Skiing in the Southern Hemisphere

To prove my ignorance of Australia, I was unaware of the possibility of skiing in Australia until this year. Since being enlightened to this opportunity, it was added to my ever-changing and often forgotten list of things I'd like to do in my lifetime.

I thought I had missed the opportunity, as it is warming up quickly here, but Owen (an Aussie who studied at UT last semester, strangely enough) was headed to the mountains on the last weekend of the season, and Alex and I thought we'd tag along.

The guys at the rental shop suggested we go to Thredbo mountain - which had the most terrain open. I won't lie to you and say it was great weather, on the contrary, it was 35 degrees with winds at 39 miles per hour (to put that into perspective, it's almost fast enough to be classified as a tropical storm). The wind had blown the fresh snow from the night before into dunes, leaving behind nice big patches of ice.

After mid-morning, the sun started poking through the cloud (which was actually the snow getting blown around), and we found an area of the mountain with decent conditions, and even a few trails with the previous night's powder still unskied. Most people had given up on the day due to the weather, so we had the advantage of empty slopes and no lift lines. All in all, everything about the day in the mountains more than made up for the less than perfect weather.

This has nothing to do with Australia

I have a piece of chocolate sitting beside me that I don't want to eat. It's not bad, quite the opposite, actually, I'm still enjoying the last bit which I finished a few minutes ago. The lingering taste is still satisfying and rich. I wouldn't call myself a chocolate connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination, but I picked up a bar of Lindt Excellence 85% Cocoa last night and have fallen in love with it. Unlike Hershey's, which I've read is a little over 11% cocoa, it's satisfying in a much different way.

Byron to Brisbane - Part 2

After a late night of getting dressed up and checking out the nightlife in Surfers Paradise (which is amazing, by the way), we were all feeling like a lazy day on the beach, even if it was cloudy and windy. I can say one thing for sure about the people I traveled with - we're completely capable of entertaining ourselves without bungee jumping, skydiving, or giving some guy 100 bucks an hour to teach us to surf. Two or three of us were making a small sandcastle, when Jeremy came over and told us we weren't thinking big enough. We enlisted the rest of the group to help make our sandcastle bigger, so big, in fact, that people walking past on the beach would stop and take pictures, give us suggestions and (once they found out we were foreign) ask us about where we were from. It's amazing how friendly strangers are in Australia.

Sandcastle-ing is only fun for so long, so we would up body surfing through the big waves. One huge, particularly violent waved flipped me over and crashed me on my head, breaking a tooth. Ouch. Could have been worse (probably much worse), but still wasn't a pleasant experience.

So far, I've always had good luck with public transportation in Australia, but when we got out of our cab at the train station to catch a ride in to Brisbane, we found out that the track was under construction and the station closed. After a few moments of mass confusion (we already had our rail tickets), we found out that a bus would be driving us to the nearest operational train station, which was about 30 minutes away from seemingly anything. We accounted for most of the people on the platform, with nothing in sight but a parking lot and the bus we came on pulling away through the drizzle.

One long train ride later and we arrived in Brisbane. It's a beautiful city; on the river, warm (usually), and slow paced. I would have liked to spend more time there, but we were still able to make it out to Moreton Island (which is all sand) for some sight seeing and four-wheeling around the beaches and dunes.

One thing I love about Australian cities is that they have huge botanical gardens in the middle of the city (think Central Park, but with weird plants and trees). They make for great sights when you're just walking around town, and make great picnic spots. I was sad to leave Brisbane the next day, as I could have spent a lot more time there, but we were running out of money and had to get home for classes. All in all, it was a spectacular week with a bunch of spectacular friends in a series of spectacular places. This country is all right.

Byron Bay to Brisbane (Part 1)

I was able to catch one class last week on my one day back at school in Canberra between vacations. I'm not too concerned about missing classes, though. I could have taken them in the States, but I am here to get the whole experience of Australia, which is much more substantial than simply attending classes.

Seven of us exchange kids had planned this trip up to the area known as the Gold Coast. Five Americans: Alex, Jeremy, Lindsey, Madeleine and myself; Juan from Mexico, and Steph from Germany. Any other group of people might have taken the setbacks we had and turned them into a negative trip, but we were relaxed enough to make the best of our experience.

