Jervis Bay Day 3

March 28th

He survived to go to Cairns with me unfortunately

Woke up early again to pack up the tent then drove to these nearby lighthouse ruins that lay upon a cliff.

Backside of the ruined lighthouse

More than 400 acres of land belongs to the aboriginal community based in Wreck Bay now. In fact Jervis Bay is considered a territory of Australia, much like the Northern Territory, and the Australian Capital Territory. Technically it is not in the state of New South Wales, even though it is in the southern part of it. This is one of the only cases similar to what we have in the United States, where large tracts of land are granted to natives. As I stated before, Barry's tribe was not a victim of the stolen generation because most Australians didn't even know his tribe resided in this bay and surrounding woods until much later after colonisation.

Lighthouse ruins

Anyhow, the lighthouse ruins are a prime example of white settlement on aboriginal land. When it stood it was poorly placed, and lead many ships to doom. They tore it down after a few years for this very reason and left only ruins.

Cliffs from above, would not want to fall down there

After walking dangerously close to the edge of cliffs, we drove to Hyams beach which has the whitest sand in the world according to the Guinness Book of World records and a few other sources. The sand was blindingly bright!

The whitest sand in the world

This weekend has been phenomenal. I've seen and pet wild kangaroos for the first time. In fact, I saw about a dozen of them. They really are everywhere in the Australian wilderness. Some other endemic animals that I saw were a possum (with a little baby riding on its back), parrots, bull ants, and the laughing kookaburra.

This Friday I fly to Cairns to go into the rainforest, and see the great barrier reef in northern Queensland!

Cheers!

Jono

Jervis Bay Day 2

March 27th

Parrots on my tent in the morning

Woke up to parrots today. Had an early breakfast then hopped in the van. We met the same aboriginal guide as yesterday, Barry. He took us to go for a bush walk.

Sammy with a dead snake

We first walked over a log infested with Sydney Funnel Spiders, the most dangerous spiders in the world. Sammy pointed out grass trees in the same area. Their leaves grow like grass at a rate of an inch every 12 months. Sammy's tribe used to use the stems of the grass for food and the rest to make spears. Sammy's tribe was also very medically advanced, using plants from the forest to treat various ailments successfully.

Grass tree

Further along the walk we stumbled upon bull ants. These big red ants (at least 2 inches) are very territorial creatures. If you step on their mounds, hundreds of bull ants will crawl up your body from your legs and bite you all over. Some people have died because the bull ants tend to crawl up your nose in the process and suffocate you to death.

Bull ant, yikes!

On a more pleasant note, we ended the walk at a waterfall where we went through photos of Sammy's village and tribal history.

Squiggly tree

After the bush walk, we went surfing on cave beach. I fell of my board every which way in some pretty epic wipe outs, but I did manage to stand up once. It is hard to keep your balance on the board. The beach afterwords was a nice place to chill out on.

Cave Beach

We drove back and just hung out the rest of the night.

Me in a surf shirt before we went surfing

Keep it level!

Jono

Jervis Bay Day 1

March 26th

Beautiful Australian countryside on the ride to Jervis Bay

Back to the good old days of boy scouts. We met up for a 4 hour (not 2) drive south to Jervis Bay. Upon arrival, we had to pitch our tents and set up cots for our sleeping bags. It was quite the ordeal. I think my dad pitched my tent for me whenever I went camping because it always seemed simpler than this.

Hope this tent stays up!

It turns out that a humongous wild kangaroo was relaxing about 10 feet from my tent. It was adorable to say the least but also quite vicious. I tried petting it and it growled at me. I do not want to mess with something with such massive claws.That was not even the last wild kangaroo I saw today up close.

Probably not a good time to tell this joey what is for dinner tomorrow...Hey kangaroo hay!

I walked with Amanda, Yvanka, Zach, and Brad to the beach that was right nearby. We walked along the rocky outcropping looking out to the bay. We enjoyed ourselves a little too much because we ended up late for dinner.

