Laugh, Kookaburra, Laugh!

Australia is all over the place when it comes to its creatures and creepy crawlies.  They've got it all here... freakishly scary, adorably cuddly, and even deadly creatures.  So far, I've managed to limit my animal encounters to those of the huggable variety.  And I hope to keep it that way. 

 

However, I've recently added a new animal to my Aussie obsession list.  While not exactly huggable (although I probably would cuddle the crap out of them if I thought I wouldn't peck my eyes out...), these guys are my current faves.

 

Meet our neighborhood kookaburras! 

 

Tell me I'm not the only one that grew up singing the "kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..." song?  Isn't that random that American kids learn that song?  To be completely honest, I think for a long time I thought that song was about a made up bird.  But now I have these guys in real life in my own backyard! And I'm afraid I might be turning into a crazy bird lady because of it.  Oh, and also important to note- these birds really do LAUGH!  Their song/call absolutely sounds like a bunch of monkeys laughing (in my opinion).  In fact, they laugh their little kookaburra heads off every day- sunrise and sunset just outside our house.  You can't see them in this video, but you can hear them laughing.

 

 

There are anywhere from about two to six kookaburras that like to visit our porch ledge in the late afternoon.   

 

Imagine my excitement when I discovered that one of our neighbors feeds them each afternoon and invited me over to help one day.  They are carnivores FYI, and LOVE kangaroo meat. 

 

Said neighbor is out of town right now and has asked me to water her plants every few days.  So I've taken the liberty of taking over kookaburra feeding duties at her house as well.  Yep, that means I actually bought kangaroo meat.  Sorry 'roos!  They are so tame and will let you get within just a few inches of them.  It's so cool!  Definitely never thought I'd see a kookaburra in real life, much less feed them in my own backyard! 

 

 



This one was trying to impress me by fluffing up his feathers.  It totally worked.



Didn't get the best photo of it, but they have a really pretty blue stripe on their wings.


 


Staring contest.

 


This is a photo of what my finger looked like about 0.025 seconds before I got bit.  It was totally my fault... I was too focused on taking a photo that I forgot I had food in my hand.



My First Video: Sights & Sounds From Oz

It's been nearly two weeks now since my parents came to visit us in Australia.  They were here for two weeks, and I think we managed to squeeze in about as many authentic Australian experiences as possible!  I'm still working on blogging about all that we did, but until I can get those posts finished up, here's a little video that I put together of some of the highlights of their trip. 

I know this video is far from fancy, but I have to brag a little bit because I have never edited or arranged a video before.  But with a few hours and a free "Microsoft Movie Maker" download, I managed to teach myself a few tricks and create something that I'm actually pretty dang proud of :-)  Any video experts out there have any tricks or suggestions of other programs to use for next time?

Enjoy!

What Makes Me Happy

Day 14, Tuesday: Ten things that make you really happy

I present you with a list (in no particular order) of things that make me really (sometimes ridiculously) happy:

Chocolate - I have a major sweet tooth!  I will indulge in just about any sweet treat, but if I had to pick, chocolate would be the obvious choice.  My day is not complete unless I have had at least some kind of chocolate. 

I still dream about these churros con chocolate at Cafe Futbol in Granada, Spain.

Reality TV - I've mentioned several times on the blog that I am a reality TV addict.  You name it, I probably watch it.  I wrote more about my affinity for all things reality TV here.  There is just something about these shows that makes me happy (even though sometimes they make me cry).  The drama, the extremes, the outlandish behavior- they all put a smile on my face. 

FaceTime - FaceTime has become a major part of how I stay in touch with family and friends.  Being able to see the faces of my loved ones helps me to feel like I'm not so far away.

FaceTiming with my extended family on Thanksgiving. 

My Students - I've been teaching for a little over 6 years.  And I can honestly say that all of the students I've had the privilege of teaching in those years (even those who sometimes made me want to pull out my hair) make me happy.  It makes me happy to see them learn, laugh, and of course the hilarious things they say leave me smiling each day. 

Some of my students from my very first year of teaching. 

