We have just arrived back to civilization from Lamington National Park -- what an AMAZING experience up on the mountain! We got in a bit later than anticipated on Wednesday (cancelled flight, but the students handled it well and used the time to catch up on journaling and catching up on reading for the course!)
While we were at O'Reilly's we had several group experiences together and then others that we could choose to participate in, from bird watching, a glow worm trek, or other bush walks -- the choice was ours! In addition to enjoying the many activities, I must tell you that everyone also seemed to enjoy the food -- it never seemed to stop! O'Reilly's activities revolved around food -- from breakfast we would move to our morning activity, break for tea, finish the activity, head to lunch, then participate in an afternoon activity, break for 4pm tea, then dinner at 6pm -- seriously, these Aussies know how to eat, and we definitely enjoyed trying to keep up with them! I might add that a good number of the students ate Kangaroo on our last night dining!
On our first day Tim O'Reilly, the activities director held a special session for the Giant Swing and the Flying Fox -- it was AWESOME (and I'm going to work on posting some video, so definitely check back). Tim instructed us on a few safety precautions and we were off to play!
First, I'll start with the Giant Swing -- this contraption hoisted you about 50 feet in the air and then you were released to swing -- the dropping sensation was amazing and it literally felt like you were on a rollar coaster! The other activity we got to experience was the Flying Fox -- a zip line contraption that you flew down, and for the brave you could zoom upside down! The students really seemed to enjoy this activity, zooming down several times trying to top their last zip -- it was great fun!
Flying Fox Video
In addition to flying foxes and giant swings we were also able to experience a little bit of Aboriginie culture from Douglas, a member of the Yugambeh language group. Douglas taught us how to throw a boomerang and several of the students did pretty well almost catching their boomerang upon it's return! The majority of us however were ducking and running away as boomerangs flew erradicly through the air! After our boomerang lesson we headed in for a bit of a lesson on aboriginie culture and we learned loads more about boomerangs -- there are 5 different types and they were typically used to hunt roo's and different fowl.
We also learned about some various musical instruments -- from gourds, clapsticks and, of course, the digiardoo -- we even got to play with several of these instruments too! The digiardoo was of course quite popular, and because it is custom for only the men in a tribe to play the girls did not get to play the digi in the presence of Douglas -- however, there is ample opportunity for them to try at one of the many shops while we are here in Cairns.
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I will begin by apologizing if Mallory and I overlap on what we say but I figured it would be best if we wrote our own entries to talk about our experiences up in O'Reilly's.
Our trip to O'Reilly's was delayed a couple of hours because of our flight being cancelled in Sydney. Luckily Virgin Blue was able to get us on two later flights so the group had to split up but we all arrived into Brisbane safely. From there we had about a 2 hour bus ride up to O'Reilly's. This bus ride often makes students a little uneasy because it is very windy up the mountain. The good news was that it allowed the students their first opportunity to see wallabies (think small version of kangaroos).
As you can see from the picture above the view at O'Reilly's was spectacular. However, I must confess and say that this picture was taken on our last day out of O'Reilly's. To be honest it rained and was cloudy most of the time we were there, but as I tell the students, hey it is a rainforest what do you expect.
On Thursday morning the students and Mallory enjoyed the Flying Fox and Giant Swing. I have participated in the Flying Fox (or zipline) in previous years so I decided to enjoy the Lyrebird Lookout hike instead. This allowed me to see Lamington National Park and learn about the flora and fauna in the rainforest from Carol. Carol is interning at O'Reilly's from Oregon State University. One of the favorite things I saw in the forest was orange fungi which you can see below.
After lunch, the group of Elon students participated in a walk to Morans Falls. I may have mentioned it earlier, but the mountain has received a lot of rainfall in the last week. Last week they had 32 inches of rain which is about half of what they get in a normal year so the waterfall was running nicely. Tim O'Reilly (see below) was the guide for my group and educated the students about the area.
However, the true attraction was the waterfall which had more water than I had ever seen previously. It was quite magnificent and you could hear the power from quite far away.
Following Morans Falls, some of the students participated in a Snakes Alive program and were able to see some of Australia's poisonous and nonpoisonous snakes. One commonly seen in the rainforest is the Carpet Python which we have a picture of below.
Friday started with a Bird Walk for many of the students as well as Mallory and I. We saw many different types of birds as well as some wallabies at our early time.
After breakfast I went on a 10 km (about 6 mile) hike with some of the students. The purpose of going on the hike was to see some of the waterfalls in the area and to get a nice walk in. Because of all the rain we were able to see some really nice waterfalls, but because of the increased intensity we were unfortunately not able to see the most magnificent falls on our loop called Elbana falls.
In the afternoon and evening hours we had the priviledge of having Douglas James talk to our group about aboriginal culture. Douglas has been working with our group for the past 4 - 5 years and is always a delight. The one photo that I have included was that after doing our boomerang throw, Douglas awarded Katherine Lee with a decorated boomerang for being the best thrower in the class. Nice job Katherine.
Later that night I went and saw the glow worms with the students.