Brad, Zach, and Yvanka on the edge of the outcropping

After dinner we went to to hear aboriginal stories by fireside while eating damper, a sort of traditional Australian bread. Our tour guide was Barry an older tribesman. He talked about their misplacement by white settlers and about the community they have nearby. They have a say in the running of the Jervis Bay Park. They were luckily not the victims of the stolen generation, where Australian settlers literally stole kids from their parents to 'civilize them'.

Early morning wake up tomorrow to go bushwalking, surfing, and then hang out on the beach!


Jono De Costa

Could-gee

March 20th

Tashya, Yvanka, and Zach walk towards Coogee

It was a nice 80 degrees or so out today, so I decided to go to Coogee beach with Zach, Yvanka, Yvanka's boyfriend, and Tashya.

Coogee

The bus ride from Darlington suburb (next suburb over from Newtown where I live) was actually not that bad. I think it is the closest beach to us. Coogee is a less crowded version of Bondi. It has a dense suburb in the background just like Bondi. The main difference was the waves were much calmer, because it is situated in a bay.

Manly is still by far my favourite beach, because it is much less crowded and has a nice storefront area near the beach. The ferry ride was also very epic, going by the Opera House, Harbour bridge, and into the bay.

One more week of classes then I go to Jervis Bay for a weekend on the beach as a part of my study abroad program. Jervis Bay is about two and a half hours from where I live, between Canberra and Sydney. We are going surfing, and listening to nighttime tales from the Dharug people. The Dharug are one of the hundreds of aboriginal groups with their own unique culture and language.

Keep it level!


Jono De Costa

P.S. Since I am putting this up Tuesday (Sydney time), I have already finished and turned in my sociology paper, and I ended up winning my English debate. So things went well on my first day of due dates.

Taronga Zoo

March 19th

My size compared to the largest bear in the world

Classes have started to pick-up . I've survived 3 weeks of lectures and I'm finally getting settled into my tutes (tutorials), which are very similar in class size to Bryant. I'm very prepared for participation in these tutes (10%-15% of the final grade), coming from business classes at Bryant as well. I have my first two items due Monday: I must engage in a debate on Deor in English, and a 500 word essay in sociology. I'm not too worried about the essay, as I just wrote more than 4/5th of that essay in this blog post alone, and sociology is of vast interest to me anyways (one of my minors).

Seal at the entrance to the Taronga Zoo

In other news, I finally made it to the Taronga Zoo! It was just a short ferry ride from the Central Business District. The zoo has some breathtaking views of the CBD. In one particular exhibit mountain goats climbed terrain backed by the opera house!

Look at the Opera House in the background of that goat!

Th exhibits at Taronga are impressively varied. They contain animals that are endemic to Australia, as well as ones from around the world.


Taronga is very good at breeding. The Taronga Zoo is the 2nd zoo in the world to successfully breed the Australian native platypus, and most animals have offspring within the zoo. A young gorilla jumped on its mother's back while we watched, and its mother handed it some cabbage. In another case, two elephants shaded their young from the sun.

Little one rides on its mother's back while consuming cabbage

So what was my favourite animal? By far it was the Meerkat, because I do not remember ever seeing one in a zoo before. Take a look for yourself.

Meerkat

We ended the trip to the zoo with an educational and intriguing bird show. The zoologist showed us some unique birds up close and put on a show for us with birds flying every which way. If you are ever in Sydney, DON'T miss this bird show, and Taronga Zoo in general. I liked this zoo even more so than the world famous Bronx Zoo, or the San Diego Zoo. It takes about 4-5 hours to fully see, so plan accordingly.

Bird show with the Sydney CBD skyline in the background

Oh! and here is a really cool (I think at least) video I took of a bird helping her chicks back into their exhibit: click here


Keep it level!


Jono De Costa

elephant shade

Am I the only one that thinks this fella is goofy looking?

Bond-EYE!

March 12th

I Went to Bondi Beach for the first time this weekend. It unfortunately started to rain right as I arrived with my friend Alex from Canberra. Despite this, I could see the attraction of the beach. It offers not only natural beauty but a elaborate beach going crowd (people were there even in the rain). It's not the beach you go to for a quiet day, but rather one to see a bunch of surfers showing off, and to people watch. It's the most centrally located beach, hence why so many people congregate there. I'll have to show up when it is not raining.

