Fraser Island

After the boat trip to the Whitsundays, I hoped on a 12 hour bus ride to Hervey Bay. Hervey Bay is the starting point for tours/camping excursions to Fraser Island which was the second part of my vacation trip. Fraser Island is the largest sand Island in the world, and is home to many different types of forests, perched lakes, and fresh water streams and lakes. The island is a world heritage site and received many different travelers throughout the year. Given it is winter here there weren't too many people on the island.

(the picture of the dog is a Dingo we saw eating coconut on the beach)

The tour we went on was a 2 day 1 night guided tour where we were taken to all the hot spots on the island in a massive 4 wheel drive bus. :) The good thing about this is that we had the benefit of our friendly local tour guide (Steve) and all our meals and lodging was included (aka - no camping). Now I'm not one who is completely opposed to camping, I'd just prefer to go camping with a group of friends as apposed to a group of strangers - which is what happens when you just show up and go camping.

On the first day we did a hike through the rain forest and saw some massive trees which were in the range of 400 - 800 years old. After that we drove up 75 mile beach. Now this isn't your typical beach, regardless of the length. This beach is actually the only registered highway on the island... speed limit of 90 km/hr. So the phrase to remember was look both ways before you cross the beach.

Along the cost we were able to see the ship wreck Moheno - which is a ship that ran aground in the early 1900's and has been slowly sinking ever since. There is now only one level of the ship that is visible above the sand. After seeing the wreck we swam/walked down one of the larger fresh water creeks which lead out to the Pacific. Now the irony with this was that all the brochures showed people swimming down this creek in swim suits... while we were precariously walking down in our sweatshirts, trying hard not to fall in, because of the cold weather and wind.

After making it out of the creek without falling in we headed to the only rocks on the island, which are at a point called Indian Head Rock. On a clear day you can apparently see the local sharks, turtles, and other fish life swimming in the water below; however when we were there it was hard enough to stand without being blown over so there wasn't much to see in the water.

Given the fact that the waters are highly shark infested - you are not advised to swim even in the surf. So we were keen to go swimming in one of the perched lakes on the second day. This was slightly downgraded when we woke up to a torrential down pour of rain. The perched lakes are essentially lakes that have formed in the sand dunes over hundreds of years. Luckily the water is a bit warmer but is crystal clear and actually has a very slight acidity to it which makes it perfect for washing your skin and hair. So when we did manage to make it to one of the lakes and a brief break in the clouds - I promptly jumped in. It wasn't as warm as they said it would be... but it was crystal clear and almost as clear as drinking water.

OK as this post is bordering on novel length I will end here, but as before I have posted a collage of pictures here and will also include a link to the other pictures I have uploaded for those who'd like to take a look. Click here for more pictures

The Whitsundays

Last week I spent 3 days and 2 nights aboard a ship called the Summertime with a group of friends.

Our boat launched from Airlie beach and set sail for Whitehaven beach. When the wind was in our favor the sails were put up. The landscape reminded me of the San Juan in Washington - with the difference in weather - and made me miss what I would call home. One thing that was surprising was the butterflies... they were everywhere! It was a bit surreal.

Once we reached the beach I knew I was on vacation - and at that point was satisfied with the money well spent. Now If you can picture a large white sand beach on an island which is only attainable via charted boat or helicopter - add in warm weather, warm water, and not a cloud in the sky and you might have an idea of what it was like. :) We spent a couple of hours at that beach then the boat made anchor for the night at the next bay.

In the morning we hiked to a lookout point where we could see where a fresh water river met the Pacific. This is where the swirling sands are... essentially the water from the river mixes with the tides and the sand makes magnificent swirls in the shallow water. It looked like someone had painted the river and sand into the island - truly beautiful.

After the hike and taking some pictures it was time for some sea kayaking. Now the bay that we anchored in happened to be a turtle breading ground - so there were turtles around the boat in the morning. When we set off in the kayaks we were able to go into the shallow waters where the massive (3' wide 4-5' long) turtles where hanging out. It's hard to describe, but if you were able to paddle up as quietly as possible you could actually float right over the top of the turtles. When the did get nervous and decide to move they would make a massive wake from their movement. The water was really muddy otherwise I would have tried to get a picture, but for now the description will have to do.

Later that afternoon I took my first turn at scuba diving and LOVED IT!! Now I will admit that I had a bit of trouble starting off with the whole breathing under water thing... which wasn't assisted by the fact that my mask was leaking. In the end, after a little salt water in the eyes and mastering the art of clearing my mask of water, all was good. This was good because we dove again on the second day and the number of fish was amazing! I was able to see Nemo, an eel, and didn't see the shark that was swimming with us but am glad for that!

