Maroochydore/Maloolaba/ Noosa

9/16/10-9/18/10

What up folks!

Been while since I updated this bad boy, so gotta play some catch up. We had a four day weekend recently, and me and some buddies decided to do some road tripping at the beach. The first day Sean, Shane and I went to Point Archrite in Maloolaba. The water was placid, so we went spear fishing in the ocean. I bought a handspear for the event, so it was my spear fishing initiation. Very unsuccessful. I mostly just did a snorkle and got comfortable in the water. The visibility was awesome, I saw a few turtles, a ton of cool fish, a wobbegong shark, and a shit ton of jelly fish. The shark was super camouflaged in the sand below, and when I saw it I was like o shit, and got away from there. Sean stayed out in the water super late, and caught us a few fish for dinner. Pictures...  

Point Archrite

Men with dinner.

The next day, we did more of the same. Shane and I went spear fishing at the same spot, but the sea was quite rough. I did attack my first fish, however. I pinned it again the rock, and then it puffed up really fast, and it freaked out. Turns out if was a puffer fish, which are toxic, so there was no point in me taking it out anyways. After the dive, we drove over to Noosa, a posh beach town. We checked out the national park, and took a snorkel in pristine, calm water with our spears. The fish were really smart, and would not let us come near them, but we saw some cool sting rays regardless. That night we headed to Maroochydore, and stayed at a really cool hostel. Sean had caught lobsters and brim, and we cooked them up with rice. We played odds man out, a drinking game that ends in debauchery. The photographic record...

Spearing induction.

Painted Lobster doused in butter. Bomb.

Good friends.

Getting after it.

We went home after two days, because we had midterms to study for. How responsible :) Thats for u parents.

Lamington National Forest

Our second excursion to the wild was a trip to Lamington Rainforest. In a flat, sunburnt country, a rainforest is a diamond in the rough. As exotic as the landscape is, it is only an hour and a half out of Brisbane. In fact, at a peak in Lamington, you can see the coast and the developments of Surfers Paradise. We stayed in bunk houses, about 8 people to a bunk. I had an all male bunk, and shit went downnnnnn. Well not really... but I leave it to your own imagination. The first day we kicked it, did a little field work, etc.

Bunk House.  Sweet

The second day, my group went out with two tutors, and we did a 17 k walk around the rainforest. We really did not do all that much school work, just enjoyed the forest, looked at waterfalls, talked about J- seshes, etc. All the good things in life. It was a totally cool walk, saw some humungous Eucalyptus trees amongst rainforest flora. Saw some crazy ants and bugs, and some tight waterfalls. On Wednesday and Thursday we partook in similar activities. Check it out...

On Suprise Rock... Looking down at the Rainforest Canopy.

High up...Looking down

Cool waterfall. Lots of leeches.

Thursday was our day off, and was definitely the coolest day of the trip. I went on the blind trail with a few people. The blind trail allows for blind people to do a nature walk by providing a rope which can be held onto during the entire walk. It was about 750 meters total. We had our eyes closed for the first half, when our tutor realized that we were missing out on some amazing sights. We saw a wild koala and a wild Goana lizard that was about four feet long. Totally awesome stuff.

Goana Lizard.

Koala Bear. Awesome.

That night a camp ranger lead us in bush dancing activity where all the kids got to learn some native boy/girl dancing. It was super fun, very similar to the stuff we used to do in sixth grade PE. Later that evening we attempted a campfire that failed miserably. Dad, it reminded me of the fire we worked hard to start over in Yellowstone. I tried to get it going for a half hour in your honor, but to no avail... and then it started raining, which compounded the problem. That night we listened to a ghost story courtesy John Hall.

Harassing Shannon, my lover.

The next morning, we did some field work in the rainforest when it was really foggy and wet. Being there in that condition opens your eyes to a different personality of the rainforest... A picture of the mist, and a few others randoms! Lamington was awesome, a trip I will never forget.

The mist.

This tree has some serious root action.

As always, I stole pics from people, thanks to you artistically gifted people.

Surfers Paradise

Ok... well its Tuesday night, and I am bored. I finished my paper early, and I could study lectures, but I already did 5 of them... Instead, I am enjoying a glass of Obikwa Shiraz from South Africa, and will continue on this blog.

Saturday, August 21st

On our first Saturday in Australia, a few of us decided to go to Surfers Paradise, a beach resort spot about an hour out of Brisbane. This place is like any big beach you have seen in Hawaii or Cancun. Everywhere you go, there are some sketchy deals being offered by some sketchy people. You know where this is going... I was with a group of 7, and some guy approached us about this epic party event that evening. We were going to go to 5 bars, get a free drink at all of them, free food at 2 bars, blah blah bullshit. I was swindled into this same thing in Cancun my Senior year of high school, so I knew better. But no one else did, and we took the bait.. I went along for the ride because I did not want to be a loner. Luckily I gave the guy enough resistance that we got half price ( $30). The rest of the night was a blur, starting at 5 pm, not ending until 2 am. One highlight was seeing this Tasmanian dude get into a fight on the street and get completely knocked out in front of us. I could have sworn he was dead... But then, when we left the clubs for the night, we saw him laughing with a huge gash in his head, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. We asked him if he was alright, and he responded by saying he was Tasmanian, and that he would be alright...

