Australian Institutions

As I’ve been living in Australia I have noticed ( and participated in) a few Australian traditions or institutions.

The first: Everyone is either an immigrant or their family was an immigrant. The first thing they want to know is where you are from and not just the country you were born in but what is your families nationality…right down to the village/town name if they can get. Responding, “German” on gets me quizzed on which part, where from, etc. I am beginning to feel resigned when ever Pete introduces me and tosses out “Her family is German!”.  Le sigh. On the upside, Melbourne is amazingly multicultural with downtown rush hour sounding like some exotic world market, people babbling along in all sorts of languages, sometimes even groups of people all talking away amongst each other in different languages, no one really knowing what the other is saying but all smiling a bit madly and having a great time. This is also common in the multitude of ethnic restaurants….which is every restaurant I think.

Second:  Speaking of restaurants. My first morning in Australia and I had purchased no food as yet. I decided to walk up to the main street for some brekky.  I order the basic eggs, toast and sausage.  It was really eggs *ON* toast with sausage. How am I supposed to eat this? Why is my toast under my eggs and where is my jam? I carefully moved the eggs so I could pickup and eat my toast like a civilized upper left coaster, with your hand. The next weekend again I ordered breakfast, this time in a posh little cafe downtown, and again eggs on my toast, wtf! I glanced around to see how other people were handling this outrage and they were all calmly eating egg on toast with a knife and fork. Eat with a knife…..hmmmmm. It does in fact work, quite well really. The next weekend was 4×4 training and my breakfast experience got even better. It was while staying at Marapana that Judy (the hostess) introduced me to the “Big Breakfast” (actual name, you can order it anywhere). It went something like this

“How would you like your eggs: scrambled, fried or poached?” “fried, thank you”

“And toast? Wholemeal, white or multigrain?” “Multigrain please” as I turned to walk away, thinking that was it.

“Sausage, bacon or both?” Having experienced some strange snags (sausages) already, “bacon is good”

“Tomatoes and mushrooms?” “ummmm, tomato sounds lovely, no mushrooms please”

Oh My God! How was I going to eat all of this? I didn’t make it through that first big brekky but since I have fallen in love with it, especially the mushrooms. I adore a big pile of sliced grilled mushies. Our last trip to Beechworth resulted in a lovely brekky cooked by Peter.

Australian Big Breakfast

Third: Australian Rules Football. Footy actually has very little in common with either American football or soccer aside from sharing the name football. It’s more a bit like rugby  mixed with a bit of soccer and a dash of hockey violence (or maybe that’s the rugby). Really you have to watch it. The pace is really fast, there aren’t a lot of timeouts or standing around. The ball moves incredibly quickly and the guys are amazingly fit and coordinated. Where as American sports athletes tend toward the portly these guys are all magnificent specimens of elites athletes….and just generally pretty hot with glistening muscles and tiny shorts. I went to my first game last night and I think I have finally found a sport (aside from hockey) that I can love and watch! Check back for a photo.

Random Stuff:

As promised here is the lovely bruise I got from my first crash wearing silly cycling shoes. Keep in mind this was taken more than a week after the accident:

Results of First Fall with Clipless Pedals

And two more pictures. Peter and I visited Beechworth alt weekend and drove through the fire path (it was out and safe of course). So many houses gone, it was really hard on both of us. I ddin’t take many pictures because I didn’t feel it was appropriate to be snapping photos as if I was a tourist (which I was) so I grabbed a couple as we were driving

Stanley Forest after Black Saturday

Pine plantation after Black Saturday

Cycling Adventures

As many of you may know I have taken up cycling since arriving in Australia.  Everyone in my office cycles, Garreth and his wife have 8 bikes between them, Dave has more bikes and bike parts than I can count and Peter has 3 just for himself ( one of which he has loaned to me).  I invested in a new helmet and an awesome cycling shirt right away (for safety and style) but decided that I would just wear my jogging shorts and running shoes. What I discovered is that:

