Sydney Boat Tour

Tonight we went on a harbor boat tour. We had a few beers before getting on the boat in Darling Harbour. Once on the boat they actually served a pretty decent dinner. Most boat tours in the U.S. serve pretty crappy food so I was surprised. Then we drank some wine and enjoyed the view and took some pictures of the whole group. It was really amazing and I'm glad I got to enjoy it with my mom. This trip has been a great experience and I'm really glad I decided to take some time off from the hustle and bustle of american life to see something that not everyone will get to see in their lifetime. Thank you to my parents and to my instructors for making this possible. I hope all of you enjoy my blog and consider traveling to Australia in the future.

Had the day off!

Today me and my mom slept in pretty late and then and had breakfast/brunch at this little cafe. We both had different flavor omelets and shared. Then I took her to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was pretty gross outside today but I really think she enjoyed it. Then we went back to the hotel and rested. We didn't really do much for the rest of the evening. I feel bad because my mom flew all the way out here and I'm completely exhausted and ready to head home.

Sydney Opera House!

Today the group and my mom went to the Sydney Opera House for an architectural tour. The building's design was actually made by an architect who won a design competition. he used this theory about using a sphere to make pieces fit together in a perfect mathematical way. The inside design has a lot of wood paneling which reminds me a lot of musical instruments especially the woodwind family such as the cello and violin.

They used these different types of materials for the inside to help deflect echoing and enhance the acoustics. After our tour, we were done for the day so Mom and I went shopping. She literally thinks I asked her to fly half way across the world to buy me things but I actually missed her a lot so I'm glad she's here. After we shopped we went and picked up my cell phone that I lost the first time we were in Sydney and then went back to her hotel and got ready for dinner. Tonight we took all of the environmental design out to Shangri La which is a bar where you can see the entire city and then we went to the 360 degree bar for dinner. The food was absolutely amazing and it was so sweet of my mom to treat us all to dinner. Tomorrow we have the day off so I'm going to take my mom to the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

Back to Sydney!

Okay I'm super excited to go be back in Sydney. I get to see my mom! So today we flew back to Auckland and then flew straight from there to Sydney. When we got to Sydney we went straight to Wesley College at the Uni(versity). I dropped off my stuff then Emily Patrick and I went to meet up with my mom for dinner. We went to this place that all the other people in a group were raving about the first time we were in Sydney. It's called Bling Bling Dumpling. It was so good and so much fun to see my mom. Tomorrow we are going to the Sydney Opera house for an architectural tour.

Second Day in Queesntown

Ok so this morning I slept in again.... lets just say it was a long night. Then Ben and I got up and went to get lunch at a cafe on the lake font. Then we went and took a Gondala ride up to the top of a mountain where they do luging.

 We had to do the beginners Scenic ride because it was our first time but it was so cool! Then we went to check out a bird preserve so we could see a kiwi but it was not worth spending 40 bucks. Then ben and I went on a boat tour of Queenstown. I'm definitely moving here. Then we met up with Stuart and Patrick and went to a japanese restaurant for dinner. It was really good. Afterwards we all went back for a quick cat nap and then went back out to world bar. Our trip to Queenstown has been my favorite part of our trip. I hope to come back here some day.

First Day in Queenstown

This morning we woke up and Chris drove us back to the Auckland Airport. We caught our flight to Queenstown just in time. When we arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand I was extremely blown away. I felt at home. I was born in colorado and I have always been a mountain girl. I felt like I was in Vail in the middle of the summer. The Weather was perfect and the views were breathtaking. The town is extremely small but it has a wonderful homey feel.

We went and checked into our hostel and then had a great lunch at a cafe where the boys got Philly cheesesteaks and I got a quesadilla and the best chocolate milkshake I have ever had. Then we went over to the Shot over river jet boating. It was wicked!!!! I had so much fu but I thought Patrick was going to barf all over the place. He's not really a boat person. Then we went back to our hostel and got ready to go out. We went to a place called world bar where I met a bouncer who used to live in Littleton, Colorado which is where I was born! Then we went on something called the Kiwi Bar Crawl where these guys took us to all of the coolest bars in Queenstown. We finally got to go to -5 which is an ice bar where everything is made of ice! It was so much fun. Then we went home and hit the sack.

Second Day in Omaha Beach

Today we all slept in pretty late. I think we were all exhausted. Then we went out the beach and laid out for a little while. Then my mom wanted to skype so i came up to the house and skyped with her and a few other friends of mine. Then we all showered and cooked a humongous meal. We had steak, fish, grilled mushrooms, grilled peppers, and rice. It was absolutely amazing. Then we all sat down with bottles of wine and got ready to watch the men's semi finals in the Australian Open with Roger Federer against Nadaal. Nadaal ended up winning even though I was rooting for Federer.

