Thursday...Hard to Believe I've Been Here for Nearly 2 Weeks

It's still quite rainy outside...but that's expected since I am in the Wet Tropics and it is still the wet season. The dry season will be here towards the end of March. Yesterday I enrolled in all of my courses and it looks like I will be taking Biodiversity of Tropical Australia, Effective Photography, Australian Indigenous and Anthropological Perspective, and Italian. I had originally planned on taking an Australian Vertebrate Fauna course or another biology lab, but after speaking with the biology advisers it seems that I don't have the prerequisites for those courses because Saint Mike's doesn't offer any zoology courses. I'm a little bummed and by not having another biology course this semester I will have an extremely busy senior year, but overall I am pretty satisfied with my current course selection. I will get to see a lot of animals while I'm here so it's not the end of the world if I didn't get those particular courses I had wanted. Speaking of animals, today I won an all day pass to the Cairns Tropical Zoo. I'm pretty excited about that because I'll be able to see some more animals and even get some more photos with wombats, baby crocodiles, and pythons. This weekend will be a little more exciting than this past week has been, so I'll be sure to make some more interesting posts after I get back from my Great Barrier Reef trip! Tonight there is a toga party on campus, so my new friends and I are looking forward to wrapping ourselves in our bed sheets and going to that! Then tomorrow we have a guided bus tour of Cairns city, so it'll be nice to be able to find our way around a little better, even though the city isn't very big. Then Saturday is the reef trip. It's supposed to rain and thunder, but hopefully it won't rain the entire time so that it'll be easier to snorkel and see the beautiful reef and all of the wildlife that inhabits it. I am going on another trip to the Great Barrier Reef over spring break, which will be during the dry season, so if it rains this time around we'll hopefully have better weather next time!

It's so Rainy

Today is the first day that I've seen it rain. It rained a little last night, but this is a complete down pour. I'm still planning on taking the bus to the Smithfield shops though because I need to pick up a few necessities. It's been a pretty low-key day full of welcome sessions and library/campus tours...so I could use a little trip. Also, the only option for lunch today was some type of red meat (I only eat white meat) so I am very hungry too. I am happy though because I got to hold a juvenile freshwater crocodile today! There was a representative from the Cairns Zoo on campus today and he was letting people hold the croc. Its skin wasn't nearly as rough and hard as it looks...it was quite soft to hold actually. His mouth was taped shut of course, so he wouldn't bite me. Little encounters with my favorite animals like that just make my day.

