wharf and take the ferry to Taronga Zoo.

Taronga Zoo is one of the better zoos I've seen. The animals are very well cared for; the exhibits are clean and informative, and there are daily shows all over the park. The zoo is on a hillside. We begin at the top after a picturesque ride in a cablecar; most of the rest of the visit is a slow walk down the hill. My favorite part of the zoo is the free flight bird show, an engaging introduction to some of the birds of Australia. I was only slightly disappointed this year at the echidna exhibit, as it was hidden. On the other hand, there was a wombat out and about. I think I've a photo of it; I'll post it if I do.

The Sydney Aquarium is a very good way for the students to get a close-up look at several animals, some of which they may or may not see at all in the wild, and others that they may want to not see so closely. The Aquarium has platypuses, penguins and great white sharks (those are the animals the students will likely not see in the wild); reef fishes (that they probably will see) and a nice large saltwater crocodile (that they would not want to be near). There are two oceanariums that have walk-through tunnels. one is for the sea lions; the other is for the sharks and rays. It's this second one that I find the most fascinating, as the behavior of the rays is very striking. Their motion is distinct from both swimming and flying; it is more an undulation. They also seem to like to lay atop the tunnels; the largest covers the entire top.

. . .

It is now much later in the afternoon. I spent a good portion of the time at the library again, doing more research, and I came across a very nice short movie, Harry's War. This is a short movie about an Aboriginal ANZAC soldier fighting in New Guinea in 1942, his relationship with his mates, his family, and his totem animals. It's a sad story -- as the film finished I was getting a little choked up, probably not a good idea in a public place like a library. The man who played Harry is David Ngoombujarra. He has a wonderful deep voice -- I suspect we've heard him in voiceovers from time to time. All the performances were good. The dialogue was a little preachy at moments, though the restrictions of a half-hour time slot might create that possibility. The direction and editing was okay. All in all, it was time well spent. I'll probably see about getting it in the USA. AT the moment, the TV here at the hotel lounge is showing Spiderman II, so I think I'll stop for now and enjoy the movie's end.

NSW Library

2006-04-30T16:12:00.000-04:00

April 30
Partly sunny, afternoon clouds
Sydney

I am sitting in the State Library of NSW with my new library card! It's 'blue level' Reader's Card, which will allow me to request material from the stack. I cannot borrow anything, of course. I am not sure if it will help me with my project, but it's a start.

Last year, I picked up a book on the history of the Djabugay people, an aboriginal group in Tropical North Queensland. It was an unusual text in that the account is from the point of view of the Djabugay themselves. In the book, the author tells about the time during W.W.II when black American soldiers were stationed in Queensland, and were befriended by the Djabugay. To the Djabugay, the soldiers were remarkable and inspiring. They were just as dark-skinned as any Aborigine, yet they were accorded a level of respect by the white soldiers that was not even imagined by the indigenous people. My objective during this trip is to learn more about this period and the interactions that took place then. I suspect that black soldiers in W.W.II would not say that the treatment they received by the military was all that great. We all of us know that we have had a rough road to social equality and that there's lots left to do. And I would not want to make any sort of argument that smacked of relativism. It just sounds like a neat story to me, and I hope to learn more about it.

So anyway, that's what I am about here today. The library is a very well-used place; I even had trouble finding a place to sit down to write this. The stacks are closed; one makes requests for materials, which are then delivered to bins nearby the circulation area. There are people of all ages and races, researching all manner of things. I am currently sitting nearby the Family History section. I suppose that this would be a place where one could find out a lot more about the Convicts.
. . .

It's about 30 minutes later. I have requested two books which should be retrieved from the stacks in about 20 minutes. I have asked for America's Australia, Australia's America and The Black Diggers: Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the Second World War. The titles sounded interesting, and I hope they'll lead to something. The library also has several works on Black Americans in the armed forces, and several other works on Aborigines in the military here.
I'm a little surprised at some of that, as I had thought that Aborigines were not allowed to serve at the time. Australian attitudes about the native people have evolved, though they have a ways to go, but I'm pretty sure that since Aborigines were not citizens, they were not allowed into the military. There's one rather humorous story worth sharing. Apparently, some of the Djabugay women were out one day and spotted unfamiliar faces climbing in the trees near Cairns. The men they saw looked enough like the pictures of Japanese they had seen that they were convinced that the Japanese were invading right there. (The idea was not far-fetched; the Japanese had already bombed Darwin; the Australian forces were stretched to the limit protecting British African interests, and there was in place a contingency plan to forfeit all of northern Australia to the Japanese should they invade. One of the big reasons that Australia always seems to back America so wholeheartedly is that America -- not Britain -- came to their rescue after the bombing of Darwin.) But the fact was that the men in the trees were from the island of Java, and were being trained as scouts.

. . .

It's now early Monday morning. I spent the rest of yesterday continuing to reserach my project, and walking about the Royal Botanical Gardens. One of the most striking features of the gardens in the flying fox colony, thousands of fruit bats hanging in the trees. Though they are relatively inactive during the day, there were still several instances where the bats would fly about. I didn't get a good picture, but will try again today. There is also a flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos that fly about and squawk a lot -- I wonder if there's some tension between the species.

I wanted to mention my photos at Flickr. If you want, you can go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/chazjac/ and take a look. It might take a little bit if you're using a dialup account. I'll try to upload at least one photo every time I post, so you should frequently see something new. Occasionally, I'll post photos directly in the blog, too.

2006-04-28T01:47:00.000-04:00

April 26, 2006
JFK Airport
Clear and sunny(for a big city polluted airport)

We're sitting and waiting for our flight to LAX, and then to Sydney. It is the beginning of a 20-hour odyssey that will go not quite half way 'round the ball. Everything has been uneventful thus far. I really think that the hard part of the travel is over; getting through security at JFK is probably the most difficult part. Everything else is just waiting in the lines.
On the bus to JFK, we watched Remember the Titans. The actor who played Louie now plays the brother of Earl in the NBC sitcom "My Name is Earl." His part in Titans was a brilliant performance; he has a surprising comic range, playing a comic relief character that has some depth.

Many hours later ... we're about 4 1/2 hours out of Sydney airport, over the Pacific -- east of Noumea, just crossing the international dateline. our ground speed is about 900 km/hr, or 570 mph. Of course, we're not on the ground, but rather at 34000 feet. We're pretty comfortable, but the outside air temp is -47ºF. Of course, if you chase through the algebra, you'll note that this is the temperature range in which degrees Fahrenheit and degrees Celsius are about the same.
The flight has been largely uneventful. We have a hit a few pockets of turbulence here and there -- in fact, we're in one right now -- so we've had the seat belt light on once in awhile.
If my calculations are right, as I write this, it is noon on your part of the ball. Our progress board lists several bits of information; I'm sure you guessed that. Among the things to do to pass the time on the plane is to do some mental calculations about the time here and there.
And QANTAS does do its part to make sure that we have such pastimes. We have at least five different movies o choose from: Jarhead, Transamerica, The Producers, The Weatherman, Mrs. Henderson Presents, and The Chronicles of Narnia. I watched Good Night and Good Luck, the movie about Edward Murrow. George Clooney directed this one and I thought he did quite well. It's preachy, but it's that kind of story.
Every person on board has a 4" by 6" screen on the seat in front on which they can watch the movie or tv show of their choice, play video games, check out (old) news, or flight information. I haven't used it much this time, though I have in other flights.
I've mostly slept. This is the first time I've flown to Australia while not well. I have a rather heavy chest cold that's not going away as quickly as I'd like. My doctor recommended some various medicines, so I am hopeful it will go away once we're in Sydney.

Even more hours later ... I am sitting in the lobby of the Bernly Private Hotel after our busy first day. Our tour guide at the Hyde Parks Barracks was a bit of a sadist, concentrating on the punishments of the Convicts. On the other hand, perhaps he understood how our students felt after a 14-hour plane ride. The weather is very cooperative and bautiful today. Tomorrow, it's supposed to rain, but we'll see. The zoo is pretty cool even when it rains. And the Aquarium is inside, so no worries there.

I'm very tired, and I'm glad that the handheld transfers are working out. I am going to attempt to upload a phot and then call it a day.

Pelican at Taronga Zoo

2006-02-07T12:31:00.000-05:00

Pelican at Taronga Zoo
Originally uploaded by chazjac.

I'm testing a few things in preparation for the 2006 trip, so I'll be uploading several photos over the next few days. YOu can go to my Flickr account to see them if you'd like.