Fourth Day in Auckland/First Day in Omaha Beach

Today we woke up early and took a bus to Piha Beach which has black sand beaches.

 It was a pretty cool day in Piha but the sand absorbs the sun so the sand was incredibly warm. We laid out for about two hours and relaxed. Then we all went up to a cafe in Piha and got pizzas and sandwiches and ate lunch. Then we headed back to Auckland to pack and leave for Omaha. Once Chris picked up me, Patrick, Stewart, and Ben, we started driving to Omaha. We stopped outside of Omaha to pick up groceries then headed to the house. The house was amazing and the view was even more incredible. We all showered and then went out for dinner to the pizza place down the road. It was really good. Then we went back and drank some wine and called it a night.

Third Day in Auckland

Today we went to go visit Unitech. This meeting in my opinion was more geared towards our professions and interests. We met with the head of the architecture program and some of his colleagues, one of them being a man named Mark Mismash. He works for the University but he also owns his own company that does green efficient building. He believes that the leed and green star rating systems are just huge checklists and that they actually do not measure the productivity or the improvement due to design changes in terms of energy efficiency. I would love to talk more to him about these two programs since this is what my research and development project is on. After our meeting, we met with Karen about our research and development project and then we had the rest of the afternoon off. Most of us did some packing and got ready to leave after we finish class tomorrow. We are going to stay at my friend Chris's beach house in Omaha beach. We are really excited for a few days off.

Second Day in Auckland

Today we went to go visit Auckland University and their construction program. A lot of the Graduate students are working on research for Christchurch which has encountered a large number of earthquakes and after shocks within the past year. Some of the graduate students took us on a tour around the campus. Later that afternoon after we all split up for lunch, we met up and took a bus to an area called One Tree Hill. It's funny that it's called that since I was OBSESSED with a tv show called "One Tree Hill" when I was in high school.

 We literally climbed up the side of this huge hill that had sheep running all over it. But the hill was not only infested with sheep, but their poop as well. THERE WAS POOP EVERYWHERE!! You couldn't take a step in any direction without having to try and avoid poop. As soon as we got at the top there was a huge monument. It was extremely windy but it was so beautiful because you could see all of the city of auckland in a 360 degree panorama. It was incredible and it made me feel very free and relieved of stress. Then we took a 20 minute walk down the pathway instead of rolling down the side of the steep mountain. Once we got down to the bottom we went back to the hotel and rested and ate dinner before going to the sky tower! When inside the sky tower we went to the top and viewed the city from an incredible angle. Patrick was so scared of getting close to the glass. Then Anoop bought all of us a beer. We sat and enjoyed the view and then a few of us decided to go out. Jason said he knew a place where a lot of college students go but when we got there it was closed because we forgot that its summer and all of the college kids go home. So we just went back and went to bed. today was a really great day. I really enjoyed our activities.

BRISBANE POWERPOINT

http://www.slideshare.net/mej0011/brisbane-powerpoint

January 22, 2011 AUCKLAND

Well, I spoke too soon. I woke up this morning feeling worse than I did yesterday. I didn't partake in today's activities so I could get myself feeling better. Apparently it rained this morning so I don't feel bad about missing. It probably would have made me feel even more sick. If you would like to hear what the class did today make sure to check out their blogs which you can find at http://bsci2012sadu.blogspot.com/p/contacts.html
Have a great day everyone.

January 21, 2011 AUCKLAND NEW ZEALAND

Today we arrived in Auckland. We unpacked and ate some lunch and then met at 7 to go on a walk in a park. 

The park had a lot of open space which I enjoyed a lot and then we were done for the day. The bunch of us went down the street from our apartment which is called the Waldorf, but it is nothing like the American Waldorf. Anyways, we went down the street and looked around and then broke off into small groups and went out to dinner. Emily, Patrick, and I went to a Japanese restaurant and it was really good. Afterwards we came back and I took some cold medicine cause I've been sniffling all day. We called it a night. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

January 20, 2011 MELBOURNE

Today we did the tourist thing. We went to to cricket grounds in Melbourne. It was interesting to see a stadium that is extremely old and so was our tour guide. I'm pretty sure he was borderline senile. But he knew a lot of interesting facts and had some pretty clever jokes.

