Adventures Down Under (The Pacific Ocean)

Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef was one of the most mind-blowing experiences of my life. No where else have I seen so much wildlife concentrated in one place – sea turtles, reef sharks, sting rays, giant clams, sea cucumbers, and fish and coral of seemingly infinite varieties. Even now, after several days on dry land, I can still recall the feeling of dropping underwater from the surface of the ocean, emptying my BCD and equalizing the pressure spaces in my ears as I slowly descend into an aquatic wonderland. Suddenly I can acutely hear my breathing, move my body nearly weightlessly in any direction, and stare up at the light refracting on the surface of the ocean as my air bubbles drift upwards from my regulator. It’s amazing what life develops in a world without the restraints of gravity. I did 11 dives over three days at sea on a live-aboard boat with ProDive Cairns. Perhaps most memorable was the dive in which a large bat fish followed my dive-buddy and I around, swimming circles around us for for well over half and hour, until it found a green sea turtle that looked more interesting and decided to swim after it instead. Some pictures from the dives (and of the bat fish) can be found here.

The Great Barrier Reef is enormous – 340,000 square kilometers to be exact. That’s half the size of Texas and the size of seven Great Britain’s. It’s the largest marine park in the world and the only living thing that is visible from the moon with the naked eye. Actually, the term Great Barrier Reef is a bit of a misnomer, as it actually is a conglomeration of 3,000 smaller reefs. The area is host to 1500 fish species, the highest diversity of fish found anywhere in the world. Like so many places today, the reef is at risk due to global warming. Coral is very sensitive and can only live in waters of a certain temperature, and if the ocean becomes too warm than the organisms living in the coral die, leaving just a bleached white skeleton behind. Of course, with the carbon footprint I’m leaving behind from my trip, I can’t really speak on this subject but from the perspective of a hypocrite. It is sadly ironic that all of the tourists flocking to see the reef are contributing to its demise.

In other news in Australia, yesterday the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has issued an official apology to the aboriginal people of Australia for past oppression and assimilation policies. It’s a pretty big step here, a country in which indigenous people didn’t have rights as citizens until the early 1970s. Indigenous tribes in Australia – of which there are hundreds – have the oldest continually maintained cultures in the world, having come to the continent over 40,000 years ago. An Australian I met highly recommended John Pilger’s book, A Secret Country, for reading on the history of what happened to the aboriginal peoples since British colonization. I don’t know a lot of the details yet myself, but I have learned enough to know that it is a sad and apalling tale of genocide that rivals that of the Native American communities in the United States.

And with that unhappy thought, it is time for me to go and pack my bag. Tomorrow Anne and I fly to Mumbai, India (we’ll meet up with Lou again when we reach Nepal next month). Our trip is about to take a big turn, as we leave Oceania after eight weeks of exploring Australia and New Zealand. Our time here has been wonderful – we’ve met so many kind and interesting people and seen so many breathtaking sites – that I only hope I can return again soon (perhaps on a biodiesel airplane?).

-Julie

Australian Closure

So Lou and I are back at the Kienhuis’ in Canterbury today, soon to be catching a train to a bus to a plane to New Zealand. I am so excited to drive around that beautiful country listening to Paul Simon and whatever other music we unlock from the ipods we have been keeping to ourselves for so long… It is great to see the Kienhuis’ again, it brings some closure to our time here and time to say thanks again.

Our experience in Australia has been excellent, I’m a bit sad to leave all the great people we have stumbled upon along the way, but refreshed by life and its randomness. Yesterday as we were leaving our WWOOF location in Lorne, I just couldn’t wipe the smile off my face– Qdos was such a nice change from the urban sightseeing we had been doing so far, the Great Ocean Road was breathtaking, and the Lorne community was actually getting small enough that we ran into people we knew everywhere, ha! It was nice to actually feel apart of the cafe we worked at–able to recognize the coffee drinks we were serving and making some mean antipesto trays, pizzas, and toasties. I definitely wouldn’t mind visiting that beautiful place again and I wish good luck to all the characters we met while we were there!

Last night over dinner (which was burgers with all the normal vegetables, plus a fried egg and slices of beet root) I shared my photos of our treehouse accommodation, Great Ocean Road travels, and bush walks amongst the waterfalls of the Otway National Park in Lorne, and then my memory card cycled back to Tokyo and Korea and our first days here in Australia. I know it sounds sort of obvious, but I can’t believe have much we have already done! I really hope that all these amazing moments that we have shared with all of these great people will remain distinct in my mind as we pass the two month, three month, four month, etc, timepoints. I really think things will change pace as we enter India, Nepal, Thailand, and then Africa, but up until now things have been so easy… People have been so incredibly accommodating and open, I’m so curious to see what the future will bring…

Now we are off to the beauty of the Lord of the Rings, hired cars, couchsurfing.com, volcanoes, glaciers, and mountains galore!

