Well since scuba nothing of great interest has come about. Just the usual day down under really. Monday had Australian Life and Culture and skyped my mom for a bit. Then who knows what, nothing note worthy. Tuesday we had marine biology and it has gotten much more interesting
In marine bio we learned more about larger animals. Quite honestly, I forget what sort of groups they are divided into and all that fun stuff (guess I need to do some reviewing). Either way it was much more fun to learn about. It also resparked my interest to get a tattoo. I think I am having a tough time coming to terms with having it forever though. We shall see. Then after lunch we went back to mangrove but we were in much deeper water this time and we were catching puffer fish. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera so didn't get any pictures, they were awesome though and I am somewhat intrigued to find out mroe. They have a leathery skin, they all aren't poisonous and the don't particularly swim with their tail fin. Interesting little fish that is for sure. So we caught them to help with an ongoing experiment they have and tagged them and that was about it for the day.
Thursday it began to rain :( For events management we were supposed to go to a surftag event in Ballina but because of the rain we had an impromptu class. It was an easy day but sucked cause we expected to see a sweet surftag comp. Later I went shopping for groceries in Ballina and we stopped at an open rugby practice. These guys were MASSIVE. I imagine if they weren't practicing they were in the weight room gettin swoll. The girls were drooling over a couple of the dudes, so we stayed longer than expected.
And Friday the rain continued :( We went to the Lennox Head Bora ring that was used in Aborigine ceremonies. Then headed over to the Byron Bay lighthouse. It is perched up on a little point. And let me be the first to tell you that a large coach bus traveling up a small windey road that drops off next to you...is in fact, rather terrifying. It is still dreary so the sights weren't that great. But it was still pretty cool to be at the most easterly point on the Australian continent. We then headed over to the Tweed River Art Gallery and just looked at some paintings they had on display. I didn't really understand the educational value about it because we didn't have any sort of discussion about it or any of the art. Just kinda went and looked. Don't get me wrong it actually was pretty cool though. I enjoyed it, especially one painting. I'm not going to bother trying to describe it, I know what it looks like.
And now the worst part. Because of the rain, we decided to cancel our planned trip to Mt. Warning and Currumbin and just went to the Gold Coast to check it out. We wasted so much time sitting at Murwillumbah deciding if we wanted to stay there and camp and climb Mt. Warning ragardless (we were going to camp and wake up early, climb it, and see the sunrise) or go home. Wasted time debating then finally decided we would check out the Gold Coast since we were close. Uh yeah, we didn't exactly check it out. We sat there for about an hour and a half to two hours while some people looked for hostels to stay at. For those that weren't, got extremely agitated and there was a lot of tension on the bus. It may not have been so bad if it weren't for the fact it was total shit outside. Oh well it is what it is. We got back to camp and we just drank and had a good time and ended up going to the pub. They had a DJ competition so the music was good and there were people there that were our age.
Sunday was uneventful as well, it was nice and sunny down here in Lennox so everyone and their mom were out on the beach. I decided to tan my thighs. My white ass thighs. I forgot to put sunscreen on and was in the sun for a good 3 hours or so. I took breaks and played in the waves so it was broken up. Yeah needless to say. They absolutely burn right now. Sleeping was a pain in the ass. Oh well. In the name of beauty I guess haha.
Monday our Australia Life and Culture class was cancelled. I think because Lyn's wife is having problems recovering from her surgery (I pray that's not it though). So everyone has just chilled today. Played rugby once again (it's awesome) and Harlan and I got on our roof and jumped over to another cabin. That was certainly fun. Hopefully the rest of the week will entail some good stories.
27 February 2012
20 February 2012
Open Water Dives
Remember how I was just talking about first time experiences and their real importance, well that happened once again. Saturday I did scuba for the first time. It was incredible. Another experience I will never have. Learning everything anew, knowing for the first time what its going to feel like. Well, the whole ride there I was nervous. More so when I actually thought about it or we talked about it, my heart began to flutter. We get there, get our gear together and all that fun stuff. Nothing too exciting. Then. We load up the boat. Time is getting closer and we get in the back of this old ass truck. It is the coolest truck ever, old, powerful, painted for the dive shop. It sounded awesome too. We make our way to the beach and it is a beautiful drive up there. And the beach from where we drop the boat off is beautifully amazing. It's everything you dream of, a bay with mountains to one side, the Julian Rocks in the not so far distance, a white lighthouse over looking the bay 118m high at the most easterly point on Australia. We all help get the boat in. It's such an experience just being a part of the team. We together are going to scuba dive. We are just in shock and awe of the surrounding. Just thinking back now sends chills down my back. Mt. Warning is in the background (tallest peak in Australia, will be blogging about climbing that as well). We get the boat situated and the guys help the girls in and the guys then just in. We're off. No turning back now, we're on the boat. Minutes away from being 12m under. The boat ride was half the fun. Seeing Byron Bay and the surrounding beauty from see is a site all it's own to behold. The waves were these walls of water flowing synchronicity. The boat jumps over each wave as we get closer.
We make it to our dive site and we begin with our fins, check, spit in goggles and put on, check, and finally the weight belt. And we wait....to get the BCD on. Our lives are in that equipment. And we gear up completely. There is no hesitating when it's your turn. No "just a sec," "wait a minute," you just GO. It was my turn coming up and I knew it, my heart beat faster and I didn't know if I was ready or not. I look back and my buddy was far enough away. "okay Brian you're up" I didn't even think. You don't have time to. I scooted back and I splashed it. It was serene. You hit the water and sink, open your eyes, bubbles all around a little sunlight, and you're actually breathing. In that instant it felt it would last forever. That first time experience was incredible. This crazy contraption is working. You float to the surface and I've made it. It was a crazy feeling. We get situated at the rope and get (sorta) use to floating. As our first time it was very awkward. We look around and can see the bottom and there are fish everywhere. This is real life. I'm really living and experiencing a world like this. One by one we begin our decent and make sure enough pressure stays in our ears. Deeper and deeper we head down and everything is just beautiful. There is no thinking at all you just look and that's it. Very weird feeling.