First Impressions

I've been in Australia for over a week now. This is my first real post, so I might have to back track a little bit and explain what I have been doing for the past week. On Sunday I arrived in Melbourne and met the rest of the kids studying at James Cook University through the Arcadia study abroad program. There were about 30 kids, but only 4 of us were going to be studying at the Cairns campus and the rest were going to be studying at the Townsville campus. I chose to study at the Cairns campus of JCU because it is a smaller school (only about 3500 undergrads) and the town of Cairns is smaller and the surrounding environment is more lush and tropical. The only bad part about choosing to study at the smaller campus is that there aren't as many classes to choose from, especially in the biology department. At orientation we spent 2 nights at a hostel on the Mornington Penninsula, which was about a 5 minute walk from two different gorgeous beaches. We could swim at one of the beaches but we had to be careful of dangerous currents, jellyfish, and the blue-ringed octopus. While at the Mornington Penninsula we did a lot of hiking and exploring. We got to see a herd of about 30-40 gray kangaroos and went on a dinner cruise in the bay and saw a bunch of dolphins and seals. On Tuesday we drove back into the city of Melbourne and got to wander around the city for the majority of the day. The city is quite similar to a typical big city in the U.S., but a lot of us agreed that it felt a lot safer to walk around in. The entire population of Australia is about as equal to that of the population of New York state in the U.S., so the population difference may be one of the main reasons why the cities feel safer. We got to experience some of the Melbourne night life, but most of us were still so exhausted from being jet-lagged that we called it an early night. The next morning we were all scheduled to take the group flight to Brisbane and then fly directly to Cairns or Townsville, but there was a mix-up at the airport and myself and another girl were told that we had to take a later flight to Brisbane and then an even later flight to Cairns. At first this made us a bit uneasy, but once we got to Brisbane we had a 6-hour layover and ventured into the city via the air train. Brisbane was a very pretty city and there were a lot of designer shops and outlets. I had a delicious pumpkin and spinach lasagna for lunch and then we wandered into the botanical gardens which had an array of native flowers and bird species. We didn't arrive in Cairns until about 11:00 at night, but the next day we went into the city. At the University I have a single room, but there are 3 of us that share the particular common area. I have 2 roommates, a girl named Sherie from Brisbane, Australia and a boy named Brad from a small town in New South Wales, Australia. There are a lot of Americans and other international students at the student lodge here, so I'm grateful that I ended up with two Australians. They are very nice and eager to learn more about life in the U.S. I'm still adjusting to the extremely hot and humid climate of Cairns. The sun is very strong here and only a few minutes in direct sunlight without sunscreen can cause you to get a pretty bad burn. I apply sunscreen religiously, but have still managed to get a pretty nice tan. I'm finding it a bit more difficult to adjust to the food choices here. Australians eat a lot of fish, which I like, but they also eat some more exotic meats such as kangaroo and crocodile. They have a lot of fresh fruit here though, which is quite delicious. Classes don't start until March 3rd, but this week we are having our JCU orientation for new and international students so we'll be going to a lot of information sessions and enrolling in courses. There are some little trips planned though, and one of the ones that I signed up for is the Great Barrier reef trip on Saturday where I will get to snorkel. I am also already beginning to plan where I will be traveling on spring break so that I can book flights soon. I can't go anywhere too far because at the beginning of the break we have a free Arcadia reef and rain forest trip near Cairns where we will be meeting Aborigines, snorkeling, sea kayaking, hiking, camping in the rain forest, and hopefully seeing some humpback whales. I am thinking of flying to Brisbane and going on one of the Australia Zoo tours where I will get to see Steve Irwin's zoo and also will get to stay on Frasier Island, which is an island off the coast of Brisbane that has pristine tropical beaches and turquoise water. I could also learn how to surf there because the water doesn't yield as many toxic species and there are hardly any waves near Cairns because of the reef. My other plan is to possibly fly to Alice Springs in the outback and go camping and see Uluru (Ayers Rock), King's Canyon, and other phenomenal Australian landmarks. I would love to travel to Sydney as well, but I've already been to 2 of Australia's large cities and I'd rather spend my money on something more natural. Each of the cities that we've been to is unique and different in its own way, but it seems like the cities are quite similar to any big city you can go to in the United States, except for the little cultural and international differences. I've been on a couple day trips while in Cairns, one to Port Douglas,Kuranda village, and Barron Falls and one to the tablelands, Milla Milla Falls, and Muranda Falls. Port Douglas is an adorable little seaside town with spectacular views of the Coral Sea. At the Kuranda village we went to the Koala Gardens where I got my picture taken with a 2-year old koala named Princess and I also got to pet and feed a wallaby. It was fun going on the canopy walk and seeing Barron Falls as well. I've also been to a pretty beach near here called Palm Cove. I was able to swim there, but we had to swim inside of the marine stinger protective nets. The box jellyfish are all over this time of year and their stings can be extremely painful if not deadly. It was still a bit nerve-wracking even swimming inside of the nets because the tiny finger-nail sized Irakanji can fit through the holes in the net. Saltwater crocodiles and sharks also inhabit the coastal waters around these parts, so caution has to be taken while near the water. So far, I have only seen freshwater crocodiles, which can bite you if threatened, but are not the man-eater crocodiles you hear about on the Discovery Channel. I can't wait to see a saltwater crocodile in the wild...but hopefully it'll not be while I am in the water! Well I think that is a pretty good description of some of the major things that I have been doing this past week...so I will be able to make some shorter and more frequent posts soon!