Our first hiccup came in the form of our "Free Pick-up" from the hostel not showing up at the Bellina Byron airport (really just a runway and a garage). Jeremy ended up bargaining us a good deal with a van driver to Byron Bay. Our hostel was "37 seconds from the beach" according to the guy who checked us in, so we threw our stuff in the room and partied on the beach until we were too tired to move. We walked all around Byron the next day, up to the lighthouse and the "Easternmost Point of Australia", and then ran into a guy named Crazy Alex and wound up taking Kite Surfing lessons from him. Basically, you've got this kite that you can control and it tows you around the sand or surf. Really fun stuff, but one of those things that would be way more exciting if you could skip the learning process.

Byron Bay is an awesome little town. It's small, picturesque, and quirky. Little hippie shops, surf shops, organic restaurants and gelato stands dot the town, so that if you decide to get off the beach you've got some other options available. There's no McDonald's or chains of any kind, which adds to the eclectic feel of the town. A little pizza place called Earth and Sea is responsible for the best beer of my life, which, unfortunately, is only available at the restaurant, and only on tap. Guess that means I'll just have to go back. It's not all so mellow though, Cheeky Monkeys, one of the clubs we went to, held a wet t-shirt contest and beer raffle while we were there - Byron is completely capable of a party.

I could have stayed in Byron Bay all week, but we had to catch the train to Surfer's Paradise (yep, that's the name of the city). The problem? The train stopped coming through Bryron about three years ago, so instead of a eight dollar train ticket, we each shelled out 20 for a van. Whoops.

Surfer's Paradise is Byron Bay's worst nightmare. It reminds me of Miami, with high rise residential buildings lining the beach (which stretches for about 25 miles), exotic cars, and an overwhelming nightlife. Again, our hostel was on the beach, across from the Sheraton Mirage and next door to the Palazzo Versace Hotel. Behind was a marina with million-dollar boats and high-class restaurants.

As expected, our hostel lacked a hot tub, so Jeremy and I thought we would hop the fence at the Sheraton and scope out theirs. The bad news: They don't have one. Seriously. 700 Dollars a night and there's no hot tub to relax in (we assume they have them in the rooms, but still...). If the Versace didn't look like a fortress we might have tried it, so we returned home and told the rest they would have to live with a hot shower instead.

I'm going to take a break here. I'm tired of writing, and I bet you're tired of reading. We've still got another night in Surfer's Paradise and have to take the train to Brisbane despite the train station having no track...

Hi, I don't know you, but I'm crashing here all weekend

I haven't really done much out of the ordinary and blog-worthy since about the second week of classes. There's a comfortable routine of weekly social events and class that had been making me very satisfied with my time in Australia. But like any routine, sometimes it's fun to break it and do something else. In my case, I skipped class for a week and took off for the beach.

Alex, Jeremy and I spent the weekend in Sydney with a few of Jeremy's girl friends (note the space) from San Diego who go to Macquarie University. It was amazingly fun even though (or because) I didn't know the people we were going to be bombing around town with. Annie, Brooke, and Christina were incredibly hospitable, giving up beds, blankets, couches and pretty much anything else to give three guys a free place to stay.

We hit up the Taronga Zoo, which, by itself is fantastic, but it is positioned on the side of a hill overlooking Sydney Harbor. We were watching gorillas and giraffes on a background that happens to be the most beautiful city I've ever been to.

Christina had organized a wine tasting tour for the next day. Now, I'm not a huge fan of wine (perhaps because of my ignorance of it), but wine country brings out part of you that you never knew you had. Suddenly I felt like a sophisticated 40-something refining my taste of 2001 Chablis, critiquing its blend and balance. It didn't hurt that the experience was shared with some of my best 'mates' from Oz.

I can't talk about Sydney without mentioning Pancakes on the Rocks. It's tucked away right underneath the harbor bridge, and they make some excellent dessert pancakes. I had fried cinnamon apples with ice cream, but everything the waitress carried past us looked delicious.

The weather was gorgeous all weekend - so much so that we though we'd go to Bondi Beach. Unfortunately, we overestimated exactly how warm it was and ended up shivering our way among surf shops and food stands. While still a great time, it made bundling up under blankets and watching movies later that night all the more enjoyable.

Back to Canberra the next day - but only to do laundry, re-pack and head up the coast!