So the first day. Our first dive was just for fun and trying to get neutral buoyancy and just trying to get the hang of it. It was hysterical to see us rise and fall and just have no handle on it (okay wasn't that bad). From the get go you just look. I couldn't look fast enough. Sure enough there was a leopard shark at some point to greet us. And we actually had the opportunity to see and octopus. Which, during a dive at any time and essentially anywhere is very rare. Saw and eastern blue grouper, sting rays, clown fish, just everything you can imagine and then some. I found a little shrimp in a shell when we were on our knees on the broken coral and shell bottom. Just moving along like nothing were different. It was awesome. I just wish I could remember it all. It was incredible. The second dive of the day was just as beautiful. Because it was training dives we had to do skills and practice what we did in the pool. We had to put our weight belt and BCD on while already in the water and we also practice the buddy assisted ascent. Austin (my buddy) and I didn't do so well with the second ascent (the first one we practiced and the second time we actually performed it). We had forgot that we were actually going up. We finally get to the top and Rob, out instructor goes "What the fuck were you guys doing??" We were a little embarrassed but he was cool with it, he realized we are just learning and we all laughed about it later.
Day 2 of diving. Oh man, it was incredible. We are actually getting very confident in the water and we don't look quite as sloppy moving around underwater. Dive 3, we see another octopus!! That's TWO, talk about unheard of. Rob tried to get him to come out of hiding and grab him, but he didn't go for it, but did change color and that was really cool. On this dive we had to fill our mask up partially and then we had to take it off and put it back on. It was very weird to feel the water on my face and it's a very mental thing to be able to do it. People have freaked out and the girls with us were a little nervous. I did just fine, both times I took it off. The first time I thought the snorkel was caught on the headband part and tried to fix it. Rob helped me but he realized it was backward so I took it off AGAIN, he took it and then gave it back. And was a-okay after that. Everyone else did just fine with it. While I waited for everyone else to do it, I made friends with a little fish I saw on the ground. It was a white streaked grub fish (parapercis Stricticeps). We make our way around the bottom and it was cool, just in pure awe and amazement. No thoughts. Ever. We get to the top and the skipper tells us that a manta ray was spotted a couple moorings over. We decided to head over there and just snorkel around and see if we could spot it. We sure did fucking find it. God that creature was magnificent. He looked like the king of the ocean. Even had a posse of large fish following behind and underneath him. He was a behemoth. I loved every second of it. He was damn near 7-8 ft from side to side. At one point he was to my side a bit and I swam near him and he went down and turned a bit toward me. To experience that sort of creature coming at you is something I won't soon forget. Tori was next to me and she actually screamed and hid behind me. That was pretty funny. Unfortunately he left and we got back on the boat to get new gear.
It was depressing to know there was only one dive left. We get out there and by now we feel like we are pros and know exactly what we are doing. Up at the mooring we see these little tiny fish, maybe a quarter of and inch swimming next to it. And if you look closely you can see all sorts of small jellyfish moving around. Oh, also in dive 3 we practiced CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent). We all did fine...well sorta. On dive 4 we just had to learn how to use a compass whish was sorta weird underwater but we did that just fine, really get our buoyancy down and "hover" and practice a safety stop and what it's like. We did everything just fine. This time I tried to pay as much attention to the wildlife around me as I could. I still can't remember nearly half of the things I saw. But I do remember it was beautiful. The highlight of this dive (if not all 4) is that I FOUND AN OCTOPUS ON MY OWN!!! These things are very well camouflaged and everyone else just swam over it. I know it was an octopus because I saw the siphon being used. I couldn't believe I found one and no one was close enough to get their attention. So that is an experience I share only with myself and I am proud of. We headed to an area called the needles which was very cool. Rocks were all around. A leopard shark was sitting at the bottom and we got near and when he moved he was maybe a meter from me. To see that thing pass by was just awe inspiring (just like the manta ray). We finished our dive. It was all over. We are certified. We have done it. Getting to the surface we all had smiles on and I just wanted to scream out of pure enjoyment.
This was without a doubt the most incredible feeling ever. I hope I don't forget this. This first time experience is one, again, I will never re-experience in my life. I just say. I loved every minute and can't wait to get back out. I, Brian Wesolowski, am actually a certified Open Water diver. For anywhere in the world and for life. That's a damn good feeling.
We make it to our dive site and we begin with our fins, check, spit in goggles and put on, check, and finally the weight belt. And we wait....to get the BCD on. Our lives are in that equipment. And we gear up completely. There is no hesitating when it's your turn. No "just a sec," "wait a minute," you just GO. It was my turn coming up and I knew it, my heart beat faster and I didn't know if I was ready or not. I look back and my buddy was far enough away. "okay Brian you're up" I didn't even think. You don't have time to. I scooted back and I splashed it. It was serene. You hit the water and sink, open your eyes, bubbles all around a little sunlight, and you're actually breathing. In that instant it felt it would last forever. That first time experience was incredible. This crazy contraption is working. You float to the surface and I've made it. It was a crazy feeling. We get situated at the rope and get (sorta) use to floating. As our first time it was very awkward. We look around and can see the bottom and there are fish everywhere. This is real life. I'm really living and experiencing a world like this. One by one we begin our decent and make sure enough pressure stays in our ears. Deeper and deeper we head down and everything is just beautiful. There is no thinking at all you just look and that's it. Very weird feeling.
