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!