Lunar Eclipse

A lunar eclipse was visible throughout much of eastern Australia on Tuesday night. These are some some pictures I took during the eclipse. It was a bit cloudy that night but we were fortunate enough to have a break in the clouds when the moon was in the coolest stages.

Rain Drops Keep Falling on my Head…

I mentioned in passing last week that we had some rain on Sunday morning that lasted most of the day. It was quite the event because South East Queensland is in the midst of a rather bad drought (the dams are down to 15% capacity which is about a 3 months supply of water) and we had not seen any rain in the time I had been here. That has now all changed as the sun has not been out all day and it has rained every day since last Sunday. Not just a little bit of rain but daily downpours and continual drenches. The few breaks we had in the weather were short lived with little sun appearing during those times. Today was a bit better in the fact that the sun did come out for brief periods surrounded by heavy rains the rest of the day. As a result of all this rain, the CVA weekend I had planned (Conservation Volunteers of Australia) to go do some volunteer work in Australia was postponed until mid-September. While chatting with the guy who was to run the trip when we arrived to leave for the weekend he said they only cancel trips once a year (we were that lucky). We also had a chance to talk to him about the rain: it hasn’t rained this much for this long at one time in Australia for over 8 years making it quite the storm. The rain has resulted in massive flooding on the sunshine coast and the dams are expected to be at around 18% capacity now which should post-pone level 6 water use restrictions (we are currently at level 5) meaning 4 minute showers will remain the norm instead of even shorter . The rain is supposed to end Sunday or early this week and I think people are happy about that as they have had enough of the rain to last awhile despite the fact that it is really needed.

After having our weekend canceled (3 of my flatmates were also going on it) we wanted to find something else to do with our suddenly open time. Our initial thought was to find transportation and drive towards the middle of the country to see the outback and escape the rain; however, the nearest places to visit (most of it is open space and small towns with no places to stay) were at least 6 hours or more away from here making it a rather unfeasible option. Instead a few of us decided to take advantage of more of what Brisbane has to offer. I went to the fruit and vegetable market with Hannah (from Scotland) who lives up stairs. We both spent quite a bit and bought even more. I now have a good supply of fruits and vegetables to last me the week and they are all delicious. After the market Kelly (D.C.), Jake (Texas) and I went down to South Bank for lunch. We went to a Chinese restaurant which was delicious but cold as they sat us outside (fortunately the awning kept us dry as it was raining at this time). After lunch we joined up with Evan (New York – Queen’s as I have a feeling Tim might ask ) and headed over to the Queensland museum. It was a really great museum and was cool to learn about some of the unique things to Queensland. One of my favourite displays was on the things that make Queensland unique. I also enjoyed an exhibit on sea turtles and some of the aboriginal artifacts on display. We didn’t make it through all of the floors before closing but the museum was free so next rainy day I’ll venture over and explore the third floor.

Today (Sunday) I woke up to sunny skies and couldn’t have been happier to see the sun! We went to church and then went to lunch at a lady’s house. It was great to spend time with a family and be in a home setting. We had salmon and broccoli quiche (interesting), and a good potato salad (not in the US sense of potato salad – potato pieces with spinach and dressing) and another salad that was also good. The company was wonderful and it was interesting to hear a immigrant family perspective as this family moved from Scotland 11 years ago so we were able to share our perspective on Aussie culture together. In the evening I went to Uni Impact which is a Christian ministry I have been involved with on campus and is turning out to be a great chance to meet other Aussie’s on campus compared to many other groups on campus which seem to be dominated with International students.

I’m thinking of all you, especially my IWU friends as you all move back to school. Here is something interesting to ponder: while you all are just beginning the semester we are nearly half done with the semester here in Australia. Isn’t that strange? If you would like to see a few more pictures from the museum, I have posted them online and you can access them following the pictures link on the sidebar.

It’s EKKA Time!

