Phillip Island Animals

Yesterday I had the opportunity to visit Phillip Island. I went with Charlotte (the other American student teacher), her host mum, Laurel (who is actually from Phillip Island), and her parents that are visiting from the U.S. Phillip Island is about a 3 hour drive from where I live in Geelong. If you'd like to get an idea of where Geelong and Phillip Island are located, visit here:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=106386624811293119141.00048312bbb34c4c0e426

Phillip Island is very beautiful and features a variety of animals. The first place we visited was the Koala Conservation Centre. I was able to get a much closer look at the koalas here than I did in Jirrahlinga. This is a male koala. He is kept in a special part of the conservation centre with four female koalas to keep the population steady.

As you can see, we were able to walk right along the branches and get very close to the koalas.

Here is a short video of the koala from above climbing on his tree.

This is a kookaburra, which we also saw in the Koala Centre. I didn't get to hear it's call, but supposedly kookaburras sound like humans laughing.

I just happened to notice this prickly guy as we left the koala area. This is an echidna and he was digging away for ants when I saw him.

The signs at the centre said the koalas will scratch and bite you, but I still think they're cuddly...

The most sought after animals on Phillip Island are the little penguins (that's their official name--I promise). Each night, at dusk, hundreds of penguins come in from the ocean and go back to their burrows. An area is set up with bleacher seating and lights so people can see the "penguin parade." It was really incredible to watch these tiny penguins waddle up the beach and hills to get to their burrows.

Photography wasn't allowed at the penguin parade, but during the day we found some penguins underneath the boardwalk. One penguin stays during the day to guard the burrow while its mate is in the ocean. These were some penguins that stayed behind.

Here is a penguin in its burrow.


This picture was actually taken a few weekends ago when I went to Sorrento with Peter, Helen, and Charlotte. We took a ferry from Queenscliff and some dolphins swam beside us as we went. Since the rest of this post was about animals, I thought I'd share this shot, too.

I will have more pictures of Phillip Island soon...get ready for some beautiful water shots!

Jirrahlinga

The past few weeks have been really busy for me, so I haven't had time to add new posts on here. But, today was the last day of Term 1 and I now have two weeks of holidays! I hope to have lots of new pictures to add during this time.

A few weekends ago, I went to a place called Jirrahlinga with Charlotte and her host mum, Laurel. Jirrahlinga is Aboriginal for "seek a home for a kangaroo." Injured animals are taken there to be treated and given a safe place to live. We saw all kinds of animals, including lots of birds and reptiles, but most people seem to be more interested in koalas and kangaroos. So, most of my pictures will focus on animals that are typical "Australian" animals.

I really wanted to get a good shot of the koalas, but they just weren't having it. Apparently they sleep about 18 hours a day because of all the eucalyptus they eat. Sorry, but this was the best I could do...

I've always heard koalas are mean animals, but they still look cuddly, so I thought they were cute.


Sleeping away...



This goose tried to storm through a gate to get Charlotte. She was truly terrified!


Because Jirrahlinga is an animal sanctuary, they get all kinds of injured animals. They also get orphaned animals. This is where the orphaned kangaroos are kept. They actually sleep in these makeshift pouches.


Baby Kangaroo

Group of Kangaroos--I always wanted to see a kangaroo and I'm glad I got the chance, but they're really dirty animals. I don't think they're very cute up close. Most of the Australians I've spoken to regard kangaroos about the same way Americans view deer.

The more I looked at them, the more they reminded me of rats. And for those of you that know me very well--you know I'm NOT a fan of varmints.

If you look closely, you can see the baby kangaroo in its mother's pouch.

Kangaroos hopping around

Emu

This is a wombat--another popular "Australian" animal. I also thought it was kind of gross.
Hope you enjoyed the animals! During my first week of holidays, I'm planning to visit Phillip Island, which has a huge colony of penguins. So, hopefully I will have some more pics of little creatures for you soon!

Everything Else in Sydney

These guys were out in some form or other almost all weekend trying to sell an Australian CD. Haha...I couldn't resist when they let people get pics with them...

To be such a large city, Sydney has a huge amount of green space. Many of the very tall buildings have gardens on top of them and on different levels. There are also lots of parks and water.