1. Maybe cycling shorts have those funny pads for a reason. The seat is hard, it chafes and my ass hurts.
2. It’s really hard to keep my feet on the pedals when I am on rough dirt trails

Giving these two discoveries I decided that I needed both a pair of cycling shorts and a pair of clip in cycling shoes. Fortunately they have “shy shorts” here which are nice loose shorts covering the tight spandex padded shorts so I got those. Then for the shoes, as I was trying them on Anthony and Peter gleefully discussed how much I was going to fall over and that I should wear gloves and don’t forget to loosen the clips on the pedals and so on and so forth until I began to have second thoughts. “Peter”, I said, ” can we go someplace nice and easy?” “Sure, he says. We’ll go to Lysterfield!”  Well now I know better.  Lysterfield is lovely, nice lake, beautiful plantation of eucalypts, hills, lots of trails, tree trunks, switch backs. In other words a mountain bikers paradise…. unless you were a complete duffer AND using  clipless pedals for the first time in which case it was a beautiful hell.  To be fair, in the beginning it wasn’t bad, well within my skills when not wearing my new deadly shoes. Sadly, Immediately I had a terrible and spectacular accident.  I was executing a brilliant jump over a tree trunk on a downhill………actually I had gone around a corner, quite slowly mind you, and then….I fell over, landing on my hit and shoulder, one foot still clipped in. I laid in pain, waiting for Peter to return and help me. I continued the ride, doing some trunk jumping, some technical switch backs, and some painful hills. Finally though I just couldn’t continue, going uphill required pulling back on the handle bars and that just killed my shoulder.

I went in for Xrays the next days and was relieved to discover that I didn’t break anything, though surprisingly I had previously cracked my collarbone and was unaware of it. It must have been when my shoulder got slammed by a steel storm door in Wyoming, who knew? The doctor feared then that I had torn my rotor cuff and referred my for ultrasound. However, it’s healing so quickly I have decided not to have it done unless a couple weeks from now it still hurts. In the mean time my hip has turned the most spectacular colours.

I went for another ride, just here in town, and my final results are:

1. Cycling shorts with the funny pads are wonderful. My poor sore ass feeling better and my shafed thighs are soothed. I did get a pair of padded 3/4 length tights that dont have the “shy” part…haven’t had the courage to wear them yet.
2. I *LOVE* my clip in shoes, more power and more control and they are comfy and cool. I wont ride without them and the while they feel a little scary still they are brilliant.

The sun is red ….

ash drifts down from the sky and an entire country cries. The fires are slowly dying down but not fast enough.

Bushfire

The temperature had reached 46 degrees and Peter and I were congratulating ourselves on the decision to stay where there was air conditioning instead of spending the weekend in Beechworth. As we walked into Leo’s (a grocery store) we noticed that a thick column of smoke, greasy blue along the edges and yellow brown in the center, rose over the hills of Melbourne.  Bushfire. Wow, it’s so close, where is it? We speculated as we gathered ingredients for dinner deciding to check the news later. I didn’t think it would be that bad. I am from the Pacific Northwest, we have raging forest fires and everyone goes about their day but here it is terrifyingly different. The forests are so dry from the drought years, eucalyptus shed bark and branches at an amazing rate and it goes up in flames like it has been soaked in petrol.

It was worse than bad, it looked like the end of the world, a war zone, the inferno found in hell. Sadly this weekend has seen the worst bushfires in the history of European settlement in Victoria. At the time of writing this the towns of Maryville, Narbathong and Kinglake has been wiped out, burnt to the ground with no building left standing. Entire towns no longer exist and sadly many of the residents as well. The death toll has risen to 108 people with more than 5000 people not only homeless but with absolutely nothing but the clothing they had on. No wallet, no id, no precious things and sometimes no family, no pets. It’s not even over, fires are still raging and the bodies of people that didn’t make it out of their houses, that died trying to escape in their cars are going to be found for weeks. Terribly, it is thought that some of the fires were set by arsonists and some fires have been restarted by arsonists after the firemen have put them out.

