Australian Adventures!

Welcome back to Jeffrey's adventures in Tassie. I know my last blog was one month ago so I do apologize to all my fans out there who really wanted to stay updated with my travels. I have not posted in awhile mostly due to the fact I was very busy and stressed about my schoolwork. I am pleased to say I am now done with classes for the semester and I have three exams coming up next week and then I will officially be done and ready for summer.

Over the past month like I said I was very busy with school. At one point I had one major essay, a grant application, two presentations, and a design prototype all due in about a week and half period. I finished a final report for one class that was 33 pages total (with my group partner from hell) and a design exhibition that never really got attention.

Here's a story for you all so hope you're ready for the long post ahead..

My group partner from Hell

Chapter One

At the beginning of the semester I signed up for a class called Agricultural landscape systems thinking it would be about the connectivity of landscapes in regards to agriculture (helpful to my major) but in reality it is a soils science class that examines soils at the regional and molecular level. It is a 300 level class combined with a 500 level graduate student class. So there are undergrads and grad students both taking this class. At the beginning of the course I was told that we were to choose a partner and be with them for the rest of the semester. I was partnered with a guy for about 3 weeks that I did the first two assignments with and the first day of field testing. I had no clue what I was doing and relied on him for teaching me the material. He was super helpful and informative. He emailed me the next week and told me he had to drop the class because of family matters at home. So I was then paired with another student.

Chapter two

We failed the first assignment together. The first assignment as a pair was based on the first 3 weeks, which obviously I was with a different partner then, he told me to do the first half and he would do the second half, I obliged. I didn't find out until afterwards I had done the assignment completely blind with no template, no guidance and no information, I just went based off of what was in the syllabus. Now remember, this is a graduate level course, and the students in this class have known what the professor wants and the degree to which he wants it. I found out after that every group had an introduction essay, they had graphs, data, pictures, explanations, and on and on, I just had a few maps and some background. In our grade he stated that the first half of the assignment was poorly done and had not enough information. He said the second half was superb and well done. Now considering my group partner at the time told me we shouldn't worry about getting this assignment done until the day of because his understanding of the assignment was we only had to do the second half, so I never even started until the day it was due realizing we still had both halves due. I had to write my entire first half with no clue what I was doing, with no template, little time and no guidance. It was embarrassing to fail and I am pretty sure its the first time i have failed an assignment while in college. After we got the grade I asked my group partner how he did so well, what the secret to pleasing the professor was, why was his so good and my half bad, etc.... I apologized countless times for making him get the bad grade too. He said look, I had no clue what I was doing too, so I just looked at what other people submitted and looked off theirs. I said what. He said yeah I just waited for other groups to submit and then you can look at their assignments.

Chapter three

We had 6 weeks of field testing, driving out to the research farm to collect samples, take pictures, and do lab work. I didn't know at the time what i was getting into. In the field we had to fill out these test sheets. Since I was pretty clueless as what to do I relied on my partner for help. He helped me fill out the sheets and I thought we were flying by with our work way ahead of schedule. Little did I know, after he told me what to be recording, he was telling me the wrong things. It took to me to about the last week when I started to realize our sheets were wrong when i was comparing results to other groups. We might be screwed. The way he was categorizing and labeling the sheets were incorrect and we never filled them out completely. After field testing we had two days of lab tests. The first day went OK but took us nearly 4 hours. The second day he left after a half hour and left me to do the lab myself. This day we didn't have all the right samples and we were missing one of the field test sheets. My partner had gone out and collected samples before that we were missing which was good of him, but the way he collected them bothered me. He brought them in a McDonald's cup, a fries bag, a Pringle's jar, and other assorted candy bags filled with the samples. Again took me about 3 hours by myself.

Chapter four

The second assignment as a group was a presentation over all of our samples. We had to turn in our slides for the presentation two weeks before we presented about the information from the field sheets. Uh-oh. We tried to get around this and summarized the information instead of listing the actual data. The professor saw through this, however we did manage to connect how the land worked together to pitch our business proposal (part of the assignment) which our professor said was done in a unique and creative way so he rewarded us for that. 75%. After listening to 8 hours of group presentations (17 groups at 20-30 minutes each) on the last day of class my partner skipped and didn't come to listen to the last few. So I had to clean out the lab by myself. Disposing of the samples, washing all the equipment, and putting away testing devices and equipment.

