"Sometimes in the morning, when it's a good surf, I go out there, and I don't feel like it's a bad world." -Kary Mullis

I am taking a break from my never ending homework. ew.

Anyways, this past weekend was a very busy one. On Friday, I had a field trip to Brisbane Forest Park with my terrestrial environment class. We learned about the different rock formation and geology behind the continent of Australia and then went on a nature hike through the rain forest. It was actually really fun and interesting to see all the trees and flowering plants I had been learning about in class. We also got to see a platypus and wombat at the nature reserve located in the park (You can see pictures on my picasa site...the link is at the end of the post). Everyone should start to do school the Australian way...sooo much better than the US. I love field trips.
We got back to campus at about 5:45 and right from there my friend Ashley and I high tailed it to the city via bus to get picked up for our surf trip weekend! We actually made with time to spare :) I was very nervous we would miss the bus obvvvvvvv. Anyways so I really enjoyed the five and a half hour bus ride. LOVED IT...JUST LOVED IT! So we got there at 1am and immediately went to bed. There were only 2 other Americans in our weekend group, so I got to meet people from Canada, Holland, Japan and Germany, which was really cool. I feel like I have met more people from all around the world than I have Australians, still cool though. Annnyways, the next morning we woke up bright and early and started our very first surf lesson. We first went over wave structure and safety, then proceeded to do all the technical stuff on land like how to pop up on the board. It wasn't long before we headed into the water and I caught my first wave :) :) :) I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE SURFING! Of course I did fall...a lot (more in the afternoon when the waves were bigger than in the morning), but I was so much better this time than I was five years ago in Hawaii.

After two hours of non-stop surfing, we came in for lunch and then had a three hour break before our next lesson. I spent those three hours walking along the beach and laying in a hammock...yeah I know...my life is just awesome. Our next surf lesson was very different from the first. The waves were so much bigger at high tide and I only got up on my board about three times. It was really frustrating and I ended up stopping after an hour because I was so tired and sore. I ended up getting pretty beat up too...cuts on my feet, hands and knees from falling onto the sand. No worries though...I like battle wounds. That night we had dinner, chilled around the camp for a little and then Ashley and I headed down to the beach to take pictures of the sunset. To our surprise right at dusk a HUGE group of bats started flying for like ten minutes non-stop...NO JOKE! It was the coolest/creepiest thing I have ever seen in my life! It was also amazing to see the stars...you just don't get that in the city...I missed it.

The next day we had our last surf lesson, where I got my Mojo back (that's the name of the surf company, Mojo Surf). I stood up a bunch of times and I had so much fun. I surfed the entire two hours...I'm like the energizer bunny. After lunch we packed up our things and headed back on the bus and headed up to Byron Bay, a surf town with beautiful beaches and cool shops! I got another string bracelet to go with my one from Cairns. I also had a really good cheeseburger. yum.

So that was my weekend. On Sunday I leave for a 5 day field trip to Fraser Island...the biggest sand island in the world.

Oh and to keep a running tally, I have been to the oldest rainforest/jungle in the world, the largest stretch of reef and now I will be traveling to the largest sand island...Cool? I think so :)

So I get back from that on April 1st and then April 4th I leave for FIJI!!!!! I love my life right now. LOVE LOVE LOVE :)

Leave comments!
Here are the pics: http://picasaweb.google.com/fishymishi

Later dudes,
Melissa

New Picture/Video Website

Hey everyone,

I just made an account on Google Picasa and I have uploaded all my pictures and Videos on there. So, if you do not have a facebook, you can still see everything I have done and everything I will do! So check that out!

Here is the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/104976683939790387232

New post below!

Melissa :)

“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!

A video!

This is a video that my friend Katelyn made of our trip to the Great Barrier Reef during orientation!



This weekend I am going on a fieldtrip to North Stradbroke Island. It looks like this:


I will blog about it when I get back!

Until then mates,
Melissa

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”

Today I went to the Gold Coast also known as Surfers Paradise. My roommate Ashley and I caught the 8:00am train and spent the entire day lying on the beach watching surfers and relaxing. The waves there are pretty big and really powerful especially when the tide was high...I love swimming in the ocean so that was a really fun and special thing to get to do in Australia.