I cannot begin to describe how tragic and moving this incident is. The news from a Whittlesea emergency center showed a man break down in tears while talking to Kevin Rudd, the prime minister. Mr. Rudd won my eternal respect for wrapping his arms around the man and letting him cry on his shoulder. How many heads of state would do that, how many would be there, without security surrounding them, comforting people in this most basic of ways.

I know that most (if not all) of the people who read this are poor, either students or suffering from the economy, but should anyone want to help please check the following website:

Red Cross Australia

Salvation Army

For updates on the fires:

The Age

Grampians National Park

Grampion National Park

Lookout

In 1788 Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Sydney Bay with the first 11 ships of convicts to plant the Union Jack and begin the occupation of Australia by Great Britain. This day has since been celebrated as Australia Day, filled with barbecues, lamingtons, beer, citizenship ceremonies and cricket. Since it is also a long weekend Pete took me camping at Grampians National Park.

It is remarkably close to Melbourne, only about a 2.5 hour drive. Of course we are in Victoria so we cannot drive a reasonable speed, the freeways here max out at 110 k/h = 68 m/h and you can only go 3k/h over before you lose a point off your license AND they have speed cameras all over the place! Sorry, had to get that off my chest.

We got in and setup camp late Friday evening but that meant we had a full day Saturday to explore and play. We drove every 4×4 track that caught our interest. Visited lookouts, scrambled up granite piles, hiked to view waterfalls (some of which actually had water) went swimming and even got in a cycle at the end of the weekend. To top it all off I saw wild Emu with her littles! It was a lovely weekend and I regretted having to leave.

Lookout

Grampion National Park

Grampian National Park

Rock Scrambling

Pete & I after a walk

King of the Hill

MacKenzie Waterfall

Getting Ready to Cycle

Deliciously Warm reaches Searing Hot

Melbourne has been enjoying a week or so of wonderfully warm days in the mid to upper 20s and even a day of 34 but today it was so hot that breathing through your mouth turned your tongue into parched leather in two inhales. Your lips wrinkle and crack and your skin, even though you know you are sweating, is bone dry. The only place that the sweat is not instantly evaporated from is the shaded valley between your breasts and the dip at the top of your ass.  Today, according to The Age weather page, it got to 41 degrees Celsius, 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

The temp itself isn’t enough to cause the instant dehydration of living tissue, it’s the North wind coming off of the vast desert that forms the heart of Australia. The northerlies have only just started to blow here and even the sounds they make is dry. Rustling of shed reptile skin, grains of sand rubbing across flat tables of stone and over the tops of dunes,  dry leaves tumbling across the ground, all of these can be heard in the sound of the north wind through a eucalypt tree. And the smell….warm dust with a hint of Vic’s vapo rub.

I love every second of it.

Being a Social Scaredy Cat and a Sheared Sheep

Looking back on the week I am having a hard time having a clear recollection of any particular day. Each one blurs into the next, all of them spent sitting long hours in front of my PC at work trying not to cuss at it too loudly and trying to keep some kind of upbeat attitude. I have had a hard time as a PhD student keeping myself feeling like I can do it. I compare myself to other students and I wonder if I have the drive it takes to do this. Now that I am a few years in (Sept 2008 would be the beginning of year 3 I think) I feel like I have to finish. And it’s not just the time investment but proving to myself that I can. I never feel smart enough but I know I am. I just need to find the drive that I had for my undergrad work. I will complete my course work in the 2009-2010 year and then spend the next year writing my thesis, hopefully from Australia. So I try to keep my chin up, not beat myself up too terribly, cry when I can’t take feeling stupid, and try to get some good work done while I am here.