My Jornada and Me

2006-01-26T10:38:00.000-05:00

This is an experiment for me. I am writing this journal article on my HP Jornada 720, a handheld PC I purchased last week. The keyboard is quite tiny, which slows me down a little -- I'm trying to do a lot of things with more deliberation these days, so I guess slower writing is not so bad. But the Jornada is actually quite responsive, so I anticipate becoming adept at using it effectively.

I should also write about the buying of it. I did buy it at an auction on eBay. I was a perfect little sniper on this one -- a sniper is someone who watches the bidding, doing nothing until the last moment of the auction, then swooping in with a bid just before the deadline so that no one can react. I was very happy with the price, and the seller was very good about shipping promptly.

I do not buy much there, and I have a better understanding of why now. The auction at its conclusion was absolutely thrilling! When I put my winning bid in at the end, my heart was pounding. It's pretty pathetic. But I can see how this might be addictive in the same way that gambling is. I wonder if there are people who do become addicted to auctions, and get into trouble as a result.

It's fun to use, so far. The keyboard is very small, and my fingers are getting used to it still. By the time anyone reads this, I will have proofread the file to fix the misspellings, mistypings and bad grammar. You should see what it looks like fbhroefor I do that. My Australia journals were always full of mistakes of one form or another. Since I pay for the time I'm on a computer while traveling, I do not have the time I'd like for a good proofread. My writing has suffered as a result, and while I know it provides hours of fun for my friends, colleagues, and students to point out my errors, I do believe that one should expect better of someone with the conceit to call himself a professor.

It has many features, some of which I will probably not use. I have no plans to use it to connect directly to the Internet, for example. On the pother hand, it does have Microsoft Pocket Office, including a version of Word I am using now, Excel, and PowerPoint. It also has a calculator, and a digital recorder that I plan to use for capturing the sounds of Australia. I'll have to investigate uploading those as well.

My hope is that I'll be able to connect this to machines I find in Australia, and to quickly transfer files. I don't think I can do this directly, but I should be able to use the CompactFlash memory as a transfer device. Anyway, I'll be experimenting for the next few months, and will post some of the results here.

We had our first course meeting a week ago last Sunday, where my colleague introduced the course, laying out the itinerary and course expectations. We will be doing the usual route, though we will be shortening the time we are in Brisbane and including a few days in Townsville and Magnetic Island. I am looking forward to visiting there again, as I found a lot of hiking trails that I enjoyed. This is also the island that has the WWII observation outpost that reminds me of my late Uncle Burt, who served as a gunnery sergeant and played a role in the Battle of the Coral Sea. I suppose it's not out of the question that he spent some time at that particular spot, though I'm pretty sure that he was stationed in Papua New Guinea.

I've been thinking about WWII a lot these days. That conflict brought out the worst in humanity, of course, but it's important to remember that it brought out some pretty good things in people as well. There's one story that is largely unknown that I'm thinking of studying this year while I'm Down Under. During WWII, there were of course a lot of American troops stationed in Australia. Many Aborigines were amazed and inspired to see African American soldiers -- people as dark-skinned as them but holding responsible positions equal to those of whites. There are some historical accounts about this; it's those that I'm interested in pursuing. I'm hoping that I'll find some neat stories.

We meet with the students again this Sunday. This time, I'll be lecturing about plate tectonics and its connections with Australia's flora and fauna. We'll probably go over some practical things as well, including journal writing and preparing for the poster session. Were getting closer to our trip, and I'm starting to get excited about it.

Sorry about this.

2005-08-29T07:54:00.000-04:00

I'm sure my blog activity had fallen off for now, as I'm stateside again. But since I've been getting comment spam, I am turning on word verification. I hate doing this. There are so many fools ruining the Internet. But all we can do is live with them.

In the future, if you post a comment to this blog, you will be required to enter a word that appears as a graphic. This is done to fool the internet robots trolling for a place to put unwanted ads.

Larry and I are beginning to plan the trip for next year, and it looks exciting. CHeck here for our plans.

Uluru

2005-06-08T18:37:00.000-04:00

7 June
Elmira
Sunny, mid 80s

(14880 steps on 22 May)

It is quite difficult to complete these last two entries. There are three reasons for this. First, I've moved on, thinking about my summer projects, beginning my planning for the next academic year, and getting back into my family life. Second, the events are fading into the past for me, and I fear that I'm forgetting something important.

The most important reason, though, is that I am under no pressure to quickly knock out a journal entry. When I am writing while in Australia, I am always at an internet station, and am paying for my time. There's no such pressure here, snug in my own house. I am not even online as I write this -- I'll paste it into the entry window when I log on later. So, I can correct spelling mistakes and rewrite passages I don't like, all of which takes much longer to do.

Ah, well -- such problems to have! Life must be good indeed. Back to the Outback …

I usually wake up very early when camping. I'm not sure what gets me out of my sleeping bag, but I do enjoy seeing the stars in the wee hours. The early morning was still hazy, though the moon was low enough in the sky so that the moon ring was gone. And there were enough clear patches so that it was possible to see some of the constellations, though the galactic center would never really be visible during the trip.

The camp resort at Yulara was very well appointed; some of the students actually complained a little bit in their journals that we had too many luxuries -- like showers and toilets. Speaking for myself, I am perfectly fine with camping out and roughing it, but I'll take my luxuries where I find them. The showers were very nice and warm.

We were supposed to leave camp in the dark and get to Uluru before sunrise so that we could see the Rock again change colors, but we couldn't -- our bus battery was dead. We settled for a nearby viewing spot -- I think some of the other campers were a little disconcerted that 36 college students showed up at an otherwise quiet observation platform, but the students were quite well-behaved.

Our tour guide did get someone to come and give us a jump, so we were soon on our way to Uluru. Our morning consisted of a walk most of the way around the Rock, a guided tour on the remainder, and a visit to the Anangu Cultural Centre.

Our walk around was unguided -- a little unfortunate, since there are many sights along the way about which I would like to ask questions. I think that we'll discuss that when we plan next year's course. Now, an explanation of everything at the Rock would be a lot, and there are some things that probably could not be explained, owing to their religious significance (and hence secretiveness). Still, leaving us on our own without a context limited our enjoyment of the Rock to the 7.4 kilometers of the portion we walked -- and perhaps the sound of a bird call or two, when people were quiet.

On a long walk like this with a group as large as ours, the students tend to spread out, so I walked on ahead, telling students that they should walk slower than me. That gave me the chance to get to the Mutitjulu site before they did, so that I could direct them to it. This site, a short ways into a cleft in the Rock, contains a water source, and several overhangs under which Aboriginal drawings can be seen on the walls. Uluru is an important sacred site, certainly, but it also served many practical purposes, and its massive size lets even the faraway traveler know where it is. It thus served as an important gathering place for the Anangu. Here, they could use some overhangs and/or caves as classrooms, nurseries, kitchens, infirmaries, and other areas useful to a village. The Mutitjulu area illustrates most of these, but the most important thing about it is the water source. Uluru's sandstone is quite porous, and so it acts as a giant sponge. It's one of the most reliable water sources in the region, and Mutitjulu is the headwater.

After our walk around, we met at the base of the rock climb. It's a little unfortunate that the rock climb even exists -- climbing Uluru is not only disrespectful to the Anangu, it is also dangerous. The Anangu elders have set specific conditions under which the climb must be closed. It cannot be open when the winds are too strong, when the temperature is too high, or when it is raining. The park must also close the climb when an Aboriginal elder dies, and the climb must remain closed during the mourning period. It is a testament to the power of the tourism industry in Australia that the climb remains open at other times. The Anangu men only climb it as a part of a sacred ritual, and don't want anyone else to do so. My guess is that keeping it open was a compromise forced upon the Anangu when they negotiated for reinstatement of their land rights.

Nonetheless, people do climb the Rock. They walk right past the signs put up by the Anangu asking them not to do so. Several students asked me how tourists could climb the Rock after reading the signs asking them not to. I think it's actually easy enough to understand -- it's an intriguing prospect, climbing up high, getting probably one of the best views there is on the planet, conquering the Rock, … and there aren't any elders nearby to scold you for doing it. While we were waiting for everyone to arrive for the guided portion of the walk, Joseph (one of the Aboriginal kids along with us) asked me if I would climb the Rock, and I said no. I then asked him if he would climb, and he did not hesitate -- yes, he would. I don't think there was any hint of disrespect in his attitude; he was reacting purely to the excitement of the place.

