Leaving Perth

Well it is officially my last day in Perth… so hard to believe. Where does the time go? Have 4/5 months already passed? Spent the day at the beach with Emily, Lauren, Kristen and Colin and got lunch at Cott. It went up to 101 degrees here today – when I talked to Joe earlier he said it was 37 at Hamilton. Little bit different – definitely going to be a shock to the system when I get back. Where are the beaches!? Really nice getting one last swim in here – especially as it was the first beach I swam at here in Aussie land. Leave tonight for Cairns so I will probably be out of contact for the next week or so, but when I get back to having internet I’ll post the pictures from the Great Barrier Reef. Man packing up is depressing! Pretty sad to leave good ole’ Perth. It’s been very good to me. It's funny (or not really funny, but just interesting) how leaving Perth I have that same pit in my stomach I had when I left home for Australia - that feeling of wondering what I am leaving behind and what I am going to face in the times ahead. My time in Australia has easily been the biggest and best adventure of my life and I am just so happy I made the decision to come here. What an adventure … 6 more days.

Finished Finals and My New Look

As of yesterday afternoon I am officially done with my academic semester in Australia! Woot woot!!! So strange leaving the exam room and walking off campus knowing that I wouldn’t have to come back there. Sorry I haven’t been posting much - not too much new to report and have been really busy with getting work done. Haven’t had time to cut my hair even … look how long it’s gotten …

  

Har har har in case you couldn’t tell, my hair is not really that long and I did not dye it blonde. Here is a video of me goofing around with some friends … I mean studying before my last exam.

 

Capture your screen in seconds

Really winding down now – two weeks left in Australia at this point. I have one more week in Perth, which I plan to spend relaxing and hanging out at the beach and then I head off to Cairns to hopefully meet up with my Dad for some diving! Fingers crossed! 

Road Trip

Off on the road trip tomorrow! Going to be waking up around 6 for a quick bite to eat and then off to the races!!! Did some serious food shopping with Devon (ended up being 40 dollars a person for the whole 10 days!) and the plan is to pack it up later tonight. Might watch a movie (Get Him to the Greek) and then finish up some packing ! Tenative name for our camper van is Winston … possibly said with a Jamaican accent ... think it might stick.  Assuming I won’t have internet for the next 10 days or so but will update you all when I get back! Cheers!

Wouldn't be a road trip without a couple boxes of cheap wine, frisbee, and a butt load of canned foods... BEANSSSSSS!

Random Thoughts and Weekend Plans

So today as I was walking by the quad and the reflection pool on campus, I was once again attacked by a very protective mother duck (I think it was the mom.) As I backed away from its charge, I couldn’t help but think how amazing it is that that is hardwired into creatures. Might sound corny, but it is a pretty incredible thing. It is not like anyone ever taught this duck how to be a parent but somehow it just knows that it is supposed to take care of its babies. Yesterday I saw it fly at a girl who just tried feeding the babies. People are much bigger than ducks … this is a brave little guy / girl. Reminds me of my other deep nature question/thought, which is how is it that fish that swim in large schools know that they are with other fish that look like them. It is not like there are any mirrors in the ocean. In fact, there are pretty few reflective things at all, yet somehow the fish know to swim with others of its kind. Just some food for thought.

Ended up spending most of the day Cottesloe Beach. Got a much needed swim in the ocean. Salt water can really help the body and mind. Took in another nice sunset over dinner.

Plans for the weekend: On Saturday I am going out to Rottnest with Vicki (program advisor), Lauren, and Devon. Hopefully the weather is nice and I get a good day of relaxing and bike rides out on Rotto. Then Sunday the plan is to go for another shore dive with some people from the dive club. Might go back out to the Grain Jetty or go to one that is a bit closer. We shall see.

Couple other random photos I've taken:

Scuba on Sunday

It’s official! Just booked a scuba dive at Rottnest on Sunday! Picked up the B.C, weight belt, and Regulator Set, so all I need now is the tank – the company I am going with supplies it. There’s a chance there is a boat going out on Saturday as well, so I might get to go then. Been a pretty low-key week over here, just been doing some work – had my first test – and taking it easy. Sure I will have more updates after the weekend. Going to bring out the underwater housing for my camera so if all goes well there should be some nice pictures.

Mosaics

Found this way of making mosaics out of the photos I’ve taken so far. Here are a few ones I’ve made so far. Click on the photos for the full size. Sure there will be more to come. Try standing farther away from the computer to see the big picture.

Also I decided I would shave my beard today, but before I parted with it I had some fun. Call me El Loco.

End result.

Kind of forgot I had a chin … it’s nice when I walk and feel the wind on my face. Think I will grow it back out though as I look like a 12 year old now. Hoping to go back to Rottnest next weekend for some snorkeling and my first scuba dive here! (As long as they offer it in the winter.) Fingers crossed!

Trip Plans to Coral Bay

Going paintballing in a few hours but thought I would tell you all about this trip I just planned! Later in October I will be going to Coral Bay with a big group of friends and renting a house. It ends up being around 17 AUD a night which is cheaper than if we all stayed in a single room backpackers hostel ($28 per person)! The house is a 5 minute walk from the beach and has a patio and area for BBQ's. I had contacted a travel agent about some things to do around Coral Bay and here are some excerpts!

