Mooloolaba Beach and the beached prawn trawler...

Here are the pics that I've been meaning to post...

So this is the trawler, my trawler that was stranded on the beach...

...and these two pictures are of the waves that day. They were pretty intense and according to Neil, they were a lot higher in the morning. These were from last weekend.

Me and my boat (in the background).

And if you were trying to figure out why I keep referring to is as my boat, this is why. Read the name...I also claimed possession to all the prawn in it. Unfortunately they escaped. >:(

Neil surfing.

And the happy couple on the boardwalk. =)

Mooloolaba Beach - a very happening place!

Mooloolaba Beach seems to be the beach of preference for the two of us. We spent last weekend there and we’re going to head up there again today (Saturday).

We even made our way up there yesterday evening.

As it turns out, earlier this week there was a prawn fishing boat that got stranded and a search has been on for a missing deckhand. I’m still not sure of the full story behind all this, but it is a little strange. The guy who’s missing was one of the deckhands on the boat and he was at an unveiling of a statue for fishermen stranded at sea. And now he’s one of them. It’s just very bizarre and creepy.

http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2008/jul/25/atrocious-conditions-hamper-search-fisherman/  This is a link to the story.

And yes. The boat’s name is Miss Melissa. Neil has come up with a bunch of jokes surrounding that, none of which is impressive to me. I just hope I post the pictures of the ship before he does.

Anyway, other than this boat being placed smack in the middle of the beach, this is, in my opinion, the nicest beach in our area. We’ve already walked along the boardwalk behind the beach, but we haven’t followed the path to its entirety yet.

It’s also a busy beach. But it hasn’t been too bad lately. Even on the weekends. But I say that in the midst of winter. I’m sure that will change drastically once the weather becomes warmer and people want and need to escape the heat!

I will admit to having been in the water once. It is pretty cold, even for me, who has taught in swimming pools where the temperature has been ridiculously cold. At least to some people I know. *lol* The only difference with being at the beach is that there can sometimes be a cool breeze (or wind) when you come out of the water. It can definitely make your teeth chatter!

Anyway, the big buzz around there is this boat that’s been stranded. For some reason, tons of people will sit in and around the area watching this boat. Well, as long as they’re on the right side of the caution tape. But I think what they’re really watching is for are all the surfers just to see who might get the closest to this boat. Neil and I have already seen a couple of surfers who’ve come dangerously close.

Neil and I are off to the beach again. Maybe it’ll be warmer today and we can go in the water. And apparently they’re going to try and get the prawn trawler out at high tide which is supposed to be at 2:30 this afternoon. It could get interesting. We’ve got some pictures and we’ll see about getting some more!

Orientation Week

The week of July 14^th was Orientation week at USC. And I was having someving some uncertainty about it. I wasn’t sure if I was looking forward to going back to school or not even though I’ve wanted to go back to get my teacher’s certification for a while. I think this was due to a combination of nerves (going back to school and to a new school in a different country) and believe it or not, excitement. Call me a bit of a nerd, but I actually like school. If someone could pay me to be a student in university I’d do it. And being a professor doesn’t count because they have a ton of work to do!

Anyway, so nerdy Mel, shows up at the uni just in time to register for my student card. At 8:30 in the morning. Ha! Can anyone say ‘vacation over’? *lol*

I should add here that it was a miserable day. :| Rainy and cool. A total change from the weekend.

The line up for the student cards wasn’t very long, however, the people in charge of handing out the cards told us that the machine which produces these cards wasn’t working. Surprise! So I put my name on the list after which I have a couple of hours to kill until the next session.

At 11:15 there was an info session for International Students, which looking back on it, was a bit of a waste of time. There wasn’t anything they told us that I didn’t already know. I had all my student visa info and what I needed to do in order to fulfill those requirements. And I knew where to get my health card information, etc. So lucky for me, I got to leave early. And by early I mean somewhere around 2:30-3:00 in the afternoon.

*****

The following Tuesday proved to be a more interesting day.

The faculty that I’m a part held its annual ‘student welcome’. So all the science, health, and education students got a chance to meet each other and some of the professors. I suppose that I didn’t have to attend this because there wasn’t much that they told us that was new, but I did meet a future classmate, which is always good. At least I knew one person before classes started. :)

After this session ended, the two of us headed back outdoors where a Welcome Day Market and BBQ was going on. Now this is pretty cool. All over the campus different ‘services’, I guess you could call them, are set up under tents with tables full of information for you to grab. For example, there was a bank offering student bank accounts. I stopped by to check out what their deal was and soon realized that CBA still offers the best deal of all the banks so far.

Anyway, we walked around for a bit and stopped at the BBQ tent handing out free sausages. We stopped to watch a part of the ‘official welcome’ that was taking place in front of the art gallery courtyard. There was an aboriginal group putting on a performance that a lot of people were watching. After lunch we both stopped for a free cup of tea/coffee provided by the USC Alumni.

And here ends the second day of orientation.

*****

Wednesday was another rainy day in Mooloolaba and in the morning a ‘STARTSMART’ session was held for the students in the Graduate Diploma in Education.