Travel- I've always enjoyed traveling.  I am so thankful that my parents made the effort and sacrifice to travel with us when we were growing up.  Traveling is so much fun for me and truly makes me very happy.  Even after a trip is over, the memories made always bring a smile to my face. 

One of my favorite travel memories

Sending/Receiving Mail - I have a slight obsession with cards.  I could spend hours in a card/stationery store collecting funny and unique cards.  I love writing cards for special occasions and even for no particular reason at all.  Of course I also love receiving mail!  I have a big accordion folder where I save many of the cards and letters I've received over the years. 

Warm Weather - Being born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona has truly made me a desert rat.  I would rather be hot than cold any day.  There is just something about a warm, sunny day that makes me happy. 

Can't you just feel the heat radiating from this photo of the beautiful Arizona desert?

Gift-giving - I love spending time thinking of a fun and thoughtful gift to give someone for their birthday or other special occasion.  I often have gifts picked out for people months in advance of any special occasion, because if I'm out shopping and see something that makes me think of a friend or family member, I buy it. 

Christmas Music - I've found that enthusiasm for Christmas music is a pretty black and white issue for most people- either you love it or it drives you nuts.  Me? I LOVE it!  In college, November 1st was always the unofficial date when I would begin listening to Christmas music (much to my roommates' annoyance) :-)  They were good sports though!  I've calmed down a bit over the years and generally try to wait until closer to Thanksgiving.  Something about the familiar songs and feelings they conjure makes me so happy.  I usually have a hard time weening myself from the Christmas music after the holiday season has passed. 

Koalas - In general, I'm an animal lover, but my obsession love of koalas has brought this to a new level.  Since moving to Australia, I have fallen totally in love with these adorable creatures.  The day I got to hold one was probably one of the top 5 happiest moments of my life.  How could you not love those sweet faces and furry ears?  I often tell my husband that I am not leaving this country without one. :-)

Bliss.

Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:

Day 1

Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 (Oops! :-/ I did blog on day 5, just not following the prompt...)
Day 6

Day 7

Day 8

Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13
 

Jen and Tim's Aussie Adventure - Part II

In my last recap of Jen and Tim's visit to Australia, I left out our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef since it is deserving of its own post.  So, here goes!

We left early Wednesday morning to drive 1.5 hours to the town of 1770 (yes, that is the name of a city) where we would leave for our day trip to the Great Barrier Reef.  This was my second trip to the GBR (you can read about my first experience here).  It is so amazing to be so close to this reef that is one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.  It really is incredible when you realize just how large it is and that it can actually be seen from space. 

Shortly after we arrived, we boarded the boat and set out for Lady Musgrave Island.  We had perfect weather that day and smooth water, which we were thankful for since we had heard the water can sometimes be quite rough and the cause of extreme sea-sickness.  Phew! 

The way our tour worked was that the boat docked on a pontoon in the open water, a short distance from the island itself.  From the pontoon you can snorkel, go on a glass bottom boat ride to the island for an island walk/tour, and/or ride a semi-submersible boat for more viewing of the reef.  It was a great setup! 

Left: view of the pontoon - Right: Lady Musgrave Island in the distance

 

As expected, everything you see in the reef is just beautiful.  I'll let the photos speak for themselves. 

 

 

 

SO excited to see sea tortoises!  You can't tell from this photo, but this one was HUGE- it's shell was probably at least 2 feet in diameter.

 

Me breaking one of the rules and touching one of the sea tortoises

Lady Musgrave Island tour

 

 

The island is referred to as a coral cay (what we call keys).  Basically this means that the entire island is a giant coral mass.  The sand itself is very finely ground coral.  Here you can see some of the old pieces of coral that will eventually be sand. 

 

Tide pool with tons of sea cucumbers

 

 

Jen and Tim!

I put in a good effort to try to convince them to stay, but alas, I was unsuccessful and I had to let them return to the motherland.  Thanks Jen and Tim for coming all this way!  We miss you already! 

What Scares Me?

