Back from the Outback

Hey y’all!

Since my lasts update, I’ve finished up my Sydney adventure and returned to CRS. Sydney was awesome, though im glad to be back. Sydney included lots of going out, visiting 2 aquariums, Sydney wildlife world, the city Skytower, and Manly beach. I finally got to see the elusive cassowary (but sadly it was encaged behind glass). The city is beautiful even though it rained at least a little bit every single day. I wish the weather would have been nicer so we could’ve enjoyed the beach more. Instead we did lots of shopping and took a lot of much needed naps.

Back at CRS, things have been much more relaxed than the last half of the program. We gained 7 new students, one of which is even from the UW. Exciting stuff! This half of the program is more researched based, so it involves more field work and analyzing in the lab. It’s definitely not as intense as my science courses back home, but it involves more bio and ecology. We spent the past few nights in Undara, which is in the Outback. It was amazing! The vegetation there was less lush than the rainforest, but it was much warmer and clearer. We did field sampling in the dry rainforest and went through some lava tubes, which are like caves made from the last volcano eruption. We also saw kangaroos, kookaburras, and a lot of wallabies. We had campfires both nights and I even slept sans tent, just under the stars one night. The sky was unbelievably clear. The next morning a few of us hiked up to a bluff and sat on the rocks to watch the sunrise. It was an unreal experience and makes me want to go camping a lot more when I get back to the States.

Other than that, it’s been a lot of fun having more free time in this part of the program. We’ve started a nightly ritual of watching True Blood and Dexter after dinner. I didn’t realize how much I miss watching good tv with good company. I’ve also tried to start running program for my last few weeks here. It’s hard to believe I’m already over halfway done with my time in Australia. I’ll miss it when I return home to the States and have to find a real job…