Flinders Reef: My Last Dive in Australia

I apologize that I don't really have any pictures of this dive, so you'll just have to rely on me to describe it for you! On Sunday, I dove for the last time in Australia. While this was bittersweet I couldn't have asked for a better day or dive experience to do so! We were diving Flinders which is just North of Moreton Island, one of the sand islands along Moreton Bay, and is the Southern most tip of the GBR. This reef is actually considered one of the top dive sites in Australia, despite its far southern location. Because of this when I found out there was a Unidive trip going the day after my 4th final I jumped at the chance! 

A signed up with a friend of mine also in Unidive so we were able to buddy together for the day. We left Brisbane at 6a so it was an early morning, but the day was gorgeous. Blue skies and the water was as smooth as glass! No seasickness for anyone today! On our way out to the dive site we saw humpback whales, and they were right along side of the boat. We watched them play and breach and it was fantastic!

Our first dive site was a swim through called Eldon's Cave. We were navigating on our own in small groups and because I got some experience in Cairns I felt confident that we would be fine. And we were. We missed the cave… but that was because it really wasn't a cave and most of the divers swam right past it. But we found something better. We continued on and came to this valley with high walls of coral. On top of the walls there were heaps of large turtles hanging over the walls, and batfish hanging around the turtles. We were surrounded by a wall of turtles and it was amazing!!!! It was incredibly surreal. We headed back and our group split up because one of the divers was low on air. My buddy and I continued on, and I was so glad we did. Minutes later, a sizable octopus swam past me. It settled on the bottom right in front of me and flashed colors for about a minute before deciding it was going to blend into it's surrounding. I watched in awe as it rearranged its arms to take on the exact shape of the corals around it and turn the exact color of the corals. If I didn't know it was an octopus I would not have spotted it. 

So obviously our first dive was excellent. Then for our second dive we were at a site called the turtle cleaning station. Already I was excited!!!!! Basically, this site is a enormous staghorn coral that turtles have been coming to for centuries, they've been coming there so long that they've made these flattened plates of dead spots on the corals. They sit here and damsel fish clean them. The turtles that come here are hundreds of years old, the one that we were chilling with was around 5 ft long!!! They hang in the water totally unbothered by the divers and get clean. It's absolutely amazing being apart of their world in this way. Flinders is such a diverse reef with multitudes of different coral landscapes and animals interacting freely with each other, it was such an excellent example of what makes coral reefs truly special.

As sad as I am to be ending my diving experiences in Australia, I'm so lucky that I got to dive as much as I did while I was here. I dove a total of 20 times since I got here, previously I had 5 dives under my belt, so I quadrupled my diving experience! I got better with my air and buoyancy, learned how to navigate, and generally because a better diver. I have a lot to learn still, but this was such a great way to get experience. Also going to a university with a DIVING CLUB has been so cool, it's made it incredibly easy to get a chance to do something that I love and I've meet some great people along the way. I'm going to miss being around the ocean, and being able to dive so frequently. But I know this for sure, next time I travel I want to go somewhere I can dive, and I'll try to take advantage of as many dive opportunities as I can get. Diving is unique, there is nothing else like the sensation of moving around 60 ft beneath the waves, and being an observer of some of the most wonderful animals on Earth. I love it with all my heart and can't wait until I can get back under the water again!!!

Little Things Matter: Saying Goodbye to Brissy

So this past month of living in Brisbane, I've gotten into the habit of going for morning or late afternoon runs along the Brisbane River. I've had time to kill, which for me means I can exercise without stressing out about things that I need to be doing instead. At home I usually head to the gym to do weights or swim laps, or hop on my bike. Here I take advantage of the free method of exercise: running along a path. I put on my organic molecule running shorts (they're neon yellow and have sparkly organic molecule patterns on them; yes I'm a nerd), pop in my headphones and work out playlist, and jog on the John Oxley Path along the Brisbane River through UQ's campus. The path is actually beautiful. It's lined by Eucalypts and there is a great view of the river. It's actually been really healthy and rejuvenating for me to be able to run along this path, take in the scenery, and get some exercise. There's also a really cool bridge, and next to it here is this awesome measuring stick, that shows how high the water was during the Brisbane Floods (see below).