After our tour we went back and rested until about 7 where we went down to Federation Square where we went to see a play called The Summer of the Seventeenth Year or something like that. It was based off of the history of cane harvesters in the off season who would travel to the city. It was actually quite sad but I guess reality can be sad sometimes. I enjoyed it because it gave me a sense of the Melbourne culture and where people came from. Tomorrow we travel to Auckland New Zealand. I don't really know what to expect but I'm really excited!!

January 18, 2011 MELBOURNE

Unfortunately I had a stomach bug today so I don't have much to say. If you would like to hear what everyone else took part in please make sure to check out my class mates blogs! Cheers.

January 17, 2012 MELBOURNE

Today we did our last construction site visit with RMIT. We went right across Swanston street where their campus is located to a new building they are finishing up for the business school. The amount of technology put into the site is amazing. It has been (I believe) 5 green star rated and is extremely environmentally friendly with state of the art cooling and heating systems and so on. The site consists of teachers' offices, classrooms, lecture halls, and student study areas. After leaving the site we went back to our dorms and got ready for 50 cent Wing Night next door at the bar next door. It was really yummy and we had a really great night.

January 16, 2012 MELBOURNE

Today we went on our second construction site visit with RMIT. This morning we went to the Melbourne Convention Center.

It was absolutely amazing. The coolest, most thought out building I have ever encountered. Every single thing in that building has a reason for being there and it is the only 6 green star rated convention center in the world. I'm using this building for my research and development project. It was completely mind blowing. Then we went to the second construction site of the day for RMIT. This building along with the Lacrosse building were both built by a company called L.U. Simon. This was another apartment complex which wasn't even close to being as completed as the first one. After this second visit of the day, we were done for the day and I imagine we will have a fun night tonight.

January 15, 2012 MELBOURNE

Today we did our first visit with the college of RMIT in there property management and construction college. They took us on a brief tour of their building and then took us to one of their ongoing construction sites. This site was called the Lacrosse Apartments. It consisted of one two bedroom apartments which were pretty small and didn't have a lot of variations between designs in each of them. The tenants only had two choices for flooring which aren't a lot. It was pretty hot out so after the tour of the building we headed back to our dorms for a quick shower and change before heading to the Australian Open!!! wen went and saw two matches with  Roger Federer and Caroline Wozniacki. Roger Federer won and we didn't stay to see the end of the women's match because we were tired, hot, and Emily had a headache. Then we went home and called it a night. It was a great experience to see tennis in another country and be in that arena with the opening and closing roof. Hope everyone is having a wonderful January and I miss you all!

January 14, 2012 MELBOURNE

Today we traveled all day down the Great Ocean Road. We first stopped at a light house and in the water were a few cool free standing rocks with water hitting against them.

Then we traveled down the road a couple of hours and stopped along the way at two beaches, one of them, named Apollo Beach, where we stopped to eat lunch. I literally had the greasiest calamari I have ever had my entire life. It was ridiculous.

Then we went to the Twelve Apostles which are these huge rock formations in the middle of the water on the shore line. It was so beautiful and so worth the long ride up the coast.

Then we went to one more beach where the twelve apostles are located out on the water and headed for home. It was a long day even though most of us slept in the car we were pretty exhausted. I've uploaded tons of pictures to my computer and have made a few videos but the internet is so scarce and expensive here that I'm waiting to upload things as long as possible. Don't worry. It will all be up soon! Cheers.

SYDNEY OVERALL POWERPOINT

check out my slide show
a video with comments about each slide will be posted in the next few days!

http://www.slideshare.net/mej0011/sydney-11014864

January 13, 2012 MELBOURNE

Today we arrived in Melbourne. It is a lot cooler here than it was in Brisbane and Sydney. We got to RMIT which is where we are staying and I skyped with my mom a little bit. Then Emily and I went to an amazing authentic Italian restaurant for lunch. Then we met up with everyone and headed downtown to the  federation building. Its very modern but very poorly designed to be a public space.

Then we went to the botanical gardens which I though was even more culturally diverse than the Brisbane gardens.

After that the whole crew headed towards the street where all of the good restaurants were and went to a place that was having half off drink specials. We drank a few long island ice teas and martinis, ate dinner and then headed back to the university. Tomorrow we are doing a bus tour of the 12 apostles which are supposedly rock formations on the cost. Hopefully it'll be interesting. Goodnight everyone!

January 12, 2012 BRISBANE

Today I was literally the laziest person on the planet. I slept in until like 4 in the afternoon. When I finally got up, the group went on a bridge tour around Brisbane where we saw 4-6 different types of bridges made out of steel, concrete, or a combination of the two. It was interesting to learn about and to see what Professor Hein is interested in since I've never had him as a teacher before.