Chapter five

Our last assignment was to submit a final report for the class. This report was to include everything we learned about the research farm, the samples, the business, etc. and be done with the class. I created a google doc for us to both collaborate and contribute information into a week before the due date. I made an outline, started adding grids, and started a little bit each day trying to pace it out and add a few sections at a time per day. My partner did not contribute for 4 days. Finally I messaged him and asked him to meet me so we could work on it together. We met at the library and got a solid 4 hours done. The day it was due we were touching up the last bits and submitted it. I took a look back at his contribution and here are the results. In total, my partner contributed 10% of total content and 21% of the edit sessions. The total report was 33 pages. We have not got our grade for this yet.

The end.

I hope you're not too exhausted from reading all of that. But lets continue to other moments.

My last design project was an exhibition of our latest project. Unfortunately there was a lot of miscommunication and I was not even able to see my own class's exhibition.

Anywayyyssss...... now for some good news.

I donated blood for the first time (B+!)

I played underwater hockey for the first time (apparently I'm pretty good). They asked me to play a game with their league. But the pool was closed when I went so hopefully I can play next week. Hence why I only have a picture of the pool...

I watched a rugby game for the first time and was a line judge (lots of injuries)

We had a going away get together for exchange students

I got to play ice hockey and will be going again next weekend! I had to borrow all the equipment which is all hand me down and over sized for me. Still fun to be able to play again!

annddd last but not least and everyone's (ok maybe just mine) favorite part of this blog... your word(s) of the day!

Nappy= diaper
Shoey or Boat race = chugging a beer from your shoe (FYI I haven't done this.......... yet.)
Catch ya = catch you later, see you later

Stay tuned for updates on my exams and underwater hockey!! Catch ya!

Hello everyone and welcome back to my travel blog of my studies here in the land down under!!

[This post will be a bit longer than usual just a heads up]

It has been about two weeks since my last post because I was on Easter Break (spring break) all of last week and few days before too. To start off the break, last Wednesday, with a rented car, I drove 3 strangers and a friend I had just met a few days before, to Cradle Mountain in northwestern Tasmania. The 4 hour car trip involved driving in the dark, in the rain, and on gravel roads, to a camping site near Lake Gairdner. Having to pitch tents in the dark and the rain was just the start of an interesting camping experience.

After tents were pitched, our quesadilla and tuna dinner with chips and cookies hit the spot for our hungry stomachs. Very cold and windy temperatures mixed with the rain that night did not suit well for sleeping, and prevented a good nights rest. Waking up around 6:30 am to soaked sleeping bags and tents was not fun either. We stuck it out for our drive to the Cradle Mountain visitors center where our plan to summit Cradle Mountain was hindered by the staff informing us that with the weather it would be unattainable. Our hike was limited to Marions Overlook and then down around Dove Lake. The 4.5 hour hike that day was mixed with cloudy, rainy, and cold, conditions, but the sun and a rainbow at the finish. Very proud of the 4 of my hiking partners that were able to have positive attitudes despite the conditions.

After that we wanted to drive to Parson Falls, a quite spectacular waterfall with little tourists because of its remoteness to Cradle Mountain and the fact there is no trail going to it once you arrive by car. A 2 hour drive took us through many back roads, but was suddenly ended when, once we had arrived, we discovered the gate was closed and locked. Had we more time (since the sun was almost setting) we would have hiked down, but we had to cut our losses and drive to our next campsite for the night. The 1 hour drive to our next campsite went by quickly as we pulled into a site with a fire ring, bathrooms, and plenty of car parking space! We were the only campers around and were able to pitch our tents and get a fire going with no problems. That night my two new German friends got to roast sausages over a fire for the first time. We had sausages on buns, and chips & cookies again for dinner. Possums seemed to want our dinner too and weren't afraid to sniff around our feet. We sat around the campfire watching the stars come out, told jokes, solved riddles, talked about our travels, and let the fire slowly die down. Satisfied with the night and our safe travels, we went to bed. 11:30 pm, a voice wakes us. Many voices actually, in groups. They grew louder and louder as midnight came upon us. Car doors opened and closed. Tent zippers were being opened and closed, laughing, and conversations only grew louder. Deciding to fall back asleep, the morning was the answer. When we awoke we were surrounded by tents. There were cars everywhere. We had no clue what was happening. Apparently, the campsite we picked to stay at was the outpost for the white water rafting club and were scheduled to put in the next morning right there. Despite the early awakening and morning pack up again, we headed off to the Walls of Jerusalem National Park.