I have lots of pictures but can't post them all, so will put this link and post a collage of some of the good pictures. (Click here for more pictures) This trip was amazing and I truly recommend it to anyone coming to this area - and I can get discounts with the company we went through and make recommendations as to which boat might be good. :)

A Day of Culture

I am finding all the free activities that Sydney has to offer to fill the rest of my week off. So far I have found a new favorite coastal walk (the walk from Coogee to Maroubra), found new parks to read in the sunshine, and today I went to the New South Wales Art Gallery. While it doesn't compare to the National Gallery in London, it does offer a wider range of art types.

At first glance it doesn't look like it will have much to offer - that is until you realize you enter the museum on the top floor and there are three levels of art below. My original plan was to spend some time there then go onto the Museum of Contemporary art, however there was more than a floor of contemporary art. Two hours later I had my fill of art and now feel that I am a bit more cultured.

Am not sure what is in store for the next couple of days, but will try to put some updates from my vacation.

The New Dew

Right so, now that I'm back from vacation I'm trying to make-up for the posts and pictures I said I'd put up. The first one being my new hair. I know the picture is some what dark, but you get the idea. It's pretty short with long layers in the front, but the back has lots of layers and is kind of like the wedge style that is popular in the states.
(or at least was when I left)

So far I love it, it's a good change, however I am still getting used to the styling that is needed. I can no longer just crunch my hair and go... But I like it.

You'll see in my pictures from traveling that it is curly/wavy. With this length the back gets super curly but the front ends up more wavy than anything else... so I mainly end up with a crazy mass of hair - the morale of the story s that I'll be styling it straight most of the time.

OK - am uploading pictures as I type and will work on posting more about travels soon.

I found Nemo!!

Yesterday marked the end of the 3 day trip on the boat, and it was amazing! We were able to go to a white sand beach which was amazing! The next day we got up and went sea kayaking with massive sea turtles - think the size of a coffee table. :) Then I learned how to scuba dive, and successfully mastered breathing under water (which was very strange!). The first dive was mainly about seeing different corals, but the second there were thousands of fish along with the coral. (Mom you would have loved it!) The boat crew has pictures so when I get back to Sydney and have a proper computer to work with a I will upload some.

Tonight I take a 12 hour bus ride down to a place called Hervey Bay where I will begin a 2 day tour of Fraser Island. The bus gets in at 5:50 AM and the tour leaves at 7:05 AM so I will be very bright eyed and bushy tailed... Anyways, am looking forward to it and enjoying my vacation!

Am in Paradise!!

Finals are done, the end of session party went off and was a good time, and I am no sitting in 30 degree weather waiting to get onto the boat tomorrow morning. We'll sail for 3 days and 2 nights and I'll even get a chance to scuba dive. I think I've written about this at least once if not more, so you can imagine how excited I am. :)

It's nice to be where the weather is relatively nice and sunny, so this truly feels like a vacation. I will post pictures from the party and all once I get home... when I do you all will get to see my new haircut. For those of you who knew me back in undergrad you'll remember when I chopped my hair off and colored it dark. I've done almost the same thing, just different cut and different color. The color is a mahogany color and the cut is almost like a bob with lots of layers in the back. So far I'm liking it and have received tons of compliments, so that's always a good sign.

OK my time is about to run out at the internet cafe so I will make this all for now. More stories and information to come soon!

New Appreciation for Accountants

After 3 months and a 3 hour trama (the final) I officially have an appreciation and slight fear of accountants. It is honestly a bit scary that there are people who truly enjoy accounting, as I found it as close as I've ever been to hell. I will admit that this was compounded by the fact that since the rest of my class (definitely not me) performed better than expected on the mid-term so the final had to be made harder... good that the people I am going to school with are brilliant, but bad for the outlook of where I'll fall on the curve!

Either way, I am officially halfway done with the first week of finals of this degree - YEAH! Now it's on to Economics and Data Analysis.

It's Business Time!

So my Kiwi friend has introduced our class to this hilarious song by Flight of the Concords. As it has become a sort of class anthem I wanted to share it with all of you, plus it's extremely funny!! For the record these two are Kiwi not Aussie. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGOohBytKTU

Sorry I wasn't able to put the video directly on the blog... I'm showing my technical capabilities. :)

One down three to go...