Yesterday during my run, it occurred to me that I have a week left in Brisbane before I begin my last month of travel and then head back to the states. While I won't have to say goodbye to Australia just yet, I will be soon saying goodbye to my adoptive home for the last 6 months: Brisbane. I realize that there are things here that I found starkly different when I first arrived that have become things I love and will sorely miss. I'll miss the sounds of the lorikeets in the morning and at night, that are so loud they drown out every other noise. I'll miss the way it pours rain and then is sunny immediately after. I'll miss the smell of eucalyptus is general, but especially after it rains. I'll miss the city cat ferry, and how it makes getting around the city into a beautiful journey rather than a chore (below). I'll miss South Bank and Streets Beach. I'll miss the thrill of seeing Tim Tams are on sale at the grocery store. I'M GOING TO MISS TIM TAMS IN GENERAL. And my Just Right cereal and Boost Bars and Pies and Milo and Ice Coffee and scones-which-are-biscuts with clotted cream and jam. And also surprisingly Vegemite, which I acquired a taste for here. I'm going to miss not being able to go scuba diving or hiking on the weekends. To go to the beach on a whim. To pick up everything and go backpacking in a new city. Those are privileges that I cherish from my time here. I'm going to miss the kookaburras, bats, lorikeets, geckos, goannas, even those dumb bush turkeys that are EVERYWHERE. I'm going to miss looking for kangaroos when we are on a coach bus, or sharks when we ride the ferry. I'm going to miss walking along the road and thinking 'acacia', 'banksia', 'eucalyptus'. And DO NOT get me started on how much I'm going to miss all the wonderful friends that I've made during my time here, because then I think I might start crying here and now, and I still have a week before I have to say goodbye.

I will need to readjust to walking on the right side of the side walk instead of the left. I will have to remember that common words and phrases here like "takeaway", "queue", "keen", "no worries" "too easy" "capsicum" and "pie" are not used or mean different things back in the states. 

My life has been really different here this last half a year. And when I return home I'll be coming back to familiar things. But I'm the one that's changed. I've found that I've explored Brisbane (and let's be honest Australia) more than I ever did in St. Louis, and by doing so become a much more independent person. I feel more confident about my ability to operate in new surroundings without support. I have discovered this longing to go, and see, and do, that thinking back, I think I lacked (or had never tasted) before I came here. I've discovered that I have both the will and ability to try new things and go new places on my own. If people around me don't want to go somewhere or try something I won't let it stop me. I've realized that people from all different places have different backgrounds and experiences to share. I've learned from some of them that I know very little and have a lot to learn, and also that in some ways I'm a lot more mature and then some of them as well. 

I've had some long inner discussions with myself about the difference between cultural norms and what is hands-down unacceptable to say. I've had to come to terms (still this always makes me uncomfortable) with how the minute I open my mouth I'm a foreigner here. And then I have to answer the inevitable 'where are you from?' And what I respond will 50% of the time end in ridicule. Saying 'America', 'the States' or 'The US' are all fully loaded. If I say America, the I risk the joking response "North or South, that's a continent you know", if I say 'The States', I risk "We have states here too", If I say 'the US' people sometimes say, "you mean you're an American?" Literally, whatever I say gives an opening to 'screw with the American'. Honestly, why doesn't our country have a simpler name? Then even if I get past the saying I'm actually from the US, half the time people want to start an argument with me about politics, about how stupid we are, about how much they love/hate Obama. It's simultaneously really cool that everyone knows a bit about my country and frustrating, because they immediately have a strong opinion about it. I think that a part of this is something every traveler experiences. You are a sentinel for your country and culture, and it's important to represent it will when you are abroad, so that too has been a valuable experience. These occurrences have challenged the way I think and interact with people, and I really hope that they've helped me become a more open person, a more thoughtful person, someone who is less judgmental.

I know that I'm going to miss Brisbane and Australia… and I think I'll yearn to go back for a long time after I return how. But I think the way I can make it stay with me, is to use what I've learned in my life back in the US, to remember and savor what I did when I was here, and let that remind me of my own personal growth. 