So the first day. Our first dive was just for fun and trying to get neutral buoyancy and just trying to get the hang of it. It was hysterical to see us rise and fall and just have no handle on it (okay wasn't that bad). From the get go you just look. I couldn't look fast enough. Sure enough there was a leopard shark at some point to greet us. And we actually had the opportunity to see and octopus. Which, during a dive at any time and essentially anywhere is very rare. Saw and eastern blue grouper, sting rays, clown fish, just everything you can imagine and then some. I found a little shrimp in a shell when we were on our knees on the broken coral and shell bottom. Just moving along like nothing were different. It was awesome. I just wish I could remember it all. It was incredible. The second dive of the day was just as beautiful. Because it was training dives we had to do skills and practice what we did in the pool. We had to put our weight belt and BCD on while already in the water and we also practice the buddy assisted ascent. Austin (my buddy) and I didn't do so well with the second ascent (the first one we practiced and the second time we actually performed it). We had forgot that we were actually going up. We finally get to the top and Rob, out instructor goes "What the fuck were you guys doing??" We were a little embarrassed but he was cool with it, he realized we are just learning and we all laughed about it later.
Day 2 of diving. Oh man, it was incredible. We are actually getting very confident in the water and we don't look quite as sloppy moving around underwater. Dive 3, we see another octopus!! That's TWO, talk about unheard of. Rob tried to get him to come out of hiding and grab him, but he didn't go for it, but did change color and that was really cool. On this dive we had to fill our mask up partially and then we had to take it off and put it back on. It was very weird to feel the water on my face and it's a very mental thing to be able to do it. People have freaked out and the girls with us were a little nervous. I did just fine, both times I took it off. The first time I thought the snorkel was caught on the headband part and tried to fix it. Rob helped me but he realized it was backward so I took it off AGAIN, he took it and then gave it back. And was a-okay after that. Everyone else did just fine with it. While I waited for everyone else to do it, I made friends with a little fish I saw on the ground. It was a white streaked grub fish (parapercis Stricticeps). We make our way around the bottom and it was cool, just in pure awe and amazement. No thoughts. Ever. We get to the top and the skipper tells us that a manta ray was spotted a couple moorings over. We decided to head over there and just snorkel around and see if we could spot it. We sure did fucking find it. God that creature was magnificent. He looked like the king of the ocean. Even had a posse of large fish following behind and underneath him. He was a behemoth. I loved every second of it. He was damn near 7-8 ft from side to side. At one point he was to my side a bit and I swam near him and he went down and turned a bit toward me. To experience that sort of creature coming at you is something I won't soon forget. Tori was next to me and she actually screamed and hid behind me. That was pretty funny. Unfortunately he left and we got back on the boat to get new gear.
It was depressing to know there was only one dive left. We get out there and by now we feel like we are pros and know exactly what we are doing. Up at the mooring we see these little tiny fish, maybe a quarter of and inch swimming next to it. And if you look closely you can see all sorts of small jellyfish moving around. Oh, also in dive 3 we practiced CESA (controlled emergency swimming ascent). We all did fine...well sorta. On dive 4 we just had to learn how to use a compass whish was sorta weird underwater but we did that just fine, really get our buoyancy down and "hover" and practice a safety stop and what it's like. We did everything just fine. This time I tried to pay as much attention to the wildlife around me as I could. I still can't remember nearly half of the things I saw. But I do remember it was beautiful. The highlight of this dive (if not all 4) is that I FOUND AN OCTOPUS ON MY OWN!!! These things are very well camouflaged and everyone else just swam over it. I know it was an octopus because I saw the siphon being used. I couldn't believe I found one and no one was close enough to get their attention. So that is an experience I share only with myself and I am proud of. We headed to an area called the needles which was very cool. Rocks were all around. A leopard shark was sitting at the bottom and we got near and when he moved he was maybe a meter from me. To see that thing pass by was just awe inspiring (just like the manta ray). We finished our dive. It was all over. We are certified. We have done it. Getting to the surface we all had smiles on and I just wanted to scream out of pure enjoyment.
This was without a doubt the most incredible feeling ever. I hope I don't forget this. This first time experience is one, again, I will never re-experience in my life. I just say. I loved every minute and can't wait to get back out. I, Brian Wesolowski, am actually a certified Open Water diver. For anywhere in the world and for life. That's a damn good feeling.
16 February 2012
Reflection on the Bus!!
Oddly enough I really though about my arrival when I got on the bus. Just had music and thought about Australia. So I wrote it down, I will reiterate word for word...
"I just wanted to reflect on my arrival to Australia a little bit more. I didn't express much emotion on that initial landing. And now I sit here on the bus now, in week three realizing how much I love this place. Also, side-note and oddly enough, I think music is a very powerful force for my feelings at the moment. The Gamble by Fun. and next is Take Your Time (Coming Home) by Fun.
I can't believe the length of time I have been here and how important, I realize now, coming to coming to Australia is. We waited for hours to finally get here. I had been breathing the filtered air of airport terminals and planes for lets say, two entire days. We are getting close to Australia and we see alnd. The virus of land and salvation and our destination, after waiting for so long, spread like wildfire. Thankfully I had a window seat. Everyone looked left, right, left again try to get a glimpse of the land that will prove to be the best 3 months of our lives. We were hypnotized by land. Everyone was ecstatic. As we approached the runway everyone's curious, wandering eyes never leaving the window. The tires hit the runway. We cheered.
The two days of bonding, being bored, essentially living in an airport, eating plane food, no showers, has indeed paid off. We are in AUstralia Everyone is eager to get off the plane. We make our way to customs. I'm always nervous about customs. I know I do nothing wrong but still, maybe I won't get in. I was one of the first to make it through "Welcome to Australia" was what I heard (whether or not tat is the case, I don't know, but I like to think that was said to me) and received the stamp that is showing proof I am in Australia. We go to baggage claim and we all get our luggage and 1 by 1 we get sniffed by two dogs (beagles) looking for citrus mind you. 1 by 1 we walk through the doors of essentially no return. I think we were all okay with that. The first ones out had been outside telling everyone to drop their bags and certainly the bags did drop. As we trickled out, groups ran out the door. Took that first breath of the fresh, warm, beautiful Australian air. It really did have a smell and a sense of salvation. Nothing has ever felt better. This went on for 20 minutes. Eventually we made our way to the bus and waited around. Ou pale, straight from the middle of winter skin, was no match for the intense Australian sun. Which is in fact in the northern part of the sky, not southern. We saw baobob trees and were even amazed by the grass. It was hysterical.