A few days do stand out. Tuesday was my first 39 degree day. The wind was from the north, off of the desert, so dry it smelled of eucalyptus from the leaves that were being dehydrated as it blew over them. I loved every second of it. Thursday I rode up to Bendigo with Matt, Graeme, Anne and Michelle to talk to the DSE office up there about a program to encourage farmers to care better for their native grasslands. I saw a pair of zebra finches, a brown falcon and a distant sighting of a little eagle.

Socially this week has presented it’s own special hell for me. Firstly I had to bite the bullet and meet the thoroughly intimidating Jane Elith. She is an amazingly intelligent woman with a hugely busy schedule and yet is still willing to teach me her boosted regression tree technique. God, please let me not look like an idiot.  That went over pretty well though beyond arranging when I would come to her office (Thursdays and Fridays for the rest of my stay) and what I wanted to do most of the meeting was her, Matt and Graeme chatting (Hurray, they were my heroes for taking me over there though hopefully they didn’t realize how terrified I was). So I survived that encounter and followed it up with dinner at Matt’s house with Peter. While I know and like Matt I haven’t really spent much time in a social situation with him and I would be meeting his partner, Deb, and their family and a friend. So all in all I was feeling a bit nervous. I was relieved to discover that Deb was a beautiful and lovely person, friendly and very comfortable as was their friend Owen (say owen and that’s exactly what my name sounds like from an aussie). It wound up being one of the best evenings I’ve had in Australia.

New Hair Cut

As for being a sheared sheep…. I couldn’t hack it anymore. I had to get my haircut. I was hoping to make it the entire time but it just wasn’t going to work, my hair was driving me mad! I made an appointment at a rather posh looking salon right downtown in Melbourne, Geisha. It was a very nice establishment and everyone there seemed qualified. Renee, my stylist, was very professional and she really did do a good job but there wasn’t the instant rapport that I have with Alex at Wack in Portland. Alex has an amazing ability to understand my desire for elegant but edgy, feminine but not girly. Sadly Renee just got the edgy bit I think. It is really short in the back. Really really really short Fortunately my hair grows quickly so it will be long enough for Alex to salvage when I get home. First stop after Portland airport…Wack Salon!

Lane

Before and after my appointment I walked around Downtown a bit and just enjoyed the people. The area is riddled with these little lanes, packed with cafes and boutiques. Every alley and dumpster is covered with wonderful graffiti and stencil work that the city finally gave up trying to get rid of and now embraces.

I do find that shopping by yourself isn’t really that much fun. I need to find a girlfriend or a guyfriend that is into shopping. I love the clothes and the style here though they are a bit fussy for the laid back vibe of the northwest. Women here dress up (by our standards) every night and they love their high hells heels.

Today (sunday) I am returning to cycling. My ass bones have finally healed enough that I can sit without feeling like it’s torture and I am really craving a ride. (This is very strange for me but I am not going to question it) I love cycling, who knew? Going to ride to the boat house and rent a kayak and paddle for an hour then ride home. What a perfect day.

Love you all!

Life: the Novel, part 2

I left out of the last Life entry that on our way to Canberra we decided to take the scenic route, in other words we went by 4×4 track….through a thunder storm….that was dumping buckets. As a result of those and other factors (like Peter giving it the stick a bit) we lost a camping box off of the rack on the back of the Toureg. Sadly this box contained vital equipment for sleeping, cooking and light. Our time in Canberra was spent in a lovely little hotel room that looked like it had been decorated by my Grandmother Lettkeman, fake flowers, porcelain dolls and all. It was quite homey in a sad kind of way and I probably shed a tear or to while lolling in the bathtub admiring the little lacy toilet roll covers.

Baby Koala

Koala Mum and little

Part 2 of my vacation was spent in Beechworth at Peter’s property.  I love Beechworth.  I have been there 3 or 4 times both for a relaxing weekend and also for field work in the area. It is a lovely quaint little town with boutiques and cafes galore. It even has a wonderful little craft brewery, Bridge Road Brewers, Ben makes the beer, delicious, and Maria makes the food, awesome.

