And They're Here... The Great Barrier Reef PICS!

Although they’re not the greatest pictures… my Great Barrier Reef photos have arrived!

I’m just a little disappointed though… I mean, all the pictures are kind of dark and murky, and they don’t really illustrate the beautiful colors and the exotic fish/corral I saw at the bottom of the ocean… but what can you expect from a cheap $25 disposable camera? At least I got some pictures, so I’ll always remember those memories of the bottom of the ocean.

But yeah, the coolest ones are of my tour guide when he lured a turtle out of the reef… TURTLE, TURTLE! There are also some pretty cool ones of some giant clams that were as big as me! I also tried to get some “Nemo” shots of some clown fish, but since I really couldn’t zoom with that disposable camera, it’s hard to see them. Oh well, I had a great time.

P.S. An interesting fact about “Nemo” or clown fish that I learned from my scuba instructor…

Clown fish live in families with a dominant male and female. If the female dies, however, the dominant male will change sexes and become the new female. Then the next biggest male will become the dominant male. So in other words, “Finding Nemo” is NOT correct… If Nemo’s mom had died, his father would have become his mother…? HUH?

Enjoy the pics…!

Scuba Steve luring the turtle out of hiding

He found a turtle!

Clam

Me trying to get a picture of myself without dropping the camera

Buscando a Nemo

Other divers

I look cross-eyed (haha)

Corals/reef

So I absolutely love my new place!

It’s located in an amazing place… Wembley! To start, I am only a 10 minute bus ride from downtown Perth and a 15 minute bus ride from UWA. Then around my house, there is nothing but tennis clubs at every intersection (I think I’m going to join one, so I can start playing competitively again).

And most importantly, my house is just a 10-15 minute walk from Subiaco, which is a HUGE shopping area for the trendy/young crowd. There’s clothing stores, malls, markets, restaurants, etc. I’m also a 5 minute bus ride from the beach…! But the best part is that my actual house is located in a very nice residential area, very reminiscent of my home in Clovis, NM (except that there are palm trees). I’ll be able to run daily without having to worry about traffic.

My new tenant Jane also has internet! YA! Not to mention, she also has Foxtel, which is a television provider, so we have cable! DOUBLE YA!


…Thank God because I didn’t know how I was going to survive without TV. Sure, we don’t have MTV or VH1, but we have this channel called HITS that has Friends, King of Queens, Will & Grace, and a bunch of other American shows. Then we have the primetime shows of House, Biggest Loser, Australia’s Got Talent, etc. I’m just so relieved. God blessed me with such a good house.

My tenant seems really nice. She is an artist and interior designer. I also have 2 other roommates who are students. I’ve only met one – Martin – a student from Slovakia. He seems pretty chill, but he kind of struggles with his English. The other one is a Japanese girl, but I haven’t seen her yet.

My room is also pretty sweet (see pics below). It’s not actually “a room.” It used to be an office, but now it’s my room. It’s located downstairs by the living room. I have a bathroom across the hall. It’s really nice… I have a bed, HUGE desk, and a nice closet. We’re just waiting on one of my other roommates to move out… The Japanese girl is supposed to be leaving in the next couple weeks, so when she does, I’ll be moving upstairs to a REAL room. I really like though… it beats my dorm @ UNM.

The house is also really pretty. Being an interior decorator, my tenant Jane has everything updated and looking nice. The fridge, washer machine, stove, etc are all new. She has a plasma screen TV with surround sound. Everything just seems to be perfecto!

My room

The house

My new address

Our living room

La cocina

Bathroom/laundry room

Backyard/porch area

My desk!

The closet

Gato Rojo

My room... again!

The New Home for the Next 6 Months…

So I have finally arrived… Perth is my new city. The University of Western Australia is my new playground to learn and grow (see pics below).

I’m excited… and not to mention, I finally found a place to live! YEAH!

I cannot tell you the weight that has been lifted off my shoulders. I’ve done nothing but stress about housing for the last week, so I can finally take a breather and relax.