We're on the bus and everyone is glued to the window, just as the plane. Occasionally getting commentary from the bus driver. We watch around us in this new culture. Subconsciously comparing it to our own. The houses, cars, signs, everything was slightly different. We have made it to Lennox. The town of about 4,000 that will be our new home. We will know this town pretty damn well when we are (unfortunately) done here. It is actually my HOME. This place on the ocean, which is always there. The ocean is beautiful from the town. And Lake Ainsworth. I've seen pictures. Lots of them. But my god, this place is actually real. I can't believe it. The lake really is root beer colored, the ocean really is my backyard.
Looking back now, seeing everything for the first time is something I won't ever have, feel, or experience again. Sure I may come back, but I have generally already seen it. It's unfortunate my first time experience is now over. But the path is has lit, my arrival, is something I don't think I would chance for the world. I am in fact, in Australia.
.
"I just wanted to reflect on my arrival to Australia a little bit more. I didn't express much emotion on that initial landing. And now I sit here on the bus now, in week three realizing how much I love this place. Also, side-note and oddly enough, I think music is a very powerful force for my feelings at the moment. The Gamble by Fun. and next is Take Your Time (Coming Home) by Fun.
I can't believe the length of time I have been here and how important, I realize now, coming to coming to Australia is. We waited for hours to finally get here. I had been breathing the filtered air of airport terminals and planes for lets say, two entire days. We are getting close to Australia and we see alnd. The virus of land and salvation and our destination, after waiting for so long, spread like wildfire. Thankfully I had a window seat. Everyone looked left, right, left again try to get a glimpse of the land that will prove to be the best 3 months of our lives. We were hypnotized by land. Everyone was ecstatic. As we approached the runway everyone's curious, wandering eyes never leaving the window. The tires hit the runway. We cheered.
The two days of bonding, being bored, essentially living in an airport, eating plane food, no showers, has indeed paid off. We are in AUstralia Everyone is eager to get off the plane. We make our way to customs. I'm always nervous about customs. I know I do nothing wrong but still, maybe I won't get in. I was one of the first to make it through "Welcome to Australia" was what I heard (whether or not tat is the case, I don't know, but I like to think that was said to me) and received the stamp that is showing proof I am in Australia. We go to baggage claim and we all get our luggage and 1 by 1 we get sniffed by two dogs (beagles) looking for citrus mind you. 1 by 1 we walk through the doors of essentially no return. I think we were all okay with that. The first ones out had been outside telling everyone to drop their bags and certainly the bags did drop. As we trickled out, groups ran out the door. Took that first breath of the fresh, warm, beautiful Australian air. It really did have a smell and a sense of salvation. Nothing has ever felt better. This went on for 20 minutes. Eventually we made our way to the bus and waited around. Ou pale, straight from the middle of winter skin, was no match for the intense Australian sun. Which is in fact in the northern part of the sky, not southern. We saw baobob trees and were even amazed by the grass. It was hysterical.
We're on the bus and everyone is glued to the window, just as the plane. Occasionally getting commentary from the bus driver. We watch around us in this new culture. Subconsciously comparing it to our own. The houses, cars, signs, everything was slightly different. We have made it to Lennox. The town of about 4,000 that will be our new home. We will know this town pretty damn well when we are (unfortunately) done here. It is actually my HOME. This place on the ocean, which is always there. The ocean is beautiful from the town. And Lake Ainsworth. I've seen pictures. Lots of them. But my god, this place is actually real. I can't believe it. The lake really is root beer colored, the ocean really is my backyard.
Looking back now, seeing everything for the first time is something I won't ever have, feel, or experience again. Sure I may come back, but I have generally already seen it. It's unfortunate my first time experience is now over. But the path is has lit, my arrival, is something I don't think I would chance for the world. I am in fact, in Australia.
.
Our Valentines Day Party
First off....yes I know that it is rather late to be posting about the v-day party. But it has just been sooo nice out and I don't want to do anything but play in the lake, swing on the rope swing, jump from trees, and visit the ocean. Such a pain not able to get anything done lol.
Back to the party.
When we received the email about the party many of us were not all that excited. "8th grade style dance, bring an appetizer and dessert" it just sounded like a lot of work (especially for such short notice as we were having it THAT DAY). Oh......and we had to make cards as well. So the day went on blah blah as usual. No classes on Tuesday so that was nice.
Aimee rolls back around 5pm or so with supplies for the cards and I made mine. It was very gaudy...should have gotten a picture of it. Feathers and three cotton balls on the front and in green glittler glue I said "Happy V-day" on the inside....which was boring it read: "Hope you have a great Valentines day! (Of course you will, you are here with all of us)" and at the bottom: "Redeem this for a free back rub or.....something....." I thought it was pretty damn clever. So everyone is getting ready. We all get nice clothes on and the appetizers and desserts begin to flow to the table. The only thing our cabin had to offer were fruit cups...how nice I know. Other things included pasta salad, cakes, chocolate and peanut butter park, veal meatballs, buffalo chicken dip, apple stuff, peanut butter and jelly hors d'oeuvre, and....many other things I can't remember. It was awesome food. Aimee began to have people draw from a hate to get their valentine (whoever you drew, you gave them the card but you receive from someone else). I just so happen to get the first guy... Ryan Mantel. It was really funny though and he goes "I think I will take the something else" I ended up being Thomas Thompsons valentine (or his bitch how he called it considering how drunk he was). He actually bought chocolate for whoever it would be so I got two bars of chocolate! How nice, I know.