“Once you're in Coral Bay you don't need transport at all and the reef is only just off shore - you can snorkel straight off the beach and see the most amazing wildlife and coral formations. It really is beautiful! I would recommend doing at least one boat trip whilst you're there though, if you are all relatively strong swimmers and can snorkel then you can't go past the manta ray interaction tour. I worked as a snorkel guide on these tours for about 3 years and still got excited every time I saw a manta ray, it's a must do! [Yes, please! Also, from March to June you can go snorkeling with the Whale Sharks (which are harmless) that migrate there, but unfortunately it's too late.] Anyway, I could go on and on!! Please let me know if I can provide you with any more information… [asked for things to do around there]”

“Yep that is a really good spot [Where the rental house is]. All the houses are fairly similar and, to be honest, your'e just going to need somewhere to crash coz you won't stop whilst you're there! There is a heap of stuff to do in the bay itself and I am a big fan of just cruising around snorkelling for as long as my legs will allow it! [Me too!] Although if you can get out on qaud bike tour up to the Lagoon and Oyster Bridge it's beautiful up there too…

On your way to/from Exmouth you should definitely stop in at Charles Knife Gorge and go for a walk up there, it's breathtaking. Around the point from Exmouth is Turquoise Bay, it's a bit of a drive but really worth it. Leave early and get back to Coral Bay just before dark. DON'T drive up there at night, the roads are really dangerous with Kanagroos and cattle and sheep all over the place - not worth it! [Attack of the Kangaroos! Ahhhh]

Happy hour at the Coral Bay pub is always fun (if you like a drink or two!) and is on Tuesdays and Fridays. Drinks are really cheap during happy hour and it's always busy. Sometimes they'll have a band up there which is fun too. [Cheap drinks in Australia … ? Never … Can’t remember if I mentioned this but things are really expensive in Australia … especially the drinks. Talking about 10 dollars for a pint of beer.]

Otherwise just snorkel, snorkel, snorkel. You won't be able to get enough! And don't be nervous, the reef is just under 2km off-shore and everything between the beach and the reef is pretty safe. Just be aware of the current (south to North in most cases) and if you're a little way off shore keep an eye on where it's taking you. A good way to judge the current is to hover over a patch of coral, with your head in the water, and see how quickly you move from where you started. There are sometime ittle reef sharks in the shallows, nothing to worry about - they're 90% of the time more scared of you than you are of them! [Err . . . What bout the other 10%?] The rest of the time they'll pay you little to no interest. [Oh. Comforting . . . ] Just something very cool to see. Otherwsie there's nothing to worry about. [Phew!] Just don't touch anything and you'll be safe. You can VERY easily damage the coral so be wary of where your hands and feet are and otherwise ENJOY! 

I'm jeaouls, I may have to go for a visit very soon! Enjoy yourselves and take care.”

Just thought those excerpts sort of captured the friendly and laid back attitude that exists throughout Australia. Everyone I have emailed asking for information about a trip or a specific spot has written back these long and thought out replies (like I said those were only excerpts!) 

Finally, Elizabeth, you had asked how to pronounce border ... hard to type out how it would sound but I'll give it a shot... start to say born slowly and right before you get to the "r" part of it say a “duh” type noise. Or start to say boy and before the "oy" part put in the duh noise. 

Just found this website:

Australian Pronunciation of Border 

Just move the mouse over the highlighted word “border” after clicking the link and it will pronounce it. Think I did an all right job of spelling it out! (Again, you have to click the link first. Oh and right click on the link and open in a new tab, otherwise it will leave the blog page.)

Here are links for “Perform” and “Certain” the other two words I talked about last time. That's all for now! 

Thoughts From Class

So far my favorite class is Language of the Cognitive System. Right now we are learning the IPA (international phonetic alphabet), which consists of letters and symbols that represent the different sounds. The fun part is that – seeing as we are in Australia – we spell the words out the way Australians say the words. Breaking down the words into the individual sounds is actually pretty helpful to my goal of developing an Aussie accent, as it highlights the differences in pronunciation. The major difference between the way we say words and Australians do, or between any language, is the way vowels are pronounced. They seem to make the vowels longer, to the extent that it often replaces consonants in the word. For instance, instead of saying R’s in the middle or end of words it’s pronounced more like ‘eh’ as in yeah. So perform is pehfum or certain would be cehten. In class everyone must have thought I sounded like a pirate because I kept pronouncing R’s when no one else heard it. Later, in my classics class today, a girl said the "Earth gave birth..." which sounded pretty funny in an Australian accent. (Eh-th gave- beh-th). (What would you say if she said it in Australia ... beat you to it Marina and Mom. Too easy.)  Not too much else to report back on. This weekend we are going paintballing on Saturday for Craig’s birthday; and on Sunday I am going on a wine and chocolate tour with Lauren, Devon, and Vicki (our advisor) in Swan Valley.

Oh, and here’s the Koala claw picture with the border like you asked for Mom. 

