Kitten Cuddles

are very hard to come by. Even when you wake up feeling a little sick the kitties show no sympathy. I might have an ache or infection in my right ear and just feeling a little blah. Jonah jumped onto the end of my bed this morning and I was hoping to get some cuddles on my feetsies but the best I got was one paw on my toes. Still a feat in some respects as Jonah's pretty stubborn and doesn't like touching people (hmm, seems like we have something in common). After just lying in bed reading emails and such I pulled Jonah away from my backpack under the bed which he was using as a scratching post and tried to make him into "little spoon". He wasn't having any of it. Ran out of the room pretty quickly. Milly was my next attempt but the loving I was feeling last night had apparently evaporated or something. She had no interest in being "little spoon" either, sad face. So yea, Jonah the British Shorthair and Milly the Ragdoll apparently do not want to be a cuddle utensil. Zac the Bengal will be the best feline cuddle utensil ever, though! Granted Zac hasn't been born or purchased yet but give me a year or two and I will make my very own kitten into a cuddle-holic. There was a Bengal at the local animal shelter a few weeks ago and if I had the mullah it would be on my lap right now and given whatever necessary shots to come back to Colorado with me in July. Alas, the need for food and bus passes surpassed the desire for a pet. Oh, and the other day at the vet's when Jonah had to get de-wormed there was a Bermese Mountain Dog leaving the clinic. That's my dream puppy. Puppy purchase after kitten purchase seeing as kitten can stay home alone at night and being a student that works better. So yea, I'm being mocked by dream pets: Bengal at the shelter, Bermese at the clinic. One day though. And I'll be able to walk them both cuz Bengal's are very active and if you leash them from the beginning they'll actually go on walks with you. My neighbor's are going to think I'm so weird...petite girl, big dog, tiger-looking cat taking their daily walk together...silliness.

Surfing Makes Me Shweepies

Yesterday was my first time surfing and it was INCREDIBLE. Yes, I know, I've been here for a month and I haven't surfed before now, what was I thinking, yaddah yaddah yaddah. Well okay, I've started and now it'll take a lot to make me stop. My friends Kyle, Chris, and Austin came down from Surfer's yesterday and we borrowed a few of Dimo's boards. Kyle is a surf instructor back in Santa Barbara so she was a perfect person to help me out. She's used to teaching kids ten years younger than me and so her habits of cheering and thumbs up transfered to yesterday's lesson. But hey, positive reinforcement works for me and I didn't feel like too much of a kook when I'd look back at her with a huge grin of accomplishment when I got my foot placement right for the first time. I managed to get up on all but one wave!

Sadly, that was not the same for this morning's attempt. Maddy and I went out to the same spot but the waves were bigger and the water was too deep to stand (usually there's a sand bank or the tide is right so the water level is low). Just swimming "out the back", beyond where the waves are breaking, wiped me out and then the treading water didn't help. My lil chicken arms definately need to bulk up. I tried getting up a few times but my timing was off and I was in the wrong spot. I let Maddy take over and I just bobbed there marveling at her abilities. We swam back to the beach and discussed the wide array of physical/mental abilities needed for surfing before walking back home.

I was ready for bed again but we ended up driving to a board shop to see if I could find a cheap one. Cuz it's the end of the summer all the beginner boards have already been purchased but I shall find one and then Maddy and I will be able to go out on our separate boards and won't tire out so easily. Also, Kyle wants to have someone to paddle out with her and although I'll be messing around on the white water while she shows everyone up we can at least grab brekkie together after and have a surfing buddy on speed dial. Grabbed a few groceries at the store and then came home and finished The Godfather, Part II. Maddy and Dimo are determined to make me love these movies. It's working but it's such a clever trilogy that I need to watch them all again to pick up on everything. Already a fan of Scarface, though. I'm determined to reciprocate the movie-loving exchange by showing Maddy Planet Earth and Ferngully. Planet Earth because it's great and yay learning and Ferngully because there is a hike about 40mins south of here on Mt. Warning (no joke!...cept I feel like few, if any, readers of this blog know what I'm talking about) and I want us to climb it so we can be the humans on Mt. Warning and, therefore, we are nice humans and the fairies will have nothing to worry about. I like how some of my friends have goals of shark diving or Figi trips and one of my major goals while in Australia is to materialize a reference in an animated film. Silly Char.