So everyone ate and hung out and drank and it was awesome. We had a nice little house party in cabin 7 with strobe lights (from iPhones) and it was a cool little thing and I have videos and pictures (on Facebook). It was definitely the absolute best Valentines Day I have had and I can say that with confidence.
Back to the party.
When we received the email about the party many of us were not all that excited. "8th grade style dance, bring an appetizer and dessert" it just sounded like a lot of work (especially for such short notice as we were having it THAT DAY). Oh......and we had to make cards as well. So the day went on blah blah as usual. No classes on Tuesday so that was nice.
Aimee rolls back around 5pm or so with supplies for the cards and I made mine. It was very gaudy...should have gotten a picture of it. Feathers and three cotton balls on the front and in green glittler glue I said "Happy V-day" on the inside....which was boring it read: "Hope you have a great Valentines day! (Of course you will, you are here with all of us)" and at the bottom: "Redeem this for a free back rub or.....something....." I thought it was pretty damn clever. So everyone is getting ready. We all get nice clothes on and the appetizers and desserts begin to flow to the table. The only thing our cabin had to offer were fruit cups...how nice I know. Other things included pasta salad, cakes, chocolate and peanut butter park, veal meatballs, buffalo chicken dip, apple stuff, peanut butter and jelly hors d'oeuvre, and....many other things I can't remember. It was awesome food. Aimee began to have people draw from a hate to get their valentine (whoever you drew, you gave them the card but you receive from someone else). I just so happen to get the first guy... Ryan Mantel. It was really funny though and he goes "I think I will take the something else" I ended up being Thomas Thompsons valentine (or his bitch how he called it considering how drunk he was). He actually bought chocolate for whoever it would be so I got two bars of chocolate! How nice, I know.
So everyone ate and hung out and drank and it was awesome. We had a nice little house party in cabin 7 with strobe lights (from iPhones) and it was a cool little thing and I have videos and pictures (on Facebook). It was definitely the absolute best Valentines Day I have had and I can say that with confidence.
14 February 2012
SCUBA!!!
So....this was actually on Sunday but I have been "busy" and just not gotten around to posting about it. Let's hope that I haven't forgotten too many details. First off....breathing underwater is damn near the coolest thing I have ever done. Even though I was in a pool that was maybe 8ft deep it was still an amazing experience. To stay underwater and just sit there forever looking around. It's an incredible experience I encourage everyone to try.
Now for the actual fun stuff. We got there around 9am. We met our instructor...who I think had a crush on me (I will explain later) and she was really cool and blah blah. We got situated with all of our gear and met around the pool to learn how to check the BCD and regulators and all that fun stuff. It took a long time for her to explain and everything but it is important she is thorough and makes sure we know it since it is what our lives are relying on. So I check mine...twice....and waiting around (all of us were) and she walks by and pushed me into the pool. Yes...she flirted with me. I know it. All in all it was out of good fun and we all laughed about it haha.
We got in the pool and geared up and she had us swim around and pool with the snorkel first and figure out how to dive and just get the hang of it. then......we went under. It is much easier to breath from your mouth than you might think. The respirator breathes very easy and it was an odd experience at first. Kinda like "oh wow....I am really doing this, sitting here breathing underwater" everyone just looks around and it was awesome. We are all very clumsy down there. You move up and down so easy and its actually difficult to coordinate movements. She had us to different things such as clearing our mask, taking a weight belt off, taking the BCD off, and just making sure we knew how to do things.
We had a break for lunch and went to Subway....
When we returned and got back in the water it was 20x easier to dive and move around. I felt much more comfortable in the water and enjoyed the second pool dive a lot (especially considering I had to pee like a race horse toward the end of the first...and you dont wanna pee in a wetsuit...). This time we learned more safety things and with a buddy like getting them up out of the water if they are out of air and giving them air and all that fun stuff. This time my instructor chooses ME as her buddy (told you she had a crush on me). I actually think it was because we were somewhat the same size so it was easier. The part I was very nervous for was taking the mask off and then doing a lap underwater without the mask. It's a bizarre feeling to not have it on and your entire face to be in contact with the water. But if you stayed calm about it, you had no problems. I was proud that I opened my eye underwater (I do have contacts) and did a lap and was able to put my mask back on and clear it underwater.
This weekend we are going to the Julian Rocks (GOOGLE IT) this weekend. I will be doing 4 open water dives Sat. and Sun. and I am so excited about it.
Now for the actual fun stuff. We got there around 9am. We met our instructor...who I think had a crush on me (I will explain later) and she was really cool and blah blah. We got situated with all of our gear and met around the pool to learn how to check the BCD and regulators and all that fun stuff. It took a long time for her to explain and everything but it is important she is thorough and makes sure we know it since it is what our lives are relying on. So I check mine...twice....and waiting around (all of us were) and she walks by and pushed me into the pool. Yes...she flirted with me. I know it. All in all it was out of good fun and we all laughed about it haha.
We got in the pool and geared up and she had us swim around and pool with the snorkel first and figure out how to dive and just get the hang of it. then......we went under. It is much easier to breath from your mouth than you might think. The respirator breathes very easy and it was an odd experience at first. Kinda like "oh wow....I am really doing this, sitting here breathing underwater" everyone just looks around and it was awesome. We are all very clumsy down there. You move up and down so easy and its actually difficult to coordinate movements. She had us to different things such as clearing our mask, taking a weight belt off, taking the BCD off, and just making sure we knew how to do things.
We had a break for lunch and went to Subway....