After we had all gathered and our tour guide had rejoined us, we went on the Mala walk, a shorter walk along the remaining side of Uluru we had not yet passed. We went past caves and overhangs in which the Anangu would gather for specific purposes -- one area might be a nursery, another might be a cave reserved for elders, a third overhang might be a kitchen. It's much like the Mutitjulu area.

There might be four or five such areas at the base of the Rock. It could thus serve as a meeting place for hundreds, perhaps thousands. In its time, it was probably quite a lively spot, like one of our county fairs or a large family reunion. It's probably not possible for it to be used this way anymore, and that's too bad -- I imagine it was fun.

After our tour of Uluru, we went over to the Cultural Centre, a few kilometers away. This is a place where the Anangu tell their story of the Rock -- and where the inevitable souvenir and food shops are located. It has changed very little from the previous years, though a few elders pictured in the Centre are now covered who weren't before, and there do not seem to be new elders replacing them at the same rate. I should explain that after a person dies, their name is not used, and no images of them are to be shown. This forbidden period lasts as long as the family is in mourning, so it may be years before they can be spoken about again or their images can be viewed. This is not unique to the Anangu; it appears to be true in most Aboriginal cultures -- in fact, it's a practice elsewhere in the world, too.
That elders would die is not what troubles me; that's natural and expected. But that there are fewer and fewer young Aboriginal men and women to take their place is very troubling. But, it's not for me to judge -- it must be hard to keep true to an indigenous culture amid the media blitz that characterizes our times. I hope that they find a way to sustain their identity.

We returned to Yulara for a quick lunch, then packed the coach and headed off to King's Creek Station, where we would camp for the night. Our tour guide played two videos for us as we traveled. The first was called Last of the Nomads, which told the story of an Aboriginal couple whose marriage was against tribal law. They fled into the bush, and were not seen again for many years, until drought and famine raised the concern of their families enough for them to mount a search to find them. They were indeed found, though they were ill and starving. The elders of the village took them in, but both passed away after a few years. It was very sad, but redemptive in some way -- they stayed true to their love throughout, though it went against everything that they knew.

The second video was called Bush Mechanics. I think this was an episode from an Australian television series produced by the Aborigines who live in the Alice Springs area. It is a little hard to describe -- if you've seen The Gods Must Be Crazy, you have a point of reference. The plot line is that four Aboriginal men go to incredible lengths to keep a car running that continues to break down. When a tire goes flat, they stuff it full of spinifex grass. When a wheel breaks off, they use a tree as a runner to replace the wheel. When the clutch burns out, they make a new one out of gum wood! The show is filled with tricks like that, as well as stories from elders about their experiences with cars and trucks from many years ago. It is very funny. (While shopping at the end of our stay, I found a DVD with four other episodes from the series, so I've had a chance to see a little more of it. This series is worth checking out; they do have a website -- I'll look for the link, but if you search on Bush Mechanics you will find it quickly enough.)

We arrived at Kings Creek Station late in the afternoon. We have camped there before, but this time, we were in the main camp, not the remote bush camp miles back in the came paddock. It was a change, and I think it disappointed my senior colleague, who was looking forward to his bush shower -- again, I've roughed it enough to appreciate when I don't have to. Our evening camp made, we fixed our dinner, and settled down for the night, waiting to go to Watarrka the next day.

There is one final item about this day. During the day, I had a few chances to talk with Gary about his work, and asked him if he would mind telling our students about what he does. Around the campfire, he spoke for almost an hour about his work with young Aboriginal men like Hank, trying to reestablish their connection with their culture. He talked about the Stolen Generation, the healing required, and his organization's part in it. He talked about the government funding (and sometimes the lack of funding) for the programs, and how it hung by a thread. He talked about Australian's indigenous peoples learning from the Native Americans about return-to-nature programs to help people recovering from drug addiction and alcoholism.

I know how difficult it is for a speaker to hold the attention of college-aged students -- I've had my share of successes and failures at it. But Gary was able to hold their interest for all that time -- and he was speaking entirely off-the-cuff. It was quite impressive. My hope is that we'll be able to use him as a resource in future courses. It's just good to inject a little reality into the course, and get past the tourism industry and the media.

Kata Tjuta

2005-06-01T21:31:00.000-04:00

31 May
Elmira
Sunny and Mild
(18900 steps on 21 May)

It's early Tuesday morning. I've been back for a few days, but getting over let lag and the business of the course have prevented me from writing in the journal before now.
A fourteen-hour time difference makes for a heck of a lot of jet lag. While I did sleep through the night on Friday after our return, I made the mistake of lying down Saturday morning to watch a movie. I did not get back up from the couch until late afternoon. Sunday and Monday were better, though I am finding that, as in years past, I get very tired around 5pm.
The remaining business of the course was the course reception, which took place Monday afternoon. I confess that I was nervous about this. My senior colleague and I had talked about including a poster session since the first year, but this was the first time we were returning early enough to permit the students the time they would need to create presentations. I guess I'm always nervous about including new things in the course, but this had a very public dimension to it.
Of course, there was no need to worry at all; everyone appeared to have a wonderful time. The parents and friends of the students had a chance to match faces with names; the students had a chance to see each other one last time before going home for the summer; my colleagues and I had one more opportunity to discover what the students had learned. It went quite well.

I have written nothing yet about our camping trip of 21 May. We spend a two-night, three-day tour of the significant rock formations of central Australia: Uluru (Ayers Rock), Kata Tjuta (The Olgas), and Watarrka (King's Canyon). Watarrka lies at the end of the MacDonnells, an ancient mountain range slowly being worn away by wind erosion. The rocks and dust from this were washed away into the ocean that once covered central Australia, and some portions were deposited into deep valleys in the ocean floor, to harden into sandstone and conglomerate. Then, as the ocean levels fell again and the Australian continent emerged, erosion continued to work to strip away looser ocean bed, revealing the conglomerate rock of Kata Tjuta, and the smooth sandstone of Uluru and Mt. Conner.

We always get up very early for this portion of the trip, as Uluru and Kata Tjuta are about 350 km south of Alice Springs. Usually the students sleep for the first 90 minutes until we arrive at a camel farm/roadhouse at Stuart Wells, where we have breakfast. This is also a chance to have a camel ride for those who want one -- I've been on a camel once and have little desire to repeat it, so I stand back and let the other have their shot at it.

We had two 12-year-old Aboriginal boys with us -- I'll call them Joseph and Hank. Joseph was a typical young Aboriginal boy, with a stable family life. He appeared to be shy, though I think this is my cultural filter applied to his behavior, as Aborigines tend to be somewhat reserved when around a stranger. When I had met Joseph's parents in the early morning before we left, I found his mother to be very friendly and engaging, while his father was extremely reluctant to talk to me. Joseph takes after his dad.

Hank was a very different character, very gregarious and eager to talk. We learned later that Hank's family situation is very difficult. Along with other young Aboriginal teenagers considered at risk of going sour, he lives in a group home sponsored by a government-funded organization committed to breaking the cycle of failure in Aboriginal families.

This brings me to the third guest on our trip, a man I'll call Gary. Gary is a Torres Strait Islander, another indigenous Australian people. The Torres Strait Islanders occupy the islands in the Torres Strait, between Australia and Papua New Guinea -- I guess the name says it all. As a matter of race, they are more closely related to the South Sea Islanders than to the Australian Aborigines. Nonetheless, they are a minority group in Australia that has experienced treatment similar to the Aborigines. Gary lives in Darwin, and was down in Alice Springs evaluating Hank's case. He was along on the trip as a part of that evaluation.

After our stop at the Stuart Wells Camel farm, we continued on our way, turning west at Erldunda to head out to the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. We stopped at the Mt. Ebeneezer roadhouse for a coffee break. This roadhouse is located nearby the Aboriginal village of the same name, and has a small art shop inside where the local artists sell paintings, tools, and other implements. Since we were going to stop at this place again on the return trip, we encouraged the students not to buy anything just yet.

After arriving at our campsite at Yulara shortly before noon and having a light lunch , we entered the Park and headed for Kata Tjuta. The white explorers called it The Olgas -- I'm not sure why. Kata Tjuta means "many heads" in the Anangu language, and that makes sense, given that Kata Tjuta does appear to be many round domes of conglomerate rock. Our trail through the rock formations ran about 10 kilometers, around two of the larger domes. A partially filled in pass between two domes served as the highest point on the trail, and gave a marvelous view of the central area contained within the domes. It's easy to see why the Anangu consider this a sacred area; it would provide the food, water, and shelter they would need in hard times.

