Winter Wonderland...Sort Of

Some mornings, after my alarm has gotten me out of bed at 5:30am and I’ve stuffed myself into my clothes, often still caked with sand, dirt and feed from the day before, the wind is so fast and fierce it whips through my clothes and sends shivers up my body.  I wish I could store some of this cold for a bit because by mid-morning I’m usually soaked with sweat and by the time the first ride heads out, the sun beats down so strongly that I can feel my skin burning beneath the first three layers of sun block I’ve already applied.  This weather right now means it is winter in Queensland. 

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I’ve chosen to spend part of the season working at a ranch on Magnetic Island, just off the coast of Townsville.  At the ranch we eat and sleep quite a bit between the long hours that we work feeding the horses, cleaning and saddling them, raking leaves just so the wind can blow the next minute and erase our work.  We have to teach people to ride and try to help people who speak little to no English and we have to keep the horses, who would all be excellent animals if it weren’t for the fact that they have people who don’t know what they’re doing riding them twice a day, from being ruined.  It’s funny, really, how horses respond to their riders, how when I, or another guide, ride them, they never try any tricks, but as soon as someone who has never ridden before is on them they try to run home or stick their heads in a bush and eat the whole time.  And really I think that’s one of the things that I love about horses, that and so many other things.  Because you can always count on them pulling some trick with some poor, unsuspecting rider who thought they were going to simply slap down some money and have a nice relaxing ride but actually they spend the whole time desperately clinging to the saddle while branches threaten to unseat them and give us guides a few laughs.  

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So even though it’s still hot as here, I can’t complain about getting to spend a few more weeks of Australia’s winter here.

Course Reviews

Australia has given me, amongst so many other things, the opportunity to take classes I would never be able to take at my uni in the states.  So to embrace this opportunity I spent this semester studying Australian History, Fisheries Science, Aquaculture and Marine Chemistry, all of which presented their own challenges and rewards.

Australian History was, at the very least, a history class and, at the very best, a history class.  Lectures were in-depth descriptions of the rather comical history of the founding and growth of the country.  Tutorials consisted of presentations and discussions of significant events that shaped the way Australia became what it is today.  The majority of the class was made up of Americans and the tutorials often became debates over American history.  Despite this, I did learn a great deal about a country whose history is greatly ignored in the States, but I do think it's my last history class for a while.

Fisheries Science was by far my favorite class.  It was full of case histories and equations and all of the information made sense.  Our lecturer arranged a series of really hands-on and effective labs which began with a field trip trawling for prawns in Cleveland Bay.  Subsequent labs included age determination, age vs length determination, gut content analysis and gonad measurement.  These labs culminated in a report on the effectiveness of the bycatch reduction device used on the trip.  The class was made all the better by the enthusiasm and knowledge of the lecturer.

Aquaculture was another good class with an awesome lecturer.  The majority of the semester was spent by raising cobia-monitoring water quality, feeding them and maintaining their tanks.  The final assessment in the class was a report examining the feed conversion ratios, standard growth rates and weight gains of the fish raised on different feeding regimes based on those we raised the cobia on.

Marine Chemistry and Chemical Ecology was the only class I regret taking.  It was one of the worst classes I've ever taken.  We had two lecturers, one of which made it very plain that he had no desire to be teaching us while the other talked so fast and assumed we knew so much that we didn't really ever learn anything.  The labs were simple but inconsequential to our learning.  Really the only good thing about the class was the awesome friends I made by bonding over our mutual dislike of the course.  I would not recommend anyone take this class as nobody seemed to enjoy any aspect of the course.

But I survived all of my exams and made some really great friends in all of my classes, so all in all I wouldn't trade my experience for anything in the world.

To find out more about studying abroad in Australia visit the website http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/northamerica.

Nice Wrasse-Diving the Moltke Wreck

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The Moltke Wreck prior to being fully submerged

My creative juices, along with my adrenaline, have been running a bit low as of late.  Even though I ended exams last Saturday, I've been going pretty consistently since, packing, planning my next moves in Australia, planning my travels and my internship for when I get back to the States and trying to spend time with everyone before they head off in separate directions.  A few days ago, I even began an Advanced Open Water SCUBA course on Magnetic Island.

Magnetic Island is a small island just off of Townsville, a quick 20 minute ferry ride away.  Most of the island is a national park, protected from fishing and other exploitative activities.  It being a national park makes for some really exceptional snorkeling and diving with good visibility, especially considering it's an island, and heaps of tropical fish to marvel at.

