As I sit here now writing this from the comfort of my apartment back in Seattle, Australia already seems like a long ago dream that did not last for nearly long enough. But as it would be a crime for me to not finish my recording the events that occurred Down Under (and because I need to procrastinate even more), let me continue from where I left ( Read more... )

I was up bright and early yesterday, and off to the airport again. My days in Melbourne felt much too short, but alas the time had come to trade the city vacation for the tropics (I must admit, it felt strange going north to head towards warmer weather). The entire time that I was staying in Burak the weather was warm and sunny. Then as I was ( Read more... )

So we've finally begun to slow down slightly at the end of my limited time in Melbourne. Today was nice starting out with a small walk around the city. We chowed down on dumplings, had coffee, and stopped at a nearby bay. Just walking out onto the pier was so windy, I thought I might be blown off. But the weather was wonderful, with sun as usual ( Read more... )

Beach! Finally, perhaps one of the things that I was most looking forward to about Australia. And the weather was perfect. After a slow start in the morning we packed up the surf boards and headed out to the Great Ocean Road. It was a bit of a drive, but we stopped at a couple of shores including Bells Beach and Anglesea, and I don't remember the ( Read more... )

Despite the jet lag and exhaustion from the night before I still woke up before 10am, which is my normal wake up time on a beautiful Sunday morning in Seattle. Impressive. After breakfast and some music (and trying some vegimite which was... interesting), it was time for the Australia Formula 1 Grand Prix. Well, I had never been to any sort of car ( Read more... )

14.5 hours from LAX to Sydney. Nothing a drug induced sleep can't handle I suppose. And I was glad I actually got the rest, because I needed it. The irony though is that once I landed in Sydney, I thought that we were just back in Seattle somehow. It was raining and it looked gray and cold out (though it was probably quite warm and humid). I hadn't ( Read more... )

 I apologize in advance if this entry gets very nostalgic and reflective as I tend to be at the end of trips. But I figure that this will be the last bit of writing that I do in Micronesia. At least for now. Today was very conclusive an tomorrow I’ll be doing little more than packing and a bit of snorkeling. So I might as well end this on an ( Read more... )

 The presentations went well this morning. They took place in the main lobby of the government building and basically everyone that we had met over the past three weeks was invited. There were a few government officials there, but for the most part it was all the guest speakers and guides we had during our classes and field days. And one of the ( Read more... )

 Today was mostly spent recovering from Mutunte. There were a couple of class sessions and a shopping trip, but mostly people didn’t know what to do because we had so much free time.

Until we realized that it wasn’t exactly free time. Our final presentations are tomorrow morning. So all of our time between lunch and diner was spent finishing up our ( Read more... )

 Today we hiked Mt. Mutunte. And Oma was nothing, absolutely nothing, compared to this. Oma only left me with a bit of mud and slightly tired. Mutunte left me covered in mud, sweat, blood (though nothing more than minor scratches), blisters, bruises, very sore, and with an intense feeling of satisfaction. This Floridian has climbed a mountain, and ( Read more... )