Noosa, Australian Zoo, Eumundi, and O-week

I have had a really good week here on the eastern coast. Apparently northern Australia only goes through two seasons, the wet season and the dry season, and thankfully the wet season of humidity and rain is starting to wane. On Wednesday, two other UCSD girls and I headed up to Noosa on the Sunshine coast for a couple days of sun and relaxation (like we weren’t getting enough of that already). On the train ride up, an Australian man felt it was his duty to inform us about all the sites we were passing by. We got a very lengthy explanation on the Aboriginal stories about the Glass House Mountains, Germans use of the area during WWI, and all the fruit that was being produced in various regions we passed through. The area of Noosa was absolutely gorgeous. As a ritzy beach town, there was no sense of time or responsibility, and it was full of nice shops and sights unlike most surfing towns. We stayed at the Noosa River Hostel, about a 30 minute walk from the main beach, and met some really interesting people, like an English girl who was going to be cattle ranching in the Northern Territory. We went hiking in the National Park one day and really wanted to find a wild koala, but apparently we were looking in all the wrong spots. We did, however, see a sea turtle swimming in the waves which was pretty cool. Our hike showed us some pretty amazing views of the rugged coastline and gave us an opportunity to swim at the clearest and most refreshing beaches. Every night at about 6, thousands of bats would come piling out of a cave and fly right over our hostel. It was the craziest/scariest sight I had seen in awhile. We visited the Australian Zoo which is way more hands on than any other zoo I have ever been to. I got to feed an elephant, hug a kangaroo, pet a koala and camel, and see a crocodile leap up with its tail to grab food hanging in the air. It was kind of creepy how obsessed the zoo was with the Irwin family, and I have a feeling that Terri Irwin is using the kids to keep attention on the zoo. All in all though, the zoo was really fun, and I would recommend it to anyone who comes to the Brisbane area. That night, we saw one of the most spectacular lightning storms that I’ve ever seen…it made the whole river front turn a lavender color, and we sat and watched it for over an hour. On our way home the next day, we stopped in Eumundi (you-muhn-dee) for the weekend markets they have there. It was fun to walk around to all the booths and see all the interesting arts and crafts that were being produced locally. Even though it was nice to be out doing stuff, I was pretty ready to get home to my St. Lucia apartment, which I think is a good sign that this place is really becoming my home. Orientation week started today, and I feel like a freshman all over again. They gave us numbers on how many international students were studying from each country, and I was astounded to hear that only 79 Americans were here vs. the 238 Chinese students that came. I finally got my timetable figured out, and I will be taking 4 science classes this semester (Marine Science, Ecology, Metabolism and Nutrition, and Molecular Cell biology). It will probably be a pretty difficult semester, but I think all the subjects will be very intriguing. I’m rolling on my last week of summer vacation, and I’m hoping that I can get one more excursion done before Uni starts. I made a list of all the places I want to visit while I’m here, so maybe I’ll cross off some of the local ones this weekend. Thanks for catching up with me, and make sure to keep the bushfires in your thoughts and prayers!

-Erin
P.S. I posted all the pics from my trip. Click the link on the right to find the album