Baby Ducks and Plans for the Weekend

Slight change of plans for the weekend. Originally, we were going to rent a camper van and head 3 hours up north to spend the night at Cervantes and the Pinnacles Desert (a desert with these 15 foot limestone pillars). The next day we would have gone to Lancelin where you can go sandboarding and ride this ATV-esque bus around on the dunes and finally we would have gone to Yanchep National Park on the way back home to go on hikes and say hi to the animals. Unfortunately, the sand boarding place is closed till August 16^th so we decided to hold off on the camping trip. No need to force it – figured it would make sense to go when we could do it all. Definitely a bummer ... Sure I will find another adventure for the weekend though. Looking ahead I started planning a trip to Coral Bay and Exmouth with some friends! There’s a chance that we might be able to rent a house up there for a week which would be amazing. Looks like they are all booked up now but maybe something will work out! Fingers crossed…

Walking back from classes the other day, Devon and I saw some baby ducks! 

Didn’t have my camera so I had to use my phone, but every time I got too close one of the parent ducks would start to charge at me. Devon got a photo of …

The Duel

          That look in my eyes is fear.

Finally, here is a funny Australian faux commercial about global warming.

Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

During orientation week they gave us a magazine with places to visit during our time in Western Australia; and I couldn't help but notice that the guy on the cover looked really familiar. Took me a little bit to figure out who he reminded me of and then I got it - Me!! When we were at Rottnest I tried to strike the pose the guy in the photo did to see if it looked like me. If I had shown a little more teeth I think it would have been perfect ... still pretty close. 

Here is the magazine cover by itself

Some More Thoughts

Was just talking to Marina about how being in a different time zone changes the way I view my days. I am sure it is exaggerated by the fact that my time difference is 12 hours ahead (yeah that’s right … I’m in the future.) It ends up making my day feel like two parts though: 9-12 in the morning and 9-12 at night – because those are the times when things are going on in both places. It’s a funny feeling waking up and wondering what has happened during the day before me. Throw in the fact that I’m listening to the soundtrack of Inception and it makes it much more mind-boggling. With that I shall sign off for the night – or the morning. When am I !? 

Just Some Thoughts

Not too much new to report back on. Registered for classes yesterday and find out tomorrow whether I got the times I wanted. If it works out I will have lectures on Thursday and Friday that are posted online so I could technically leave Thursday morning and go on a trip! When we were riding back from the city yesterday on the bus we looked out to the river and saw dolphins playing! It was awesome! So funny that there are just seagulls and parrots hanging out in the city, dolphins playing in the river, and apparently, peacocks wandering around the University’s campus.

We had an Aussie Trivia Night last night and here were two funny commercials they showed us. Apparently, New Zealand is Australia’s version of our Canada, so they get a fair share of teasing. Here is the Australian ad.

And here is the New Zealand reply. Thought these were pretty funny.

 

Also here is this story I found while reading about one of the places I was thinking of traveling to.

Solo the Kangaroo 

Came across another little difference when I was eating a peanut butter and jelly the other day for lunch (sorry Marina, but my only other choice was some questionable looking fried fish). When I told someone what I was eating (peanut butter and jelly) he looked at me disgusted. Turns out you say jam here when you mean jelly, because jelly here means jello. Gross. Peanut butter and jello.

Finally, here is a picture of an interesting looking flower and the river next to the campus before the rain came in.

Some Random Thoughts

At orientation the other day I met a girl who found her housing through this website called Couch Surfing. Basically, people just offer their couch or a room in their house for you to stay at – free of charge. Sounds like a nice idea (sort of) except often times you have no information about the person and don’t meet them until you get there. I was a litttttle skeptical about it but she swore by it. Funny imagining telling my parents (or rather, my mom) that that was how I arranged my housing. Have a feeling she wouldn’t be too thrilled.

Here ketchup is called tomato sauce.  Still feels weird asking for tomato sauce, but I am getting used to it. On top of that, it’s pronounced toe-mott-o not toe-mate-o the way I’m used to saying it. I’ve always known the expression, “You say tomato, I say tomato” (Hm … that doesn’t really work when typed, but I’m sure everyone knows it) but I had never actually heard anyone pronounce tomato the other way.

Every now and then the Australian accent slightly sounds like an English accent. When I said this at the pub the other night, my two English friends were “offended” that I thought that and my Australian friend was offended that they were offended. Oops! Next time I’ll keep quiet and ask for some tomato sauce. All comes out in the wash. 


Oh also ... I added a tab at the top called pictures which, as you might have guessed has a link for a slideshow of the pictures I've posted so far. Also on the right side as you scroll down are Recent Comments since it sounds like many of you aren't receiving emails when someone replies or adds a comment. 

World Cup

 Woke up early with some of the guys here to watch the World Cup final. Had to get up at 4:30 A.M to watch it ! Better get used to that if I want to watch the Patriots games while I am here. Couldn’t help but notice that almost all the Spanish players had a U.S actor look a like. Check it out…

Xavi – Robert Downey Jr.

Some others to check out ... 

Sergio Ramos – Val Kilmer

Capdavilla – Sylvester Stallone

Pique – Chris Evans