Anyway, after we left the gun, took the canolies, went to the mattresses, and made offers he can't refuse I went shweepies on the couch cuz two days of surfing will do that I suppose. I made sure to wake up for fresh chips that Dimo brought home from the fish and chip shop around the corner. Hmm, I'm thinking of what I did next today but it seems I've been very sloth-like.

I was pretty impressed by my dinner though. I was extremely apathetic about food when I opened the fridge so I ended up just throwing some mushrooms, broccoli, celery, baby tomatoes, and tofu into a saucepan and hoping it would taste alright. That sounds kind of impressive but I started out planning on just chewing on a stick of celery and popping tomatoes straight into my mouth from the carton so there was some progression I suppose. I added some salt, pepper, and veganaise to the saucepan and once the broccoli went soft and some steam appeared I figured it was done. See, there's my college kid cooking skills materializing. My concoction turned out tasty and I nommed it all up very quickly. A little too quickly at times that my eyes started watering.

Now Silence of the Lambs is starting and already it reminds me why I would be interested in criminal psychology if the drug/alcohol rehab career path (among a handful of others) falls through. Okay, but here's a fun fact from Silence of the Lambs at least one of you will know: Dr. Hahn from Grey's Anatomy is the girl in the well who is told "it puts the lotion on the skin". So yea, lots of movies and laziness today but seeing as I have the bruises on my knee caps and salt in my hair to prove I was in the water earlier I don't mind. Up to Surfer's to chill with everyone tomorrow and then classes start next week so a little down time is good.

Maddy's Birthday

Thursday (the 19th) was Maddy's 30th birthday :) She received jewelry, clothing, perfume, gag gifts, and her friend Anna put together some pots of veggies for her so now she has her own little garden. Anna even included cat grass so Jonah and Milly will have something to nibble. My present has yet to arrive but I think Maddy will like it. She and Dimo went to work during the day and I just went on my walk and then proceeded to make a birthday cake...yes, it was vegan. The cake went well but my first attempt at frosting was a little watery so I scraped off batch number one from the top of the cake and tried again. Batch number two was much more successful. It was a chocolate cake with white icing and I surrounded the plate with frangipanis as those are Maddy's favorite flower. Maddy also received a cake from a colleague so the fridge is very caked out right now.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BIG SIS!

BLOWING OUT HER CANDLES

CUTTING THE CAKE

That night, as it was a weeknight, we ordered an Indian curry and chilled out. Some of Maddy's gal pals have arranged a big night out in a few weeks to celebrate the milestone so that will be a fun time to get all pretty and go out for the evening. So yes, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDY! I'm really glad I was here to celebrate with her. Now if only my present to her would hurry up and arrive. Ah well, guess this means her birthday is just extended that much more.

MADDY'S BDAY DINNER

THE SUNSET ON MADDY'S BIRTHDAY (VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY)

Bella & Tara

The Great Barrier Reef

THE REEF AND LITTLE SILVER FISHIES

A BIGGER FISHIE

THIS BRIGHT BLUE CORAL WAS MY FAVORITE TYPE OF CORAL I SAW

Sunday, the 15th of February, 2009 will be a day that I will always remember as it's the day I went to The Great Barrier Reef. Our group had an early breakfast and then a quick walk to the marina where we boarded a big boat and situated ourselves for two hours of tanning/chatting while we sailed to the reef.

THE BOAT

SAFETY BRIEFING BEFORE SAILING

SAILING AWAY FROM CAIRNS

When we stopped on the reef for the first time everyone had the choice of snorkeling or scuba diving (or staying on the boat, I guess). I just snorkeled as I'm not a certified diver and the snorkelers were swimming in the same area as the scuba divers. We all wore stinger suits which are full body (including hoods) blue suits to protect your skin from jellyfish. We all looked very silly in them and enjoyed the discussion of buying a suit and wearing it out that night or at least buying a beach ball and playing "seals". At this first swimming spot I was able to see a ton of fish and coral. A huge school of four foot long gray fish swam by us and I even found a couple Nemos hanging out around an anemone (insert Nemo's stuttering attempt to say "anemone" here). At this spot we were given about 45mins to an hour to swim around before reboarding and getting ready for lunch.