I did get a chance to play a little with Hank. As we were nearing the end of the walk, I was bringing up the rear -- always behind the last student; that's the job description -- and Hank, who was far ahead, started teasing me, calling me "Grandpa." I took off running and passed him easily. A small bag fell off my Camelbak and landed behind me; Hank picked this up and ran the other way, back along the trail, So, I had to backtrack to get my bag while Hank ran ahead, the winner. All in all, a nice icebreaker -- I have to admit, as coarse as he was at times, I thought Hank was a good kid at heart, and am happy to have gotten to know him.

After our walk around Kata Tjuta, we returned to camp to set up and get ready for the evening. We've been to the campsite at Yulara before, since pretty much everyone who spends the night nearby Uluru uses Yulara as a campsite. It was planned by the Anangu to be used for that purpose, so people would camp to near Uluru.

There's an area not so far from our campsite at which we can get a nice view of the sunset on Uluru. This is always a nice treat, since as the sun sets, it causes the rock to appear to change color.

This was a night to sleep out under the stars, using swags instead of tents. A swag is a combination canvas bag and mattress; you put your sleeping bag inside it and zip it up. Very warm and comfortable. Unfortunately, there were not so many stars. But, there was a moon ring, owing to some high atmospheric clouds, so overall, it was a nice restful night, preparing us for our walk around Uluru the next day.

Sounds of Starlight

2005-05-25T19:10:00.000-04:00

25 May
Potts Point, Sydney
Cloudy am, Sunny pm
4530 steps today
(4420 steps on 18 May)
(5250 steps on 19 May)
(5690 steps on 20 May)

We began today out at MacQuarie Point in Sydney Harbor, where the owner of the hotel we stay at here in Sydney arranged for a group photo that will hang on the wall in his lobby. My senior colleague purchased a few copies of the photo for the college. The owner, a native of Egypt but an Australian citizen for over 50 years, then took my two colleagues and I on a tour of his Sydney. We saw many of the bays and side streets of the east side: Rose Bay, Edgecliff, Watson's Bay, the Gap, Bondi Beach, and others. We had midmorning coffee and tea at the Bogey Hole cafe nearby one of the southernmost beaches before Botany Bay. He then took us thorugh the city to the southern part, where he treated us to lunch in an Italian neighborhood. Very picturesque, and a reminder that Australia is a nation of immigrants, much as we are.

On 19 May, we changed locations from Cairns to Alice Springs, for the outback portion of our course. I look forward to this; our trek through Watarrka (whitefellas call it "Kings Canyon") is one of my favorite times on the tour. But that's a few days away. Our flight from Cairns to the Alice was uneventful -- if you read the journal last year, you know that we were about ten hour late on this flight, owing to mechanical problems -- but nothing like that this year.

We checked in to Toddy's, a somewhat older hostel that continues to deliver good service. Much to my delight, our man Steve still works there. Steve is a big burly fellow with a long red beard and a ponytail -- you'd call him an old hippie if you saw him in the States, but no one falls into that category in the Alice. They're all characters, as near as I can tell. I like Steve. He's smart and will engage you in a conversation on almost any topic. We're both fans of the writer Jeffrey Deaver, so I brought him the latest paperback, The Garden of Beasts -- I think I talked about this book already.

We spent the evening of the 19th at a didgeridoo concert by Andrew Langford, called Sounds of Starlight. You can visit his website at http://www.soundsofstarlight.com.au. He plays with a percussionist and a keyboardist, and the trio make evocative and fun music. They also get the audience involved, playing didgeridoos and keeping time with Aboriginal instruments. I had been a little nervous about this, as it had been my idea to include it and I was concerned that the students would be bored by it. But they were enthused, and I think many bought their didgeridoos later from Mr. Langford.

You perhaps do not know what a didgeridoo is. It's a long wooden tube, hollowed out by termites, that produces the classic droning sound that evokes a vision of Australia whenever you hear it. You play it by making a Bronx cheer ("razzberries") into one end of it, though there are many additional things you can do to produce a sound from it. Andrew Langford is one master of the didgeridoo, David Hudson is another, but there are many more.

We spent the next day, the 20th, on a tour of Alice Springs and some of its important historical spots. We bagan the day at Alice Springs Desert Park. It's a good way to get an introduction to the types of land we would be visiting over the next few days on our camping trip. We only had two hours there, so most of the students went to the desert bird show. It's quite an event, involving wedgetail eagles, kites and desert kestrals and barn owls, displaying their natural behavior on free flight. They're very well-trained. I had seen it last year, so I spent my time visting the kangaroos and emus, the nocturnal house, and attending a show on bush tucker: specifically, witchety grubs (eaten live), honey ants (you eat their hind parts while they're alive) and desert 'coconuts' (a moth larva trapped inside a tree gall). Great gross-out food for teh tourists; sometimes I think the Aborigines just make all this up to see if they can get some tourist to eat something gross -- I'm just kidding of course. In fact, as you will see later on, I have actually learned a thing or two worth knowing about our blackfella brother down here. but more on that later.

After the Desert Park, we went to the Royal Flying Doctors Service. This was started early in the 20th century by one John Flynn, a circuit rider minister who saw the heartbreak of floks when they could not get good medical care in the remote regions of the Outback, and put together teams of aviators and electrical engineers to develop a flying medical service and a wireless system to get emergency messages out as needed. They are real heroes; it chokes me up a little even now to think of this wonderful and dedicated group of doctors, nurses, and pilots who serve the citizens of Australia who live far away from the rest of us. There's a tv series down here about them called Flying Doctors; I'll see if I can find a link to somne info about it.

After the Flying Doctors, we went to the School of the Air, a similar service that serves the educational needs of children who live on remote cattle and sheep stations and Aboriginal villages. Our students once again put the Australian tourists to shame by making significant book donations to the School after the tour of their operations.

We ended our day by visiting the original telegraph station that gave Alice Springs it name. The man who founded the station was one Charles Todd -- many things here are named after him -- he neede a location for a telegraph station that was near a gap in the McDonnell range, that was within 200 kilometres of the nearest station to the north, and was near a source of water. He called the water he found Alice Springs, believing it was a spring -- it was a low spot in a nearby riverbed, which doon dried up. But the name stuck; the dry river eventually was called the Todd River, and Alice Springs was born.

I should explain two things about Outback rivers. You can think of them as 'upside down', in that the water is underneath the sand and rock, not on top. The Todd River is usually dry, though my senior colleague and I are among the few tourists who can say that we have seen water flowing in the Todd River -- you can read more about it in last year's journal. Of course, this year, there was none, our weather was beautiful throughout our stay in the Outback.

Tomorrow will be my last full day in Australia, and I plan on doing little more than some last-minute shopping and journal reading -- and of course telling you about our camping trip to the Outback.

The Tablelands

2005-05-23T20:04:00.000-04:00

24 May
Alice Springs
Mostly Sunny, Mild

(step count to appear in later journal entry)

I know it's been a week, but I have had little chance to get nearby a computer with more than a minute or two to spare since then. We've covered a lot of ground.
We're at the point where the course is beginning to wind down, at least at this end. We are going to be picked up in a little over an hour for our trip to the Alice Springs airport for our flight back to Sydney. As usual, the mood has begun to settle in on the group that we've had a lot of adevntures, we've learned a lot, but it's time to go home. We'll do that soon enough.

If you plan on being in the Elmira area on Monday, May 30, you will have the chance to see what we've been doing. We will have a reception fo rthe course from 2pm to 4pm at Hamilton Hall. Light refreshments will be served. We expect to see posters and other presentations about bush tucker, bush medicine, the Sydney Opera House, everyday AUstralian life, sports, and other things. I plan on doing a poster about what Aborigines think about whitefellas. I hope to see you there.

Let me catch you up on what we've been doing. I'll try to keep everything in order, and I expect to be doing several of these over the next few days.

For our last day in tropical north Queensland, we began by driving down the coast to Innisfail to see the Australian Sugar Museum. From Brisbane to Cairns, we had traveled through cane field after cane field, and so understanding the sugar industry here seemed appropriate. Australia exports a lot of sugar, mostly to Asia. I have written before about how we Americans spend 'way too much money on sugar, and how I think you all should start complaining loudly about this. (Of course, the Aussies want to sell their sugar in the States at the current prices).