I had been fussing about the fact that I hadn’t seen a koala yet even though I had spent quite a bit of time in the bush. Then as I was eating breakfast on the porch I saw this strange and rather fightening creature walking across the paddock next door. I was sure that my eyes were playing tricks on me, I absolutely could not figure out what it was. It looked rather like a hyena or a low budget werewolf. “Peter, what the hell is that thing? Oh, it’s a koala!”. Once she had started climbing the tree I could identify her. Who knew that koalas, with babies on their backs, looked so bizarre!. I grabbed my camera and hopped the barbedwire fence snapping away gleefully with my camera. The two of them were remarkably unimpressed by my photographic genius until I turned the flash on, that earned my a couple of dirty looks.

Just as a random cute photo, here is an echidna I came acrossed while in the field. They are quite silly and bury their heads when they feel endagered. (An effective ploy given how spiny they are). However, if you hold still enough they will eventually uncurl and continue rooting for ants and other yummy bugs. This one was only about a meter away and was very adorable. I learned from this little fellow that echidnas can blow snot bubbles. Sadly I was unable to capture one on film.

On Vacation

Sorry I have been so bad about updating my blog lately but it’s not going to get any better for a week or two.

Libby & Jeff

I finished my first aid training Friday before last and went out for field work for the first time. Field work this time meant visiting properties that had been participating in a government program to restore remnant vegetation using different techniques that the landowners had indicated willingness to try. (In reality they were being paid) From Planting and removal of of weeds to fencing out livestock and at one site even doing nothing apparently. We’d hike out to a randomly selected spot, create a 100 meter by 40 meter plot and count vegetation until we ran out of pencil graphite. I learned a great deal and had a very good time. I really enjoy my coworkers (even after 5 days with no other company), Garreth, Libby, Jeff and our fearless leader Dave.

Dave

Garreth

Today I am off to begin my vacation. I have gotten the car packed and am heading up the coast northward to warmer water for a Christmas holiday of snorkeling, diving and camping. I will be without internet probably the entire time but will post when I return in 2 weeks.

I love you all and have a safe and wonderful holiday season!

btw….. it’s supposed to be 88 degree on christmas…..at the beach. I’ll be thinking of you guys 

Conference and Snorkeling!

This week I have been in Sydney attending a conference, ESA 2008 (Ecological Society of Australia). So far it as actually been very interesting. The talks are mostly well thought out and presented and the information is all new to me (which makes paying attention a little easier). The hostel I am staying though is terrible. I have an interior room and they have had moisture issues at some point cause you can see the plaster mildew in some corners. Then last night I discovered there are also huge ass brown cockroaches! like 2 inch long cockroaches. It’s really terrible. I would leave but because of the conference everything within walking distance is booked up. So I will endure. The bedding is clean at least.

So today was a break day from the conference. They plan it so Monday and Tuesday are conference days, Wednesday there are organized field trips if you want, then Thursday and Friday are more conference days. Instead of going on a trip (which ARI would have had to pay for) Garreth suggested that we go snorkeling. So we took the Manly ferry to Manly (which had Manly lifeguards, what a great name for a place) and walked around the cov to a nice little beach that happened to be a marine reserve. There were beautiful seaweeds and arthropods and the water was turquoise. Best of all the water was warm. Like swim suit, could have stayed in for 45 minutes warm. Amazing. One of the fish that we saw has obviously gotten used to people and perhaps had even gotten used to being fed because it kept following us.  It was a large blue grouper.

Blue Grouper

At first I was a little nervous of him because he kept following me and he obviously wasn’t concerned about how close he got. They do have rather large mouths. but then I realized he was just hoping for a hand out.

Friday and Saturday and essentially free days so I will take my camera out and get some pictures of Sydney.

Random Extra Pictures that I found:

Sydney Opera House from the Manly Ferry

Regatta Day in Sydney Bay

Manly Beach (had Manly Lifeguards)