It’s a share house, so I am going to essentially share a big house with other people… It is owned by a female artist with 2 other students currently living there. At this point, I don’t really know too much about them, but I assume whatever their personalities, we shall make it work (haha). The room is furnished, so it has all the necessary requirements for a college student (bed, pillows, lamp, and computer desk). The rent is only $160/week, which includes gas & electricity, so I am VERY happy about that. And most importantly, internet is only $10/week!!!

The only thing I need to budget for now is toiletries, food, water, laundry, transportation (bus), school supplies & books, and personal expenses. I think I shall be fine – my parents said they will help me out some…

The only drawback to everything is it is located in the neighborhood of WEMBLEY, so it’s about a 15-20 minute bus ride away from the university, but I’m not too worried because I just bought my bus pass today. It’s also closer to the actually city centre, so at least I’ll get to be closer to the heart of Perth.

I’m just EXCITED. I think I move in tomorrow so more details to come.

Here are just some random pictures of UWA that I took today... It's a beautiful campus... VERY HUGE and GREEN. It kind of reminds me of walking through a zoo because all you can hear and see are these colorful exotic birds squawking and singing. The coolest thing about the university or "UNI" is that it is located right on the Swan River, so there are lots of people always out there trying to windsurf.

And as for academics, it's part of the Group of Eight (the wealthiest and most prestigious universities in Australia), equivalent to the United States' Ivy League Colleges. YEAH!

UWA's main/iconic building

This tree is absolutely gigantic!

Green and tropical

Swan River... located across the street from UWA

My Schedule for Next Semester…

After four hours of enrollment, I finally made my schedule for next semester!

I’m taking 4 units (6 points each, so a total of 24 points), which is equivalent to 15 credit hours in America.

Here they are...

MICR2204 Introductory Microbiology

PSYC2203 Psychological Research Methods

MUSC1010 Music in World Cultures

SCIE2225 Molecular Biology

I know they are all 200/300 level classes, but in Australia, the highest they go for undergraduates is 300. They graduate in three years instead of four. So all my classes will transfer back as 300/400 level classes… woo!

Crocodile Farm

While being here in Cairns, I’ve seen nothing but signs saying, “Stay out! Crocodiles Near!” and “Caution: Crocodiles.” I mean… you cannot even walk along the coast of the beach without having to be fearful of crocs.

That is why I have decided to take on the role of the late Steve Irwin and visit a crocodile farm to wrestles some “salties” (haha).

I ended up taking a tour to Hartley’s Crocodile Farm. It was pretty crazy… It was located in this tropical forest with swamps everywhere. It looked like something out of Louisiana – a bayou.

At the farm, as expected, there was nothing but freshwater and saltwater crocodiles everywhere. The main difference between the two is their size, their location, and the shape of their snouts. Saltwater crocodiles or “salties” are a lot more prevalent in Australia, found pretty much everywhere but mainly in tropical areas. They are the biggest crocodiles in Australia with a much broader snout than the freshwater crocodiles. I think the largest recorded saltwater crocodile was something like 880 kg… MONSTEROUS! Freshwater crocodiles or “freshies” are much smaller with a skinner snout and are located in just northern AUS. Despite the names, though, both crocodiles are found mainly in freshwater swamps. See the picture below for a better comparison.
There were also lots of other amphibians and reptiles at the farm, including turtles, snakes, lizards, frogs, etc. And like every other wildlife park in Australia, there were of course wallabies and koalas.

The coolest part of the farm was actually getting to take a boat out onto the river and watching the crocodiles jump out of the water to get the food that the driver put on the end of the pole. It was kind of hard to see though because we had to stay seated at all times, and then there were these huge glass windows covering all sides of the boats to protect us from crocs that might jump in the boat.

Plus, I also got to see some Steve Irwin-like crocodile and snake shows with crazy guys playing with crocs and snakes.

The smallest frog I've ever seen

Crazy man... you don't play with crocs!

Soon-to-be boots and purses

Eat that chicken!

Saltwater croc

The swamp

Freshwater croc