BRETT, ME, KYLE, AND MORGAN SHOWING OFF OUR TRENDY STINGER SUITS

ME AND KYLE BEFORE SNORKELING

NEMO AND HIS ANEMONE

THE TURQUOISE COLOR OF THE WATER WAS JUST INCREDIBLE

TAKING A BREAK FROM SWIMMING/DIVING

THIS IS ME, CHAR COOMBS, SNORKELING AT THE GREAT BARRIER REEF (SO HAPPY I CAN TYPE THAT SENTENCE)

THE BIG, GRAY FISH

The crew had prepared a buffet-style lunch with salads, rice, veggies, crackers, fruit, and pasta which was all very scrumptious (the vegan options that is, can't account for the meat/dairy but didn't hear any complaints). Once everyone had eaten and reclaimed their tanning spots we sailed a little more until we were about 800 yards from a tiny island. We were given the option to grab our snorkeling equipment and get on a smaller, glass bottom boat and ride to the island. I took this option (don't know why you wouldn't) and was able to get a few pics of all the birds on the island before snorkeling around the reef once again. It was here where we saw a few turtles, some dolphins, more colorful fish, and teeny tiny jellyfish. We had no choice but to swim through the jellyfish to get back to the boat but because of the stinger suit I was okay. The only stings a couple people had were on their lips and didn't hurt anyway apparently.

A VIEW FROM THE BIRD SANCTUARY ISLAND

LOTS OF BIRDIES

GETTING READY FOR THE SECOND SESSION OF SNORKELING

A BIG, BLUE FISH

MORE CORAL

TO GIVE EVERYONE A GIGGLE

SWMMING AMONGST A SCHOOL OF FISH

I FOLLOWED THIS GUY FOR A BIT AS HE HAD ANOTHER FISH ON EITHER SIDE OF HIM SUCKING STUFF OF OF HIS GILLS

It was another two hour sailing back to the marina so once again we worked on our tans and just talked. Some people's "tanning" ended up becoming "extremely painful burning" but I did it too the first few days I was here. I learned that Australia has no o-zone and that's why the sun is so strong and why even though I've worn SPF 30 everyday since I've been here I've still earned quite a good tan. So yes, sunscreen is vital to avoid burning/melanomas. During the day, I ended up meeting two girls from England (yay!) who are traveling around Australia for two months before starting a teacher training program. They ended up coming out with us all that night and will be on the Gold Coast next week so we are hoping to meet up once again.

STEPH, ME, AND MARGARET ON THE BOAT

LOVELY

RainForeStation, Kuranda National Park

During my trip to Cairns, we spent a day at the RainForeStation Nature Park in part of Kuranda National Park. The bus trip took only about 45 minutes from the hostel and once we arrived we split into two groups as there were 42 of us in all. My group first went to the part of the park where all the animals are kept.

A KANGAROO

ME AND A KANGAROO

ANOTHER KANGAROO

It was so cool walking around the corner into the animal section and seeing kangaroos just chilling out on the grass (the first roos I've seen since I've been here). We then all held a snake and had it wrap itself around our shoulders. That snake was very calm and not scary at all...unlike the python they had that ate a dog just before the caught it. Next we saw some of the female koalas they have at the park. They keep the males and females separate because in the wild a male will have about four females but because of the numbers they need to keep the genders separate in order to avoid big territory/mate dramas.

PRETTY FLOWER, BUT I DON'T KNOW THE NAME

THE WHOLE AUSTRALEARN GROUP

SHWEEPIES KOALA

After cooing over the koalas for a while we met "Jack the Ripper". He is one of the longest alligators in Australia and received his name after killing the twelve females the park has presented to him for mating. We also saw some crocodiles who didn't move at all but I learned that crocs sit with their mouths open not to trap/eat an unsuspecting snack but because lying like that allows them to thermoregulate. Next we saw some lizards and a type of fish, Burrumundi, that are born male and stay that sex until about the age of seven and then they become female for the rest of their lives. Pretty interesting I thought.

BATHTIME FOR A BABY WALLABY

JACK THE RIPPER

SALT WATER CROCODILES

AN EASTERN WATER DRAGON

A BLUE TONGUED LIZARD

I then was able to feed a kangaroo! Yep, was very cool, and a little baby wallaby also came up to me and fancied a nibble. Once our group leaders were able to pry us away from the kangaroos we walked up to a little outdoor auditorium where we watched a few traditional Aboriginal dances.

FEEDING A JOEY

PLAYING A DIGARIDOO

THIS DANCER WAS MY FAVORITE, HE HAD THE MOST PASSION


ONE OF THE ABORIGINAL DANCES

After the dances, two of the performers showed us around another part of the park. They taught us how to play a diggaridoo, throw a spear (we weren't allowed to try though), and throw a boomerang (this was tricky and no one really mastered the necessary wrist flick and angling to make the boomerang return but was enjoyable all the same). Once we'd all had a go with the boomerang it was lunch time and the park had a massive buffet with salads, pastas, rice and curry, cold cuts, fruit and cheese platters, soups, and breads. The curried veggies and huge chunks of pineapple were incredible.

