April 9th, Australia Day 49

This last week has been somewhat interesting with a few trips outside the city. This past week, I saw a rainforest, glow worms and I even officiated some Aussie Football games. All in all, a very productive 7 days.

On Sunday, I took part in a field trip to Kangaroo Valley and the Minnamurra Rainforest National Park. The trip down took about 1.5 hours as the sites were near or in Morton National Park, near the towns of Kangaroo Valley and Moss Vale, south of Sydney. The drive down was quite scenic and we passed by Botany Bay, where the first convict settlers put down roots. It is also the name of the ship upon which Noonian Singh Khan, or simply Khan, Captain James Tiberius Kirk's arch-nemesis, and his genetically enhanced followers were placed.

To enter the rainforest pathway, you have to go through the visitor's center and the gift shop. As we went through along the pathway, we were greeted by several different species of plants. The signs told us that the rainforest here is unique because it contains many types of rainforest in a very confined space. I, along with the others, traveled along the pathway snapping photographs for some time. Although I did not see much wildlife, I did manage to get 2 pictures of the lyrebird.

After the Minnamurra Rainforest, the next stop was a pub in the village of Kangaroo Valley where we had dinner. After dinner, and already in the dark, we proceeded to a site where glow worms made their homes. These creatures live on the surface of rocks and emit a bright blue-green light at night. They are very photosensitive and apparently you can kill them, or at least harm them, by shining a bright light in their direction. Along the way, we kept an eye out for local wildlife but I didn't see anything. Some others managed to get a picture of a wombat, which is a badger-like creature with a strong skeleton. They can get run over by cars and be none the worse for wear.

The school week passed uneventfully but I did manage to fulfill at least one of my dreams while in Australia. I sent an e-mail to the Aussie Football club on campus and asked if they needed any volunteers to be goal umpires; the guys with the flags and who point fingers. To my luck, they said they did and today (Saturday), I had my first crack at it. I first officiated 2 games of children playing and then the main event where the Macquarie University Kookabarras took on the Nor'West Jets. The Kookas lost but it was fun nonetheless. Everyone said my goal umpire skills were very professional and correct. They have even sent an e-mail to the AFL to see if they need goal umpires, as I'm told they do, and, who knows, I may be doing much more of this in the future. In any event, it was a wonderful experience and one that I will no doubt repeat.

Next week, the 16th of April, I fly out to New Zealand for a tour and I'm not sure if I will be able to update my blog along the way. I will probably update it on Friday evening and then again after I return on April 29th. By May 1st there should be a summary of my adventures in Oceania's version of Canada (I'll explain this later).

Photos are now available at: http://australiaday49.blogspot.com/