 Then Patrick, Emily, Ben, Jason, and I went back to the Valley and ate dinner at a Japanese restaurant called Harijuku Gyoza. It was absolutely amazing. Then we headed back and called it a night because we have an early day tomorrow. We leave for the airport at 7 for our flight at 9 to Melbourne. Can't wait!

January 10, 2011 BRISBANE

This morning we woke up and took a bus about an hour away and went to the koala sanctuary. We got their and paid 16 dollars each to hold a koala bear and take pictures.

 I also bought a bag of kangaroo food and fed a bunch of kangaroos. It was so amazing. They are so tame almost like cats.

 Then we went back the apartments and went to the valley which is where all of the good bars and clubs are in Brisbane. We were all craving mexican food so we found a couple restaurants and split up to get some. Then Patrick. Ben, and I went bar hopping! We went to one place called "Mega Club" and stayed there for most of the night. It was so much fun. We got home around 4 in the morning but it was totally worth it. Tomorrow we are going on a bridge tour with Professor Hein. I don't know much about bridges but I'm excited to learn.

January 9, 2012 BRISBANE

Yesterday we arrived back i  brisbane around 1 in the afternoon. We ate lunch and then met in the lobby at 2 where the teachers told us we had the rest of the day off and we should work on some school stuff. Most of us caught up on our blogs or went to the library to upload pictures because they have free wifi. Then Emily and I cooked steaks pasta and french bread. It was a pretty good dinner. Then I showered and called it a night around 9. I had been extremely tired from snorkeling and traveling back to Brisbane. This morning we slept in until about 9:15 A.M. and Emily and I went to McDonald’s, then to Gloria Jean’s for coffee. Then we met up with the group outside and headed to the bus station. When we got off the bus on Adelaide street near the Mariton where we stayed the other night, we walked to a business building where the office of Fluor which is a building management and construction company. They talked mostly about the work on coal seam gas, which is a new cleaner type of energy. They also talked about environmental issues and how they prepare their environmental impact statements for the government which, as of right now (I change my mind a lot), is what I’m interested in doing. He also said that we should all apply for jobs at his company. Believe me, I’ll definitely be doing that. After the meeting we split up, went to the Queen Street mall to grab lunch and then headed back. 


We have the rest of the day free and Emily and I are going to go to the pool with the boys and then figure the rest of this evening out. Since we don’t have class until later in the day tomorrow, I think tonight we should have our night out. Who knows? Cheers.

January 7, 2012 CAIRNS

Today was the most amazing day ever! Ben, Stuart, Patrick, and I went on the Reef Experience! 

It was absolutely amazing. We got on the boat around 8 o’clock and ate egg and bacon sandwiches and had some coffee. Then we got some instructions about picture taking, how to do an introductory dive, and some other basic instructions. We took the boat about 45 minutes from the coast to the first part of the reef. I was a little nervous and tried to snorkel. Lets just say breathing out of a tube makes me panic like crazy. I got out of the water after about 20 minutes and went up to the top deck and sunbathed. Then Patrick came and convinced me to go back out. I went out with a noodle and just swam around with him. Then I decided I didn’t want to scuba dive because I felt like I would be claustrophobic and wouldn’t be able to breath very well. After we swan and sunbathed some more we had lunch. We had alfredo pasta, chicken, salad, bread, and potato salad. Then we headed to our next reef destination called Hastings Point or Reef. This time I went out with Stuart and Patrick with just my mask without the snorkel, a noodle, and my flippers. This time was a lot better because I would just come up for air when I needed it. This reef was a lot shallower so I could see a lot more which was really nice. Then I went inside the boat because I was starting to get a little sunburn. Then we ate cheese and drank wine on our way back to the dock. By this time it was about four o’clock and we caught a ride back to our apartment to shower and go out to dinner. We went to a place called Cock & Bull and I had fish and chips and a salad. We each had a jug of our favorite beer and then went by the liquor store and picked up a couple bottles of wine and headed back and had a pretty fun night. This morning we woke up and checked out of the apartments and headed for the airport. We got on our flight back to Brisbane and then checked into our apartment called the Maritin. Its extremely nice. We ordered pizza and pasta and then I took a nap.  Now we are all sitting around blogging away. I think Ben and I are going to head to McDonald’s to use their free wi-fi and upload pictures! I hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all very much. Cheers.