A 3 hour hike into the National park was absolutely remarkable with amazing views and trails. The weather was great and we had a great day hiking and seeing the walls. To end the trip, our 4 hour drive home was done safely and on time.

On Saturday my parents and grandparents arrived for the week to visit me! The day started off with me taking them to the Salamanca market where we tried wallaby burritos, fish tacos, empanadas, sausages, candy, vodka, fudge, and ginger beer. We bought fresh vegetables from the market for our amazing chicken meranade stir fry. We walked along Seven Mile beach and saw a glimpse of the sunset.

On Sunday we went to church in Richmond, a town nearby our resort, where we went to Easter Mass at the oldest still running catholic church in Australia, built in 1838. We then had an Easter lunch at the Coal River Farm. After that we drove to Port Arthur, an old prison now in ruins where we participated in a ghost tour of the site at night. Grandma was in charge of holding the lantern the group followed the whole night. We got home rather late, exhausted of course, and went straight to bed.

On Monday we went to the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary where we pet and fed kangaroos, saw tasmanian devils, pet koalas, pet wombats, and heard the scream of a kookaburra. After that, we spent the rest of the afternoon (arvo) wandering around the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden looking at the exotic species of plants and learning about all the native species. A quick stop into the city and we ate big juicy burgers at Burger Got Soul.

Tuesday was spent driving to the top of Mt. Wellington to gaze over Hobart, the capital of Tasmania. Could not have asked for better weather at the top considering there was no wind, no clouds, and was fairly warm up there (remember my last post about the cold, windy, icy, watery, snow covered trail I took to the top of Mt. Wellington). After that we drove out to Mt. Field National Park where we saw waterfalls and the tallest flowering trees in the world. Came back to the city again that night for dinner at Solo Pizza and Pasta (turns out we needed a reservation but the manager was very accommodating and found us a spot. Food was amazing as well). We then took to the bars for a trivia night. We got 6th out of 8 teams (2 quit so we technically got last) but not bad for us Americans going against Australians with Australia cultural questions and only being 2 points behind 5th, and 6 behind 4th place. A game of cards back at the resort and some time in the hot tub drew that day to a close.

Wednesday took a turn from our scheduled plan when Tuesday night we realized the Gordon River cruise we had booked and paid for, that started at 8:30 am, was in Strahan, Tasmania.... 4 hours away. We did not let that put us down and were ready to go at 3 am. We arrived 15 minutes before the cruise departed. The 6 hour cruise took us around the Bay and the Gordon River, an important logging industry location as well as a prison land before Port Arthur. An excellent tour of the prison ruins on Sarahs Island, a complimentary lunch buffet, and a hike through the temperate rainforest on the west coast, made up for my nap I dozed off into from being tired from the drive. None-the-less, we made it back to the resort for Parmie Night (chicken parmesan) at the restaurant (which we needed a reservation for too but didn't have even though there was no one in at that late of time).

Thursday, my parents' last day in Tas, took us to Bruny Island. This day was completely unscheduled and almost all spontaneous. We took a ferry out to the island and drove along the coast to see the beautiful ocean waves crashing in. A quick stop to have a look over the Neck of Bruny Island and to walk on the beach, and then we were off to Adventure Bay. A small hike took us through forests to find rock sculptures, echidnas, and penguin island. Once we arrived back on mainland Tas from Bruny Island, we drove back to the resort, had a table tennis tournament (yours truly won), and went to bed.

Friday morning at 5 am I dropped my parents off at the airport, went back to bed, then went to school for one class now that break was over. When I got back from class my grandparents and I played a game of cards, went outside and played bocce ball, then decided to go mini golfing. We got in the car to head out, and as soon as I put the car in reverse, it started raining. So we went back inside and played another game of cards. Later that evening we decided to have one last dinner and decided on a pizza place nearby in Richmond again. We drive there (called ahead with a reservation this time) and we realize, the restaurant was attached to the mini golf place we were going to go to anyways. It was closed though so we couldn't have played anyway. After packing up and cleaning out the resort, it was bed time.