There's always something waiting to kill you in Australia

Great white sharks, crocodiles, snakes, spiders, jellyfish, and kangaroos. All of these things are good at killing other things, and Australia seems to have the most deadly species of each. We've been warned about brown snakes and red-back spiders around Campus. Apparently, a brown snake will chase you down instead of slither away if you come across one, and a red-back spider (a close relative of the Black Widow) will hospitalize you for a while. If you should, god forbid, decide to go for a swim, be wary of crocodiles, jellyfish and octopuses (octopi? octopus'?) which will bite, sting, and squirt you into into the emergency room. Seemingly harmless kangaroos will charge at you if you're unfortunate enough to tick them off, which is a problem because they occasionally hop through the residential part of campus. And not to mention the drop bears.... geez.

No wonder Steve Irwin always had something to do down here.

Gimme a Grogbog

After the RSO Punch Party the other night (drinking, dancing, throwing drinks at each other, etc), a group of us headed out to a locally known late-nite food establishment called Checkers. That sounds too glamorous... it's a trailer they cook food in and serve it to you out the window. The upside of this is that they're open really late and the food they serve is amazing.

I've been told since I got here to get a Grogbog from Checkers, so when I finally had the chance I did. In fact I had two.


A Grogbog is a big hot dog bun with fries, bacon, cheese, and gravy on it. It tastes amazing. It also takes about a week off of your lifespan. Checkers has another meal which they call the "Cardiac Arrest" which costs $15. That's next on the list of things I've gotta eat.

Aussies sell beer at Parliament House

I have no way of knowing whether or not there are cafeterias in the United States Capitol building, but I do know that the Australian Parliament house does, and they sell beer there. I get the feeling that this wouldn't go over well with some members of Congress if this were to happen in the States.

We're in the midst of RSO week down here at the University of Canberra. That means that each night, the Residential Students Organization has an activity for the people living on campus. If this were to happen at UT, it would be met with marginal interest at best and would probably include such activities as "Library Orientation and FREE PIZZA!" or "Campus Cleanup and FREE PIZZA!" Instead, the Aussies decided to arrange events that we'd go to and enjoy, such as "Beer Bingo" and "The Punch Party." I might have mentioned before that alcohol consumption seems to be engrained into the culture down here, although they always emphasize the importance of responsible drinking.

The exchange kids (there are about 30 of us, mostly American and Canadian), were recently introduced to "Goon," which is cheap boxed wine, reminiscent of Franzia, but cheaper. It equals out to be about five bucks per four-liter box, and is plenty worth the money, considering the price of beer is outrageous (25 bucks for a case of cheap beer, and, get this, 17 bucks for a six pack of Corona). Beer at the bar is even worse, so it's pretty common to "Pre-Game" for most things in the dorms.

Speaking of games, a group of us decided that we should go catch a football game. Understand that "football" can pass as any one of five sports down here, I'll try to explain. There is Rugby League, Rugby Union, AFL (also known as Aussie Rules), soccer, and "Gridiron" (American Football). We wound up at a Rugby League game, because it's in season, and let me tell you, those guys are tough. No pads, full contact and very few penalties called.

Oh, and classes started this week. The atmosphere places more emphasis on individual responsibility than in the States. I have been given the course outline and assignments to be completed by the end of the semester, and it's my responsibility to get it done. Also, we're graded, or "assessed" only a few times per semester. Here's an example of how my grade will be figured for one of my classes:
Project #1 - 30%
Project #2 - 50%
Participation - 10%
Attendance - 10%
I guess I won't be procrastinating and sluffing off projects that are worth half of my final grade. Although most of my lectures are videotaped and online... I like being a pass/fail student.

One question I get quite a bit is "How did you wind up in Australia?" and it's one that I have not been able to answer very eloquently, as I don't completely know myself. I do know that I wanted to do something fun and exciting before graduating, but I didn't know what. My brother, Adam, took a semester off to hike the Appalachian Trail, which was cool, but not exactly something I was looking to do. Study abroad was something that had been brewing in the back of my head since my friend Jack Jenkins told me about his experience in New Zealand. I knew it was something I wanted to do, but wasn't sure that I would ever follow through with it. Study abroad wasn't something I wanted to let slip through my fingers, so I made a point of getting the paperwork together and applying. I think my parents were as surprised as I was when I told them I'd been accepted into the exchange program.

