“People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes

I decided on a travel quote for this blogs title, because that is the theme for today.

This weekend I took my first trip outside of Brisbane to North Stradbroke Island for my marine environment class. While I did not enjoy the educational aspect of the trip so much, I loved the scenery and serene environment I was in for 3 days.

My weekend started bright and early on Saturday, driving from Uni to the ferry station on a bus with 60 other kids. Once at the doc, our coach bus proceeded to drive onto the barge that would take us to the island. One problem..our bus was too big to get on the barge. Yes that's right, our bus got stuck. After about fifteen minutes of driving forward, backward, moving the barge itself and all sorts of inventive ideas, the coach bus finally backed off the barge and pulled away along with all our luggage (we had to get off the coach once they realized there was a problem). So, the barge left with kids in tow, but no luggage. But don't worry, our luggage came about 20 minutes later on a different boat.

After reaching Straddy, we walked to the University of Queensland Marine Research Station, located right on Moreton Bay. Once everyone was settled in their rooms and after a safety briefing, we headed out to the shoreline to look at tidal zones. It was really cool to see all the different animals in the tide pools. Later that day, we went seine netting, where you use a large enclosed net to collect sea creatures. We saw cuddle fish, squid, crabs, shrimp, and a bunch of different fish species. The best part of the day though was when a huge rain storm suddenly began and everyone started running back to the station. Running along with us were little soldier crabs...it was like running with the bulls, but crustaceans instead haha! (I have a video that I will try and add later of the soldier crabs).

The next day we split up into groups and started our field work. Our group chose our hypothesis to focus around the number of mulloscs related to algal growth in tide pools in the intertidal zone of the coast line. While it was interesting to do field work, I didn't enjoy this day very much. However, that night was really fun. I played cards with a group of really fun people. Everyone should learn the game mafia. that is all.

Our last day on the island was definitely the best. After group presentations...blah, we hopped on the bus for a gorge walk. The scenery was SO BREATHTAKING! I could not stop taking pictures! The water was so blue and the waves were huge! The beaches looked so pristine and undisturbed...locals are so lucky to have that in their backyard. The day ended at the beach, where some of us climbed up a cliff and watched surfers for about an hour. Great, great day!

Now, for the second part of the post I will be talking about my travel plans for spring break. Where am I going you ask?? FIJI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!! I am going with my two friends Ashley and Kelly. Here are some of the awesome things I will be doing in the 5 days I am there:
1.Going to the Nadi (pronounced Nandi) markets.
2.Snorkeling at Natadola Beach
3.sand boarding the Sigatoka sand dunes!
4.Jungle treck in Namosi Rainforest...where we will have the chance to swim at a huge waterfall!
5.Walking around Fiji's capital, Suva
6. Visiting a local school or orphanage in the remote Wailouta village to meet the chief in a traditional sevu-sevu (kava) ceremony and join the villages bilibili rafting
7.Swimming in mud pools and hot springs
8. An indo-fjian cultural experience!

I AM SO SO SO SO SO SO SOOOOO EXCITED! COUNTDOWN: 19 days!

That is all for now, Here is my favorite picture I took this weekend:

I will try and post some videos later in the week from my trip.

Until then,
Melissa

PS. Leave comments! I love hearing from everyone :) Miss you all!