Free events

Last week and even this week have been quite busy for a couple reasons...but I'll stick to the pleasanter ones.

Last Monday began the countdown to 100 days left in Australia. Most people would be counting the days that they've spent in Oz before they need to head home....but since I've been here since February it seems like I should start counting back down as I'm beginning (just a little) to miss home.

On Wednesday night I went to a free movie showing run by the Aboriginal department in the university. I received the email due to the History class I took last semester which invited me to come see a movie and get a meal. I invited a friend along and we went to the show. They started the evening with a girl preforming some songs and playing her guitar. She was quite good but unfortunately I've forgotten her name. They then brought in about a dozen pizzas all different types. It was an amazing selection with all sorts of toppings and for a change I didn't see a single pepperoni, cheese or hawaiian pizza like you would at home. So after a surprisingly good pizza dinner they started the movie which was a bit like a documentary on this band called the Black Arm Band and based on the movement of the same name. They would travel all over Australia to small communities and then even to Britain and preformed these songs that reflected their thoughts and feelings on what had happened during times of segregation, assimilation, placing aboriginals in reserves and the "lost generation". The Black Arm Band is this concept that you can't forget about what has happened to the Aboriginals in the past while the White Blindfold idea is more the concept of forgetting about the past and moving on. Anyway the songs in the documentary were quite good and the night was awesome, especially as it was completely free!

Movie Poster for those interested

This was also the week of science and the same friend I invited to this event invited me to an event put on by the Tasmanian Forestry Department. During the week they were having free bus tours down to the south of the island. I was so distracted during the week I forgot about emailing to request a spot until the last minute and no one was working to email me back. I ended up walking up to the meeting point on the day of the tour hoping their would be a spot. Luckily some people including the tour guide (!) didn't show so I was able to come along and our bus driver, also a Forestry worker, ended up guiding us.

We were taken to Tahune Forest about an hours ride from Hobart....and okay the tour had many elderly people or had other forestry employees or family members present but it was still fun. We walked around a Huon  Pine walk and out guide pointed out all sorts of tree and plant species as well as indicated which parts of the forest were regrowth, how to determine how old the forest was and what made it a rainforest etc. We then drove through patches of forest that had been clear-cut, cut in strips, patches or selectively cut. The talk got a little technical but was still interesting and we got a sense of what the forestry's view was on protecting the forest as well as what the best methods for clearing were and how burning actually helped regenerate growth faster than other methods. It was quite educational and I went home knowing a lot more on the views (especially the political ones) that the forestry department had.

Protector of the Pines

Who he was

After the forestry part of the tour, our guide/driver took us to see Tasmania's Biggest tree before we jumped back on the bus for the ride home.

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A tall tree!

Sick :(

I've been sick and so was the weather!

"I know I've been nice recently but it's actually still Winter," is what I think the weather outside has been saying.

A dreary looking landscape

For the last week it has been dreary and depressing with a constant cloud overhead and moisture in the air. However there are lovely flowers blooming on the trees and really this can't compare to a Canadian winter. Since the start of the month there have been so many flowers blooming on trees and bushes that it has tricked most of us into believing it was spring.

The "cherry blossoms" are out.

It definitely makes the stairs look a bit better

Flowers at the uni

Even with the much warmer weather I still managed to catch a cold! However it's not too surprising; in my classes I can constantly hear noses being blown as it appears most others have succumb to some sort of winter sniffle. I thought I may beat the bugs as I started last semester popping vitamins as we had been advised. Unfortunately they have long since finished and even devouring all the oranges and other fruit I could, I somehow still got sick. Hopefully I wont get the flu as I did get the flu shot that was being given to international students last semester.


It's not too fun being congested and wishing my mother would appear with a bowl of hot chicken soup! (Hint Hint!-Time to visit your long lost daughter!) At least I can still bug her for a recipe so I can make something for myself.

Even though I was sick during the middle of the week, my classes aren't too many so I still managed to attend them all and still have enough time off to recover. I'm not sure how others deal with being sick and away from home but I seem to make a lot of comfort food. I used my leftover broccoli to make some cream of broccoli soup and treated myself to a couple cups of chai (the ginger and cardamon seem to perk me right up!). I decided that cookies would make me feel better so I made a batch of sugar cookies and used wax-paper to make interesting shapes I could trace out. I thought that my housemates wouldn't be as enthused to eat my cookies since I was sick....but that didn't seem to stop them from at all! The next day I made ginger/walnut and coconut bars thinking I might have a dessert party with friends on the weekend but there is no longer enough dessert left.

I've also spent some time in the library catching up on tv episodes.... (I really am taking classes here dad!)

Unlike a lot of other students I don't have much weekly homework as assignments are completed in classes and my group work assignments don't take place over weekends and even then we still have quite a bit of time left before they are due. Now that I'm almost recovered it may be time to do some actual work...but maybe after another episode of Glee...

MUDtastic Not Fantastic

Over the weekend I had an out-trip with my Marine Geoscience class. We were heading off to the Uni Farm located near Richmond where we would be wandering about in the mud. As the lecturer hadn't informed us what exactly we were doing all I knew was that we were going somewhere muddy and I'd probably want gumboots.

I told many people over the week leading up to my excursion that I was looking for gumboots as I was going to be playing in the mud over the weekend.

My rendition of mud wars

I tried to look for a pair of gumboots in Target but they only had 3 pairs left in their entire store and unfortunately they weren't in my size. On the way back home I stopped in a shoe store which was having a sale....but paying $99 for gumboots I was only planning on wearing once seemed a bit ridiculous!
It looked like I was going to have to take my leaky runners and coat my feet in plastic bags if all else failed. But luckily for me my new housemate was able to borrow his girl friend's boots for me and they were not only rather fashionable with coloured flowers but more importantly a perfect fit!

Anyway the day of the practical I found out who the other two members of the group were since I hadn't known anyone before hand to form a group with. One was a very confident guy who acted like he knew what he was doing but actually wasn't following the instructions very well. I later found out this is his second attempt at the class. The other guy appeared to know what we should probably be doing but did not voice an opinion and was rather reluctant to draw the different geological zones we were examining onto the map. At least he had taken the prerequisites and another related class last semester. We "finished" but the samples we had taken before being given proper instruction probably weren't as well done as they could have been, and our map lacked details in certain areas.

The actual area we were mapping. Can you see some of the other groups?

Some more of the area we mapped. At least I took some pictures!

During the practical where the analysis of our samples was explained, the lecturer mentioned that he was most worried for our group! *SIGH* Thank goodness I only need to pass this class! I know that this doesn't sound very positive but I'm really not that worried...I'm going to work my magic and make sure that we come out of this with a decent grade. It was an interesting experience anyway and I got to see a part of Tasmania that's not one of the touristy destinations.