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To get Advanced SCUBA certified there are 5 required dives-a deep water dive, a boat dive, a navigation dive, a naturalist dive and a wreck dive-the last 3 of these I did off of Magnetic Island.  The first 2 (navigation and naturalist) were relatively uneventful, aside from the fact that I somehow managed to properly and successfully use a compass underwater for the first time in my life.  The third dive, however, exceeded my expectations by a long shot.  We dove on the wreck of the Moltke, a German ship brought over for the purpose of creating a break-water in the bay.  However, it was sunk prematurely when the captain and deckhand, being rather intoxicated, set off the booms before the ship was in its proper place.  Afterwards, the wreck was used for target practice by the military until nowadays it lies peacefully in the bay only minimally disturbed by passing boats and inquisitive divers.  The nooks and crannies make ideal homes for fish and inverts.  Huge schools of juvenile barracuda, wrasse, grunts and parrotfish can frequently be seen swimming in between the sunken masts.  Large angelfish and sweetlips, along with one humongous Humphead Wrasse also hang around the wreck and make it an amazing experience.  After my disappointing experience with the Great Barrier Reef, I was more than happy to see sprawling, unbleached coral colonies and fish as diverse as those found in Disney films and I can't wait to finish my certification and see what my next two dives have for me.

To find out more about studying abroad in Australia visit the website http://www.studyinaustralia.gov.au/northamerica.

Aussie Finals and Final Goodbyes

Not only was this my first semester at a more typical university, as compared to my little hippie school by the sea, it was also my first semester of final exams.  Although apparently the structure here is a bit different even from most U.S. schools according to my American friends.  Finals start with a full week off of classes designated specifically for students to study for exams.  Study vacation, or SWOT VAC, is a both a curse and a blessing.  It's great because you have a week to do nothing but study, but it's a nightmare because you have a week to do nothing but study.  If you yourself don't get very stressed, the atmosphere on campus can quickly remedy that.  Colleges have constant noise restrictions, coffee machines die from over-use and nerves are on end.  Needless to say it was an extremely long week.  But it was definitely needed, especially for me, who hasn't really studied for a final exam since high school.  And after heaps of study parties, practice exams, hours spent locked in solitary confinement and a few well-deserved study breaks, I've made it through four finals, which I realize is less than most students in the States have each semester, but still. 

Study wall for Marine Chemistry and Chemical Ecology

Times like these are when I really appreciate my surroundings, taking study breaks to drive up Mount Stuart and hike up Castle Hill were so much more rewarding than doing it when my mind isn't bogged down with chemical equations and fishery case studies.  There is nothing like getting a bit of exercise and fresh air to clear the mind and refresh your energy. 

Castle Hill

The Strand

And so now with finals done it's that time to start saying goodbyes.  Luckily I have the opportunity to stay in Australia for another 4 weeks to get my Advanced SCUBA Certification and to work on a horse ranch for 3 weeks.  But as friends head off, back home to other parts of Oz and back to the States, I have to be a bit sentimental.  I've been so fortunate for all of the opportunities I have had, to come to this amazing country, to study at JCU and to meet all of the amazing people that have come into my life over the past few months.  So as the sun sets over these final days I just have to remember the words of a very wise man:

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."~Dr. Seuss

Sunset from Mount Stuart

Sunset over Townsville

Summer Is For Fireflies



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Somehow every term during finals I manage to find something only slightly related to what I'm working on that gives me a bit of inspiration and renews my love of marine science right at that moment when I'm about to crack and start thinking about taking up some ridiculous business scheme.  This year it was the discovery of the Firefly Squid also known as the Sparkling Enope Squid, Watasenia scintillans.  I found this curious little creature while studying for my Marine Chemistry and Chemical Ecology final exam, while trying to pound into my head the function of luciferin and luciferase, two key components in producing bioluminescence in marine organisms.  It turns out these little guys (and yes I do mean little, with a maximum size of about 3 inches) produce light in photophores which are located on each tentacle.  They give off a magnificent blue glow and the creatures who are normally a rather dull coloration of off-white with red spots, become something of a light show when they gather together once a year to display their lights and mate. 


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So since I am studying for finals I haven't had the chance to learn as much as I would have liked to about these guys.  This site however, has some pretty good quick facts and fills in all the information I've left out of post on the off chance that anyone else is interested in learning more about W. scintillans: http://www.seasky.org/deep-sea/firefly-squid.html.  I'm not exactly sure how this helps me with finals, but it is pretty awesome and just illustrates how cool marine science is and all of the incredible things out there that inspire awe.