Uluru Sunrise

Just before sunset Uluru looks brown and isn't the most miraculous thing you've seen, but as the sunset it all changes. Uluru becomes this amazing red color. Most memorable sunrise of my life!!

Ashley

After Cairns we made our way out to Alice Springs, which is way out in the outback of Australia. We stayed in a place called Toddy's for two nights before we left on our camping trip. When we first landed the whole group walked into downtown Alice Springs to look into some of the shops. I didn't find exactly what I was looking for, which was opals. I talked to a guy who told us to walk behind our hostel and walk across the dry river to the casino and there we would find the best opal shop in town. We decided to venture off and we crossed the dry river (a river that flows underneath the surface) and managed to find the correct hotel. I found exactly what I was looking for there, not to mention quite a memorable adventure. We ate at Toddy's, which was actually really good food. I got chips (french fries to we Americans). Charlie became sick, so we had to spend the day touring around Alice Springs without him. We went to the Desert park, the Royal Flying Doctors Museum and School of the Air. The Desert Park was a lot of fun because we got to watch a bird show. The Royal Flyind Doctors Museum especially interested me because I am a nursing major and the Reptile place we went to after lunch was really interesting. We had another chance to hold some reptile wildlife there. The School of the Air is a mass public school catering to those children living in the outback. They are taught through webcam, e-mail, mail-in work and home schooling. It is a very fascinating way to teach children with the handicap of living miles apart. Here is a picture of me on Anzac Hill over looking Alice Springs and a picture of me in front of the Alice Springs Sign!!

Ashley

In my last blog I talked about feeding a kangarro, but I couldn't get the picture to upload. So, now that I am back at school here is the picture!!!

Ashley

Sunrise at Uluru

At first glance, Uluru doesn't look that red, more of an orange-red. But the second the sun comes up over the dunes, you can see a bright crimson red radiating from the rock. It was absolutly beautiful, and worth getting up at 5 am for.

Stephanie Hauck

New food from the bush

Some new food that we tried on our trip. One is damper bread, which had rasins and syrup on top. The other was a variety of exotic fruits, such as papaya, amazon custard apple, bananas and pineapple.

(I do not know who posted this. --cj)

last day

I cannot belive the course is pretty much over and that we will be back in the United States on friday night. Time has flown by really fast and it seemed like yesterday that we had just landed. Everyone has had a fantastic time down here and lots of memories have been made. This trip has been really special for me since its my last class before graduation. It was a fun way to end my college career.

(I don't know who submitted this post. --charlie)

fall in sydney

When we first arrived in sydney it was at the begining of their fall and still really warm. Now that we have come back a few weeks later, its easy to notice the differences in temperature and daylight. Each of these has fallen considerably over the last couple of weeks but it is still very nice out compared to our winter time in the states which Australia is entering now. The leafs change colors as well here and it is really pretty in Hyde park. It reminds me a lot of the New England during our fall season.

(I don't know who submitted this post. --charlie)

last days

The course has been an exciting time and opportunity for everyone involved. We have been enjoying our last few days in Australia and doing last minute shopping. Most of us are looking forward to going home and having the comforts of home but we will always miss Australia and the memories we have of this great country.

Ben

The Outback!

In Alice Springs, we spent 3 days and 2 nights rustic camping in the Outback! We hiked through King's Canyon, Kata Tjuta, and Uluru. The first picture is of our group hiking through King's Canyon - it was so beautiful. The second picture is from the second day, a shot of Kata Tjuta before we hiked through the Valley of the Winds. The third picture is Uluru at sunrise - it glowed an amazing shade of orange! Definitely worth waking up at 5 am for.

- Jean

I can't wait to see everyone in the States again, but I have seriously fallen in love with this continent. And while I have some sweet gifts and memories, there are a few things I'll miss from the trip:

-Delicious flat white coffee (Dr Jacobson, if you know where I can get an equivalent in the general Elmira area, let me know...!)
-The perfect banana bread from the Fat Possum Cafe
-Aussie humor
-The landscape, which is gloriously unique
-How easily I slid into each new place - given a day or so to figure out where I was, I started referring to where my bed was as 'home'
-Sydney harbor views - the bridge and Opera House never, never get old
-Signs painted on the crosswalks that say LOOK RIGHT so that we don't get flattened accidentally -- although I might get pegged by a car when I get back, since I'm so used to looking the 'wrong' way now :D
-Kangaroos and wallabies randomly frolicking around. They're as common as deer in the USA, but I want to sneak a mob home. Maybe Louis will loan me the use of his cargo pant pockets
-Aaaaand last but not least my roommates -- Kortney, Meghan and Louis for always causing mischief, and Brittany and Steph for being short-term fantastic.

