Fish Rock Cave

Last weekend, we were finally able to go diving at Fish Rock Cave, and it was spectacular. Saturday was very stormy, the 40 minute boat ride out to the cave got a bit rough at times, but it was perfectly calm underneath the water. We dove twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday, the weather was a lot better on Sunday though, which really helped the visibility underwater.
They were the deepest dives i've ever done, a little over 30m (about 100 feet), we had to do decompression stops on the way up. That deep down, it truly feels like another world.

At Fish Rock, there are two dive sites, the cave itself, and the shark gutters. We did the shark gutters first both days, and that was both very scary and beautiful. Basically, at about 32m, there is this long corridor of sand with two 'walls' (more like what a riverbank would look like) running down the sides. The sharks (big, 6-7 foot grey nurse sharks) would just cruise down the center of the corridor. Basically, we'd descend down one of the sides of the gutter, and then so long as we didn't make much noise, the sharks would come right up to us, at some points i could count 7 or 8 swimming around. Luckily, the two guys I was diving with had cameras, so here's me with some sharks in the gutter.
This one shows just how many sharks we'd see come by in packs at a time, and how close we were


Here's one of me (in the distance a bit) just amazed and looking around, there were more sharks behind the big one.


After the shark gutters we dove through the cave, which was also, pretty scary and amazing. We started at the deep end of the cave (i suppose its more like a tunnel) which was about 25m deep. It was absolutely pitch black, we each had flashlights, and the tunnel was so narrow we could only go through one at a time, and at most times I couldn't have spread my arms out. We saw some really odd looking fish and crabs in the cave, the best part was that it opened up and out at the end, with a really big opening. From inside the cave, the light from outside created numerous silhouettes of all the fish and sharks in the opening of the cave, this is the best picture of it that we got.


And finally, I've got to include this one because it reminded me so much of Finding Nemo, we found a few sea turtles, and they really do look like they're just chilling, lazily swimming around. Plus, its one of the few clear pictures of me that one of them got.

Boo Stormwater

Unfortunately, that awesome scuba trip I was looking forward to so much was postponed. There were really heavy storms north of Sydney last week and all of the stormwater drained near the dive site, bring along a lot of sediment and dust and made the visibility less than 4 ft. The Dive shop realized it wasn't going to be worth going up at all, so they moved it to this weekend coming up, hopefully the weather will comply.

Classes are officially over, we're currently in StuVac (study vacation, kinda like reading day. but for a week) I get to dedicate this entire week to the study of Macroeconomics, a class i didn't need to take, but (rightfully) thought would still be useful, and it definitely was. It's just also not as straightforward as I had previously thought. After that is Political Economy, another one I thought would be useful (it was less useful than macro, but still really interesting), and then finally Critical Thinking, literally the day before I fly out of here. For Democratic Theory we only had a final paper, which I turned in last week.

The tree in the quad has finally bloomed, letting everyone know to start studying.


I also went to the beach over the weekend, and did a really nice walk down the coast. This is from one of the outcroppings of land.

T-Minus 1 month

As of yesterday, I have one month left in Australia. It is a sad, frightening thought, although I am ready to head home. The large tree in the quad has bloomed, signifying the beginning of when people should begin reviewing for their exams. I'll get a picture of it today, it's quite stunning. I only have finals left, and have slowly begun to put outlines/other study materials together to prepare. It's also beginning to get quite warm, it really feels like summer now.

DAY 9
This was our last day out. I was lucky enough to be uncomfortable in the middle of the night, and when I woke up to move around, I was rewarded with the most beautiful sky I had ever seen. The moon had just set, so the only light was from the stars. The sky was so clear and dark that I was actually able to see the Milky Way, a thin, cloud-like glow stretched across the sky. We visited a Meteorite site on the way back to Alice Springs, it was sooo cool. There were three craters because the meteor split on its way through the atmosphere. We only walked around the craters, we couldn't go in them. We spent the final night Alice Springs, woke up the next morning, and came back to the real world.

This is first light at our final camping site




It took me way longer than I expected to tell that story, I haven't been very good about updating on here (clearly). With only a month to go, I'd better get on it.

Lecture Theatah

It's currently week 11, and we're quickly approaching the end. People are starting to prepare for exams, and in two of my classes I have no further assignments except for my exams. The other two have work due this monday, and then that's it until the final. Except one of them is just a final paper, which is nice, I prefer that to sitting down in an enormous lecture hall and taking a sit-down exam. They're not self-scheduled here...

DAY 7
Now last night, it rained. This was something way different compared to the sprinkle we got the night before. It legitimately thunderstormed on us. the wind was very loud, and the thunder is different way out in the open where there's nothing for it to bounce off of. It was very loud and rolling, almost like a wave of force while you're trying to sleep. Luckily, the swags were pretty waterproof, so nobody woke up soaked. A couple had minor leaks, thankfully I had a bit of water collect down my feet but that was it. Today we also went to the Uluru cultural center and spent some time learning about indigenous culture. We took a walk around Uluru (about 9k), it was absolutely breathtaking. It's no wonder that it is considered a sacred place to the indigenous people. We then drove a little ways away to a sunset viewing area, where we could see the rock in front of us as the sun set behind us.