Cairns

I have been in Cairns for a few days now...I am loving the white sand beaches and rain forest. I have two Australian roommates-- 1 from Brisbane and 1 from New South Wales, so it's been interesting comparing our 2 countries. I'm adjusting to the accommodations at JCU...probably the hardest of which is having limited Internet access. Once orientation week is over next week I will be able to post blogs regularly. I have also added a few of my pictures to my photo site and the link to my albums can be found at the bottom of this entry.
I've had an awesome time so far here. Today, the coordinator for the Arcadia students in Queensland came up for the weekend and drove the 4 of us up to Port Douglas. There were phenomenal views there of the ocean and white sand beaches. After spending some time downtown we went to the Kuranda village on the mountain. There is a really interesting market up there as well as a bunch of nature parks. We went into the Koala Gardens where I got to hold a 2-year old koala named Princess and I also got to feed some wallabies. We also went to see Barron Falls, which is a big waterfall off of a cliff. To get to the lookout point by the falls you have to walk among the rainforest canopy on the boardwalk. The rainforest around Cairns is really treasured among the locals and they are honored to have the rainforest and the Great Barrier reef right near them. Can't believe that I'm going to be living here for the next 5 months! I promise that I will start blogging soon....probably after next Saturday because I am going to spend the day on the Great Barrier reef.
I also have some new contact information that can be found below:

Email: carrie.bizzarro@jcu.edu.au
Cell: 04 5045 3842

link to my photo page: http://cbizzarro.myphotoalbum.com/albums.php

I'm Finally Here!

G'day! After the 20 something hours that I have spent flying, I have finally made it to the orientation in Melbourne. The city is absolutely wonderful and the Mornington Penninsula that we visited was gorgeous. I have to pay for the internet at this hotel, so I can't make as long as a post as I would like to...but I just wanted everyone to know that I have arrived safely and will by flying up to Cairns tomorrow afternoon. I will also have limited internet in my room at school, so I probably won't be able to keep in touch as often as I'd like. I just purchased a cell phone today though...so I'll post that number up here so that people can call me if there are any emergencies. It is quite expensive to place an international call, so I won't be able to make frequent calls. It is so hot here, about 100 degrees....and it will only get warmer as we go further north. I have already had such an amazing time though...we got to see about 30 gray kangaroos yesterday and we also went on a cruise where we had dinner (fish and chips!) and got to see a lot of seals and some dolphins. Upon first entering the city of Melbourne it seemed very similar to the United States, much like Los Angeles or Miami..but since we have been here for a few days now it is easier to see the differences. The main ones that we have realized are that Australians don't tip unless they go to a really fancy restaurant..and even then it's only about a 10% tip. Also, they get a required minimum of 4 weeks paid vacation...and for each 10 years that they work, they get an extra 3 months paid vacation. They find it odd that Americans only get about 2 weeks of vacation time each year. We have also been advised to not use phrases such as fanny pack or to root for (as in "I root for the Yankees") because fanny means vagina and root means to have sex. We have had some sessions on how to better understand the slang and phrases that Australians use. I should probably wrap up this post...I will write more about what has been going on in Melbourne and the Mornington Penninsula once I get to school and the Internet access isn't quite as expensive.

Counting Down the Days...

Ahhh!! I can't believe that there are only 13 days left until I leave! I got some Australian money in the mail today for orientation and I also received the e-mail with my housing arrangements. I will be living in the Cairns student lodge like I had wanted. I have been doing a lot of packing, so I am pretty much all set to go. I still need an adapter for my laptop since the power voltage is different and they use the 3-pronged outlets over there. I still have to say my farewells to lots of friends and family, so that will be a little sad, but I think that everyone knows how excited I have been for this trip so that helps a little bit with that. This will probably be my last post until after orientation in Melbourne.
Here is my address at James Cook University..if there are any changes to it I will update it when I get there:

Carrie Bizzarro
Footsteps, Cairns Student Lodge
10-24 Faculty Close
Smithfield, QLD 4878
Australia

Also, I have posted a link to the page where I will be posting all of the pictures that I take while abroad. The link is at the bottom of this page, above my little mini-biography under the 'Website Links' heading. When I post new photos that go along with a blog that I have written I will probably post the link to the particular album in the actual blog entry...but the link for all of the albums will be located there as well.