Day 7, Tuesday: The thing(s) you're most afraid of

Left: Huntsman Spider found in our house - Right: Tree Snake at the neighbor's house

I'd like to think I'm not a very "fearful" person.  I don't really have any phobia-type fears.  I'm not afraid of heights (as proven here). I'm not afraid of flying- in fact, I really enjoy it.  Although I think spiders and snakes are disgusting, there's no arachnophobia or snake-phobia here.  I'm not a very superstitious person, so I can't claim triskaidekaphobia.  It's funny though, because while I wouldn't consider myself prone to fears or phobias, I also don't really consider myself a particularly brave individual. 

Up until about ten years ago, I probably would have said I was afraid of change.  But I think I've pretty much overcome this, or at least become more comfortable with it.  All the moving around I've done and starting over in new places away from friends and family in the past ten years or so has pretty much taken care of this issue for me.  Although, I still do tend to prefer continuity and predictability, I can deal much better with big changes now. 

But I still haven't successfully addressed today's prompt.  What am I most (or at least very) afraid of? 

Of course, like most all people I'm absolutely afraid of the death (especially the sudden one) of a loved one, but I think that goes without saying.

So, I guess I would have to say I'm afraid of natural disasters.  Growing up in Arizona, we are pretty much safe from most natural disasters.  When I moved to Los Angeles, I was always nervous about earthquakes.  I would get very anxious while driving if the traffic stopped or slowed and I was on top of, or worse, under a bridge.  Eeek!  What scared me most about earthquakes is that there really is no warning whatsoever that one is coming.  By sheer luck, in my two years in Los Angeles, I never once experienced an earthquake.  Phew!  No joke, about 3 weeks after I moved to Houston, there was a pretty sizable earthquake in LA.  I had made it out just in time!  Or so I thought.  From L.A., I moved to Houston, and less than two months after my move, Houston was hit with Hurricane Ike.  I guess my luck had run out!  Hurricane Ike was scary, but luckily we got out of town before it hit, so I really didn't have to experience the worst part of the storm.  Now in Australia, I have cyclones to worry about.  Sheesh!  My mom always likes to remind me that if I would just move back to Phoenix, I wouldn't have to worry about any of these natural disasters.  Maybe she's right...
 
Catch up with my "Blog Every Day in May" challenge here:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5 (Oops! :-/ I did blog on day 5, just not following the prompt...)
Day 6

Jen and Tim's Aussie Adventure - Part I

Just a couple of weeks ago, David and I had our first visitors to Australia!  My good friend from college, Jen, and her boyfriend Tim made the transcontinental trek to see us and our new country.  Jen and I lived together for two years in college and were roommates in Spain during our time studying abroad.  So we have lots of experience traveling together, and I was so excited to have her here and travel together again!

After nearly 8 months here, it was so much fun to finally have people from home to show around and share part of this Australia experience with!  Also, I had forgotten how nice it is to be on the same time zone as someone!  It meant so much to us that Jen and Tim wanted to and were able to travel all this way to see us.  We had such a great time together!  Here is a look at some of what we did. 

Jen and Tim arrived in Gladstone on a Monday.  I was a bit of a ruthless tour guide that day as I tried to keep them pretty busy (and avoid sleeping) in order to help adjust to the time difference and reduce jet lag in the next couple days.  Sorry, guys!  They got the grand "tour de Gladstone" where they saw the lovely city itself, "downtown," a failed attempt at finding Radar Hill lookout point, Spinaker Park and the Marina, and Canoe Point where they got their first look of the ocean. 

The next day (Tuesday), we hopped in the car for a little day trip to the Rockhampton area where we visited the Capricorn Caves.  David and I had visited these caves in December, but I really enjoyed going back. 

Shortly after leaving the caves, we had our first kangaroo sighting on the side of the road.  I had been hoping to find some "wild" kangaroos to show them.  It's fun to see kangaroos in zoos, but it's even more exciting to see them just out in nature. 