Today marks the beginning of the end. I just finished the first final, which was 2 hours long in Organisational Behavior. Now I get to begin studying for the even better courses... tomorrow is Accounting (3 hours and 50% of my grade), Thursday is Economics (a measly 2 hours and 35%), and then the grand finale on Friday with Data Analysis (3 hours and 50%).

It is painful and I expect my hand to look like a mangled claw at the end from all the writing, but I must admit it feels good to be into it and that much closer to being done.

I'm not sure if I'll be able to post for a while as I'm going to be on vacation next week, but as soon as I get a chance I'll try to post at least little bits of what's going on.

Cheers,
-K

Vacation Here I Come!!

So it's not for another 11 days and I have finals and a party to throw before then... but I'm so excited for my vacation!!! I'm going to be going up to a set of islands called the Whitsunday's and spending 3 days and 2 nights on a 70 meter boat (pictured here). We'll go sea kayaking, island hopping, scuba diving, and just cruising around; plus make use of the on-board jacuzzi. The boat holds about 16 people and there are 6 people from my class going total so it should be good fun.

After the boat I'm going to go down the coast to an island called Fraser Island, which is the largest sand island in the world. I'm wondering if it will be a bit of a flash back to all the islands that we had in the middle of the Columbia River back in good old Richland... Except this one is big enough to have fresh water lakes and streams, and has points where you can whale watch. The unfortunate part is that there are no accommodations on the island so it will be camping all the way... good thing I've adjusted back to the student lifestyle and will be able to bear it.

We have to rent a Land Cruiser and take all our food/water onto the island with us. Then it's driving on the beaches because there are only a couple of roads... should be fun! Now I know some of you are cringing at this, but if nothing else this will be an adventure and considering my lack of budget right now it gets me outside the city before the next session starts. (Which is supposed to be even harder and more work than this session... yippee!!)

OK, I have officially wasted enough time and need to get back to accounting studying. :( Cash flows here I come!!

A Sad Sad Day.....

Today marks the first time in I couldn't count how many years (at least 6) that I haven't had a proper Cinco de Mayo. No chips and salsa, no guacamole, no drinking cerveza.... and most importantly no margarita.

When I asked most people leading up to this day what there is to do in Sydney for Cinco de Mayo the majority of responses I received were "Cindo de what?!?" Needless to say there isn't as large of a Hispanic population here as in Washington or Arizona, or probably anywhere in the states for that matter... but I at least expected something! I've also learned that it is very much a Mexican thing as the Portuguese and Brazilian people I know didn't know about it either.

At the end of the day just know that I am officially missing the states today, and the fact that I wouldn't be able to sneeze without finding a margarita close at hand today.

A Day in the life of an MBA Student....

The time is now 9:45 PM.... I have been at school since 7:30 AM and am looking at another hour or so of work. As a momentary distraction I am turning to one of my many distractions... my blog. :) Today has been one of those very productive and long days where I think where has the time gone? As these days are becoming more and more frequent I thought I would give a brief outline so y'all would know what it feels like to be me. (and yes I did just use y'all in my blog)

• 6:00 AM - Alarm goes off and I reluctantly get out of bed and into the shower
• 7:15 - Leave the house after eating brekkie watching a bit of the news to allow my mind to begin functioning. Have to review a document before an 8AM meeting
• 8-9:25 - Group meeting to review our Econ assignment... the meeting wasn't as productive as we'd like so we will have to meet again at 4
• 9:30 - 12:30 Economics class... we luckily get a break half way through, but otherwise it's a very long class
• 12:30 - 1:30 arrange logistics for the class end of session party (pay deposit, find caterer, etc.)
• 1:30 - 2:30 eat lunch and book my vacation for the session break... am going to go sailing in the Whitsunday Islands and go to Fraser Island (more to come in a blog when I'm more coherent)
• 2:30 - 4:00 Data Analysis Class... which just reinforces how lost I am
• 4:00 - 5:00 Meet with team to finish reviewing assignment and identify next steps
• 5:00 Speaker Event w/ CEO of local Biotech firm (this acts more as a mental break than anything)
• 6:30 Speaker event ends and the studying begins...

In the last 3.5 hours I have managed to crank through a 8 page report and make sense of a 95%confidence intervals given the output information from a regression table (look at all those MBA words!!!) and am no longer feeling lost about data analysis. :)

Let me note that all this was done in a skirt and high heels, and I'm still standing!! :D

Next Up: the economic strategies of monopolies, oligopolies, and duopolies... I know you're really jealous!!!