Vrede,

Anne

Kookaburras and Koalas Galore

“So how can I find koalas?” I asked Graeme, the man who owns the cafe we are wwoofing at in Lorne, one evening over dinner.  He pointed up to the rainforest behind us and said all I had to do was walk in that direction.  And then he added that I might actually hear them first as they sound like pigs.  He made a noisy oinking snort-like sound for emphasis.  A little dubious, I headed up the trail after eating, torch in hand (oop, I mean flashlight), and face staring up at the trees.   As promised, I actually heard the koalas first.  Their cries are similar to pigs, somewhere between belching burps and grunts that sound far too loud for the tiny marsupials that make the noise.  I followed the sound up the gum tree it was coming from and saw a koala perched above.  So amazing!  Koalas are very picky eaters and only chew on the freshest eucalyptus leaves.  Since the leaves have almost no calories and are also very toxic to digest (thus requiring lots of energy), koalas don’t move a lot.  They sleep when they aren’t eating and some scientists believe that their brains are either shrinking or that they are too small for their heads due to lack of nutrition.  These thoughts aside, the first koala that I saw was wide awake and peering down at me.  I continued walking for another hour, and saw four more koalas.  One was even walking along the path in front of me, and I got to see another in action making the belching noise from a nearby tree, head thrust back and nose in the air.  Add in a gaggle of bright white cockatoos that were screeching around, a few random wallabies crashing through the forest, as well as kookaburras (which sound similar to hooting monkeys), and there was pleny of Aussie wildlife to see and hear.  During the moments that they quieted down enough, I could even hear the ocean in the distance.  All this only a few steps from the treehouse we are staying in at Qdos.  Happily, I have yet to see any of the poisonous snakes and spiders that also live in the area.

Our time in Lorne and Australia is coming to a close and in a few days we head on to New Zealand.  We rented a car yesterday to drive down the Great Ocean Road , and had a spectacular day (pictures coming as soon as we find a place to upload them).  The ocean is slowly beating away at the limestone cliffs that border the beaches, leaving amazing rock formations and coastlines to see, as well as some great swimming spots.  Oh yes, and one more bit of Aussie terminology for the day: Imagine your face being swarmed by small black flies.  Thankfully they don’t bite, but they do like to aim for your nose, ears, mouth, and eyes.  Now imagine everyone you see swatting at them and ta-da, you’ve got the Australian wave.  People were waving a lot yesterday and it was a bit hard to get a fly-free picture.  Despite that, this is still one of the most beautiful places that I have ever been.

More Adventures to Come,

Julie 

Happy New Years from sweaty 40 C Melbourne!!

Hello all,

I just wanted to write and wish a very happy New Years to all our friends and family all over the place! While we will be some of the first bringing in 2008 from Federation Square in Melbourne tonight, we will definitely have other timezones and loved ones on our minds tomorrow!

We have just returned home from beautiful breezy Ocean Grove this afternoon, which is where we took a 3-day holiday with the Kienhuis family after our Christmas/Boxing Day festivities. This beautiful beach town reminded me of both Santa Barbara, California, and Door County, Wisconsin, and was a great look into Australian holidays– filled with wonderful days on the beach, gorgeous skyscapes, colorful coastlines, barbies and good times with Emily’s generous family!… And maybe a bit of sunburn…

The Kienhuis’ have been incredibly wonderful! Such amazing welcoming people! Everyday, I think about know lucky we are to be in the present moment and hope that we aren’t being much of a bother for them! Aussie life is great, especially when we have such thoughtful and fantastic tour guides!

Off to brave the Melb heat for some world music festivities tonight!

-Anne

Mushies on the Barbie

We arrived in Sydney four days ago and immediately everything felt perfect- no more language barrier, no more hats and mittens, and it stays light here until at least 9pm!After exploring the city for 3 days, we took the night train to Melbourne (on the south-eastern coast of Australia) to stay with the family of one of Anne’s friends for Christmas Eve through New Years Day. They welcomed us with open arms, feeding us kangaroo meat on the grill (or “barbie”), “heaps” of wine, and vegemite (very salty spread that is used like we use peanut butter- smells awful). The most surprising thing that I have found about Australia (besides the idea of spending the day after Christmas at the beach) is that a language barrier, or at least language picket fence, does exist between the States and Australia. Someone will say “Does anyone want any snags on the barbie?” and Anne, Julie, and I will look at them blankly, not having any idea that the question translates to “Does anyone want any sausages on the grill?”.

Christmas Eve was also very different that anything that we have ever experienced. Ten of us piled into a few cars to go to a nearby Catholic Church for the 6pm mass, dressed in short-sleeved shirts and sunglasses, as the sun would not set for a few more hours (not even close to the attire that we wear in Wisconsin on Christmas Eve). When we entered the church, it was immediately evident that we wouldn’t be able to find a place to sit- hundreds of people filled the church, including the extra chairs set up behind the altar and people standing in the aisles and spilling out into the sunny evening air from the side doors that had been opened, but could no longer close due to all of the people in the church.

The church service started and all of a sudden we were overwhelmed by the number of children in the building. Children were running across the front stage of the church, perched on their fathers’ shoulders, and crawling through the aisles- the constant crying and talking was incredible, but also very energizing. The priest, clearly a seasoned family-Christmas-service priest, just smiled and went on with his readings, as little girls with angel halos bounced around in front of him and little boys carrying toy trucks ran up and down in front of the altar. However, despite the chaos, the readings went on, the singing continued, and in the church lit brightly with the outside sun and the laughing of the children, I think it was impossible for people to feel anything but joy for life, friends, and family.

After the service, we came home for a quick dinner on the barbie (including mushrooms, hence “mushies on the barbie”) and then, in true Australia fashion, went to a pub for the rest of the night. Again, very different from the United States, Christmas Eve is a night to go to the pub with friends, before spending all of Christmas Day with your family…
I do miss the magical feeling that comes with seeing snow on Christmas morning and opening presents under the tree next to a cozy fire in the fireplace with family, but if I had to choose a different way to celebrate Christmas, I think the Australians have come up with a pretty good alternative.

Merry Christmas!

-Luthien