Heron Island

I am a blogger slacker. How the hell do people manage these things, let alone websites. Damn overachievers. 4 days left in Brisbane, and a months worth of blogging to do. Plus two papers and a final. Plus three dinner dates. Probably partying after. Where do you draw the line between work and party. An eternal question? One that can only be answered when we have passed onto the next life. 

Anyways, Heron Island folks. Off the coast of Australia, 10 days, southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. This trip was the definition of 'getting after it.' Patrick Kealy, I have officially exceeded ur getting after it skills.

We left on at a bus late night from campus. Thus, I pre-gamed the bus party by kicking it with my Aussie homies Georgy and Morgan at the campus bar. Karaoke night.

It was that kind of night.

Crazy (awesome) guy at the bar. 

Woke up on the bus in the early morning, and stretched my arms, and thought to myself, 'damn, it feels good to be a gangsta.' carried on with life. Boat ride to the island was quite rough. But the queasiness was eased by this sight.

Things are looking up, folks. 

Got to live with the boys in a cabin separate from the rest of the class. A bungalow equipped with kitchen. Heron Island staff looked at us and said, damn, these kids need their own party pad. And they delivered.

The E Cabin.

Goon. Embrace it.

Went on a cool reef walk the first day. Played with a bunch of sea cucumbers which slightly resembled the human organs of assorted races. Saw some tiny reef sharks, some colors, and a whole lot of coral.

Disfigured sea star.

I don't know if I have ever been blacker than in this picture. Bring it, Lil Wayne. 

Third day was Halloween. We got to do awesome boat dives during the day. In the evening, people dressed up and such. There was a pinata, good food, and tons of wine. It was good stuff. 

Square table dinner.

The ninja turtles. Dedicated to their costumes no doubt. As was I...

Playing Goon of Fortune. Hang a bag of goon to a laundry contraption, spin it in a circle, whoever it lands on drinks.

Some random pictures of stuff on Heron Island. 

Standing in the beach tree named Pandanus Pedunculatis. 

One night these random aussies came and partied with us. The two old guys were named Blaze and Frank. They were odd ones, but legends none the less. 

Yep, rapping the bandana and tie dye. 

While in Heron, we were actually doing a research project. My team studied the interspecies relationship between the Graphic Tusk Fish and the wrasse Coris Batuensis. We won the best project award, cuz we are legends. 

The team with a Graphic Tusk Fish. On the right, our drunk ass/awesome tutor Adrian.

The last night, we enjoyed a nice ship wreck evening snorkel, a gorgeous sunset, and a fair amount of night time partying. 

Good memories on this dock.

The ship wreck. Snorkeled there many times.

The boys of E Large, the male subdivision of E Cabin. 

To the left to me, Dr. Craig. To the right, Dr. Ian Tibbets. Surrounded by drunken doctors. There is hope yet. 

Moron.

Team Husky getting frisky with tutor Adrian.

Well, that covers notable activities. Other than that, I snorkeled for about 5 hours a day. A lot of it was for research. But lets be honest, snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef is never a chore, even at 5:30 am. For those pictures, let facebook be ur guide. Unless I get ambitious and put them on this blog at some point. I'll update this with other things ive done soon enuf.

Until then, play on playa.

21 years old!

20/9/10

Recently turned 21. Figured I would blog about the last important birthday in my life. I can't believe I made it, never thought it was going to happen. Thanks to my parents for keeping me alive, healthy, and relatively sane my first 21 years. Thanks to all my friends, look forward to having a legal drink with each and everyone of you.

My birthday occurred just after midterms, so it was a duel celebration. We started at the bar on campus, at like noon. Then we had class for 2 hours, a moderately interesting coral reef lecture. After, me and some of the boys went over to the Regatta, a fancy bar next to the river. Had a few jugs. Then we each bought a bottle of wine, and drank it by the river. By that time, I had probably celebrated a bit too much. Yet, it was only 7 pm, and you only turn 21 once... So we went back to the bar on campus for karaoke. The rest of the class troops showed up for the celebration as well. For the record, I sang Party in the USA. Parents, sorry for the graphic details of my drinking exploits, but I want to remember what I did 20 years down the line. Now, the photographic record!

Presented a cake by my hero, my inspiration, my love, Professor John Hall. Truly a great moment in my life.

Starting at noon. Super Jugs!

Down by the river... Love this spot.

Found myself dancing with Shannon.

Party in the USA, with Becca Bonet( or Boner)

Happiness.

Yep. I am a rockstar.

Moreton Bay Research Station

27/09/10-4/10/10

This trip marks the transition of the abroad program towards a more marine oriented focus. To understand the spirit of the ocean, the class and I made a trip out to North Stradbroke Island to stay at Moreton Bay Research Station for 8 days. 8 days of living on the beach was completely necessary to really understand the ocean at Straddy... The research station is apart of the University of Queensland, and many Ph.D. students spend their time there conducting research. I stayed in a bunk room with 7 other people, it was a bro pad. The ocean was a 100 m walk away. Life was tough to say the least....

Moreton Bay Research Station

View from the station.

The first couple days were pretty casual, consisting of island exploration. We went to GOAT island and did some snorkling, and went out on research boats to go dugong, turtle, and dolphin watching. One of the first evenings, we went sein netting to check out fish diversity at Adams Beach close to the research station. We caught a ton of fish while enjoying a stunning sunset.

Sein Netting for fish.

Good people

On research boat, hunting dugong!

Adams Beach Sunset, courtesy Sean Liepmann

In terms of academia, we got split into groups of 5 and did research projects for the trip. My group and I compared the effect of human disturbance on beaches with respect to flashy fauna i.e. sea stars, anemones, urchins, etc. It was an interesting experiment, but we did not get any useful data. I hope to get a better result when I head out to Heron Island. We took our data in the mornings, walking around the beach. We also did a turtle necropsy, plankton and invert labs, and of course some chillin...

Snorkeling with Shane

Old ship wreck in the middle of our beach of study

Being real scientists during the turtle necropsy.

I like turtles.

This bad boy was majorly rotted. Imagine the stench, and then bask in it.

Enjoying the sunset.

Looking at some phytoplankton. I'll never forget that stuff.

Despite being involved school, free time was still relatively easy to come by. To occupy the time, one day we went sand boarding in the dunes, and frequented the local bar. Both were great fun...

Sand Dune, courtesy Sean

At the bar with NAT, my team tutor. For the record, she sucked, don't let that smile deceive you.

Professor Ian Tibbits=Legend

Looking hot and happy with Becca and Maureen.

The last day the weather finally cleared up, allowing for a gorgeous ocean walk. Some amazing pictures, and it was way better in person. KNOW THAT.

Thanks Sean. 

Portuguese man-of-war, courtesy Sean. Highly poisonous, watch yoself fool.

I'll never forget this trip. Goodbye Moreton Bay!