Kangaroo sighting!!  Left: a troop of kangaroos - Right: A momma kangaroo and her joey

Before heading home, we stopped for a quick visit at the free Rockhampton Zoo.  It definitely wasn't the most impressive zoo, but hey, you can't beat free!  And we got to check some more Australian animals off of our list. 

Left: yes, that kangaroo is scratching his butt - Right: first koala sighting!

The next day (Wednesday), we went on a Great Barrier Reef cruise and snorkeling trip, but I'm going to give that its own post in the next couple days, so check back for that.

On Thursday, we spent a few hours at the beach nearby, Tannum Sands, but unfortunately I forgot to take any photos- oops!   Later that evening Jen, Tim, and I caught a flight to Brisbane for the next few days.  I'm so glad I was able to tag along with them on this next leg of their trip.  The main event of our time in Brisbane was my triumphant return (and their first visit) to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.  Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary is definitely one of my favorite places I've visited in Australia so far, and I was so excited to take Jen and Tim there.  I think I could go here a million times and never tire of it.  I've become a bit of a koala fanatic, and this place is seriously koala heaven. 

Middle: It doesn't get much cuter than koala kisses

A baby koala (joey)

3rd photo: If you look closely, you can see the joey's feet poking out of the pouch!
4th photo: I loved how this kangaroo was cuddled up with his head resting on his paws

Petting a kangaroo will never get old - (Duck photo bomb)

Tasmanian Devil (aka tazzy devil)

Enjoying drinks and the sunset along the Brisbane River in Southbank Parklands

I was sad to part ways with them in Brisbane.  I would have loved to tag along to Melbourne and Brisbane with them too, but I also wanted them to be able to have some Aussie adventures on their own.  Plus, work was calling my name.  It was a great week though, and a very successful hosting of our first visitors! 

Everything In Australia Is Scary!

Before I moved to Australia, I was visiting one of my best friends from home, and her dad sat me down at the computer to show me some articles he had found about how many dangerous and deadly creatures live in Australia (I think they were trying to convince me not to leave).  It did freak me out a little bit, but I took it with a grain of salt.  And off I went to Australia.

Well, it was only a couple weeks after moving before I started to realize he might have been right when I had my first snake and big-as-your-palm-spider sighting, which I wrote about here.  I'm really not a squeamish person when it comes to bugs or other creatures, but Australia really takes it to a new level with their creepy crawlies.  I've quickly developed tendencies like refusing to enter the garage before the door is entirely open so that I have a clear escape route if there happens to be a snake in there, thoroughly inspecting the doorstep and any corners nearby before I will go out any door leading outside, inspecting my shoes for spiders before putting my foot in, etc.  I know it's kind of ridiculous- but in my mind, it's totally necessary.  Now, I realize every part of the world has dangerous animals and conditions, but it's almost comical how extreme many of these things are here.  And yes, Australia does also have many amazing and beautiful creatures, but still...

As if I needed further proof, just the other day, my dad sent me this list of "17 Pictures That Prove Absolutely Everything In Australia is Terrifying." 

See for yourself:

http://now.msn.com/australia-is-scary-a-gallery-of-terrifying-photos

Tondoon Botanic Gardens

Despite all the crap I give Gladstone, there really are some gems in this town for which I really should give it credit.  One of these gems is the Tondoon Botanic Gardens.  The gardens are right in town, but you would hardly know that this little oasis existed.  I visited way back in October and went on one of the weekly free guided tours that they offer on Thursdays.  Although not advertised as such, it might as well have been a seniors event as I was the only one on the tour under the age of 65.  My life...   Anyways, it was pretty neat to see how different the plants, tree, flowers, etc. are in this part of the world.  I really enjoyed the tour- except for the part where we stumbled upon a giant Eastern Brown Snake (shudder...).  No one else on the tour seemed quite as alarmed as I was.  I'm pretty sure I more than made up for their lack of freak out.  At any rate, here are some photos of the beautiful scenery there. 

The most adorable tour guide

Eucalyptus trees (Gum trees) - Sadly, no koalas in these ones :-(

Australian Bottle Trees

Kookaburra spotting!

Japanese Gardens