The View from the Memorial

This clear view goes right to the Parliament House in the distance, so that the lawmakers will always have an opportunity to think about the sacrifices the troop might have to make.

--charlie

A Memorial to the Turks at Gallipoli

This is amazing to me. This memorial honors the Turkish soldiers against whom the Aussies fought in the WWI Battle of Gallipoli. It would be like the USA putting a memorial to the Viet Cong on the National Mall. I do not know that I would welcome that, but this shows how big the Aussie heart can be.

--charlie

On top of Parliament House

Our tour guide Irina is explaining the layout of Canberra to the students.

--charlie

We are in Canberra, the nations capital right now. Everything closes at 5:30 pm here, so getting food at night proves to be a challenge. However, we found a really cute place called the Pancake Parlour tonight which is where the pictures are from. Today, we toured the War Museum which was quite moving, the US Embassy and the Parliament House. I learned a lot and enjoyed myself. Tomorrow we fly to Brisbane and then take a bus to Harvey Bay. We will be in the tropics then!!! :-) I am looking forward to the warm weather!

-Kort-

Australian War Memorial

Today we went to the Australian War Memorial. The whole place was very beautiful and had a great view of Canberra. I learned a lot about the Australian war efforts.

-Kellie Davies

(the previous email about the wishing tree was from me)
-Louis

This is a picture taken on our second day in Sydney, right after we went to the zoo. We decided to go up to the Opera House to see it up close, and the girls all had to touch it and get their pictures taken.

On our free day we walked around the gardens in Sydney. This picture shows us walking around the wishing tree. We had to first walk three times around it forward, then three times backward. After that we made a wish. My wish was for the Cubs to win the series, but Charlie informs me that taking pictures of the tree might jinx the wish. I assume that someone took a similar picture and made the same wish in the early 1900's. This was a beautiful day, and afterwards we went to the opal museum and walked around the business district before have a group dinner at night.

--posted by Louis

Saturday, we went to the Taronga Zoo. It was so much fun - we were just like six-year-old kids. While we visited some other sections, the Wild Australia part of the zoo was where we spent the most time. We saw everything from kangaroos on a "walkabout," to a platypus playing in some bubbles, to dingos relaxing in the shade. Rachel is still adamant about wanting to keep a dingo. I find the kangaroos cuter; one picture is of a sleeping kangaroo we saw, who clearly could have cared less about us being there - he didn't even move from his nap. The other picture is of a sea lion from the aquatic section of the zoo, after we saw a seal show. It was so neat to see seals and penguins from an underwater viewpoint!

(I don't know who posted this --cj)

A view days ago we went to the Blue Mountains. The views were breath taking. The hike was a little cold, but it was worth every second. A few of us stayed later than the rest of the group, and we hiked another part of the mountains by ourselves. At one point, we were on a bridge with a view straight down to the bottom. It was amazing. We learned about many new plants while we were on our hike. We also learned about how the Blue Mountains were formed. Parts of the mountains falls off because of water trapped in the stone. This was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been in my life.

Kellie Davies

Our Trip So Far: Sydney

My experience in Australia has been amazing thus far. Sydney is beautiful. It reminds me a lot of New York City, which I love to visit when i'm home, except it's much cleaner and more interesting. I loved all of the attractions around the city, like Circular Quay, The Harbor and The Rocks, the botanical gardens and of course the Opera House. One of my favorite experiences was taking a run through Hyde Park. I took the side roads and saw a lot of pretty fountains and landmarks. I also enjoyed looking at the people, and how they spent there time in the park. I felt so at home there, and would have loved to just lay out in the grass on a nice, sunny day. Another favorite experience I had was talking to the local Aussies. We both had a lot of good questions for each other about the different cultures, and I learned so much about Australian culture through these encounters. I can't wait to continue meeting and talking to people to get different persceptives of this wonderful country. Ok bye for now!

Stephanie Hauck

Australian Words

So here are a few Australian words that we have learned so far!

Toilet/Dunny - Bathroom
Fer dinkgum - for real
Jumper - Sweater
Lift - Elevator
Manky - Disgusting
Salad - refers to vegatable toppings
Bloke - a man
Sheila - a girl
Fisty Cuff - a fight
Jackaroo - Cowboy
Jillaroo - Cowgirl
The bush - the country side

(I don't know who posted this --cj)

ANZAC Day and a Blue Mountain Cliff

A picture of me and Charlie supporting Australia's ANZAC day and a really cool photo of a natural stone formation in a cliff at the blue mountains supposedly of a witch's face. Enjoy!

Brittany V.

Sydney

Hello all

So far this trip has been amazing and we have only been here for a few days. I'm sure the other members of the course have given the information as to what we have done but I will refresh your memory. The first day we went to the Hyde park barracks which was really cool and as we were jetlagged surprisingly kept our attention. The highlight of this museum was laying in the hammocks that were replicas of the beds of the convicts. After lunch we went the Australian museum which was nice because our guide was an aboriginal woman that gave a nice insight. For dinner a group of us went down to the harbor and ate which was cool to see the opera house and bridge at night.



Saturday was anzac day so we watched the parade which was nice. We were able to see the pride Australians have for their country. We then went to the toronga zoo which was a lot of fun and we got to see a koala which is the cutest animal ever. I want to find a way to bring one back to the states. A few of us met some Australian army guys which provided some nice and colorful conversations about American govenment and culture.



Sunday was an amazing day because we took a train out into the blue mountains. It was beautiful. Words can not explain the beauty of this region.



