As most of you know, I spent this past spring semester studying and traveling in Australia. It was an absolutely AMAZING time and for those brothers who have a few semesters left I would certainly recommend that you consider spending one of them outside the country. Why choose Australia? For me my first priority was that I wanted to go somewhere that I would be able to speak English, and second was the fact that I wanted to be somewhere warm where I could live on the beach. I came to find out that while these initial reasons for picking Australia were enough at the time, the country, culture, and people left me with an affinity for the nation that goes far deeper.
In a general sense, Australia is a rough mix of American, English, and Indigenous Australian histories and cultures. Things are similar enough that you can go about life in a pretty similar manner as in the states. However there is certainly a unique Australian twist on things which is most obvious in the different slang terms that they use. Basically they are a pretty lazy people and if a word is more than one syllable long, they find a way to shorten it down to something easier to say. The pace of life was also a lot different. People weren’t rushing from place to place without any regard for anyone but themselves as it seems people so often do here in CT. Things are more relaxed and people are a lot more friendly and willing to strike up conversations even though they don’t know you. This was my experience though, based off of where I lived. There are 6 states in Australia and there were clearly regional differences in values and lifestyles between them much as you would see in comparing New England to Florida to Texas to California.
My experience gave me the impression that there is a pretty large travel oriented aspect to the culture where both Australians and foreigners tend to do a lot of traveling around t
he country. I met people from African nations, Mexico, Canada, Netherlands, England, Germany, Sweden, and most other European nations for that matter while traveling around the country. There are also a lot of foreigners who now live in the country and I was told on a couple occasions that Australia was the ‘melting pot’ of the world in terms of culture. (Although I did argue that America was called that first). A large part of the economy is based on tourism and as a result there is a pretty efficient network of trains, buses and plane routes between most cities, and plenty of cheap hostels where you can spend the night. For example, when I went to Sydney the flight was 80 bucks each way and the hostel was 25 bucks a night.
If you want more information about what the schooling was like or any specifics I would me more than happy with fill you in. What follows are some pictures and descriptions from the places where I was able to live and visit during my time in the country. Most of the places can be found on the map as a general reference.
I stayed on the east coast of the country, which is where the vast majority of the population lives. Starting in the North there is Cairns, which is known as the ‘gateway to the Great Barrier Reef’ It’s a pretty small city that’s economy is pretty much based off of tourism to the reef and maintaining the hundreds of ships that bring people out to see this natural wonder. Going to the reef is absolutely a must do when visiting Australia. It is something you really have to see to understand how beautiful and fascinating the ecosystem is.
Frasier Island: 30 miles of sand with a forest in the middle. You spend 2 nights camping out with about 10 ppl from around the world. You drive up and down the coast of this island om 4x4's during the day and cooking/ boozing at night. The coast is actually a highway during low tied and its pretty cool to see cars driving down a beach at 50 mph with the occasional airplane landing stopping traffic. There were quite a few things to see here such as a ship wreck or the Champagne pools (water crashes over rocks into what is basically a huge tide pool you can swim in). The picture is of Lake McKenzie, which is a freshwater lake in the middle of the island. Its probably the coolest body of water I’ve ever seen cause it had the talcum powder like sand I mentioned before, but the water you swam in is salt free and so very blue.
Brisbane: I think it’s the 3rd largest city in the country, and probably about 1.5 times the size of Hartford. There’s a nice river walk with cafes to eat at and plenty of things to do in the city from museums to shopping.
Surfers Paradise: This is where I lived and studied. I was 100 yards from the beach in an apartment above a street with a dozen clubs/bars to enjoy in the evenings. The university was a half hour bus ride away which wasn’t that bad since there was such good public transportation. Surfers is a suburb of the Gold Coast, which is about 30 miles or so of beach where people come to visit on their vacations or have summer homes. It’s also where all the college kids go for their spring break a la Cancun. Surfing is a must. The ‘Hinterland’ is the area behind the coast. It’s a low mountain range covered in tropical forest and separates the coast from the outback. As for the weather, it was 90's when I got there during the middle of our winter, and when I left it was mid Australian winter with a blistering 70 degrees or so during the day. The first picture is looking at the city from the beach, and the second is at night from the 80ish level of the building in the center of the first picture. (the coast isnt shaped like a 'V', its just a picture from the left and right sides of the building put together)
Sydney: Kimmie or Halpin can prob give a better tale of what this city is like since they lived there on their abroad. Sydney is kind of like the NYC of Australia but not so big or crazy. There is a ton to do here. Outside the city are the Blue Mountains, which are pretty cool cause the oil off the Eucalyptus trees below actually creates a blue haze that colors the valleys below. They are in the first picture, and the second is from the observation tower in the center of the city.
Canberra: equivalent to Washington D.C. but smaller. Some really awesome monuments and museums here, but the town itself has nothing going on. There was absolutely nothing to do here besides see statues and tour buildings, so id recommend skipping this place unless you really love history or something.
Melbourne: 2nd largest city and rival of all things Sydney a la Boston/ NY. I found it really clean, organized, and easy to get around. Tons of bars, restaurants, museums, shopping, and sights to take in. Also of note are the great ocean road and Phillip island which are outside the city. The former is a day long drive with cliffs and the ocean on one side and a tropical forest on the other, and the latter is home to the largest population of the smallest penguins in the world. They come marching in a dusk from fishing all day and walk past the platforms you stand on to their nests.
Other places of interest: Mojo Surfing Camp – I would highly recommend this trip. They pick you up in coach buses and drive you to their surf camp a few hours away, you get to meet ppl from all over the world while they cook for you and teach you to surf for 2 days. At night you have a bonfire and, like most events in Australia, drink , drink, drink... And granted I was pretty gone, but I swear there are more stars in the sky when you are in the southern hemisphere. You can see the milkyway clear as day.
Also, there are plenty of zoos and animal reservations which serve to introduce you to some of the native animals. I got to feed and pet kangaroos, hold koalas, and see other animals like Tasmanian devils, emus, and dingoes.
I started this post with a lot of ambition and figured it wouldn’t take to long, but now I realize that even though I have written WAY too much, I haven’t even scratched the surface of what there is to detail about the country. But is late and I no longer have a desire to keep rambling on. Ive got a ton more pictures on facebook if you feel like giving them a look, there was way too much to fit in on this post. Basically, go to Australia, you will have the time of your life.
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