loving Australia

G’day mates!

The time has really flown, or rather hopped away (since I am in the land of kangaroos). I only have 4 more weeks of classes this semester, and then I’ll start working on my plans for returning home. But since I am still here, I am continuing to make the most of time, as an Ambassadorial Scholar and as world traveler.

During the school holidays in September, the Rotary Club of Narooma invited me to speak at their meeting. Coincidentally, one of my friends has a house near Narooma, and she invited me to spend a few extra days with her. Narooma is a town along the South Coast, and like most towns along this part of Australia, it boasts majestic and rugged scenery. My friend and I took a walk near her house, which overlooks the beach, and as I looked towards the ocean, waves crashed against sharp, protruding rocks. It was aquatic symphony. First, all you hear are small lapping waves that flow easily over the rocky edges, then, as the water builds up, gigantic waves rush towards the boulders and spray high into the air like the end of a score that announces the victory of a major battle. It was truly spectacular!

The next evening, my friend and I attended the Rotary meeting and met some more wonderful Rotarians who are doing many good projects in their community. Many of the Rotary Clubs that I have attended toast Australia and the Queen before dinner, and they sing the national anthem at the end of the meeting. Consequently, I can now sing Australia’s national anthem fairly well. After talking to one of the Rotarians, who had just taken an exchange student on a whale watching tour, my friend and I decided to sign up for that same trip the following day. It was perfect weather, and before we got very far away from the land, we saw two humpback whales! According to the captain, they were probably two adolescent whales that had been born the previous year. They weren’t extremely active, but they did dive a couple of time so that we could see their tails. On this tour, we also visited Montague Island, an extremely picturesque island where many native birds including penguins and Australian and New Zealand seals dwell during different seasons. To end the perfect day, acrobatic dolphins guided the boat back to the harbour.

Now that was only the first half of my vacation.

Two days later, I flew up to Cairns, Queensland, to visit the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest, reportedly the oldest continuous rainforest in the world. On my first day there, I joined a sea kayaking tour out on Fitzroy Island, one of the inner islands along the Great Barrier Reef. The tour group kayaked from the main island to Little Fitzroy, and then we snorkeled a bit before eating lunch on the beach and taking a hike to the summit of the island, from where we could see 3 or 4 more humpback whales. We then kayaked back to the main island, snorkeled some more, and finally, took a jet boat back to Cairns.

The next day, I joined another tour group that was going to the rainforest. First, we stopped at a wildlife park in Port Douglas where I fed kangaroos, wallabies, and emus. Next, we went to Mossman Gorge, a really scenic, fresh water gorge. Then, we ate lunch a resort on a beach where the rainforest meets the Great Barrier Reef. It was stunning! After a nice stroll along the beach, we went to the rainforest where our guide shared some information about a forest that has over a hundred types of trees and thousands of microscopic organisms that maintain the balance of life in the rainforest. Finally, we ended our day on a boat tour in the Daintree River. We spotted 3 young crocodiles, a green snake, and some pretty birds along the river. It was a really full-on day, but I got a good taste of that piece of Queensland.

While in Cairns, I stayed in a youth hostel, and I shared a room with 5 other girls. On two of the four nights while I was there, each of the beds was occupied by a person from a different country, so we had 6 countries represented in one room. Of course I found this very exciting, and I really enjoyed chatting with the other girls about their experiences and their homes. One of the girls was from England, and she invited me to go to Kuranda with her and a couple of friends. So, we hired a car and drove to this cute town that has a unique market. We also visited the Barron Gorge, a curtain fig tree, and a cathedral fig tree. You should check the pictures on my blog because these are not normal sized trees. Finally, we drove back to Cairns through the Atherton Tablelands. I flew back to Sydney the next day and caught a bus to Canberra.

Classes started again the following Monday, so it’s back to business. But even between classes, I manage to do other things like attend Floriade, an amazing flower show in Canberra. I also recently volunteered with Rotaract to work at the Nara Candle Festival. Nara is Canberra’ Japanese sister city, and each year there is a festival to remember that relationship. The volunteers lit over 2000 candles that night. I am currently working with one of the Canberra Rotary Clubs and some Sydney Ambassadorial Scholars to organize a fundraiser event for Australian Rotary Health Research Fund.

As you can see, life is busy, sometimes stressful, but completely wonderful. I am so thankful for this year in Australia, and as always, thank you for your support, encouragement, and prayers.

Cheers.