There were also a lot of cool shops around the area that Ashley and I looked in. We got free ice cream and then more ice cream from Baskin Robbins... A little piece of home!! I got some postcards too so hopefully I will start to send some out to people. Email me your address if you haven't already! I love the gold coast and we were so lucky to have such a nice day when originally it was suppose to thunder storm alllll day!

Tomorrow I start my second week of classes which is cool. I like having a set schedule again, although I do love exploring Australia!

Speaking of which, I am starting to book trips for spring break and other weekend trips. I hope to travel to Sydney Melbourne and Whitsunday islands. For spring break I plan on Fiji and Thailand!! If I have time I would love to go to New Zealand but I will have to see if I have time and more importantly money haha.

I have almost been here for a month (on Thursday it will be my anniversary hah) and I can't believe it. I feel like time is going by so fast and I am already getting sad at the thought of having to leave in four months. I love Australia!! But I do miss the US... I find myself getting excited over the smallest things that remind me of home.

This Friday I don't have class so I might come to surfers paradise again! And Saturday I head to Morton island for my first field trip for my marine environment woo!

Later mates, no worries!
Melissa

ps. Leave comments! :)

Ants taste gooooood.

“Australia is an outdoor country. People only go inside to use the toilet. And that's only a recent development.”

It has been raining here non-stop since Saturday and it isn’t suppose to stop until Sunday. Now, as much as I love rain, I do like some sunny breaks in between. And it is definitely not fun having a week of 24/7 downpours when its your first week of class.

Now that we are on that subject let me tell you how my first week of classes has been going thus far. Monday, I had my film movements and genres class, which I then dropped and joined Television and Pop Culture. The film class just wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, it seemed to be too theoretical for my tastes. I have gone to one TV class and it seems like it will be fun, although I am still hesitant…I will just have to wait and see I guess.

My other three classes are awesome, I love them! I have already signed up for my field trips for the terrestrial environment and the marine environment classes. Some of the places I will be going to include Brisbane Forest Park, Fraser Island (for a 5 day field research excursion), The Australia Zoo (where we get behind the scene tours!) and Morton Island (Where I will be doing more field research.

I really like all my professor…not like I call them Professor…its much more casual here so you call your teachers by their first name. For example, “Steve, I don’t understand, can you explain it again?” OR “Later Angie, what a great lecture!” Here is Australia it is also custom to cuss very frequently. For example, “This shit is really boring so don’t fall asleep.” Yes, one of my professors did say that. All in all it looks like a good semester and I am really excited!

So today I went to a farmers market on Queens St., which is across the river from South bank Parklands, where I live. I got a lot of fruits and veggies...yum. We also went 45 minutes before the markets closed, so we got discounts on everything. I got 4 mangos for $5! I got a cucumber for $1.50 and 10 apples for $5 AND MOOOOORE! Amazeballs!

I haven’t gotten a lot of reading yet, so tonight my roommate Ashley and I are going to start planning our spring break extravaganza!

To cap off this entry here are some fun facts about Brisbane and University of Queensland:

-Due to the laidback atmosphere that exists in Australia, most stores close extremely early around 5 or 6pm. Therefore you need to plan your entire day around what you need. This can get annoying.
-Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday there is a crafts market in South Bank.
-South Bank is also home to the only manmade city beach in all of Australia.
-Here Internet is bought by the mega bite…so you need to monitor your Internet usage very carefully.
-In Australia they drive on the left side of the road…this makes crossing the street super difficult…I’m getting the hang of it though. (and no, I haven’t been able to tell if the toilets flush the other way…screw technology.)
- Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world. The UV index can reach to 16…the highest UV index in the US is 8. Don’t worry I use lots of sunscreen mom.
-University of Queensland is one of the top 8 universities in Australia and has been repeatedly listed as one of the top 50 universities in the world.
-University of Queensland is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year and has a student population of 40,000!

No Worries,
Melissa