I would stay and type some more, but I think I've written enough as it is, plus its Beer Bingo and Two-for-One drink night.

Qantas gives you socks. Sydney gives you chills. Canberra gives you pneumonia.

So I didn't end up sitting with either of my predictions. On all my flights (Knoxville-Chicago, Chicago-Los Angeles, LA-Sydney) I sat with guys, none of whom were overweight. Phew. My four-hour Chicago-LA flight was not an enjoyable experience. Every seat was filled, there were babies crying, and we flew through a huge cloud bank almost the entire way. Needless to say I was not looking forward to another 14 hours of that on the way to Sydney. It WAS painfully long, but I learned an important lesson in the LA terminal: Talk to people.

Seriously, do it. I met two other study abroad students that were Australia bound and we wasted away our layover chatting and walking around the disappointingly sparse international terminal. Turns out that one of them, Madeleiline, was also going to be at the University of Canberra, and the other one, Robin, was sitting right in front of me all the way to Australia. New friends, coupled with the fact that there was an empty seat beside me and the hospitality of Qantas Airlines made for a bearable flight. Besides getting two full and surprisingly decent meals, the airline gives you a little pouch with a lanyard, toothbrush, eye mask, and socks. I'm not sure what made them decide on socks, but I've got a pair now.

I mentioned in my first post that I would probably forget something important. Well, I did. I left my glasses on my desk at home, in their case, ready to be packed. I suppose I'll be surviving on contacts for a while. Good thing I've got enough.

My flight schedule worked out so that I ended up having a full day in Sydney, which is nice because I've decided that it is the cleanest and most beautiful city I've ever been to. It is, in all seriousness, breathtaking. I didn't even spend any money on tours or ferries and had a fantastic time walking around downtown, to the harbor bridge, Opera House, and the Royal Botanical Gardens. On top of that, it was 70 degrees and sunny, and it's the middle of winter down here.

It is, in all seriousness, breathtaking.

Arrival in Canberra was not as spectacular as I'd hoped. It was rainy and cold, and reminded me of Knoxville in November. I checked in, moved in and then walked to the mall which is about five minutes away. I needed basic things like bedding and toiletries, but wasn't expecting to pay as much for them as I did. At first I thought it was my math with the exchange rate, but everything here is pretty expensive. I paid 35 Australian Dollars for a set of sheets, and 54 for a quilt. Crap. This is going to be more expensive than I thought.

There was, however, a free barbeque dinner tonight for arriving students, where I met people from Kuala Lumpur, China, England, Mexico, Lithuania, Sweden, Japan, Canada and some other Americans, including Madeleine who I'd met at LAX. Everyone hung out and got to know each other, and then watched the rugby game (Australia vs. South Africa) while the Aussies who were there explained everything about the game to us. Part of our "orientation" the next day was to go bowling with one of the Senior Residents (like an RA), who then took us to the bar, where they gave the new foreigners a couple free jugs (pitchers) of beer. I doubt that would go over well in the States.

It's just been five days since I left, but I've made lots of interesting new friends and been to lots of new places. Although things will only settle down from here, I am excited to see what the rest of the week has in store for me.

I was told the other day that my accent wasn't "that bad," for an American. No worries mate.

Tennestralia - Pre Departure Notes

Passport, check. Visa, check. Plane ticket, check. I think I've got everything taken care of, but I'm probably wrong.

This pre-departure period of my life is driving me nuts. I'm anxious, scared, and excited, and I bet all of those emotions are common.

The worst part?

I really don't have much to do these days, and my boredom allows plenty of time to think about who I'll end up sitting with on the 14-hour flight (hopefully a cute college girl, but probably an overweight software engineer). I also pass time by thinking about what I'm going to do with my 18-hour layover in Sydney, how much stuff I can fit in my bag and what my housing situation is going to look like. At this point I don't know what or where I'll be eating .

None of this bothers me, really, but I would rather relax and not have any expectations at all. I think I'm ready to go. Knoxville is hot these days, and it's going to be mid-winter in the southern hemisphere. I'd really like to check out the ski slopes down there, partially because I want to do it, partially because I want to say I've done it, and partially to make my brother Adam and uncle Jack jealous.

I realize this is a rather short first entry, but I wanted to introduce myself before I left. Feel free to facebook me if you've got any thoughts, questions, or ideas about where I should go and what I should see.