The cane fields are no longer burnt off in northern Queensland, although some burning takes place in the south, nearer Brisbane. The virtue of burning the field before harvest is that it drives out the vermin that sickens the canecutters, and reduces the amount of 'trash', the portion of the cane that is not useful to producing sugar. There's only a minimal amount of sugar lost, so this was considered a reasonable way to harvest in the past.

Of course, these day, we know that it's a pretty big source of pollution to burn off enormous cane fields, so avoiding it makes sense. With modern farming machinery, it's unecessary, and so is no longer done.

The industry seems to be in the process of retooling itself to be as environment friendly as possible. Every bit of the harvest and the harvesting byproducts that can be used finds some use, so the sugar factories produce very little waste. The trash from the harvest is used as fuel in the refining of the sugar and the other plant operations. The sludge at the end of the process, and the ash produced from burning the trash, is sold as fertilizer. Probably the only emission to worry about at the factory is the heat and some greenhouse gas.

Of course, there's a lot of runoff, though through tree and mangrove replanting, everyone hopes to stop, or at least minimize, that trend.

That leaves the cane toad, a horrible environmental disaster still unfolding. Cane toads were introduced to control the sugar cane beetle. They had no interest in the beetles, but would eat many other critters, outcompete the native species, and reproduce like crazy. They're poisonous, too; nothing in Australia can eat them -- even crocodiles can be killed if they eat too many. The cane toad is now found in every state except Western Australia, and is expected to be there eventually. There is no known way to stop them. Ouch!

After the sugar museum, we headed west into the Tablelands. Though in the tropics, the mountains shield this region, giving it a climate similar to the US midwest. It's thus an area that sees a lot of dairy production and other truck farming. There are bananas and papaya grown as well.

One of the most interesting attractions is the Curtain Fig tree. The strangler fig begins life as a small parasite plant high up in a tree, that sends a vine to the ground. Once the vine finds the ground and creates a root, the fig then sends out many more, and uses the host tree as support. This continues until the fig completely envelopes the host tree, which then dies. The process can take up to 1000 years to complete.

The Curtain Fig is an example of just how extensive this can be. It's huge! the size of an office building. It's the result of a fig at work, and a host tree falling over into a second tree, which in turn fell over into a third tree. There are, in fact., four trees involved in its creation. And it's not done, the Curtain Fig will continue to grow -- people will be coming to see a much larger one milenia from now.

Well, I must surrender this machine now. Watch for my next entry on Alice Spring.

Rainforest Station

2005-05-17T20:42:00.000-04:00

17 May
Cairns
Sunny and Mild (as usual!)
12310 steps (16 May)
6600(?) steps

Today we went over the mountain range to the edge of the Atherton Tablelands. We began by ascending the Great Dividing Range at the ocean's edge, using the Kuranda SkyRail, a system of cable cars that lifts you far above the World Heritage rainforest of Tropical North Queensland. The virtue of SkyRail is that it gives one a sense of the scope and depth of the ecosystem, with minimal intrusion. Of course, it's not the best of rides for anyone scared of heights.

There are two stops along the way, where you can quit your car and take a brief walking excursion. There are guides to explain what you see, as well as an interpretive centre. Along one of the walks, I had a very nice photo opportunity, and whipped out my camera, only to knock my pedometer off and into the raniforest, beyond my reach. Some archaeologist will dig this up thousands of years from now and wonder what it's doing there -- though I doubt that I'm the first to lose something off the boardwalk there, I still feel silly. Anyway, that's why there's a question mark on the number of steps above. I'll be estimating for teh rest of the trip.

SkyRail follows the Barron River and its gorge, a deep cleft cut into the mountains. There's also a railway that runs from Cairns all the to Kuranda that follows along this same gorge. The history of the railway is interesting; it includes episodes about the conflict between the whites and the Aboriginals, and revolves around the mining and clearcut timber industry that flourished during the late 1800s. The rainforest was much larger before then, but of course the growing nation needed its timber. It's pretty much the same story in the USA; there are areas that were forested that will never be again, both in the States and here in Queensland.

The mountain that they had to scale is significant. Putting in the cable cars was easy, compared to what went into laying the track for the railway. As the train ascends, it goes through many tunnels and trenches, all of which had to be dug, and still need maintenance. These days, the Kuranda Scenic Railway is a tourist line only, connecting the city of Cairns to the mountain village of Kuranda.

I've written about Kuranda in earlier journals, and will say little about it here, as we spent very little time there. Our bus picked us up at the top of the SkyRail, and took us along to Rainforest Station.

When the US was in Australia during WWII, they made use of DUKW -- I do not know what the letters stand for, but I believe everyone just calls them "ducks." Rainforest Station obtained a number of ducks that the US ARMY abandoned, and adapted them for use as tour vehicles in the rainforest. We boarded the ducks, and took a tour of the rainforest at the upper level, riding over a mountain lake, and seeing many of the tropical plants up close, as well as a few animals. No crocs, though; we were far above the salt water level.

Rainforest Station also employs many Aboriginal cultural instructors, who performed dances for us, showed us how to properly throw a boomerang, and demonstrated spear throwing. The guide we had for this was Aaron, a man in his forties (I suppose) who has been at Rainforest Station doing this for ten years. I recognized him as the same fellow who guided us last year, too. He's very funny and engaging, and I did have a chance to chat with him a little after the tour. It was nice, especially after that depressing conversation from the cruise. He's just a nice man whom it would be a pleasure to have as a buddy. We need to meet more folks like him during the course.

I should point out that the whole show is quite witty, and really with no edge to it. The dances are probably the sort of things parents might do to entertain children, but that's okay -- I get a chuckle from an Aboriginal story about fighting kangaroos, too.

We then had a very nice lunch. There were chopsticks available (many Japanese tourists) and I used them instead of a fork. I do wonder: why not use chopsticks all the time? I suppose it's a little weirdness on my part.

After lunch, we had a tour of their wildlife park. It's a gudied tour, and though the animals are similar to ones we've seen before, a knowledgable guide provides a depth to the exhibit that was lacking elsewhere. I think the students learned quite a lot.

After we returned, I walked down to the central city to find a bank. I pass out money to the students occasionally so that they can buy lunch, and I will do this tomorrow at the sugar museum. So, I needed to find a bank so that I'd have sufficient numbers of $10s and $5s. As I was walking along, a local 'character' starting walking with me, telling me his life story. He said he was feeling a lot better since he had taken his meds -- he was really quite nice, and helped me find the bank. I did find the empty shopping cart he was pushing a little strange, though.

Tomorrow, we go to Innisfail to find out about the sugar industry.

In Search of Baseball in Cairns

2005-05-16T11:47:00.000-04:00

Many Australian newspapers carry American sports scores -- Australians love just about anything to do with sports, although they find our baseball a little more boring than they do cricket. Nonetheless, in past years I've been able to keep up with the Chicago Cubs by reading the sports page in papers in Sydney, Brisbane, and Cairns.

So last year, while I was in Cairns, I happened to see a score: "CUBS 5, REDS 2." But after further review, I realized that they were referring not to major league baseball in the US, but rather to a local Queensland league, and the Cubs involved were not from Chicago, but from Cairns: The Cairns Cubs.

One of my projects this time 'round has been to find out more about this team, and to see if I could obtain some Cairns Cubs memorabilia. So, I began searching on the internet and calling around here, and eventually was put in touch with the president of the Cairns Baseball Association, who is also the general manager of the Cairns Cubs. They played a game yesterday, but the time conflicted with the cruise, so we arranged to meet today at his day job, a car dealership on the west side of Cairns.

Unfortunately, I learned after walking out there that he had not been able to get the caps after all. So, I am going to leave some money at the front desk of the motel, and he is supposed to drop by with the caps tomorrow. We'll see.

We did get to talk a few minutes before his duties called him away. He is a Chicago Cubs fan as well; says that they get to watch a game once in awhile over ESPN International. He seemed to be up on the injury report, knowing about Zambrano.

And yes, the Cairns Cubs lost yesterday, too.