When we returned and got back in the water it was 20x easier to dive and move around. I felt much more comfortable in the water and enjoyed the second pool dive a lot (especially considering I had to pee like a race horse toward the end of the first...and you dont wanna pee in a wetsuit...). This time we learned more safety things and with a buddy like getting them up out of the water if they are out of air and giving them air and all that fun stuff. This time my instructor chooses ME as her buddy (told you she had a crush on me). I actually think it was because we were somewhat the same size so it was easier. The part I was very nervous for was taking the mask off and then doing a lap underwater without the mask. It's a bizarre feeling to not have it on and your entire face to be in contact with the water. But if you stayed calm about it, you had no problems. I was proud that I opened my eye underwater (I do have contacts) and did a lap and was able to put my mask back on and clear it underwater.
This weekend we are going to the Julian Rocks (GOOGLE IT) this weekend. I will be doing 4 open water dives Sat. and Sun. and I am so excited about it.
10 February 2012
Dorroughby, 10th of February
Friday we have a field trip to Dorroughby, which is a subtropical rainforest area. Lyn Lockery, who is our Australian Life & Culture class professor organized it for us. When we arrived we were first greeted by a goanna living in the area. It was sweet to be so close to this giant lizard. It was very calm for all the people being around and so close. Anyway, we were served lunch and it was amazing. We had a small salad (nothing special) but the protein they gave us. One for everyone and it was marlin, giant prawn and KANGAROO!!! Yes, I can say I have eaten kangaroo. It essentially tasted like beer. They gave us two dipping sauces which were very good as well. They had fresh bread that you put honey on, real Australian honey mind you. For dessert they gave us choc. chip and macadamia nut muffins. The lunch they put on was awesome and I was very thankful for it.
After lunch we were split in two groups. The group I was in went with the native Aborigine woman to tell us some history and a few dreamtime stories. It was fascinating. I could have listened to her for hours. They have nations of their own, rules, ceremonies, it was just so cool. She told us how the Europeans came and there were 7 massacres (in the area I was staying) from 1853-1863 or so. It really hurt to hear here saying that. Especially because it was so close to her family. Her family lied on the coast so they were affected by it. Her great grandmother traveled up the coast running from the massacres. She managed to escape 5 of them but was eventually killed. Before that though she wrapped her baby up and pushed her across the river to a man with the last name Cook. He was actually Captain Cooks cousin. It was all very interesting to learn the history. Her totem is the pelican because she is inquisitive and asked a lot of questions. She told us stories from when she was little (about the dolphins and fishing)...but I won't bore you with it. She told us the history of her tribe and how they first got there, and of the snake and the goanna and how the snake still waits for the goanna to return but never does and the freak waves at the point is the snakes bite (hopefully I remember the story since I won't write out everything). She told us that they believed there were giant animals thousands of years ago. Not dinosaurs, just animals. The strange thing was is that I think she truly believed it too. I remember her saying "You have your dinosaurs, well, we had giant animals" and it is so odd to me because I think she really does believe that. She said they had to live in caves to protect themselves from it. It was all fascinating. My roommate got to play the didgeridoo which was so freaking cool. And that was about it. That night we had a taco night with everyone in the camp and that was a ton of fun. I will have to figure out an effective way to post pictures on here...
After lunch we were split in two groups. The group I was in went with the native Aborigine woman to tell us some history and a few dreamtime stories. It was fascinating. I could have listened to her for hours. They have nations of their own, rules, ceremonies, it was just so cool. She told us how the Europeans came and there were 7 massacres (in the area I was staying) from 1853-1863 or so. It really hurt to hear here saying that. Especially because it was so close to her family. Her family lied on the coast so they were affected by it. Her great grandmother traveled up the coast running from the massacres. She managed to escape 5 of them but was eventually killed. Before that though she wrapped her baby up and pushed her across the river to a man with the last name Cook. He was actually Captain Cooks cousin. It was all very interesting to learn the history. Her totem is the pelican because she is inquisitive and asked a lot of questions. She told us stories from when she was little (about the dolphins and fishing)...but I won't bore you with it. She told us the history of her tribe and how they first got there, and of the snake and the goanna and how the snake still waits for the goanna to return but never does and the freak waves at the point is the snakes bite (hopefully I remember the story since I won't write out everything). She told us that they believed there were giant animals thousands of years ago. Not dinosaurs, just animals. The strange thing was is that I think she truly believed it too. I remember her saying "You have your dinosaurs, well, we had giant animals" and it is so odd to me because I think she really does believe that. She said they had to live in caves to protect themselves from it. It was all fascinating. My roommate got to play the didgeridoo which was so freaking cool. And that was about it. That night we had a taco night with everyone in the camp and that was a ton of fun. I will have to figure out an effective way to post pictures on here...
The Past Few Days
From Wednesday - Thursday not a lot has been going on. Wednesday was my marine biology class and it was actually incredibly cool. We learned about mangroves and estuaries and how they form and what they are all about. We saw some wildlife and two different kinds of crabs. One was the red fingered marsh crab and the other was the soldier crab. The soldier crab was one of the coolest things I have seen in awhile. Not only did they have a peculiar shape and walked forward rather than sideways, there were hundreds of them. It was quite a site to see. After that not much else happened, just hung around the cabin as usual.
Thurday we woke up at 7:45am...well only some of us, to go to the store and buy food. For some damn reason we had to go to two other department style stores and wasted sooo much time it was a pain in the ass. We then went to a mall that had a Woolworths (owned by Wal-mart but its only food), target, and other small stores. It is a really cool place. THEN we went to the liquor store Dan Murphy's. Now, I'm not 21 yet so I have never been in a liquor store in the State. But from any knowledge I have of liquor stores back one. This place is sooo nice, and it's HUGE. The people have uniforms they wear, the place is well lit and the interior just looks nice. I finally bought some alcohol too! (aside from at the bar where my favorite beer is the dark beer!!) I bought some AUS$13 box wine that is 5L. Which on the box says it translates to 5 1/2 bottles, so it's a great deal. Finally we went to Aldis and bough our food and went home. We left around 8:30am and go back at 12:30pm. It sucked and not to mention I have class at 1pm. So I hurried to make a sandwich and went to my events management class. That class is going to be a lot of fun. We have to make a blog which is where we answer questions he gives us as homework at. And this week we also have to organize sports with the group. Jami and I volunteered to organize soccer. So we will see how that goes. After that class I had the rest of my SCUBA certification class. We took a final exam (got a 49/50) and I can say now that I am a certified at SCUBA through Padi!! It's international so I will be able to do it anywhere. The Gulf would be a lot of fun. Once again the rest of the night was....uneventful.