Finally, a session that provided some important information for me that I didn’t already have. We were introduced to some of the professors who were in charge of the different disciplines; i.e. those doing the senior phase of education (high school), the middle phase (4-7), and primary/early phase (K-7/preschool-3). We got some information regarding what our first semester would be like and what to expect from placement.

After attending this session, I can now say that I’m looking forward to getting down to work, but it’s going to be one crazy year!

Pics from the Ferries Pt.1

Our first glimpse of the Opera House

A view of Circular Quay (the ferry terminal)

Notice the name on this ferry (Scarborough)...its a LONG way from home!!

This ferry is a similar high speed ferry that we are traveling on

Melis trying to keep warm on this cool morning ride on the water!

Sydney way in the distance

Its hard to see but you can actually pay to climb to the top of the bridge (to the flag on top), Melis was having NO part of that!

Pics from the Ferries Pt.2

The Sydney Bridge (aka The Coathanger) with the Opera house just underneath.

The majority of downtown Sydney.

Another side of Sydney, the tower there is like the air traffic control tower but for the harbour!

An Australian Navy Warship, and along side is an old submarine, both of which are out of service and you can pay to go on a tour.

Active war ships docked in the Harbour

A container ship coming in to port

The sun setting on our action packed day

Getting Around the Sunny Coast

The next few days after moving in involved us getting a good idea of what’s around the area since we would be living here for the next year.

What we noticed right off the bat: it’s VERY hilly around here. Especially when going to the University of the Sunshine Coast, or ‘uni’ as everyone around here calls it. Neil and I couldn’t get over how steep the hills were!! It was nuts. But I shouldn't call them hills because the university sits on the top of Buderim Mountain, hence why it's so steep around there.

The bus drivers really put the pedal to the medal when they drive around here. It’s like they’re always in a rush to get to where they’re going, but most of them are very nice, especially to newcomers. Which I find is the total opposite of the drivers back in Toronto, and I know a few of you would agree with me!!! :)

Anyway, it was during one of these days, sometime during the middle of the week that we had arrived, when I met up with a friend who’s already attending school here. She too gave me some tips on what to expect from school and some of the professors that I’d have for the year. Then we headed to the mall.

The main mall here is The Sunshine Plaza which is a very nice mall. The Maroochy River runs underneath it, and some of the shops and restaurants are located outside. If you choose, you can be eating by the river rather than sitting inside. I’m not sure how to describe the clothing stores…I’d say that there’s a bit of everything here which you don’t really find in Toronto malls. For example they have a store dedicated to retro clothing which is directly across from a store similar to ‘Esprit’. *lol*

As for fast food restaurants, I think I mentioned somewhere that they do have a McDonald’s here. Well, they also have Pizza Hut, Dominoes, KFC, and Subway, to name a few, which we’re all familiar with I’m sure. Then they’ve got a place called Hungry Jacks which is like a Burger King. Actually, it is Burger King but with a different name.

When we got home from our trip to the uni and the mall, Neil and I decided to walk to the beach. This proved fruitless, everyone. We couldn’t find it. Actually, Neil, couldn’t find it. Hehehe…and he informs me as I type this that we (he) took a wrong turn. Which really means that he forgot to bring the GPS for some strange reason….:-|

Anyway, we did see a nice part of the neighbourhood. There was a little ‘cove’, sort of like a private beach for the townhouses in that whole complex. Again, Neil would like to inform me that this actually is a ‘beach’. *rolls eyes* :)

Since we never did find a beach, we decided to save this for the next day.

The Bank, Circular Quay, and the Sunny Coast

Day 5 – Monday, July 7

Today was the day Neil and I went and set up our Australian bank accounts.

We had to check out of our room at 10 a.m. and then we walked to Sydney’s business district in search of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. After about an hour, give or take, Neil and I became the proud customers of CBA. :)

It was then that we headed for Circular Quay with a quick stop at McDonald’s. And yes, Mickey D’s tastes the same in Oz.

As usual, the Quay was bustling with activity. But unfortunately, we couldn’t stay here too long because we had to head to the airport for our next destination. It would’ve been nice to hop on another ferry but there just wasn’t enough time. So off to the hostel it was to pick up our luggage and make sure that there was a shuttle bus to take us to the airport.

Checking bags was once again a bit of an ordeal; both Neil and I were over the maximum allowed weight but we knew that going in. But we still got our bags checked and we were good to go. The flight, once that time arrived, wasn’t very long. But it was in the afternoon, and because it’s winter here, it was dark for our whole ride to the coast. And just like our arrival to Sydney, the airport was dead when we arrived. *lol*

We waited outside for a taxi to take us to our place of residence in Mooloolaba and we got a taxi driver who was very familiar with the influx of Canadians in and out of the Sunshine (aka ‘Sunny’) Coast. During our drive, he gave us some tips on some good places to visit while we’re here and what we should expect from the weather during our stay.

It was good to finally arrive at our place of residence; it had been a long day!!! We got a quick tour of our new ‘home’ before hitting the sack for some much needed rest!!!