There was one additional matter I wanted to write about from the reef cruise yesterday. It's somewhat unpleasant, but it's one of those inevitable conversations a US tourist has while in Australia. One of the boat crew sat with my senior and junior colleagues and I toward the end of the day, as we headed back towards port, just for some light conversation. Somehow -- I do not recall how -- the conversation turned to Aborigines. This is always a difficult topic; you can tell that it makes white Australians uncomfortable. She wanted to be sympathetic to the Aborigines, owing to the history between the two peoples, but I think she found it difficult. She lives in a neighborhood in Cairns that is nearby a housing complex for Aborigines, and she has had to take several security measures to prevent break-ins -- she said her house had been broken into by young Aboriginal men over a dozen times. Pretty soon, a few more of the boat crew joined in with stories of their own. Soon after that, it had really become a conversation among Australians, and I moved elsewhere on the boat, feeling quite uncomfortable with it all. A lot of the stories were not firsthand, and so I suspect were inventions or needed to be discounted, as they were essentially about 'a friend of a friend.'

I don't hear those conversations much from Americans. Perhaps it's that the folks I associate with know enough of my own history to know that I don't appreciate that kind of talk -- I like to think that Americans of all races are starting to realize that they are more alike than they are different, and that the racism of yesterday has landed in the dustbin, but I am pretty sure that's naive. But it's disconcerting to hear it down here.

When you see the Aborigines in the cities for the very first time, you know for certain that you are looking at a people that have been beaten down by this society. They look tired. Their clothes look shabby and ill-fitting. In a society that values fitness, the way that Australians do, the Aborigines stand out in their poor health. It's heartbreaking. It's all the more so that some otherwise very good people view them with contempt, however gently put.

But it's hard to be judgemental, too. I'm a guest here. Have you been a guest at a meal in a home where your host family has obviously been fighting? You don't know what to say, but you'd like it to stop. That's about the best I can do to describe it all.

We take the students to the Cock and Bull tonight for dinner. Tomorrow, we're off to Rainforest Station, up in the mountains.

Sunlander, ReefTeach, Passions of Paradise

2005-05-15T20:10:00.000-04:00

15 May
Cairns
Sunny and Mild
4720 steps

I am caught up enough so that I can risk writing things down in order. Let me begin with the train ride to Cairns. Really, there is not much to say about a 30-hour train ride. My senior colleague is a train buff and enjoys traveling that way. It has some advantages, as you can do an amount of sightseeing from the train. As we go north and enter the tropics, we begin to see more sugar cane fields and banana and pineapple plantations. There's also plenty of cattle and sheep grazing land, on which we see cattle egrets, ibises, pelicans, and other birds. We spot the occasional dingo, and there are a lot of kangaroos. I've never seen a wild koala yet.

We scheduled nothing on the day of the 14th, so everyone had their separate adventures. I walked the Esplanade and found this internet shop, Global Gossip. The students engaged in many actvities, from shopping and hiking to river cruising and parasailing. Tomorrow (Monday) is a free day, so I expect that the students will have many more adventures.

I did find out about the Cairns Cubs. They played today (Sunday), and I was out on the cruise, so I couldn't go. But I will meet with their manager tomorrow, and will purchase some Cairns Cubs memorabilia. Before I leave this evening, I will find out when the next Cubs games on WGN-TV will be broadcast, and will send a message to the announcers about the Cairns Cubs. If you're interested, listen in.

Saturday evening, we went to ReefTeach, a 2-hour lecture about the reef intended for people who are planning on going out to the reef the next day. The man who gives the lecture is a marine biologist, Paddy Coldwell. He is a transplanted Irishman, and has a very distinctive lecture style. Some people find him a little over the top; he screeches and moves about the stage, full of energy and enthusiasm. But he is very effective at getting a few important points across to his audience about what to expect on the reef, how to treat the reef, and how to help preserve the reef.

While tourists do some damage to the reef, far and away the most damage to the reef somes from agricultural runoff. Earlier generations tore out the mangrove swamps and riverside trees, thus robbing the reef of runoff water that was relatively nutrient-free. More nutrients mean more algae; more algae is a threat to the coral, and if/when the coral goes, so goes the entire ecosystem. Personally, I think the reef is tougher than we are, but that doesn't mean we shoudln't be good caretakers.

Today, we got on the Passions of Paradise II, a twin-hull sailboat bound for Paradise Reef, a patch on the Great Barrier Reef. My colleague and I had both been on the original Passions of Paradise twice, and have now been on this new boat a couple of times. The weather was cooperative, and the sea was unusually calm. I have a cold, so I did not go snorkeling this year, but was content to watch the students as they snorkled and went scuba diving. They saw all mannr of fishes and corals, a few reef sharks (parents: the reef sharks are no threat to people), sting rays and sea turtles. Most report this as the high point of the trip so far, though they still talk about holding koalas.

I apologize for ending this entry so son, but it has been a long day, and I have about a kilometer walk back to the motel. Tomorrow is Monday, a free day, and I will return with more about Cairns.

Moreton Bay

2005-05-13T20:47:00.000-04:00

14 May
Cairns
Sunny and Mild
8810 steps (as of 11am)

My guess is that I'll do a lot more walking today. I am in downtaown Cairns at a Global Gossip, but expect that I will walk far north today in search of baseball. I'll let you know in a later journal entry if I was successful.

I wanted to catch you up to day on what we did at Moreton Island. Moreton Island is a sand island just off the coast of Australia, near Brisbane. It lies to the south of Fraser Island, the larger sand island that we have visited in past years. We made the choice to visit Moreton Island this year in order to avoid some backtracking in the course -- the less time we spend doing so, the more time the students have to see new things.

Moreton is not only smaller than Fraser, it is also narrower. The result of this is that it has no developed rainforest as does Fraser, and thus not the amount of tourism. There are only two general stores on the island, and camping conditions are less developed than they are at Fraser. On the other hand, there are no wild dingoes to worry about, so the camps can be more open -- at times at the camp on Fraser last year, we felt as though we were in a POW camp, with the fences around our campsite.

Though there's no rainforest to walk in, there is a middle-level island habitat that is worth exploring. Moreton is a sand island, so there are several freshwater systems at work, such as swamps and window lakes. There are also beaches on the bay sie as well as the ocean side -- we had to chase the students out of the ocean side water; I don't think they fully understand concepts like riptides and undertows (parents, no one was in danger). We did swim nearby Honeymoon Cove, at the north end of the island.

The flora that cover Moreton are mostly fire-managed. The banksia tree and the grass tree both depend upon fire for germination, and of course the ever-present eucalyptus are fire-tolerant. The shop at Bulwer had dramatic forest fire photos; I'd be terrified at the approach of anything like that. The residents of the island appear to endure a larger-scale fire ever couple of years. Naturally set fires (due to lightning) can't be helped and indeed are necessary, but the most recent fire was set by an idiot on a boat who shot off a flare on New Year's Eve -- fortunately, the fire stopped before the village.

There was a threat of rain the entire time we were at the island, though it only rained the last few hours on the second day, before we got back on the ferry. We could see dark clouds in the west over Brisbane, and supposed that the mainland was getting socked hard with rain. it's interesting how the presense of the ocean changes the climate so much, over the course of just a few miles. It did hamper us some; we could not snorkel around some shipwrecks owing to strong currents and rough water.

At the end of teh first day, while the students splashed about at the beach, I climbed around the rocks at Honeymoon Cove. The north end of Moreton is the only bit that's not all sand; there's a series of ancient volcanic islands from a previous era of the world, and the north end of Moreton is a part of that series. The volcanic upheaval pushed through a lot of sandstone, so the rock formations have the unusual feature that all the sandstone sedimentary lines are nearly vertical. There's been a lot of erosion, and some areas appeared to be unstable enough so that I did not chance it. But there are narrow breaks in the rock, and weather pinnacles and other features of interest. When I get to the point where I can upload some photos, I will do so.
We arrived on Moreton with the report that there was a missing person. A Colombian tourist had gotten off the ferry the weekend before and had never returned. There were rescue helicopters and police boats combing the island, but we heard no report of any discovery. It remains a mystery.
I don't know if we'll return to Moreton or not. The problem with going to Fraser is that we spend several hours going north of Brisbane to get to the ferry for Fraser, and therefore several hours going back. We thus backtrack, since we board the train and go north the next day. Fraser is prettier, but Moreton still has a lot to offer. We have some things to discuss for next year's course.

Well, now I am off in search of baseball.

Woolshed

2005-05-13T20:28:00.000-04:00

13 May
Cairns
clear skies, mild tropical weather

(7500 steps on 9 May)
(8180 steps on 10 May)
(6420 steps on 11 May)
(< 1000 steps on 12 May)
4530 steps

We arrived in Cairns by train this afternoon. We travled from Brisbane to Cairns on sleeper cars; it takes about 30 hours.