This weekend I opted to stay in Brisbane. It was nice to have a bit more relaxed weekend, although it was by no means dull ! On Saturday I joined AIFP (the Aussie International Friend Program) on a trip to Ekka. Ekka is a regional exhibition that is put on every year in Brisbane. People from the bush bring their animals into town for all the city people (the majority of Australia) to see and experience life in the Outback. The plan was to see the highlights as a large group when we arrived at the RNA showgrounds; however, keeping that many people together in a fairgrounds is rather unsuccessful so a group of us ended up splitting off from the group and exploring Ekka on our own.

Imke (Germany), Katie (Oregon), Amanda (UK) & Martin (Germany)

The best comparison I can make of Ekka to anything in the states is that it is similar to state fairs back home, but it is also different from those. A big portion of the Ekka is barns full of the different animals, artwork and crops that people have brought in to show and compete for the top prize. Some categories they had that I never would have expected included: pigeons (we were of a general consensus that we thought these were considered pests; however, they did have some very exceptional birds), llamas and fish.

In addition to the show animals they also had people putting on shows demonstrating the skills they used on their farms. We watched one show where a man was able to make his border collie go places and do things for him simply with verbal commands. For example, he would tell the border collie to bring him the red chook (read rooster) and he would be able to pick out the red rooster from the white rooster and ducks and herd it to the man. It was quite impressive. In another show we saw a man show how he was able to direct his horses without actually being on them. This was especially entertaining because the horses had apparently had enough of it over the week (it was the last day of Ekka) and weren’t always very good at listening but instead seemed to be showing off. In this show we apparently saw a sight that you will only see at the Ekka in Australia. The man was able to get one of his horses to lay down and stand the other three over top of them.

Like any fair there was a quite a bit of food on offer. In one area they had an international food pavillion with different international food options. The United States was associated with particularly healthy foods: American Funnel Cakes, American Donuts and American Hotdogs. I decided to stay away from the American food and instead had roasted corn (my favorite), chips (read fries which are an Aussie staple) and the famous Ekka Strawberries and Ice Cream. These were also delicious. Although there was a lot of food on offer it was definitely not as out of control as the Minnesota State fair where you can spend the day simply eating.

We spent a lot of time walking through the different booths sponsored by the government and other organizations within Australia. In one booth we saw this one man band. I was taking a picture of him and he saw me so he came up to me and made me play the horn on his contraption while he wrote a song about me. It was quite the experience and I think a lot of people enjoyed watching me stand there like a fool while he wrote the song.

Another uniquely Australian aspect of the Ekka was the showbags. They had an entire building filled with showbags that you could buy from various different companies. There were probably over 200 bags to choose from varying in price from $1 to $150. The cheap ones contained things like samples of different candy companies goodies while the more expensive ones contained jewelry. We all were surprised to see Aussie’s purchasing multiple showbags as from our perspective they weren’t worth the money but companies here have a good deal as they can sell their samples to people rather than having to give away free samples. This area seemed to be as popular as the carnival.

People going showbag crazy!

Some other experiences from the week:
* On Friday night I went out to one of the bars with some of my friends. Australian dancing is quite entertaining as it is nothing like dancing in the US (much to my appreciation) and people seem to do the kind of dance moves that we do jokingly in the states (such as the pretending to be a sprinkler or mowing the lawn or things like that). The night life in this country is very huge. I stayed out until about 3am and people were still coming out.

* It has finally rained here in Brisbane! They have had a huge drought in Queensland this summer (to the point where the government asks you to only take 4 minute showers to conserve water in public service announcements on TV). It rained all day yesterday and is raining again today. It is supposed to rain most of the week. Although it makes getting around a bit inconvenient I am excited to see all the plants when the sun comes out now that they have been inundated with water.

Ekka Wednesday Racefest

Today was the Ekka Wednesday Racefest. Ekka Wednesday is a Queensland public holiday which meant places were closed and we had the day off from school. This holiday is in honor of the Ekka, a week-long weekend exhibition that as far as I can tell is much like a state fair back home. I’ll know more after I have the chance to go this weekend. As part of this public holiday, a huge horse race is held in Brisbane which is the place for people to be (especially Uni students) on the day off from school. Many of my flatmates and I decided to take advantage of this day and experience our first horse race.