On Saturday morning before our early departure, Mallory and I decided to go on a quick hike to Python Lookout. No, we did not see any snakes, but we did get a great lookout of the area. Since the rain clouds had parted, it really allowed us to see the valley better than previous days.
After breakfast it was back to Brisbane and then a flight up to Cairns. In Cairns tonight we had the opportunity to do the REEF TEACH. Reef Teach is a two hour lecture about the fish and coral on the Great Barrier Reef. This will be very helpful for our students when we head out on the reef.
Hope you enjoyed my update, Mallory will fill you in on more details, but just wanted to let you know that the 32 of us are alive and well. Keep reading.
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Today was our last day in Sydney. Students and Staff were able to do some last minute sight seeing before heading to our next destination. Many of the students used the time to try and go to the beach one last time, see the botanical gardens and Sydney Opera House. A couple of the students decided to do the Sydney Bridge Climb.
Mallory and I had a nice treat for ourselves lined up. Almost 10 years ago Mallory did a short internship in Sydney and stayed with a host family. On our off day we had an opportunity to meet up with them and Roy offered to give us a tour of the harbor on his boat. How can we possibly pass up this wonderful opportunity. This was quite the tour with many memories for myself. The weather as you will see from the photos was not the best, a little bit of mist and a whole lot of overcast, but it was still fantastic. Things look much different from the water than they do from land. Seeing the Sydney Opera House and Bridge from different angles allows one to see how magnificient it really is.
A couple of other memories that I will always have include docking in Darling Harbor to grab a quick cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate before getting back on the boat.
Another will be docking at the Sydney Fish Market for a great lunch of fish and chips while sitting in the boat taking in the view of the harbor and ANZAC bride.
Finally, I will remember the Australian hospitality shown by Roy and his mates to Mallory and I. What a great day.
The blog will be taking a couple of days off due to lack of internet access at our next location. I will try to update you on our adventures as soon as I can. Take care all.
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Today was another amazing day. We spent the day absailing and canyoning in the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are one of Australia's famous mountain ranges and parks. They get their name from the Euclyaptus trees and the oils that they give off give the mountain range a blueish tint. The day started off with some bad news, my co-leader Mallory had not been feeling well the past few days and decided that she needed to get some rest and go to the doctor. Get well Mallory, we missed you today.
After about a 2 hour drive we made it to the outfitters office who set us up with all of our equipment for the day. We then went to our repelling (or absailing) site and had a chance to either learn or brush up on our skills. They had absails of 5, 10, 15 and 30 meters set up for the students to feel comfortable before the big fun starts. The picture at the top shows the view from the 30m spot, pretty nice if I do say so myself. The company that we use is fantastic and did a great job of encouraging those who needed it, but I will say throughout the day the students were fantastic, did a great job encouraging one another and had a great attitude. All of the students did the largest absail. NICE JOB ALL!!!
After a quick lunch the groups then headed into the canyon. This was a new canyon for me so I was excited, especially at the prospect of getting a chance see some new sites, but more specifically the opportunity to do the absail through the waterfall at the end. This canyon gave the students a chance to see the Blue Mountains in a way that many people never get. It was amazing, lots of boulders to climb, some water jumps and a lot of faith in our guides and each other. Pictures really do not do justice the beauty that we saw at the bottom of the canyon. The waterfall absail was scary and exciting for many and is something that few will forget. I know I have a few bumps and bruises from it, but loved every minute of it.
After the canyoning our driver stopped off at two outlooks so that we could take a couple of photos of the mountains. The last photo that you see here is of a spot called the Three Sisters which is a landmark of the Blue Mountains. The legend is that the name came from a story in Aboriginal dreamtime. The short version of the story goes that an aboriginal witch doctor turned his three daughters into stone to prevent a bush monster from getting to them, however, the wishbone that he used was lost when he had to turn himself into a lyrebird to avoid the same monster. After the bush monster disappeared, the witch doctor was unable to fine the magic wishbone to turn himself and his daughters back to original form.
Tomorrow is a free day to give the students a chance to explore Sydney, we will keep you posted.
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Today was another adventure and a great personal growth opportunity for many.The morning started out very overcast and looked like it might rain, but the day ended up being spectacular. Because of wave conditions we had to change where we were sea kayaking, but it ended up working out fantastically. The morning we went out into Brisbane National Water Park. We went out early in the morning because the forecast was for very choppy conditions later on in the day. This ended up being a vigorous kayaking experience and many were experiencing some soreness in arms and back from the choppy conditions. Others were experiencing some motion sickness, but everyone was a great sport. Of course, how can you not be a great sport when you have such beautiful views all around you.
The other nice aspect about the morning excursion was that it allowed us to see some of the same sites that we saw yesterday morning when we visited Ku Ring Gai Chase National Park. Seeing things from sea level gives things a different perspective.
After a nice leisurely and restful lunch, we decided to go on a shorter trip up the river from where we were. The water was much calmer and much more to the liking of the students. However, many were still fatigued from the morning trip so we cut it off a little early. I have a feeling that many of us will sleep quite well tonight.
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