Made it home from Sydney and decided to go up to the Sunshine coast with my parents. I hadn’t been north of the city since getting here and it was really good. We stopped at a place called Caloundra, and it’s on the coast about an hour from home. We had a good time taking it easy, a bit of studying and a bit of holiday. One of the nights Dad grabbed some fish from a local shop and we went down to the beach and had a bbq. There are public bbq’s here, which are really nice to use… no hauling a bbq, and they’re usually in sweet parks. It was just like old holidays with the family… except a lot less kids 🙂

We hit the Australia Zoo, which used to be run by Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. Things had changed quite a bit since being there before. A few new buildings and a lot of finishing touches, new paths etc.

Tags: Australia, Photos by David Graff
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I am playing footy with a team made up of some of myPBL group and another. It’s a touch league, so I’ll be able to keep my ears attached to my head, which I find particularly handy. It’s a pretty intense game that I’ve never really played before, and it makes for a lot of running.

I tore something in my leg and I’m in a bit of pain, which is a stark reminder of the validity of my usual MO of self preservation, but also good to get out there. We play at a field over in Yerongpilly or something like that. It’s a 45 minute walk from here. I’ll have to ask Matt where he played when he was down here. Anyways, we got our butts kicked tonight. The game is very athletic… I’m not. We’ll see over time.

Tags: Australia, UQ by David Graff
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I took a trip to the Fraser Coast last weekend, sutured a pig’s foot and learned to make a plaster half cast (the broken arm kind).  The other thing we saw was the Royal Flying Doctor Service operation at the Bundaberg airport.  Airborne medicine is a big part of Australia’s history and practical logistics.  With 20 million people in a land mass larger than the continental US, getting around fast is a big problem.  It’s so important here that the guy who started it, Rev. John Flynn, is on the $20 bill.  It was sweet to see the equipment they use and the airplane and two choppers they are currently using out of that location.  Maybe one day…

Tags: Australia, Medicine by David Graff
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Well, not here exactly, but by my estimation, they are in a hotel, sleeping, across the city.  I will see them later this afternoon.  Air travel blows my mind…  If they ever invent anything faster I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle it 🙂

It will be good to see them here, and together with one girl who grew up in my home town, Steve Reny (a roommate from a few months ago) and the professor that interviewed me last August, they will be some of the first familiar faces I’ve seen on this continent.  I’m looking forward to it, it’ll be really fun for them to show them what life is like down here.  They’ve never been on this side of the equator before.  New stars, opposite seasons and one of the most incredible continents on the globe.

It is Monday morning here and I’m just poking around the apartment.  Brian and I had some friends over on Saturday and it was a really good time… it was the first time a lot of people had seen the place. I’m sure there are some better pics out there, but I’ll put up a few of mine.

And the next morning…

Tags: Australia, Photos by David Graff
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Here are a few pics from around campus that I took when I just arrived.  It’s really a good looking place, very old fashioned.

Tags: Australia, Photos, UQ by David Graff
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Each night at dusk, the bats come out. These things are huge, about the size of a large crow. They are really creepy and fly totally silently, unless you happen to scare one out of the tree once it has landed… then there’s this gross leathery flapping noise as their wings hit each other in the air. There are thousands of them and they come each night from the south and head up north towards Southbank. Who knows if that’s where they stop… I think they are fruit bats, and they don’t seem to bother anyone, so I’m not too concerned, but they still are very creepy.

I saw one once, on the ground in the middle of the day. It must have broken a wing or something, cause it was still alive. I could see it’s heartbeat in it’s furry little chest. It’s beady eyes would pop open and look around, seemingly panicked, when I came close. It would breathe faster too. Big furry ears and an upturned nose gave it that weird bat look. I felt a bit bad leaving it there, but didn’t have the courage to do what was probably the right thing. Someone else phoned the SPCA and they came and got it. I’ll bet they just chucked it in the garbage.

I’ll try get a photo sometime. (Of the living/flying ones)

Tags: Australia by David Graff
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We had yesterday off because of some strange scheduling (mis)fortune and decided to hit the beach. With our sights set on North Stradbroke Island, just east of Brisbane, we were up at 5:30 am for a 6:30 bus, and the combination of buses, trains, ferries and walking gave us an arrival time of about noon.

The beach was beautiful, wide and flat, with great sand. We swam, tried to surf and just took things easy. Sean, Brian and I reverted to our boyish roots and started catching crabs in the tidepools. A retreat to the restaurant started the trip home. It was a good 4 hours in the sun, and I’m really feeling it now. A few days hiding from the sun and I’ll be good. Hopefully I don’t molt.

Tags: Australia, Beaches, Photos by David Graff
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It’s pouring rain today, and the air conditioners are still blasting away.  I’ve been cold all day, and have twice had to go outside to warm up.  It’s a strange feeling stepping out into a grey wet day to warm up from the cold library or class!  Not much new to report, just getting things together here.

Tags: Australia, UQ by David Graff
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Two days ago. Despite living through the peak of the late-nineties-wear-scrubs-to-school fad, I donned a set for the first time at my apartment. I have them so that I can wear them for the Med sports day, which I understand we all will be wearing them and running around like crazy. Anyways, that brings up another point, and that is that I do in fact have an apartment now. It’s pretty close, and takes me 11 minutes to walk to campus and 15 to get to where the lectures are held.

What I don’t have is furniture, but that is slowly changing. I took delivery of a bed, and will hopefully very soon be getting a desk and couch. A fun little feature of the Australian property rental scheme is that tenants are responsible for their own refrigerator, which means I have no fresh food right now.

Also along the lines of what I don’t have is internet at home, but am looking to resolve that fairly soon. I’ll takes some photos to show where I’m living soon. (I updated the “Where’s Dave” link to the left to show where my new place is)

Tags: Australia by David Graff
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Last weekend was Australia’s National holiday, aptly named Australia Day. The holiday itself falls on January 26, and this year that was a Saturday. In lieu of the day, we had Monday off, and I took the chance to see a bit of the city. I haven’t seen much of it yet, since I’ve been feeling a bit obligated to sort out this whole homelessness thing of mine (I’ve been temporarily staying at a dorm on campus).

Since the rental market here is controlled by real estate companies, there was none open on Monday, briefly relieving me of that duty. So I headed down the river, to see where the City Cat ferries would go. I took a stop in Southbank, which is an inner city park with a pool made like a beach, sand and all. You can see the “lagoon” on the Our Brisbane webcam. I took a few photos that I’ll put up later.

After getting back on the ferry and riding it as far as it would go in one direction, I decided to time lapse capture the trip home. Follow the link to watch it. [Read more →]

Tags: Australia, UQ, Video by David Graff
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