Thurday we woke up at 7:45am...well only some of us, to go to the store and buy food. For some damn reason we had to go to two other department style stores and wasted sooo much time it was a pain in the ass. We then went to a mall that had a Woolworths (owned by Wal-mart but its only food), target, and other small stores. It is a really cool place. THEN we went to the liquor store Dan Murphy's. Now, I'm not 21 yet so I have never been in a liquor store in the State. But from any knowledge I have of liquor stores back one. This place is sooo nice, and it's HUGE. The people have uniforms they wear, the place is well lit and the interior just looks nice. I finally bought some alcohol too! (aside from at the bar where my favorite beer is the dark beer!!) I bought some AUS$13 box wine that is 5L. Which on the box says it translates to 5 1/2 bottles, so it's a great deal. Finally we went to Aldis and bough our food and went home. We left around 8:30am and go back at 12:30pm. It sucked and not to mention I have class at 1pm. So I hurried to make a sandwich and went to my events management class. That class is going to be a lot of fun. We have to make a blog which is where we answer questions he gives us as homework at. And this week we also have to organize sports with the group. Jami and I volunteered to organize soccer. So we will see how that goes. After that class I had the rest of my SCUBA certification class. We took a final exam (got a 49/50) and I can say now that I am a certified at SCUBA through Padi!! It's international so I will be able to do it anywhere. The Gulf would be a lot of fun. Once again the rest of the night was....uneventful.
05 February 2012
Weekend 1 (Fri, Sat, Sun)
Friday was a pretty chill day. Woke up 8am (which was freaking amazing!!) felt like i was able to sleep in. At 10 we all met to sign up for a library card and then head out on a scavenger hunt around town to locate important buildings. Sounded like a lot of fun but it was a TON of walking. I was exhausted walking around town and we quit after the first page of the hunt. We ended at a very cool place downtown where there are food shops and all sorts of cool places. I definitely want to ride my bike back in town and explore more. I got food at this sweet little shop that had burgers and sandwiches. They do in fact put beets on their burgers! i didnt even ask for it!!. After lunch we walked all the way up to Lennox point. It was a breath taking hike up there and being up top. we went around and got some very cool pictures of the cliffs. Although....it was also very exhausting to walk up and back down. took about 2 hours total if not longer. My feet HURT SO BAD. I did get awesome pictures though. Not much else happened the rest of the evening. just the usual stuff. We went to the Lennox Head Hotel....which is actually a pub. The same band that played the night before played again officially as part of their international tour. We plan to go see them again and many others at the Byron Bay Blues fest. Its going to be a blast.
Saturday we went to Byron Bay. It is a freaking awesome city. there were a TON of little shops and what not and places to eat. We got in and I ate at this place called Wahoos and they claimed the worlds best fish tacos. I must fucking say....they were pretty damn good. The sauce they had had a nice little kick to it. I want to try their burritos next time. We were planning on walking around and checking out places but when we got to the beach.....we just had to stay. It was a great time. Lennox is awesome but there were so many people here and that made it just so much better. People had their dogs and one lady had us babysit hers while she went and had a smoke! We had a nice shaded place on the beach and it was an awesome way to spend the day. Can't wait to go back for longer and see the nightlife. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful
Sunday was a pretty chill day. We began our SCUBA lessons and it was just the theory portion, watching videos, doing a study guide and taking quizzes. It took about five hours today but it actually flew by. We also had to tread water for 10 minutes and then swim 200 meters. it was a chore. The 200 meters was the worst part. My muscles were sore by the time I was back to shore. I would love to be able to swim long distance and be fit. After SCUBA i went and laid on the beach and went in the ocean. The rest of the evening just hung out until bed and excited for class in the morning!!
I could get used to this...
Saturday we went to Byron Bay. It is a freaking awesome city. there were a TON of little shops and what not and places to eat. We got in and I ate at this place called Wahoos and they claimed the worlds best fish tacos. I must fucking say....they were pretty damn good. The sauce they had had a nice little kick to it. I want to try their burritos next time. We were planning on walking around and checking out places but when we got to the beach.....we just had to stay. It was a great time. Lennox is awesome but there were so many people here and that made it just so much better. People had their dogs and one lady had us babysit hers while she went and had a smoke! We had a nice shaded place on the beach and it was an awesome way to spend the day. Can't wait to go back for longer and see the nightlife. The rest of the evening was pretty uneventful
Sunday was a pretty chill day. We began our SCUBA lessons and it was just the theory portion, watching videos, doing a study guide and taking quizzes. It took about five hours today but it actually flew by. We also had to tread water for 10 minutes and then swim 200 meters. it was a chore. The 200 meters was the worst part. My muscles were sore by the time I was back to shore. I would love to be able to swim long distance and be fit. After SCUBA i went and laid on the beach and went in the ocean. The rest of the evening just hung out until bed and excited for class in the morning!!
I could get used to this...
02 February 2012
Day 3
I think day 3 might have been the best damn day of my life. it was absolutely beautiful. I woke up at around 7am and took at walk to the beach and took some amazing pictures. today i also took a fucking breath taking panoramic picture of our beach. it is unbelievable how amazing this place is. it has finally hit me that I LIVE HERE. i never wanna leave. later we took a walk around the camp with a guide. he knew his biology in and out and it was incredibly impressive. I ate some wild berries and leaves and learned all sorts of species of animals. Best day ever.