SPEAR DEMONSTRATION

The two separated groups then rejoined and we all took an Army Duck ride. Army Ducks are the trucks that look like safari trucks but can also go in water. So we were driven around the rainforest and then into a lake where we learned about what plants to avoid and some of the insects that we will likely see (and run away from) during out time in Australia. After the Army Duck ride we all stood in line to hold/take a picture with a six-month-old koala. She was very cute and more photogenic than all of us.

AN ARMY DUCK ON THE WATER

THE ROAD IN THE RAINFOREST

MARGARET AND ME ON THE ARMY DUCK

BIG LEAVES!

Cairns

This past weekend I went up to Cairns in northern Queensland for my AustraLearn Program Introduction. Friday morning we woke up to heavy rainfall so carrying my suitcase to the car was pretty interesting. Good thing I brought my rain jacket to Australia, it definitely came in handy that day. My flight was still on time though and no major hick-ups. On the flight I just listened to music and slept. Another girl from my program was on the same flight as me so once we arrived in Cairns we grabbed a cab together and went to the hostel.

FLYING INTO CAIRNS

The hostel we stayed at, Gilligans, was really nice and had it's own pool, gym, movie room, bar, club, and patio with a stage for the nightly band. I stayed in a room that had it's own en suite bathroom and balcony with five other girls (three of which also go to CU-Boulder but none of us knew each other before this trip). Once the rest of the group arrived from Brisbane we had a quick meeting about what we'd all be getting up to over the weekend and then went to a prearranged dinner at a restaurant nearby. After dinner, most of us went on a "pub crawl", a set up where you pay a small amount and in return get a wristband that gets you into five bars with a free drink at each. It was really fun going out and getting to know each other (regardless of the heavy rainfall towards the end of the night).

PART OF THE GROUP, FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: CHARLIE, MARGARET, JUSTIN, ME, MORGAN, KYLE

BOULDER GIRLS IN AUSTRALIA

The next day we had an early wake up time but then it was off to RainForeStation in Kuranda National Park [separate post]. After RainForeStation we drove back to the hostel and had about an hour and a half before the next meeting so a few of us went down to the pool and messed around on the lifeboats they had just floating around. That evening a few of us decided it would be a fabulous idea to go out dancing until the wee hours of the morning (and indeed, it was a fabulous idea). Luckily the best dancing place we found was the club in Gilligans so at least everyone was close to home and could go to bed whenever without worrying about walking home alone or anything.

A VIEW OF THE CAIRNS COASTLINE

On Sunday, the group had to be ready to leave at 8am to walk the few blocks to the marina to get on the boat to go The Great Barrier Reef [separate post]. It was amazing and will definitely be one of the highlights of my entire trip here in Australia. Sunday evening we had another meeting/group meal and then another great night out. We went dancing for a little bit and then a few of us tried to go swimming in the lagoon. We had only had our feet in for a few seconds before three cops came from whatever hiding spot they were in and starting yelling, "Get out of the water" "You can't be in the lagoon after ten!". Well, seeing as it was around 1am I think we just had to plead international student innocence and decided to go find some snacks at a 24hr grocery store instead. We took our chips, trail mix, and juices back to Gilligan's and were just watching a movie until Morgan appeared and started talking to us. Part of her rambling included my favorite line of the whole weekend, "You guys, it's not the chips, I love you". Well, after our looks of confusion followed by laughter Morgan went to bed as her declaration probably wasn't caused by the chips and we did the same pretty soon after.

JUST A COOL PIC

CHEESY GRINS WITH OUR RANDOM DANISH FRIEND

Monday's breakfast time wasn't until 9:15am (woo, a sleep in) and then we just packed, checked out, and got on the bus to Cairns airport. The flight took us to Brisbane and then it was about a 45 minute bus ride to Surfer's Paradise where we were dropped off at the Marriot where most of the group is staying until they find their own apartments. Maddy picked me up from the hotel and I felt very lucky to have my own bed/food to go back to and went to bed early to try and make up for lost sleep hours. This weekend was such a blast and I'm almost in denial about all the different things I got to do as it just seems impossible that I had all those experiences in just a few days. Very lucky :)

A SUGARCANE FIELD AND THE HILLS NEAR CAIRNS