Saturday morning again dropped the grandparents off at the airport, returned the rental car, then waited at the airport for an hour since the buses back to the city didn't start until 6:30 am.

All in all we were very busy, but I think everyone got the full experience of Tassie. In total, during the duration of the 10 day rental on the car, I put on 2,345 km (1,458 miles) to the odometer. To put that into perspective, it would be like driving from Minneapolis, Mn to Jacksonville, FL.

Sorry for the long read but there was so much to share! or if you just scrolled to the bottom for the word of the day... here it is!

Rock up= to show up or arrive to a place - "Yeah we rocked up to the bonfire rather late I reckon"

Hello again everybody! So sorry to have not posted in a while but I really have been focusing on school before a long Easter break and did not have much time to travel.

It has been about three weeks since my last post so here's a rundown of everything I have done since then.

On March 23rd, for my design studio class, we participated in an auditory art exhibition at The Springs on Mt. Wellington. The Ten Days on the Island art festival had us hike into the woods off a trail and lay down where we could not see anyone else. We were given headphones to listen to a 20 minute narrative of what happens to the human body when it decomposes into the forest ground. A rather foggy and crisp morning with a bit of rain amplified the edginess of the whole experience, but don't knock it til you try it because it was actually pretty relaxing. I am currently working on art piece to represent that experience.

That same day, I participated in Relay for Life which is a charity event for caregivers and victims of cancer. My team was Christ College (the dorms I am staying in) and the idea was to pass a baton for 20 hours between all the team members. If you saw my video on Facebook you might already have an idea of what I did. I decided to try and walk the entire 20 hours. I completed a marathon in 11 hours and then continued on. I ended up only walking 16 hours for a total of 35.5 miles.

We had an intercollegiate badminton tournament last weekend and have table tennis coming up in a few days. I tried out for rugby for a week but I decided it was not for me.

Since I don't have class on Tuesdays, I took a morning to hike up Mt. Wellington. I woke up early and took a bus to the base of the mountain and hiked to the top from there. It took me a total of 2.5 hours to ascend nearly 4,000 feet. There was snow, ice, wind, and water that slowed my trip but wow what a trail. I have never been quite scared during a hike, but doing it alone on an unfamiliar trail with no research probably wasn't the best idea. I almost got lost... almost. Guess we learn from our mistakes though.

This weekend I went on a trip with the mountaineering club to Sand River where we climbed the Panopticon cliffs. I learned how to lead climb for the first time and went up a 27 m (81 ft.) high route doing lead climbing. If you are not familiar with lead climbing, it is when, instead of top rope climbing where the rope holds you at the top on an anchor point, you are not supported and must clip in your rope to bolts as you climb. In other words you don't have a rope supporting you to climb. Did your heart drop reading that? Yeah, that's how I felt too.

Overall my experience in Tasmania so far has allowed me to push my body to intensities I never thought were possible I have found a new and unique outlook on life. I am more daring, adventurous, and spontaneous and feel so great doing these things. Coming up next week I will be travelling a lot with my parents and grand parents who are coming to visit me. I will also be doing my own camping trip with strangers because why not. That's all for now and I will have plenty more to share next time. Before I end, we can't forget the word of the day!

Word of the day: "Strine" = Australian slang. Derived from the pronunciation of "Australian" ---> "Austrayan" ---> "Austrine" ---> "Strine"

Hi everyone! Welcome back to my blog about Tanzania!

...I hope you caught that, just making sure you're paying attention.

I am sure you are very anxious to see posts from me, obviously cause I am a great person, but if you're here to read about what I have done here in Tasmania I guess that will do, too. From my last week A LOT has happened. During the week I went on a class field trip out to a land conservation area where we were learned about native species and how the changing environment affects them. Part of the field trip was a tour of the Belgrove Distillery which is a sustainable farm that just happens to also make whiskey from the waste from the farm.

This last weekend I was reminded of the amazing friendships I have with some great people. My friend from back home Matt Kelly, his brother Jon Kelly, his brothers friend Dan Block, and another friend Noah Gavin, flew around the world for their spring break to come visit me (technically on their way to New Zealand to see another friend... but I'll take it). Had to be a good host though so I rented a car for us 5 to tour National Parks. On Friday when they arrived we wasted no time in driving straight to Cape Hauy in the Tasman National Park. On the way we stopped at the Tessellated Pavements. A rock formation that is carved out completely natural in straight grids and lines.