Bridget

Here's one of my pictures of Uluru at sunrise... we were all shivering and huddling about clutching tea and snarfing porridge before it got cold with our camping group, and then at maybe quarter after 7 AM the sun started rolling forward. The rock itself is much redder than this, and grew even more brilliant as the sky kept lightening, but I loved the blue of the sky -- it all but vibrated with color. One of the most beautiful moments of my life. The pictures don't do it justice!

(But I still think it's pretty!)

Bridget

Uluru has a great importance to the Aboriginal people of the area. They used it for all parts of daily life, and consider it disrespectful to climb it. However, there is sometimes a climb open to tourists. While none of the EC students took advantage of it out of respect, there were some [tourists that were not EC students] that did. This is a picture of them climbing up the side of the rock.
-Louis

editor's note: The Anangu people of the region make jokes about the climbers. They say they look like 'little black ants' climbing an ant hill. --cj

This rock, informally named "fooluru", is in reality much larger than Uluru on the surface. It is often mistaken for Uluru by passing tourists. Their heights are about equal, and its length is much greater than the more famous Uluru. However, it does not have the same significance.
-Louis

Crocodile at Reptile Centre in Alice Springs

While at the Reptile Centre in Alice Springs I went down to see and underwater view of the crocodile pool. Once I walked down the stairs, the crocodile was waiting right there staring at me.

~Meghan

Out for a group dinner

Kortney and I are all dressed up for a night out with the group at the Cock 'n Bull in Cairns.

~Meghan

Attempt at throwing a boomerang

Here is my attempt at throwing a boomerang. I was able to have it come back on a returning path but it did not make it all the way back but it was a good try.

~Meghan

Feeding a Wallaby

While at Rainforestation in Kuranda, we were given the chance to feed wallabies and kangaroos. I was apprehensive about feeding them on other occasions but decided to finally do it for the experience.

~Meghan

Sydney Aquarium

Today, we had a free day in Sydney. I went to the Sydney Aquarium with Kortney, Bridget, Steph R., Meghan, and Ben. It was absolutely amazing! My favorite parts were the tunnels where you could walk underneath the water and see all the animals. Both pictures are from the Oceanarium section. The first is a giant sea turtle who was just hanging out right next to the glass. He was huge! The second is two of the many sharks who were in this aquarium.. so beautiful! And keep in mind that the curvature of the glass makes the animals appear 25% SMALLER than they actually are!

- Jean

A Balanced Uluru

After a few attempts, Kortney and Steph were able to coordinate handstands in front Uluru just as the sun was about to set behind us.
-Louis

Students at Uluru

One of the most important things about Uluru is that it contains a water hole in an otherwise very dry desert. When people were wandering, they would see the large rock and move towards it for the water. This is a group picture taken in front of the water hole on our final day of camping, during our two hour base walk.

Louis

Molly

This is Molly, the beautiful black lab that we played with after our delicious lunch during our Billy Tea tour. She just wanted to lay around while we scratched her stomach. Bridget is the one sitting down petting her.

-Louis

Desert Park

One of our activities in Alice Springs was going to Desert Park. Sadly, Charlie couldn't come, so here are some pictures! The first is of the landscape we walked through. The second are some gorgeous flowers that manage to grow even in such a climate. The third is an owl that we saw at the Birds of Prey show! He was right in front of me - so cool!

- Jean

More Photos from Fraser Island

As I continue to sift through my files ...

These two were from our walks on Fraser Island. The first is the bark of a scribbly gum, so-called because of the unique designs cause by larvae below the bark.

The second is a tree in the rainforest. While I am a little wide, one can still see that this tree is huge.