I Spent the rest of the night exploring George St. and Broadway which are popular night spots.


Keep it level!


Jono


P.S. I Realise I have not posted in a while. My laptop broke and I am working on getting it fixed soon.

Kings

March 10th

Getting too used to left-sided traffic

I found some pictures of King Street, the street I live right near, that are really cool. I figured I would post them instead of bothering to take photos of it myself. King Street is this trendy youth filled street covered with book shops, art shops, fashion retailers, restaurants, and pubs. It goes on for a good 3 km at least. It is the greatest example of a Victorian era high street left in Sydney, and I have the joy of having it almost literally at my doorstop.

Cheers!


Jono

A Tribute to the Queen

March 6th/7th

Standing under one of the ginormous plants in the Royal Botanic Gardens

The Queen Victoria Building is a sight to behold. It is an old Victorian building that has been converted into a shopping centre. Its beautiful intricate design is reminiscent of an old English mansion, only it has got moving stairs running right through the middle of it.

Grey headed flying fox--these Australia native bats are some of the largest in the world
they typically stay in roosts during the day of hundreds to thousands of bats and are quite common in Sydney.
What is almost more stunning is the fact that beneath the building is an elaborate set of shopping tunnels that continue where the QVB left off. I did not realise that I was standing over floors of stores when walking on the main thoroughfare in the Central Business District.

(Will update this with photos of the Queen Victoria Building soon)

Vivid painting at the Art Gallery of New South Wales

The day after visiting the QVB, I ventured with Zach into the Royal Botanic Gardens area near Circular Quay. We first went to the Art Gallery of New South Wales, a state funded art gallery. It exhibited primarily Australian artwork but also had artwork from around the world. It was a mid-range sized art museum with several floors, not bad for free.

Statue outside the gallery

The Royal Botanic Gardens held a wonderment of pathways stretched along neatly planted flowers, and other flora. The Gardens sprawled in and around the harbour and ended at a gate near the Opera House. Quite the dedication to the Commonwealth of England I must say.

Suitcases shaped like humans, how metaphorical

2nd week of classes start tomorrow.

Cheers!


Jono De Costa

P.S. I've naught been this healthy in a long time. I've been walking all over the city and I plan on taking up jogging nightly under the cool breeze.

Alice in IMAX

March 5th

Public transported my way to the largest IMAX in the world, situated right on Darling Harbour. It cost 27 dollars, the most I've ever paid just to see a film.

Upon entering the theatre my face numbed in shock at seeing the screen. The screen is literally 8 stories high and at least 100 feet across. One cannot look at the entire screen without moving their head side to side.

Alice in Wonderland itself was far from a master of cinematography, but it was visually stunning. This screen certainly helped immerse me in the movie. With a screen this large and a 3d movie, it felt like I might actually be in Wonderland (and not the Boston blue line stop either). For the first time, my peripheral vision could not pick up the sides of the theatre. Usually one is subconsciously privy to speakers or walls. With a screen this large there was nothing but film.

Zach and I went to a travel agency earlier today to look into going to Cairns for our April break. Before we even realised it, we had a returning flight to Cairns. Cairns is a very northern city in a rain forest climate. It is quite the opposite of America here, getting warmer the more north you go. It still hasn't registered that I am actually going to where the rain forest meets the ocean, as well as to the great barrier reef.

Keep it level!

Jono De Costa

Science and Reason

It's hard out there for a scientist

Class time! Classes are super crowded with up to 600 in each lecture. It's a far cry from home with 20-30 people in each class. The classes don't seem too bad, aside from biology. It turns out I will have biology every single day in my 4 day school week. It has 3 lectures a week instead of the two for the others and a 4 hour practical (lab) every other week. I even had to buy a lab coat that I must wear for the practical. Many of the lecturers are going to be the top scientists in Australia. I don't know what I have gotten myself into....

I also explored the library today. It goes 9 stories upwards and overlooks the CBD! Some of the books are ancient.