The event is much like any horse race you would probably imagine. Everyone gets dressed up for the event in dresses and big hats or hair pieces. A few of my flatmates managed to get their hands on some reasonably priced (or free) hats to accompany their outfits, but in general we found hats to be priced at a minimum of $100 and smaller hair pieces (like big flowers) priced at a minimum of $50. Needless to say they seem to be quite the status symbol – we were rather amazed. We all got up early to get ready for the race and then headed down to the ferry to hang out with some student groups for a pre-race party. In true Aussie tradition it involved a lot of pre-party drinking despite the fact that it was 8:30 in the morning. Those of us not keen on drinking that early in the morning enjoyed the company but passed on seeing how drunk we could get.

Upon arrival at the horse race we enjoyed both the sites (the attire of the race, dresses and hats, made for interesting people watching) and all had our first experience of a horse race. It is an interesting sport to observe as the minute of the race is very exciting but is interspersed with long breaks (about half an hour between races). As such the 8 races of the days lasted from noon until 5 in the evening. Although we didn’t actually bet on any of the horses, we all enjoyed trying to pick which horse we thought would win. I never did pick the winning horse, good thing I didn’t bet .

Some other observations from the day:
* This holiday is rather interesting as it seems to have no political or historical significance. Not only does it fall in the middle of the week, but it centers around a horse race where the main point seems to be drinking and hanging out with friends. Not necessarily a bad thing but different than anything I’m used to.

* In the irony that is life, it rained (sprinkled) most of the day and was the coldest it has been in our time in Australia. This is especially surprising because Queensland is in the midst of a drought and it hasn’t rained in several months.

* The clothing of the day reminded me a lot of vintage dress of the 30’s and 40’s and was rather enjoyable to observe.

Sydney!

This past weekend I met my family for their last weekend in Australia in Sydney. As many of you are probably aware, Sydney is the largest city in Australia with a population around 4 million.

On Friday we visited the famous Bondi Beach. As far as Australian beaches go, I have seen many nicer ones but it is always nice to be next to the ocean. We took the 4 km ocean walk along the coastal cliffs between Bondi Beach and Bronte Beach. This walk provided some gorgeous views of the beaches and cliffs.. We saw several surfers and a spear fisherman as well.

For lunch I had my first experience with an Australian hamburger from a local restaurant. It came with fried onions, beetroot, lettuce and tomato. I decided to give the combination a try and was pleasantly surprised. I do prefer it without the beet though and decided that the taste was enough .

On Saturday morning we made our way to the Opera House for an architectural tour. The opera house is an impressive structure. Utzah (the man who designed the building) quit shortly after the frame was built due to conflicts with the government. As a result all of the rooms and theaters (over 1000 total) are secondary structures designed by Peter Hall to fit within the frame. The design decisions made by Utzah were quite impressive: tan and off-white tiles to make the roof glean the way it does, tinted angled windows to provide amazing outside views regardless of the time of day and an air conditioning system that appears to be part of the design.

In the evening we completed the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb. Every city in Australia seems to have something of this type. We climbed to the summit of the bridge and were able to see the city during daylight, sunset and the nigh lights. The views of the city were great and the climb was pretty impressive. We had to be all strapped into place — it was pretty crazy. I can even say I jumped off the Sydney Harbor Bridge as we jumped from the edge of the bridge to solid land – I know it’s cheesy but then that is Aussie Humor again .

On Sunday we took a tour of the Sydney Harbor. The Harbor is beautiful and is surrounded by some impressive homes valued between 20 to 50 million AUD. Although the homes were impressive I most enjoyed the park landscape and city views.

I am once again back in Brisbane for a short week of class. We have tomorrow off for a horse race. It is a public holiday and apparently the city shuts down for it. More about the next time when I have had the chance to experience it. I will leave you with my favorite Aussie Street Sign. It is the pedestrian cross walk sign.