So here I am, being really melancholy and feeling a lot sadder than I thought I'd be at the prospect of finally going home. I think this has been really helpful for me to self-reflect, and I think this next week will be the hardest. Because the lead up to leaving Brisbane, the packing and the prep, will be constantly reminding me that I'm leaving. But then I have 2 weeks of traveling, of meeting new people and seeing new places to keep me occupied. And after that I look forward to the excitement (I'm actually already excited!) of seeing my family, sharing Australia with them, and then finally getting to travel around New Zealand! And I think by the end of that month I'll be exhausted and just ready to go home and eat some of my mom's blueberry pie (American fruit pie, I have really missed thee). This is the best possible way for me to end my time in Australia, so I'm going to try and look forward to the new adventures instead of focusing on my sadness that the Brisbane one is ending!

SWOTVAC aka (The Hell that is Reading Week)

Hello from the Biological Sciences Library! I'm writing to you from my new home for the next 3 (you read that right) weeks. It's finals time here are UQ, and that means long days spent in the library trying to prepare for exams. This semester I have 5 exams (That's the most I've had since freshman year and more than most people have at UQ… the woes of having to take 5 courses). Let me tell you a little about how exams work here at UQ.

First major difference is what they call Reading Week here. It's called SWOTVAC, which stands for study vacation. Basically you get a week off of classes (a full week, not just 5 days like at wash u) to study and then 2 FULL WEEKS of exams. Sooooo an extremely large time of being in exam mode. And my 5 exams… my first was on the first day of finals period, and my last is on the second to last… so I truly am in this for the long haul. 

Second major difference is the way exams are constructed here. At Wash U they are held in the same lecture halls we have class in and are usually administered by our profs or TAs. Here exams are like standardized tests. You get an answer booklet and scantron, have to fill out you name and info, get an assigned seat. Desks are organized in rows and proctors patrol them. Basically, my first final felt like I was taking the OWLS in Harry Potter. Some of my friends were not phased by this since, apparently it's a big school method of finals, but Wash U doesn't test like that, so it surprised me at first. Also all finals are worth 50% of your grade, and you must pass them to pass the course. 

So besides the general way that the exam period and exams themselves, study and going through all of the material I've learned this semester has highlighted some of the major course differences that I really didn't realize until I had completed classes here. I wrote a post after my first week here. One of the things I mentioned is that I was learning a lot of the same material in my classes, little did I know… that was true to a grossly ridiculous extent. Especially in my Marine Science class, where only a single unit (fisheries) was original content for me, everything else was either covered in my other courses here (specifically paleoceanography and Australia's Marine Environment) or I had learned it back at Wash U. This was also true with my Bio Adaptations class.  And not only was the content similar, it was EXACTLY THE SAME in a lot of the cases. So another way that classes were conducted is that different professors taught different units in the same course. This led to use having anywhere between 5-10 different profs for any one class. This means I got overlap in 2 ways: between units and between courses. Since profs in the same course didn't always coordinate their material they ended up reviewing the same topics many many times (cough*cane toads*cough). Also sometimes the same professor would give the exact same lectures for different courses…. to the extent that they would recognize me and others taking both classes (bio adapt and terrestrial, and marine science and marine environment) and say "Hey I recognize you guys! this is the exact same lecture you got yesterday/last week, you can leave if you want" This happened multiple times throughout the semester. 

Now this kind of thing is both good and bad, it's been great studying for finals because I've been simultaneously preparing for multiple tests since there is so much overlap in the material. It's also really disappointing because, I actually didn't end up learning as much original material as I expected to this semester :(

Now I'm going to briefly reflect on some of the worst things about UQ (ranting sorry) and some of the best things (I did learn some extremely valuable stuff here!). I'll save the best for last so here are just a few of my biggest disappointments with UQ. 

My marine science class was the absolute worst class I have taken in all of my time as a college student. Mostly, this was because it was the most disorganized class ever. Labs were useless/poorly organized. Lectures were taught in a counter intuitive order. And for our research project, we were given zero resources and little instruction (my group was really frustrated because we were sent an email the day before we were going to collect data, that our project wouldn't work and then the prof was like btw i'm going out of town and will be unreachable for 2 weeks, good luck suckers!), we managed to create a whole new experiment in a day, and preform it successfully with almost no help and no resources (and I did really well on it, ha!), but it was really unprofessional and frustrating that we were put in that situation, especially because we were one of the only groups prepared in the first place. Also (and this was more laughable than anything else) guess what we didn't cover at all in my MARINE SCIENCE class. Fish! We talked about every single other type of organism that lives in the ocean (plants, phytoplankton, algae, invertebrates, mammals, and reptiles) but not fish. How stupid is that?! Basically this class was an enormous fail, and I regret taking it. 

