Australian Culture

Just wanted to inform all of you about a very interesting Australian phenomenon. It comes by the name of a 'ute' short for utility and can only be described as a car/truck hybrid. They look absolutely stupid but they are considered the 'cool' cars driven by 'bad boys' in Australia. Please try to contain your bewilderment and laughter as you view the following picture.

Brissy

Last weekend I went to Brisbane, the capitol of Queensland, Australia. It is the third most populated city in Australia with a little over 2 million inhabitants. This being said, I felt like it was a relatively small city as it was easy to navigate. I also noticed that the city was very clean. I have heard that one can get fined for even throwing a cigaret on the ground in Australia so maybe this has something to do with it. We walked the city, shopped, saw some old government buildings, a park and of course the river that runs through the city itself. The night was spent at a club in 'The Valley' where we partied hard until we came back to pass out in our hostel bunk beds amongst 9 other people. All in all it was an amazing weekend spent in a beautiful city with beautiful friends.

Steve Irwin Lives On At The Australian Zoo

First off, sorry for the hiatus. Two weeks ago I was busy adventuring and then I didn't have any time between school work the next week to blog about it, so that brings us to today. Right, now that I have apologized and you have all hopefully forgiven me we can move on to me telling you about amazing furry animals. Unlike my last post, this post will be all about the cute creatures that I would like to find waking up in my bedroom (ok maybe not the crocodiles). On my third attempt getting to the zoo I finally made it. For all of you who didn't know the Australian Zoo is the Steve Irwin family zoo. Because of this Steve is mentioned and seen all throughout the park. It is weird to see him and his vision live on. Since I saw so much I will just highlight the best parts of my day in the wild. First, the koalas. I think they are officially my new favorite animal. These little round fur balls of love always look happy. Fun fact: koalas sleep between 18 and 22 hours a day! Thankfully I was able to see some of them awake, including a little baby taking a piggy back ride on her mama's back. Below are some pictures of these pink eyed friends. The second to last picture shows a mama and her baby by her stomach. The very last picture shows the baby on another mama's back.

The adventure continued when I entered the Roo Haven. I literally walked through a gate and was welcomed by a vast field to wonder off path, find kangaroos and pet them. Everything in my body told me it was wrong to walk up to a wild animal and pet it but these kangaroos were so used to it they didn't even flinch. I noticed they had different types of kangaroos. Some were more red and had thinner faces while others were white and had boxier faces. Take a look!

The last amazing thing I experienced at the zoo was feeding a GIANT! I was able to join in on the feeding process for the Asian elephants. The process was very similar to that of a drill line so it was difficult to get a picture. I fed her twise just because I couldn't get over the feeling. You would think the elephant would suction the food with her nose and then feed it to herself but instead she wrapped her ill-moisturized trunk around my hand making a little knot holding the food. It was so quick and so surreal. That day she enjoyed a lunch of zucchini, squash, celery and carrots. 

The day was finished off my venturing down to the beach to have a double dinner at the local fishery and a sushi restaurant. I am very excited to go to the Koala Sanctuary sometime soon to hold one of those fuzz balls!

Morning Episode

This morning I had an...experience. I have class at 8:00 a.m. on Fridays which is a drag but the show must go on. As I slumbered like an angel I felt my phone vibrate against my ear, nudging me awake. I knew I would not wake up unless I sat right up in bed, so that is what I did. I rubbed my eyes, looked around and saw through the faint light peaking through my curtains, a quarter sized dot on my wall next to my bed. I thought that maybe it was a stain or a piece of gum from a previous tenet that I hadn't seen before. As if waking up at 6:30 a.m. wasn't hell enough, I was met with El Diablo. A cockroach (well I am pretty sure it was a cockroach) was sitting idle on my wall waiting to great me with a good morning smile. If this was the kind of cute, little, critter in Wall-E maybe I would have been more receptive but when animation is taken out of the picture the sight is not as welcoming. Instant nausea enveloped me. I slowly grabbed two tissues and one of my new text books right out of its shopping bag. I didn't know what I would do if it had scurried away but thankfully it was a quick execution and surprisingly there was no crunch to be heard. After disposing the culprit in the toilet the morning attack was behind me, or so I thought. I couldn't help but continue to think about it. Did it crawl on top of me while I was sleeping? Couldn't it have gone into my mouth? How the heck did it get in?! All I know is that I no longer feel safe in my bed.