Taronga Zoo Pics pt.4

It was too bad that the seal show was full. It would've been fun to watch. But Neil managed to snap this cool picture right when the seal touched the red ball.

This is the penguin aquarium that I had mentioned which was similar to the one at the Aquarium. The penguins would jump off a ledge and start swimming across this window. It was neat.

Me in the gift shop posing with a huge stuffed koala. Neil wouldn't let me bring him with us though. :( That guy really knows how to take the fun of out things...

Taronga Zoo Pics pt.3

Beach bums. =)

I thought this was so odd but so funny at the same time. Even a little creepy for some reason but I'm not sure why. I'm having a hard time looking at it eve now. *lol*

Taronga Zoo Pics pt.2

We're going to play a game called 'where's the koala'. The winner gets to see more pics of the Taronga Zoo. ;)

See? Giraffes with skyscrapers in the back. Cool yet odd.

Meerkats have always been interesting animals to me. They always seem to be staring at something but I couldn't figure out what. Neil just didn't really care.

What a strange looking animal the red panda is...

Apparently this bird is hungry...

Taronga Zoo Pics pt.1

Not too sure if these are kangaroos (or skippies, as they call them here). But Neil wanted to stick around and snap a picture of a tourist getting attacked by one of them. I'm sure there was a sign somewhere that said, 'PLEASE DO NOT PET THE ANIMALS'. *sigh*

Above and below are some of the views that we had of Sydney while we made our way around.

What is it with koalas and they're laziness? Maybe the eucalyptus makes them drowsy which is funny because it is used in drugs...

Taronga Zoo

Day 4 – Sunday, July 6

Sunday was ‘zoo day’ and Neil and I headed to the Taronga Zoo.

The day started out with us buying an ‘all day pass’ to ride the ferries that take passengers around the Sydney Harbour. There are a group of different ferries that take passengers to different areas and you can board them at Circular Quay, the ferry terminal.

The first one we hopped on took us to several different stops and was about an hour in length to get to its destination and to take us back to the terminal.

We then decided to go the zoo. And so we took the ferry that would take us there. The ferry ride was about 15-20 minutes. The neat thing about these ferries is that they provide you with different views of the city and so between Neil and myself we had snapped tons of pictures of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.

Fortunately for us, this day was a nice one. Finally a rain free day!!!

The neat thing about this zoo is that it’s built into a steep hill that faces downtown Sydney. The entrance of the zoo is at the top of this hill. To get to the top you have two choices: you can take a gondola or a bus.

We chose the bus for two reasons: 1) there was a half hour wait to get on the gondola, and 2) there was no way that I would be getting on the gondola with my insane fear of heights.

(*Side note: Some of you may have heard the stories and others who have had the joy of witnessing this in person; and I assure each and everyone of you that I HATE this, but I don’t think there’s anyway in this lifetime that I’ll be getting over it without someone throwing me over the side of a cliff. But I’d like to see someone actually try that and live. Not likely.)

The zoo is laid out in such a way that you can see every exhibit without having to make your way back to the very top. There were also different points during the walk through the zoo that offered a great view of downtown Sydney. At one point, I even snapped a picture of the giraffes not realizing that there were buildings in the background. While it’s not at all like their natural habitats, it is unique. I mean, can the Toronto Zoo say the same thing?? Hmm??? :)

There were a couple of neat exhibits here as well. The first one was the wallaby/kangaroo exhibit. You could actually walk through this one and get up close to the animals. There were quite a few people who were even petting them, but neither of us wanted to get caught doing that because we were pretty sure that it wasn’t actually allowed.

The other exhibit that caught our attention was the penguin exhibit. This one was similar to those described at the Sydney Aquarium, where you could walk underneath and watch the animals swim around. Well, we watched as the penguins swam above us, which was kind of funny to watch.

At the end of our trip, Neil and decided to take one last ferry ride that evening. This time we opted to take a ferry ride that would take us underneath the bridge. It would also give us a view of the city while the sun was setting. We passed the amusement park, although the name escapes me. We also snapped some pictures of a few of ships that were in Darling Harbour.

As we passed under the bridge on our way back to Circular Quay, I thought it was neat to see groups of people doing the walk up the bridge. My next thought after that was ‘there is not enough money in the world to get me to do that’. Much to Neil’s disappointment…>:)

And so our fourth day in Sydney, and in Australia came to an end.

P.S. Neil will be posting ferry pics so stay tuned!

Blue Mountain pics pt.5

These are just a couple of the almost 1000 steps that lead all the way down to the valley floor, i can't imagine trying to walk back up them all. A heart attack was looming after climbing back up these 50 or so steps!!

There were some crazy cliffs here. Thank goodness for the rails!!

Blue Mountain pics pt.4

Melis & Aunt Brenda

As you can see, these stairs were very close together, very steep, and very narrow. If people were coming up or going down you had to wait until they passed before moving yourself.

Blue Mountain pics pt.3

Still squinting. *lol* But check out the background. I still can't believe I was up that high and wasn't freaking out. :)

Even with the fog these pictures came out nice.
What a view.