Besides Marine Science and general course overlap, the only other issues I had with UQ were generally just bad organization issues. Mainly, that our final schedule came out in May (1 month before exams) which made it really inconvenient to plan end of semester travel plans. This was really annoying for us Study Abroad kids, because people are trying to get home or travel with a limited amount of time, and those things require advanced planning. 

And my last ranty thing… printing at UQ. Any of my friends who go to school here and are reading this will share in my pain. Something that should take mere minutes, but takes sometimes over an hour here. Basically, not only does it cost an extravagant amount to print here (we don't get a printing budget), most classes require that you print assignments and turn them in with an attached cover sheet. And since most of my assignments were long lab write ups (lots that had color figures that required the even more expensive color printing) I was printing a ton this semester. Now if it was just the price I wouldn't be complaining so much… the main issue is that it was a rare day indeed when the printers didn't fuck something up. For over a month, the printers would not let you print from a UQ computer, only as USB drive, which was hard because printing from a USB drive while faster, will not let you print individual pages… so let's say the printer had messed up a page and you needed to reprint, or you ran out of money in the middle of the print job… well you're out of luck sucker, you have to reprint the ENTIRE job and pay the extra money! See how this is frustrating? Also there were certain printers that if there were "insufficient funds" would take all the money you had left, not print, and then charge you fully for the job again when you attempted to reprint. Basically printing at UQ is hell, and I had no other choice because our house doesn't have a printer. 

Okay, now to reflect on some of the wonderful things I learned/experienced at UQ this semester. One of the things that I found the most valuable this semester was the lab write ups. I had to do them for every single one of my 5 classes, and while it was horrible having 5 extremely long lab reports due over the course of 2 weeks (that's another thing about how classes are constructed at this school most courses have a large final assignment due one of the last weeks of the semester AND then a final on top of it), I found that I got really good at writing them. Writing experiments up in journal format for publishing is a skill I've only practiced once at Wash U, but it's something that I will dearly need when I go on to get my doctorate, and do research in science. Also next semester I'm going to try and get the paleoenvironmental research that I've been working on for the last 2 years published, so it was excellent to get so much practice!! I loved that this was a skill I was able to obtain here that I will get to apply when I get home. 

Another thing I was so happy to learn about when I was here was specifically about AUSTRALIA's conservation issues, and environmental politics. America is extremely focused on our own shit, so it's nice to get a different perspective! I intentionally took classes that would do this and was not disappointed. I'm actually here at an interesting time… the current Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, is not well liked by any Aussies. But environmentalists and scientists especially hate him. He's a climate change denier… and he basically pulled all of the funding from Australia's equivalent of the EPA, and approved dumping of coal waste of the GBR. So, many of my biologist and ecologist professors just got their funding cut and are not pleased with him. This was such an interesting (though perhaps fairly biased) view of environmental politics in Australia, and it was a perfect exchange experience to have for environmentalist (we're actually called greenies here!) me!

Though there were negatives about having lots of professors teaching the same class, it did give me the opportunity to learn from so incredibly cool and passionate scientists! My course coordinator for terrestrial was a crocodilian paleontologist, and has done some really cool research with dinosaur tracks in WA. One of the professors who lectured in 2 of my courses specializes in dugongs (kinda like manatees) and told the best stories about her marine biology experiences!!! Another of my professors was the main consultant on the Deep Sea episode of Oceans and one of the most interesting lecturers at UQ (This was such a cool story, I happened to watch the documentary he created the night before his lecture about that topic, I realized he was covering the same material in the same order in the documentary and went up after class to ask him about it… and, yes, he was the one who picked the organisms they talked about :). My paleoceanography prof was so funny, and approachable, he taught every lecture, and made the material relevant and fun! My prof who took us on our Heron Island trip was so sweet, and her enthusiasm for the ocean and the trip was a gift for the students. In short, I'm so happy that I was able to learn with so many amazing teachers this semester!