--charlie

Parliament House

Here are the two chambers of the Australian Parliament. The green chamber is the House of Representatives, and is the seat, in that the leader of the majority party or majority coalition is the Prime Minister, currently Kevin Rudd. The red chamber is the Senate, which functions much like the US Senate. The dynamics of Australian politics is much different than in the US, though. For example, while the US has only two political parties that matter, there are many in Australia, and any party that can get at least 1/8 of the vote in a state is guaranteed a seat in the Senate. So, the Senate and the House are rarely under the control of the same party or coalition.

One consequence of this arrangement is in progress right now. The Minister of Finance has submitted a budget that has made several groups angry, and so they are threatening to block the budget in the Senate. This will set the stage for a double dissolution, in which the entire government is re-elected. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

--charlie

Coal Mine Exhibit at the Blue Mountains

At the conclusion of the Katoomba Falls walk, we spent a few minutes at an exhibit about an old coal mine. In the first photo, two students examine a coal car. The second photo is for my wife, who gets a kick out of stacks of rocks. Someone had stacked these three lumps of coal.

--charlie

A Few More Photos from the BIrd Show

I took these at the Bird Show at Taronga Zoo, and thought they were nice.

--charlie

While we were in Cairns we traveled up to Kuranda and went to a butterfly garden and a place called the Rainforest Station. I personally really enjoyed the butterfly garden, because I am big into photography so I knew that I could get some awesome pictures of the butterflies there in the garden. I was able to capture some really cool shots, however they are on my larger camera that I seem to have difficulty uploading pictures from here in Australia. I will post them up on the blog as soon as I can get them to upload properly. At the Rainforest Station we got to be up close and personal with some kangaroos which was a really cool experience. My favorite moment was when Jenny and I were walking along the path listening to the guide and happened to turn around at the same time to find a very large Roo creeping behind us. I wish I could get my pictures to upload to the e-mail so I could show you!!!

Ashley

what a difference a flight makes

Going from Cains to Alice Springs is an eyeopening experience. The differences between the two are vast. Cains is a city on the water which gets a lot of rain during the rainy season and humid temperatures most of the year. Alice Springs on the other hand is very dry and arid and gets very little rainfall. There are also differences two in that their are more aborginal people in Alice Springs then in Cains which leads to more fences surrounding property's. This is to let the aborginal people know what is private and what is public. Aborginals tend to be nomads and this is part of the reason why the fences are put in place. Both of these cities have their charm and it has been a fun experience in each place.

Ben

Masked Lapwing

This bird is a masked lapwing. It ranges throughout the subtropics and tropics of eastern Australia. I photographed this one on the esplanade at Cairns, where it was after the bit of orange rind seen to its left. Like many large birds, the lapwing has adapted to urban life.

--charlie

A Lizard in the Daintree

This water dragon was one of two that posed very nicely for us as we walked in the Daintree rainforest.

--charlie

Our Daintree Tour Guide

Here are two photos of our guide for the Daintree tour, John. In this first photo, John is preparing our scrumptous buffet lunch. In the second, he is inviting the students to sample several exotic fruits.

--charlie

Mud Flat Photos

I took these photos when the weather finally got a little sunnier.

The first photo is of a couple of mudskippers, or Australian lungfish. These fish have rudimentary lungs and can move about on the land using their flippers, These two were in the middle of a territorial dispute when I took this.

The second photo is an ibis. Many water birds forage on the mud flat at low tide.

The third photo was taken a little later, near high tide. I include it just because we should have at least one photo of a sunny Cairns!

--charlie

The Butterfly Sanctuary

When we went to the butterfly sanctuary, I will be honest I was not expecting it to be so beautiful and I wasn't expecting to see so many very gorgeous butterflies. I got some lovely photos of some really fascinating butterflies.

Brittany

The Daintree River Ride and some scenic lookout pictures

Meghan and I on the boat on the Daintree river and some really beatuiful pictures of lookouts along the way home. The picture of Louis, Meghan, Bridgit and Kortney says it all for how beautiful it was.

Brittany

Pictures of Cape Tribulation

Photo 1: Rachel Plass and Stephanie Reynolds on Cape Tribulation.
Photo 2: A good solid reason why we could not enjoy the ocean at Cape Tribulation.
Photo 3: This kangaroo did not want to share his lunch.


by Stephanie Reynolds