After we dumped our bags at the Cairns Queenslander and bought provisions for the morning, we walked down the Esplanade to Barnacle Bill's, where I once again had the Very Best Meal I Have Ever Eaten whil in Australia: their Coral Trout, Blackened. The fish is fresh, cooked perfectely, with a blackening spice that is reminiscent of jerk seasoning. It comes with a wonderful coleslaw and fresh raw vegetables. It's just perfect.

The students love the place we're staying. The accomodations are like a motel -- it is a Comfort Inn. But, after the Wattle Lodge, the TinBilly, and the Sunlander train, Comfort Inn seems pretty good to them. Besides, they can do their own cooking now, so they get to save a little money.

So, let me catch you up on the last few days, gentle reader:

First, at the Woolshed in Brisbane. We've gone there for a few years now. It's a chance for teh students to get a glimpse of the workign of a sheep station, and to learn a little bit about the sheep industry in Australia. We also have a little fun at whip-cracking. Now, I should mention that I learned how to crack a whip the first year I was in Australia, and can do it fairly reliably. So, while the students seemed to be impressed with my ability, I think it's less than it appears. Our guide was Bill once again, an older Ausralian man who has learned enough Japanese to get along with their large tour groups as well as groups like ours.
Okay, truth told, it's a little touristy. But, we are tourists as well as students.
The kangaroos at the Woolsheds animal park are friendlier than the ones at Lone Pine, and our students enjoyed playing with them much more. The students discovered that if you pet a kangaroo between its front paws, it will completely relax -- like stroking a cat under its chin or between its ears.
On the other hand, they do not react so well when the sheep are sheared. It's a little discomforting for some city folk to see how farm animals are worked. I, for one, sleep quite well at night after eating my steak.

After the Woolshed, we took the students to Oxley's, a riverboat restaurant we passed on our way to the Lone Pine Koala Sancuary a few days before. The arrangement we had with Oxley's was that we would alternate entrees, main courses, and desserts -- so, they would put pumpkin sup in frnot of the first person, then spinach tortelini in front of teh seond, then pumpkin soup again, and so on, so that peopel could swap and eventually get what they liked. The soup and tortelini were our entrees. We had salmon or fillet steak for our main courses, and mango ice cream or chocolate eclirs for our dessert. All in all, the studnets enjoyed it very much, and the river view of the Brisbane skyline from the restaurant was an added touch.

We used the City Cat to get there. This is Brisbane's ferry system. It's a much simpler scheme than Sydney's: Brisbane is divided into travle zones; when you buy a ticket in Brisbane, you are buying passage from one zone to another for a day. So, our tickets to Ferny Grove for the Woolshed were good for getting to Oxley's as well.

I finished The Garden of Beasts by Jeffery Deaver today, and loaned it to my senior colleague so that he could read it on the train. My hope is to give it to the manager at Toddy's in Alice Springs, as he is a fan of Deaver's. The Garden of Beasts is set in 1936 Germany, just before the Olympic Games. An American gangster hitman is coerced by the Office of Naval Intellegence to infiltrate the U.S. Olympic team in order to assassinate a high ranking German officer, in order to thwart Hitler's rearmament plans. As always, Deaver's books are thrilling, with plot twists that occur when you least expect them and are never what you expect. I recommend him to anyone who likes mysteries. If you saw The Bone Collector, you saw a movie based on one of his books, so you will have an idea of what to expect.

I'm going to sign off for now. Tomorrow, I'll write about our trip to Moreton Island on 10 May and 11 May.

Mother's Day

2005-05-08T06:35:00.000-04:00

8 May
Brisbane
Cloudy and light sprinkles
10910 steps

I just finished a letter to my mother, so I thought I'd write for a moment about Mother's Day in Australia. My impression is that it's taken pretty seriously here; all the restaurants are open and holding Mother's Day specials -- I think that means that they add 10% to their prices. It seems that families are out and about a lot, and you see many women holding small bouquets, surrounded by their families. It is very touching.

Today was a free day, so I spent the day mostly scouting. My colleagues and I think we have a good course going, but we are always eager to find new things to do, so I cast about looking for things.
Brisbane has been a hard city for me to warm up to. The first year of the course, 2000, found us in a dump of a hostel on the south side of the Brisbane River. It was loud, the patrons were unruly, and it was located far from anything interesting. It probably has colored my perception of Brisbane since.
But this year, I've found more and more that Brisbane is in fact a very nice place, after all. Today, I visited City Hall, which also houses a city museum and art gallery. The city hall has a clock tower, of course, at the top of which you get a great view of the city -- and numb ears when the bells ring! The museum is brief, and deals mostly with the building of the City Hall. The central rotunda was taken over today by promotional booths of many historical and cultural societies, and I was able to make some contacts with a couple of Aboriginal groups that I hope to turn into experiences for students in future offerings of the course.
We are planning another group dinner for the students tomorrow night, at a riverside seafood place called Oxley's. I walked over there this morning -- probably accounting for about 4000 of the steps above! -- to get a menu, find out about prices, and about how to get there. We like the group meals, as it gives all of us a chance to find out what one another has been doing in a relaxed setting. We saw this restaurant from the water as we sailed on the Mirimar cruise yesterday, and started thinking about it as a possibility.

In the afternoon, my senior colleague and I went off to the South Bank Parklands, one of the best areas of the entire trip. There's a short rainforest walk, an inland beach (one cannot swim in the Brisbane River, as it will have sharks from time to time), a performing arts center, an outdoor amphitheatre stadium, a Nepalese peace pagoda, many restaurants, a weekend fleamarket, and long sidewalks along the river. A very enjoyable gathering place for much of Brisbane -- the inclement weather did not seem to stop the families out for the day honoring their mothers.

Tomorrow, we go to the Australian Woolshed for a look at the sheep industry. Tuesday, we leave for Moreton Island.

Lone Pine, Downfall

2005-05-07T20:51:00.000-04:00

7 May
Brisbane
Sunny, mild
4560 steps

Today was our day to visit the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, via the Mirimar Cruise. The weather was wonderful, most sunny with a few clouds, mild temperatures and a gentle breeze. It had rained overnight, so we were worried, but it turned out quite well.

The cruise goes about 15 kilmoeters down the Brisbane River, a tidal river that changes course four times a day. It comes with a full commentary about the city of Brisbane and its history, the boat, and the Sanctuary. The Brisbane river floods once in awhile; I suppose it happens in conjunction with a typhoon. The flooding in 1974 submerged 75% of the city; the commentatior asserts that it would have been possible to use the Mirimar to navigate the local country club.

We arrived at the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, where a BBQ lunch was waiting for us. We had grilled beef and chicken, rice, salad, and fruit. It was all pretty good -- the beef was a little chewy, but it had a good flavor. The students were free to explore on their own, until a bus picked us up at 2:15.
I went to the snake show, which was very low-key. A tour guide came out with a carpet python, and talked about snakes and their life cycles. It was more for children, I guess, but I still enjoyed it. The snake was frisky -- it crawled into the tour guide's shirt, and she had to call over a fellow worker to coax it back out again.
I also went to the sheep dog show, which does not compare with what we will see on Monday at the Australian Woolshed. I fed kangaroos; they always seem so grateful -- the wallabies are more shy. And I wandered about seeing the other animals, such as the birds, the wombats, the lizards, and the dingoes.
We took a bus home, a different process from other years, when we rode the boat back. It was faster, and actually a little less expensive.