January 6, 2012 BRISBANE/CAIRNS

This morning we did a trek up the Coot-tha Mountain. In my personal opinion, the actual trek in NOT worth it. You basically walk up the side of a road the entire way up so there isn’t much beauty in that. No trails, no animal noises, just cars and unnecessary exercise. I would suggest just taking a bus to the top and eat lunch or breakfast at the cafe and taking pictures from the lookout. After we rested and rehydrated, Ben, Stuart, Patrick, and I went on a bus back to Woolloongabba which the name of the part of Brisbane where our apartments were located. We packed and headed to the airport for our free weekend!!! We decided as a group to go to Cairns and go snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef. When we arrived we took a cab to Koala Court, the apartments we were staying for the next two nights. We decided to go to the grocery store and purchase a nice seafood dinner for the four of us. Let me just say it was the best dinner ever. 

Shrimp, fish, calamari, mussels, toasted baguette, roasted peppers, asparagus, rice, and of course some wine :) Then we watched a movie and headed to sleep early for our day of snorkeling on the reef! I’m extremely excited about it! Goodnight blokes.

January 5, 2012 BRISBANE

Today we went to the same park in Brisbane to participate in the boat tour. 

The boat went past the amazing Story Bridge which was probably my favorite part of the tour and maybe even my favorite part of the aspect of Brisbane architecture. We also saw the downtown which is on the opposite side of the river as the park.

 Then we went through a district with some pretty beautiful houses. The boat turned around and we went back to the dock. After the boat tour was over, Ben, Patrick, Emily, and I went to the Queen Street Mall’s food court to grab a bite to eat and then walked around a shopped a bit. I boat a pair of high wasted jean shorts and an oversized tank top that says                             “I <3 Oz.”                                                                                               Then we went back to the hotel, showered, napped, and went out with the professors to a Brew House. We had a few beers and called it a night so we would be tired for our trek up the Coot-tha mountain in the morning. I will be making a video about my overall experience in Sydney where I will put a slideshow of all my pictures and talk about them soon! Good night everyone. 

January 4, 2012 BRISBANE

Today we arrived in Brisbane around 11:30 in the morning. We all were feeling pretty rough after the festivities last night. When we arrived we all jumped into three taxis and had about a 45 minute ride to our apartments/hotels called the Q Apartments. We had about two hours before we began our day so we took an hour nap and then ate some lunch. I had half of a beef pie and it was amazing. I saved the other half for one of my other meals so I wont be spending so much money. I feel like things are a lot cheaper here than in Sydney though. After lunch we all got together and walked downtown to the river and the park.

 The park was built for the expo in the 80's?? I think thats right. The park was the most amazing park I've ever been to. John Pittari would love it and I wish I could have done my city comforts project on that park cause it literally had all of them and more. We walked around for an hour or so and were going to take the ferry tour but we missed the boat so we decided to do that tomorrow morning. We rode a ferris wheel that travels around Australia but is here in Brisbane right now. It made me feel kind of sick cause I'm not really a big fan of heights.

 Then we went across the pedestrian bridge called Goodwill Bridge and went to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It was different form the park in Sydney which was more managed and maintained. The park here is more natural. Emily found this fruit that looked like a potato and the sign said that the tree it comes from is in India. It was extremely hard but Emily broke it and the inside smelled like dirt. We walked through a giant bamboo jungle and then went out to dinner in downtown. I got a Margarita pizza and plan on eating the other half tomorrow. Then we caught the bus back and I showered and its only 8:45 but I'm heading straight to sleep. Goodnight everyone.

January 3, 2012: LAST DAY IN SYDNEY

Today we got up and went to the Sydney Zoo. We got there by taking a ferry from Circular Quay. When we got there we took a bus up to the entrance and then went inside. We got a deal on our tickets because we were students and we had teachers with us. Once we got inside we went and got a quick bite to eat. I had a ham and brie sandwich. Then Emily, Ben, Patrick, and I went on our own. We went to see koalas, snow leopards, a HUGE bear, penguins (shout out to jamie and lauren!), seals, kangaroos, wallabies, birds, monkeys, and elephants!!! my favorite animal!!!

After the zoo we took a gondola down to the ferry, road back to Circular Quay, then we had a meeting with our teachers about a literature review. This is where it gets interesting. We drank a bottle of wine and went out to a really good pasta place that Jason suggested. Then we went our to bar broadway. Lets just say that by the time we left bar broadway, none of us were coherent enough to remember what happened. Lets just say we went through Reel's camera and don't remember taking any of the pictures of videos, but needless to say I'm pretty sure we had an amazing time. Tomorrow we leave for Brisbane. My next blog will be my overall view of Sydney. The internet is slow so I wont be adding pictures and videos until later.