On Sunday morning we visited some local markets. My favorite was in the Rocks, which is an older, more historic part of the city.

Watson's Bay

While at Watson's Bay, you can see great views of the skyline in Sydney.

Peter and Helen in front of Sydney's skyline

I felt a little left out, so I decided to pretend he was there...

Darling Harbour at night.

Both of the remaining pictures were taken while I was in the Watson Bay area.

I have many more pictures from Sydney, but I tried to share only my favorites. This weekend I got to see some Australian animals, so hopefully I will be able to post those soon!

Sydney Beaches

There are several great beaches in the Sydney area. The beach below is Bondi Beach. There is a reality show based on the lifesavers at this beach. We saw some of the cameras while we were there, but luckily nothing worth recording happened.
The waves weren't too bad the day we were there, but Bondi is known for having some really tough waves.

This is Manly Beach, which is about 7 miles away from Sydney.

I loved all of the houses that were overlooking the beach.

Another view of Manly

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Also located in Sydney is the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Just like with the Opera House, I ended up taking way too many pictures. The bridge is supposedly the world's widest long-span bridge and it is the tallest steel arch bridge.

This is the view I had of the bridge at breakfast on my first day in Sydney.

Here I am in front of the bridge. On the right you can see one of the many ferries that transport people to different locations throughout the harbour.

The next few pictures were taken as we rode a ferry underneath the bridge.

The bridge and the opera house

Here are some Australian flags on top of the bridge. One of the things I've noticed since being in Australia is how much more common it is for Americans to display American flags than it is for Australians to display Australian flags. I've never been in a classroom in the U.S. that doesn't have an American flag, but none of the classrooms here have Australian flags. Also, there is no pledge to the Australian flag--or at least no one I've talked to remembers it very well.

On our last day in Sydney, we had a great seafood lunch. We ate outside on the patio and this was our view of the bridge.

I promise I didn't spend all of my time in Sydney taking pictures of the opera house and the bridge. I'll post some pictures of some of the beaches and markets we visited soon.

Sydney Opera House

This Monday was Labour Day in Victoria (states in Australia determine their own public holidays, so other states may celebrate it at a different time). For the long weekend, I got the amazing opportunity to go to Sydney. Peter and Helen served as great tour guides and I got to see a great deal of the city. I was definitely exhausted when we got back to Geelong. I don't know that I've ever been on so many forms of transportation in such a short amount of time: car, plane, bus, train, ferry, monorail, light rail, and LOTS of walking. I really fell in love with this city. If you ever get the chance to go to Australia, make sure you stop in Sydney. The one place I wanted to visit most when I found out I was placed in Australia was Sydney's Opera House. I remember seeing a picture of it in elementary school and dreaming that I would get to visit it one day. I feel VERY lucky this dream came true. I will post other pictures of Sydney later, but this post will focus on the Opera House

We left Geelong very early in the morning and actually had breakfast in Sydney. I got a few pictures in front of the Opera House while no one was around. You'll see in later pics how rare this chance really was.

While Peter and Helen have been to Sydney several times before, they had never taken a tour of the Opera House. We went on the one hour tour and got to learn all about how it was designed and built. This is a view from the inside (the Sydney Harbour Bridge can be seen through the windows).

This is the Concert Hall--the largest hall in the Opera House. I couldn't take pictures inside the other halls because they were preparing for productions.

The Opera House! You can see there were more people out in the afternoon.

Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House

Another view--sorry, I'm kind of obsessed with it.

This is a view of the harbour from inside the Opera House.

We took several ferries while in Sydney and I think I took pictures of the Opera House every time we went by it. So, you can see it from pretty much every angle...

Not only did I get to see the Opera House all weekend long and take a tour of it, I also got to see a live performance of Benjamin Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream. While planning out my trip, I decided I couldn't resist seeing a performance while I was in Sydney. I was going to get a cheaper seat, but thanks to my parents, I had an awesome seat for the matinee on Saturday afternoon. My trip to Australia wouldn't have happened without my parents (or I would be in a HUGE amount of debt), but this was beyond anything I expected and I'm very thankful to them for it. The opera was amazing, but obviously I wasn't allowed to take any photographs while there. If you'd like a glimpse of what I got to experience, check it out here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2kdwGS-05A

I will have many more pics of Sydney up very soon!