I went to the 3pm showing of Downfall, a German movie about the very last days of the Third Reich, as Berlin was falling. The actor Bruno Ganz played Hitler, and while he certainly turned in an excellent performance, there were many other strong points to the movie, as well as other story lines:

We see a lot of Hitler's and Goebbel's final days through the eyes of Hitler's personal secretary, Frau Trandl Lunge. She was a loyal secretary, perhaps naive -- but as the real-life Frau Lunge says at the end of the movie, "being young was no excuse. I should have known." The story of her escape from the Russian forces is another part of the movie.
We see a young boy who fights against the Russian tanks, and earns an Iron Cross for destroying a couple. His father does not want him to fight, but he does, only to have a change of heart after his friends die and he sees the horrible violence of the Battle of Berlin up close.
It's conflicting to watch the German people as they suffer at the end of the war -- you feel terrible that they are going through this, yet at the same time, you cannot forget the concentration camps, the imperialist policy, Stalingrad, and all the other crimes for which they had to answer.
It is even more disturbing to hear Hitler and Goebbels both make essentially that point -- that the German people are getting what they deserve, that they (Hitler and Goebbels) had no compassion for the people as Germany fell around them, that the people elected Hitler and swore allegiance to him, and that the people let Hitler down.
The movie is hard to dismiss, at least in part because it refuses to make any of the Nazis into caricatures, as we so often see in wartime movies and cartoons. There are people who are heroic, such as the Nazi doctor who works feverishly to save as many soldiers as he can, and who stands up to the last remnants of the Brownshort thugs. There are nuanced debates among the generals about Hitler's sanity. Hitler himself is seen at times as a gentlemanly towards his personal staff, including Frau Junge.
Eva Braun and Frau Goebbels were really quite insane. Frau Goebbels in particular should be judged as harshly as possible by history. It is a horrible mother that nurders her own children.
The ultimate point of the movie may be that Hitler did not die alone because he did not rise to power alone. There were plenty of people around him who fed his ego and galvanized the support of a nation that, in the final analysis, wallowed in his madness.

The movie is in German with English subtitles, and runs for over two hours. I hope you get a chance to see it, though you should expect it to be difficult to watch.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, and is a free day for the students. Monday, we go to the Australian Woolshed for a look at Australia's sheep industry.

Brisbane

2005-05-06T06:44:00.000-04:00

Brisbane
6 May
Sunny am, late afternoon clouds
7430 steps

We left the Wattle Lodge and Canberra early this morning, up in time to see a beautiful sunrise after a cresent moon. Our coach driver knocked over a sign on the way to the Canberra airport. My senior colleague believes that he wasn't used to a coach as big as the one he was driving that day.

One thing that came up while we were meeting with the good folks at the US embassy yesterday. Do you know that you -- my fellow American citizens -- pay about three times as much for sugar as the rest of the world? And that's not the just white stuff you put in your coffee; we pay too much for all the sugar we use. Ponder for a moment how much you'd save, and then tell your friends and your congressman. We should really think about this.

As we yook off from the Canberra airport today, I thought about the first time I ever flew in a plane -- for several of our students, the flights in this course are their first; that's why I started thinking about it. I was 12, and my mother and grandmother were taking me out to Long Island, where my uncle and his family lived. I remember taxiing out to the runway, thinking "This isn't so bad," and then feeling terrified when the engines throttled up and we hurtled down the runway going 'way too fast! The bumpiness suddenly smoothing out when the wheels left the ground, the turbulence as we passed through the first cloud layer, my ears popping for teh first time, my certainty that the plane was going to break apart when I heard the loud bang -- someone explained to me that it was just the landing gear, of course. And of course, there's the first view of the horizon above the clouds, and the absolute knowledge for the very first time that the earth is round and you can see its roundness and sense its life-laden blue glow.

The ground around Canberra is very dry, apart form the aggressively irrigated bits of farmland. Locals were telling us about a severe drought lasting for a few years now. It looked as if storms might be heading in, but they appeared to have broken up. Good luck for us in the course, but not so good for the citizens of ACT.

We arrived in the Brisbane airport about 10:30, and made it to the TinBilly hostel about noon. It's definitely a place for the young; my colleagues and I are very much out of place here. After we put our bags in our rooms, the students were free to explore for the rest of the day. My colleagues and I walked down to the Queen Street Mall and took a quick look at the casino -- I quickly lost $10 AUD, as usual. I do not understand my senior colleague's luck. My junior colleague is wise enough to realize that the only way to win is not to play. I returned to the hostel and read awhile, then napped.

This evening, we ate at a passable restaurant, the Pig 'n' Whistle, after which we took a stroll around the South Bank Parklands, on the opposite side of the Brisbane River. The opera season starts May 14 -- frsutrating for me, as I'd love to see an opera down here some year. The Queensland opera seaon opens with La Boheme; Puccini holds a special place in my heart. Maybe someday ... they are also doing a stage version of The Hobbit -- sounds weird. In addition the the ads for the opera, we also saw some very entertaining street acrobats -- imagine two Australians pretending to be a Russian Siegfried and Roy without the animals and with contorns and you get the idea. The tights were red, and they had yellow stars on their left bum.

This next bit is somewhat directed to my lovely wife, but you all should read it, as I suspect you may never hear about this movie otherwise. Is the movie Downfall being released in American theaters? I will go see it in a day or so, and let you know more about it. The downfall is that of Adolph Hiter, it is a tragic account of his last days. I expect it to be difficult to watch; after all, he is one of maybe three of the most wicked men of the 20th century (along with Stalin and Pol Pot), and probably among the most wicked to ever live. It's hard to be sympathetic. The reason that my lovely wife might be interested in this is that Hitler is played by Bruno Ganz. If you ware familiar with the movie Wings of Desire or its sequel Far Away, So Close, then you have seen him as the angel who becomes human.

Tomorrow, we head off to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Many of our students are excited at the opportunity to hold a koala; many of you parents will probably see a photo of that soon. We also celebrate the first of six birthdays we will have on the trip.

Parliament, the Embassy, and the ANZAC War Memorial

2005-05-05T04:49:00.000-04:00

Our day tour in Canberra turned out much better thamn I thought it would -- I was very nervous about moving about, being on time, and having programs of interest to the students, but it all turned out just fine.

We began at the Australian Parliament house a little after 9am. There were some school groups ahead of us, so we didn't start our tour until 9:30am, but it really did not matter much. Our guide was a native of Thailand, I believe, though I'm sure she was an Australian citizen -- she certainly knew her stuff, as my junior colleague discovered when he asked her a couprl of tough questions.
Australian government, though a parliamentary system, is still organized in a way similar to our own. There are two houses, the House of Representatives and the Senate. Representation in the House is proportional to population size -- they solve some of the apportionment problems by allowing the size of their house to vary. Each state is equally represented in the Senate, though the territories have fewer votes there. Tax bills and expenditure bills must begin in the House.
Of course, the Prime Minister is the head of government, so that makes things somewhat different, as the powers of the executive branch and legislative branch are therefore merged in Australia. There are some other differences, too, such as the mandatory voting of the citizens.

The parliament building is beautiful, and full of symbolism for the Australian people and its land. White marble columns in the entry represent the eucalyptus trees, while dark red columns in the lobby stand for teh satinays. The color theme of the senate chamber is the ochre of the central desert, while the house is the sea green of the ocean. There's earth from the Olgas around the outside of the building, and a large representation of an Aboriginal painting serves as a central location on the front of the building. The roof of the building is a park -- the people walk over the representatives. And above everything is the Australian flag, waving atop four stainless steels pillars.

There is nothing obstructing the view between Parliament House and the ANZAC War Memorial. That, too, is intentional. If a government is going to send its young man and women into harms way, one hopes that they take a good, long look at the War Memorial before doing it. The visit to the ANZAC War Memorial and Museum was emotional for some of our students; I saw at least one getting a little choked up. It is a memorial; I believe that the Australians have done their best to list every one of their casualties in every action they've ever been in. Many red poppies adorn the long list, put there by families of teh fallen. Even names of those killed in the Boer War have their poppy.
The museum is one of the better ones I have seen. There are relics, memories, battlefield diagrams, trophies, and a retelling of the history of it all. I think I've talked about the heartbreaking Gallipoli campaign in another year's journal, so I want to just say a few things about the Battle of the Coral Sea. At the time of WWII, the Japanese had invaded New Guinea and were setting their sights, so it was thought, on Australia. Australian troops were engaged in Africa, and the British were unwilling to release them so that Australia could defend itself. But along came the American troops. Because of our commitment to help and our subsequent involvement in the Coral Sea, Australia was saved, and then in turn played a major role in the rest of the war. Australians recognized that we were probably better to have as an ally, at least in part because we did not treat them like dirt (I think the Brits have never quite realized that they don't own it anymore.) That was the birth of the Australian-American alliance, the strongest we have, in my opinion.

Preserving and nurturing that alliance is the job of the staff of teh American Embassy, one of our stiops today. The staff members we spoke with reveal a deep level of patriootism and service that I frankly sis not expect -- and I believe was not due to any kind of party affiliation. I think that a few of our students might be thinking about foreign service now, and I can't blame them.

Well, there are people waiting to use the machine, so I think I'll sign off now. We leave for Brisbane tomorrow; I'll write more after we arrive.