At night nearly the entire troop went out to the pub. I must say. I cant leave this place. it was incredible. two of the people here sing and play guitar and they went onstage at a local bar in AUSTRALIA and sang. and we listen to a woman named Beth play and she sang a song by Nora Jones and did an amazing job. we listened to some other songs. One about sex which was funny and another that really hit home. Went something along the lines of "....you came over as...and left as friends" it felt like the song for Australia. I wish i could remember the actual line. it was beautiful. drank three different kind of beers. Tiger, Toohey's New, and Toohey's Old. They were pretty good. Old was a very dark beer and tasted somewhat of coffee and a hint of chocolate. The pub was amazing. All the americans were up near the stage dancing and having an awesome time. It has finally hit me that i love it here. i never want to leave. I can't wait to make some more posts. Its amazing here. We walked on the beach at night and it was just amazing. I ended up having to pee so I got a little distance between me and the others and just walking along the beach in Australia under the stars with your own thoughts after a good night...it was quite the experience. God I love it here....
At night nearly the entire troop went out to the pub. I must say. I cant leave this place. it was incredible. two of the people here sing and play guitar and they went onstage at a local bar in AUSTRALIA and sang. and we listen to a woman named Beth play and she sang a song by Nora Jones and did an amazing job. we listened to some other songs. One about sex which was funny and another that really hit home. Went something along the lines of "....you came over as...and left as friends" it felt like the song for Australia. I wish i could remember the actual line. it was beautiful. drank three different kind of beers. Tiger, Toohey's New, and Toohey's Old. They were pretty good. Old was a very dark beer and tasted somewhat of coffee and a hint of chocolate. The pub was amazing. All the americans were up near the stage dancing and having an awesome time. It has finally hit me that i love it here. i never want to leave. I can't wait to make some more posts. Its amazing here. We walked on the beach at night and it was just amazing. I ended up having to pee so I got a little distance between me and the others and just walking along the beach in Australia under the stars with your own thoughts after a good night...it was quite the experience. God I love it here....
01 February 2012
First two days!
We are finally beginning to settle into our cabins! But first, the flights
It was a long ass day. 4 flights. I still have to do the math for time spend traveling. Began at 4:30am and took off at 7am. Took an hour for the flight and waited an hour in Chicago. The Chicago flight was 4 1/2 hours and spent EIGHT HOURS IN SAN FRANCISCO. The flight from America to New Zealand was 12 hours. thankfully right after dinner i fell asleep and woke up occasionally but slept pretty well. I woke up 2 hour before landing and in time for breakfast. So the flight was not bad at all and the sleep helped the jet lag. Spent another 5 hours in New zealand. It was a very cool airport (will be back there). And then had a three hour flight to Brisbane. So looks like total flying time was.....i dont know. i will do it later.
Upon arrival and driving (2 1/2 hours) the country side is beautiful. it is amazing. cant wait to take even more pictures. lake ainsworth is a very interesting lake. it is stained a coca cola kind of color. The community is a very tight nit and warm place. I am very excited to get involved. We had a cook out and met the professors. We went to a pub that night, one that i imagine we will frequent quite a lot. Went to the beach and walked along it and my winter paleness got burned after about 30 minutes total on the beach (not even all at the same time!!). Definitely putting sun screen on a lot. My upper back and forehead are a little burned :( oh well! Sleeping was easier than i figured. It was humid and a little warm but it was surprising easier to sleep though.
The next day (2nd day here), we got a little lesson on water safety. mainly rip tides and then we went to a town south of us called Ballina.and we were at a mall and got food at Aldis. The mall was a cool place and would like to go back. i got back to the cabins and just hung out and eventually went to the beach and went for a swim! Rain clouds are rolling in and it was VERY choppy. the waves were huge! it was a workout but a lot of fun. The ocean is much cooler than i expected. difficult to get used to at first. Can't wait to get even more settled in. It's going to be a great three months
It was a long ass day. 4 flights. I still have to do the math for time spend traveling. Began at 4:30am and took off at 7am. Took an hour for the flight and waited an hour in Chicago. The Chicago flight was 4 1/2 hours and spent EIGHT HOURS IN SAN FRANCISCO. The flight from America to New Zealand was 12 hours. thankfully right after dinner i fell asleep and woke up occasionally but slept pretty well. I woke up 2 hour before landing and in time for breakfast. So the flight was not bad at all and the sleep helped the jet lag. Spent another 5 hours in New zealand. It was a very cool airport (will be back there). And then had a three hour flight to Brisbane. So looks like total flying time was.....i dont know. i will do it later.
Upon arrival and driving (2 1/2 hours) the country side is beautiful. it is amazing. cant wait to take even more pictures. lake ainsworth is a very interesting lake. it is stained a coca cola kind of color. The community is a very tight nit and warm place. I am very excited to get involved. We had a cook out and met the professors. We went to a pub that night, one that i imagine we will frequent quite a lot. Went to the beach and walked along it and my winter paleness got burned after about 30 minutes total on the beach (not even all at the same time!!). Definitely putting sun screen on a lot. My upper back and forehead are a little burned :( oh well! Sleeping was easier than i figured. It was humid and a little warm but it was surprising easier to sleep though.
The next day (2nd day here), we got a little lesson on water safety. mainly rip tides and then we went to a town south of us called Ballina.and we were at a mall and got food at Aldis. The mall was a cool place and would like to go back. i got back to the cabins and just hung out and eventually went to the beach and went for a swim! Rain clouds are rolling in and it was VERY choppy. the waves were huge! it was a workout but a lot of fun. The ocean is much cooler than i expected. difficult to get used to at first. Can't wait to get even more settled in. It's going to be a great three months
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