DAY 8
We woke up really early this morning so we could see the sunrise over Uluru. It was a little difficult, but very very worth it. We then went to the Valley of the Winds. Its a bit of a walk from the road, but we eventually got a tall, narrow valley that actually had trees and brush growing in the bottom because all of the water that fell on top of the cliff sides would drain down to this one area. Also, all of the wind was funneled through this area, so when we walked through it, the wind was strong and pretty much always there. Because of the echoing walls and trees, the wind made it almost sound like the valley was breathing, it was very beautiful. We camped out in the bush again, but we really wanted a fire, so I grabbed a shovel, drew a circle in the ground about 4ft in diameter, and started digging. It wasn't so bad, once you get through the top layer, the dirt is mostly soft, it was actually pretty fun. This day definitely deserves two pictures...


And this is the fire pit I'm mad proud of doing myself....

Schoolwork...

This past week has been pretty intense concerning schoolwork. It's the final wave of papers and quizzes before finals, which start in a few weeks. It's shocking how quickly this semester has gone, it's tough to believe that i'll be starting week 11 on monday.

DAY 5
We started the day after a cold, cold night by going to Tnorala, a meteorite site. The crater was two kilometers wide, and maybe half a kilometer high. It was really cool to walk inside of it and look around, quite amazing. We spent alot of today in the cars, covering distance. We had a pretty relaxed afternoon at Kings Canyon Resort, basically a place for campers. There weren't any rooms, just sinks and bathrooms around big patches of open area for you to sleep. They had a pool though, and we had a really good time swimming and making fools of ourselves. There were dingoes too, just roaming around the campsite. They warned us not to feed the dingoes because they're trying to keep them from coming around, at one point one got into camp and stole someone's granola bar. This was the view for the vast majority of the drive.


DAY 6
Last night it actually rained on us. In the Outback, where it very, very rarely rains. Luckily, it was only enough to wake me up, it wasn't too much. The swags are pretty waterproof, and after the rain woke me up I pulled the flap over my head and was ok for the rest of the night. We did the Kings Canyon walk today, which is a long walk around the rim of an enormous canyon. It was beautiful. We also visited a place they call the 'Garden of Eden'. We had to climb down the canyon to get to a little corner of it where all the water collects and supports some amazing wildlife in this tiny sheltered oasis. We drove some more in the afternoon, and had a rest stop over some salt flats. The salt flats, plus the clouds from the rain last night, plus the sun made for one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

Adjusting

It took some real effort to get back into doing work today. As in, I only did what was absolutely necessary not to fail. Everything seems a little fake, a little manufactured. I really don't want to forget how amazing the trip was, but I have to keep going with what's going on now.

DAY 3
Another really cold morning, but this time it was easier to deal with. I had to wake up in the middle of the night because my arm was asleep, and as i was gazing at the stars drifting back to sleep, i saw a shooting star! It was beautiful, momentary, and left a smile on my lips as I fell asleep. We went for a walk along Serpentine Gorge, and I climbed up a scaly rock face for a better view. Then we swam at a place called Glen Helen. This was easily one of my most significant experiences. We (just Nick and I) had to swim across this gorge to get to the other side, so we left our cameras back with everyone else. When we got there, it felt like no one had even stepped foot on the sand. There were ducks, storks, long grass, a soft breeze, I easily could have been standing in the middle of a discover channel documentary.


DAY 4
This morning a few of us woke up extra early to climb a little hill before the sunrise. It was way more than worth it. We also saw two wild bulls fighting each other, probably over a mate. Today we also went to Redbank Gorge. This swim was beautiful, frightening, and really really cold. Nick, Sal, Andrew and I went ahead first, swimming and climbing our way through the canyon. The walls had been eroded for so long they shone with light, and the water was perfectly still until we got there. This is a picture of the beginning of the gorge. We didn't get to the end, it seemed like it would go forever. Easily, again, I felt like i was in an episode of Planet Earth. I couldn't believe I was seeing and experiencing something so beautiful.

Back under a roof

What a trip. I got back last night, and actually had a bit of trouble adjusting to artificial light and walls. There's no way I could possible convey what the trip was like through a blog and some pictures, but I'll try. I think I'll feature two days of the trip at a time, seeing as I took over 500 pictures and wrote a lot of pages in a journal

DAY 1
We started the day at the Alice Springs hostel, meeting everyone and getting packed up in the trucks. We had an SUV, a pickup truck, and a 'troupie', kind of a modified outdoor van. We visited a watering hole near Wallace Rockhole, a small town that we camped outside of for the night. We slept in 'swags': a sleeping bag in a canvas bag with a light pad underneath


and this was the little oasis we visited


DAY 2
You hear about the desert getting cold at night, but until the breeze literally pulls the breath out of you its so cold, its tough to understand. the best thing about the swag is that you can pull the flap at the top over your head, although it was still absurdly cold. We made bookmarks at a dot painting class, and then went swimming at a watering hole in a canyon. The water was cold, but also very very fresh. We did some 'Bush' camping for the night: literally drove off the dirt road, found an open area miles away from anyone (literally, there was a person for miles around) and set up camp.