Monday was a free day. A small group of us went to the botanical gardens and ended up distracted by a grassy area overlooking the harbor and the opera house. We all went out to dinner at the australian hotel which was really nice. Wonderful pizza.



Today we are traveling to canberra to see parliament and the embassy. It is going to be cold which I am not looking forward to. Oh well the tropics will come soon enough. Ill keep posting.



Ashley Hemphill '12

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Australia-Sydney Experience

So, we are leaving for Canberra today, and the last 4 days here in Sydney have been almost magical. For a city this is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. I could definitely see myself living here forever! =) There is so much more to Sydney though than just the usual sights, it is clean and bright and fun, and the best part is the people here are friendly and willing to simply have a conversation with you. My favorite part of this city thus far is Hyde Park, it's the most beautiful and serene place with landscaping to make any landscaper in America jealous. I cannot wait to return here. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures soon!! Stay tuned.

Brittany V.

For My Lovely Wife ...

I thought seeing a picture of my wife's favorite flower growing at the Botanical Garden would be nice. The day lilies are fading here as they head into autumn, but these were still in blossom.

--charlie

Flying Foxes at the Botanical Gardens

This is a huge colony of fruit bats that inhabit the more southern portions of the garden. They spend the day flying from tree to tree and squabbling noisily over space on the branches. They feed at dawn and at dusk. They eat fruit and blossoms, so that they are just a pest to the orchardists and gardeners. They do not eat insects and do not drink blood.

Because of the noise and mess, some people want the staff of the Gardens to force the flying fox colony to relocate. So, these may be the last photos I get of them.

--charlie

Students at the Botanical Garden

They were out enjoying the Gardens on their free day. It's a very popular place to picnic and relax.

--charlie

Bird at the Botanical Garden

I confess that I do not know what this is. It appears to be some sort of swamp hen, but I'm not sure. Anyone who knows should please leave a comment.

--charlie

Zoo

We went to the Zoo on Saturday and it was incredible. First of all, the Taronga Zoo is located beautifully so that one has a full view of the opera house and the harbor bridge. We took a nice ferry ride to get to the zoo which was quite enjoyable. I loved all of the Australian animals that we observed; such as the koala, kangaroo, wombat and platypus. We went to an incredible bird show as a class that truly exemplified the skill of the trainers. Ashley and I spent almost the entire day walking around and enjoying the zoo!

Kort

Magpie along the Walk

This magpie was following us, hoping for a crumb or two; it probably gets fed well by the tourists on this walk.

--charlie

Rock Overhang at Katoomba Fall Gorge Walk

We stopped here briefly as Warren explained the rock formation to us.

--charlie

The Furber Stairs

This steep staircase was our way down for about 1/3 of the descent into the gorge. It was carved into the rock face itself. As the sandstone continues to erode, portions of the 1000-step staircase are lost, and it will eventually be completely gone.

--charlie

The Three Sisters

Two views of the rock formation. In the fuller view, nota that there are remnants of four other columns. The Aborigines have stories about seven sisters, in fact, though the stories were changed after those portions fell. This all occured before whites ever visited the area.

The closer view was taken from Echo Point, a very popular outlook. I had but a few seconds to snap this photo before tourists surrounded me and the shot was lost.

--charlie

Sandstone deposits

One of the students points out a harder deposit in the sandstone. These deposits contain a higher iron concentration, and so are much harder and erode more slowly. Our guide theorized that these deposits were caused by branches that became embedded in the sandstone as it was compressed.

--charlie

Finger mushrooms

Our guide Warren told us that these show up for only six days a year, so we were pretty lucky to see them. This grows along the wall of the track.

--charlie

Three students and Three Sisters

Three students enjoy the view at an overlook. The Three Sisters is in the background.

--charlie

Orphan Rock

This rock formation is one of several similar structures in the Blue Mountains region. As the sandstone erodes, these will topple and be replaced by others over time. Orphan Rock used to be accessible to hikers, but was closed off some years ago as it became unstable. The Three Sisters is a similar structure.

--charlie

Seal and Ball

The reason seals are able to do this is becuase of the many sensitive whiskers they have on their face. As the ball begins to roll off, the seal senses the motion with its whiskers and compensates.

--charlie

Bird of Paradise

The Taronga Zoo also has a number of planting of exotic flowers. The bird of paradise is one of my favorites.

--charlie

Emu at the Zoo

That's not a telephoto shot. The bird was this close to all of us.

At the ANZAC Day March

We all had Aussie flags to wave. Though it is a day of remembrance, the mood was festive.

--charlie

The View from My Window

The intersection is Oxford, Liverpool, Wentworth, and College Streets. This is at the southeast corner of Hyde Park.

--charlie

Skeleton Horse

Just a part of a quirky exhibit that I liked. I took this at the Australian Museum. --charlie

The Group at Archibald Fountain

Yes, the weather was that lovely.

--charlie

Barracks Empty Room

Our tour guide lectures us in the Empty Room at the Barracks. Notice the shadow figures along the walls. Each has a story of the lives of the Convicts.

Spyhole at the Barracks

You see the students in the sleeping quarters at the Hyde Park Barracks through a spyhole.

The Bus

We were delayed on the bus, but spirits were still high.

Today was ANZAC day in Australia. We went to the parade in the morning. The atmosphere felt like a mix between Memorial day, Fourth of July, and Labor day. We all joined in with the crowd and waved our Australian flags. There were a lot of people at the parade. Most of them were veterans or family of the veterans. This picture was taking of people marching in the parade.

posted by Kellie D.