The next morning we woke up early, and spent the day at the beach. Not much more to say there, beautiful beach, and I had a glorious time. I even went for a run... who knew I was capable!

Living in the Surfers Paradise..

Girraween National Forest

24/8/2010 - 27/8/2010

Our first excursion outside the classroom was a camping trip to Girraween, a park characterized by granite boulders and sclerophyll forest. Before I discuss anything else, let me say this. It was COLD. I packed as I would any other camping trip: Shorts and a t-shirt for the warm sunny days, and sweater and sweat pants for the night time. I brought an extra sweater just in case it rained. I grossly underestimated the cold. After the first day, I wore one outfit that basically consisted of all my clothes I had brought. Thermal, two sweaters, rain jacket on top, swim trunks, sweat pants, two pairs of socks, and my shoes. When I went to bed, the only think I took off was my shoes. Originally it was two people to a tent. That was not bearable after the first night, so we made it four people to a tent for body warmth. Even then I was freezing. Anyways, you get the picture. The days were spent doing a fair amount of hiking and doing some basic field work activities. One really cool day was when we hiked the Pyramid. This mountain is pretty steep, but nothing too crazy. However, if you are afraid of heights it was a big deal because their is no path up the mountain, rather you are just hiking up a steep slope to the top. If you slip and fall, you will tumble your way to death 9 times out of 10. That being said, Sean and I ran up it cuz we are beaaaaasttttttt....( that was for you Diya)... here is some pics.

On our way up.

We made it. Doing a jump at the top.

It was not all fun and games however (ok it was, but I have to tell something to the parents). We did some field work, recording profile diagrams of the forest. We also did some sifting through river water, recording diversity. Some photographic evidence, and a picture of Professor John Hall ( who I have a major man crush on). 

Laid the stake.

Thinking...

Story time about the big bad Banksia Man with John Hall.

As bad as this sounds, the coolest part of the trip was the food. The bus line brought a portable kitchen with them, and the quantity/quality of food they produced was unbelievable. I gorged myself with food, and loved every minute of it. Here is a picture of my homie Shane getting a cake made by the cooks.

Happy 21st.

Overall, good times.

Byron Bay

28/8/2010-30/8/2010

I went with friends to Byron Bay, a hippie beach town about 2 hours away in New South Whales. About 25 people from my program with, and I rented a car with some my boys. We stayed in a hostel that was a pretty chill spot. They made us pancakes every morning that were delicious. We got there early Saturday morning, and spent a good few hours on the beach. I went out into the ocean and did a couple hours of body boarding. Then two of my buddies wanted to go spear fishing, so I decided to tag along for the adventures. The sea was rough that day, something only the likes of Poseidon could conquer. But I manned up and had my go. The other two made it out into the rough, but I got slammed by the waves. I recall thinking 'shit, I need to get out of this water or I am going to die.' The shore was extremely rocky, and I got crushed by a wave taking me in. I prayed that I would not slam my head on a rock. I made it out alive. In the meantime, the other two caught 5 fish which we ate for dinner. I enjoyed a spectacular view of the water from some of the rocks. Many beaches look the same, but when you think of where you are in the world when gazing out over the ocean, it can be pretty mind blowing...  Here is a picture...

Me and Jessie keeping it classy.

The rest of the trip consisted of eating, hanging out at the different beaches all over the coast, and one awesome night at this bar called Cheeky Monkeys. Some images chronicling the events...

Enjoying days at serene beaches.

Enjoying a group dinner after Sean and Shane caught a bunch of fish.

Kicking it with the boys

Looking like a legend before Cheeky Monkeys.

At Cheeky Monkeys.

One evening, we drove up to a light house over Byron Bay and watched the sunset. It was spectacular, with a 360 view overlooking the ocean. Here is a picture...

Love :)

Down Under

Hello-

Welcome to the much awaited, hotly discussed, haphazardly composed blog by Vikram Singh. Over the past month, I have had more adventures than any kid should be blessed with in an entire year. I will chronicle them out of order for now, based on the epicness of each adventure in my opinion.

11/9/10 ( writing my dates the Australian way)

Brisbane River Fire

The Brisbane River Festival is an event that highlights the year for the city. I think it lasts for about two weeks, not positive though... What happens during the event is not important however. The highlight is the kick off of the festival, which consists of about 25 minutes worth of fireworks choreographed to music which plays all over the city. I traveled out to a park on a cliff across the city and met up with a bunch of friends in the early afternoon that Saturday. Bought a 6 pack of Dos Equis from the liquor store because it was the best deal I had seen since being to Australia ( $12 for 6). I spent the entire day there hanging out with friends, capped off the day with the fire works. Afterwards, I had some people to my house for a little after party.. Probably not a great idea to have people to my host moms house, but I would not be me if I didn't do something out of line here and there... Pictures follow...

Thanks to Tori Lieberman for the pictures of fireworks... Everyone knows I am not capable of these photos