Along the way too, we stopped at the Tasman Arch. Once we got to the Cape Hauy trail head we headed off for a 4 hour hike there and back. The hike was steep and pretty brutal. We get to the Cape that is a giant peninsula like outcrop that has cliffs nearly 150 feet or more high. We watched the sunset from the trail on the hike back and drove home.

The next morning we woke up bright and early to go walk through the Salamanca Market. After that we spent the day driving out to Freycinet National Park to see Wine Glass bay. We played and swam out on the beach for the day. On the way home we stopped at a small cafe since it was the only restaurant we could find that was open that late. Little did we know since we all ordered burgers we were all about to have the BEST burger ever. The restaurant was called Saltshaker and the burgers were juicy and very filling. If it wasn't so far away I would go back in a heart beat. That night we went out into town and had fun at a few bars and clubs.

The next morning, again bright and early, we got up to eat breakfast at a place called Mure's on the pier here in Hobart. The food was excellent despite the fact the portions were small and we waited 45 minutes for our food when they told us it would be out in 20. But once we were fueled up we headed out to Mt. Field National park to see Russel and Horseshoe Falls.

Our plan after that was to go into Lake Pedder National Park, hike to the top of Mt. Aliza, and come home. However, our plans were promptly interrupted when we found out the road to the hiking trail and mountain was closed. We had to cut our losses and just drive around. In the end we decided that we are going to take the next road that we see that is unpaved and see where it goes. To our utter naive and surprised content, we happened to drive up to the top of a cleared forest on top of a large hill over looking the Lake. Amazing views that came from absolute random paths and taking the road less traveled.

After that we continued down the road to Strathgordon, stopping every 5 minutes to take pictures, climb, and eat. In Strathgordon, which has a population of about 10 people who all work at the same Cafe, we filled up gas and kept driving. We reached the end of the road at the Gordon Dam. The largest dam in Australia which is what created Lake Pedder in 1870. We walked across the top and hiked around the backside of it. (Don't tell anyone we are not quite sure if it was allowed). The views from the backside of the dam were absolutely incredible and we made great memories bush walking around sketchy steps with a rope guide.

On the way back home we stopped into Strathgordon to eat and have a drink to end our trip. The food was great and we could not have asked for better. Early Monday morning the boys left for Sydney to continue their Spring Break trip. Overall we had a phenomenal weekend that seemed to go by way too fast.

That's all I have to share about for this week. Stay tuned next week for a special event I am going to attempt to do.

Can't leave without sharing with you the word of the day:....Tekkie= IT services or technologically intelligent. "How do I fix this computer. I don't know, hire a tekkie"

Hello friends, colleagues, family, strangers, whomever,

I am excited to post again after a week long of great fun and activities. Classes are now in full swing here. I am taking four classes or "units" for this semester. A soils for agriculture unit, a conservation of nature unit, a design studio based on Islands, and an aboriginals cultural history class. So far classes have been very easy and not much to post about yet. I went on a field trip today to Campbell Town which is in the northern part of Tasmania to do field work on soils for that class.

But back to the start of this last week we visited the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery where we were welcomed with an aboriginal tribe dance, there was food, and there was a (bad) DJ.

The next day our college did "Clean Up Australia" day where we went to Bellerive Beach to pick up trash along the beach. A few days later I went on a brewery tour to Cascade Brewing Company in Hobart which is the oldest and longest running brewery in Australia. We got to sample 8 different beers brewed there and enjoyed some nice cheesy garlic pizza. It is also here that I had the opportunity to spin a wheel they had and I won a free case of Cascade Beer. Pretty much made my whole day. (Cases of beer are very expensive here upwards around $50 so definitely got my money back for the tour). A great history and a great little factory full of nice people.

I finally got to go surfing the other day and it was an absolute blast. (I will post videos on Facebook and Instagram). The waves were much bigger than the last time I went surfing in Florida and believe me when I say the waves were between 6-10 feet high. I fell and tumbled under the waves many times but the few times I could ride them to shore was an absolute rush.

That is all for this week so enjoy all your snow and winter slush back home for me thanks!
The word of the day: Chokkie= Chocolate - "For her birthdee we got her some lollies and chokkie"