Finally, thank you UQ for taking advantage of being so close to so many cool places, and taking us to them on field trips. As you can tell from my numerous uni trip posts, it was a huge part of what made my time in Australia so very special. And thank you Wash U for paying for me to go on all of these trips! It was a big part of the reason I choose this program, but Wash U probably paid around 2K worth of field trip costs for me this semester… which I think is significantly more than most students (I was in three courses that took field trips). 

Really, this was been such a wonderful and knowledge filled semester! I've done much better in my classes than I thought I would, considering the amount I've been traveling haha, and learned so much during my time here. I think I defiantly prefer Wash U (sorry UQ!), and I'm excited to go back, but I will always cherish this semester and some of the wonderful opportunities that I've been fortunate enough to have studying abroad in Australia. 

P.S. I realize that this post has a sense of finality to it… and yes the semester is ending, but I'm traveling around Australia (and New Zealand) for another month and hope to continue blogging since I'm not finished with my travel experiences yet! So keep checking the blog for updates!

Bastille in Brissy

Last week myself and three friends went to see the band Bastille (They sing the song Pompeii) preform live in South Bank! They are one my new favorite bands and it was such a treat to see them here in Brisbane. I find that every time I've truly lived in a city, I've made sure to see concerts there (STL and Chicago), so seeing them here really made me feel like a Brisbane resident. 

The concert was AMAZING, they played every song off of their album and 3 songs of their bonus album. Including the beautiful piano ones Daniel in the Den and Oblivion, where everyone waved their cellphones around and made it super special. Not only was the music amazing, but they danced around the stage giving us an incredibly enthused performance. I know all of the words to all of their songs, and being in the middle of that and singing along was so amazing. I had a final the next day, but didn't even care because it was such a wonderful time! I love live music and feel so fortunate that I was able to see one of my favorite bands here in Australia. 

Living and Diving on the GBR

So this was a trip that I scheduled early in the semester and have been looking forward to for months! A live aboard dive trip to the Great Barrier Reef!!! Yes, I was fortunate to get up to the GBR not once, not twice, but three times! And this time I was literally living on the reef for 3 days!!!! A live abroad dive trip is this. You dive, you eat breakfast, you dive again, you eat lunch, you dive again, you eat dinner, you dive AGAIN, you sleep, and then you wake up and repeat!!! 3 days, 2 nights, 10 dives (it was supposed to be 11, but we didn't do the second night dive because it was cold and conditions were really choppy). I had an absolute blast!!! I went with 2 of my housemates (photo cred for all of these pictures goes to one of them), and we got to really experience the GBR to it's fullest. I actually dove 1 of the same spots that we had on my first trip to Cairns, but we all saw a lot of new ones as well. We saw magnificent corals (see above right), and SO MUCH wildlife. We were lucky in that our group saw sharks every other dive (below bottom) (a total of 4 or 5 I think), turtles almost every dive, a bunch of rays (below left), hundreds of fish, including my favorite puffers (below right) and my other favorite parrotfish. 

Another great thing about this trip was that I felt I got a lot of experience as a diver, after the first dive we were supposed to navigate by ourselves. We had a through dive briefing before every dive explaining the site and the route and then it was up to us. At first, this was really intimidating, but by the end of the 3 days I found that I had gotten a lot better at using my compass. Also I felt myself getting more comfortable underwater, using less air, and moving with more confidence. My buoyancy still needs a lot of work, and I really cannot call myself an experienced diver yet, but practice really is essential for this activity and I gained a lot of it during this time.

Some funny moments from the trip! We got to play with Christmas Tree Worms! They live on corals (above) and look like mini trees if you wave water around them they will suck back into their holes and reemerge, this is extremely cool to watch. These animals are gorgeous. Also fun fact, the plants in the movie Avatar that suck into the ground when Jake touches them, were inspired by Christmas Tree Worms (James Cameron is an avid diver and lots of the flora and fauna in that movie was inspired by marine life)!!!! Another great moment was when we got back to the boat on one of our dives and one of the dive classes was also returning. We ended up hanging out under the boat at 3m waiting for them to get out of the water, we ended up just goofing off. Doing barrel rolls, lounging around, and taking photos, a great way to end a dive! Another cool highlight was our night dive, not only did we see sharks and turtles, but it was unlike anything I've done. Unlike a night snorkel, a night dive is more disorienting because you feel like you are hanging in space. I actually loved this feeling, I think it's as close as I'm going to get to being an astronaut in space. 

We had rainy weather for the first two days, but the sun came out on the last day. Just in time for a couple of sunlit dives, and then we headed back to Cairns with a beautiful sunny view. I have to say there is nothing quite like sitting on the top of a boat with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, enjoying some wonderful music (Sleeping at Last's Oceans EP, seriously the best music EVER for being on the water) and the rocking of the boat. I LOVE LOVE LOVE, being about on the water and I've found it's these moments when I feel the most joyful. 

The Great Barrier Reef is a special place, and I'm cannot express how happy I am and how lucky I am to be able to experience it this way while I've been in Australia. (Okay I'm putting the conservation hat on) Coral Reefs are disappearing from the world at an alarming rate, bleaching events, ocean acidification, and pollution (Australia just decided to start coal mining right next to the reef and then will dump waste into the water, really fucking great choice) are destroying one of the oldest and unique ecosystems on the earth. It's up to us to spread awareness about human impacts on the ocean, and do what we can to mitigate our actions. Visiting this amazing place really puts into perspective how special it is and how essential it is that we protect it (I was actually diving the GBR on World Oceans Day, which was really special). I want my children to be able to have these same experiences as me, I don't want the pictures from this trip to be all they can see of the reef. 

I try to do what I can to reduce my carbon footprint, through my diet, transportation choices, and reducing, reusing, and recycling. As well as getting involved in sustainability in my community. Also I have decided to go into paleoclimate and paleoecology research to help better understand how the climate has changed in the past so we can prepare ourselves for the future. I believe that everyone can make a difference, even if it's a small difference, and those little changes add up! So use a reusable bag next time you go the the store (save turtles), write to your local politician about climate change concerns, or take public transport next time your able! Small things we do have an impact on the ocean, coral reefs, and ecosystems around the world. It's easy to be negative when looking at what's happening with our oceans today, but instead I saw stay positive and do your part to help preserve our Natural Wonders of the World!

Thanks for reading my mini conservation and sustainability rant! The Great Barrier Reef makes me really emotional and is a tangible representation of what we're trying to protect!

Crikey! The Australia Zoo

So I've been to quite a lot of zoos during my time in Australia. This is partly because it is the main way to make sure you see lots of Australian animals. I've actually been fortunate enough to see wild kangaroos, koalas, goannas, pademelons, kookaburras, quokkas, possums, dingos, and snakes while I've been here. But, that is because I've been lucky enough to travel to some more remote places, if you're here for a short time or only in the cities going to a zoo is the best way to see these animals (kinda like at home… you won't see a bear in the wild in Chicago). 

However, this particular zoo is special. The reason is that it was owned by Steve Irwin, better known as the Crocodile Hunter. Now, while he was really corny and definitely a showman, he was also a huge conservationist. I remember watching his show on Animal Planet when I was little and it helping peak my interest in Australian fauna, and conservation. One of the things that I think is so important is getting kids interested and caring about nature, so in my mind he did his job well. Since he was killed by a stingray, the Australia Zoo has become a sort of memorial to him and his dream, so there is lots of stuff about him at the zoo. 

This was my last field trip with my Australia's Terrestrial Environment class. My class did a couple of special things at the zoo, we saw the crocodile and bird show(above), as well as got talks from a variety of trainers. It was clear that while there was a lot of showmanship involved when interacting with the animals, the main goal of it all was conservation and the appreciation with nature, which made me really happy. Also it was clear by talking and listening to the trainers that they LOVE the animals they work with, and the animals LOVE them back. It was really touching and heartening to see those type of connections between the animals and people, the animals are really cared for and well looked after. 

Another really cool thing about the zoo is that I was lucky enough to get some really great views of animals that were sleeping or hiding at the other zoos I've been to. The sleeping Tassie Devils (above right) really made the trip, and the wombats were extremely cute, digging tunnels in their enclosure (above left). 

This was a perfect way to end the semester, and it was great to see some of these animals before I started reviewing all the info about them for the final for this course (I have it this afternoon actually). I'm going to miss field trips to the zoo and national parks being part of my classes when I return to St. Louis :P