Friday, October 30, 2009
AQWA and Caversham (114 photos), by Amanda Fucinato
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A beautiful vacation and a life cut short
I had a fantastic weekend in Melbourne. The city is very similar to Chicago, with parks and large pieces of modern art scattered throughout the city. I enjoyed being back in a big city, and was overjoyed to have the escape of beautiful parks to walk in after my days of shopping. Melbourne is the shopping capital of Australia, and I managed to escape with fewer purchases than I thought I would. I also went to the shrine, Australia's largest monument to its war veterans, located in the world famous botanical gardens. Melbourne is also home to the largest ice skating rink in the southern and the largest stadium with a retracting roof in the southern hemisphere. The larger stadium in town holds 100,000 people, and is full on any footy match day. The beautiful Yarra river winds along the edge of the city and all of the beautiful museums. It made me miss my city even more. I ate my way through the italian, chinese, and greek neighborhoods, as well as the ocean-side dinning in St.Kilda. I would recommend this city to any theater lovers as well, and having taken in a very funny comedy show, and wishing I could have seen all the broadway shows in town.
Coming home on tuesday at 12:30 a.m. , I decided to check my email before bed and was hit with some tragic news. Last week on Saturday, while heading back to Madison, my very close friend Craig was hit by a car while on his motorcycle. He was killed instantly, and at 20 years old, far too soon. Going through the grieving process via webcam, facebook, and instant messenger makes the whole experience seem hollow and surreal. The reality of the situation will really hit me when I return to Madison and have to remember not to c all Craig because he is no longer here. Craig's spirt was caring and free. He followed his dreams, and always managed to put life in perspective for me. When I got overwhelmed with school, he and I would eat ice cream and just talk. I felt safe and warm in his presence, which I now hope to carry with me in his passing. I couldn't sleep last night, and today I am on the edge on tears constantly. I am keeping busy, but I am longing to go home and hold my friends as we cry together. Craig will be buried on Halloween, his favorite holiday. Please keep his family in your prayers, and know that life is a gift.
Melbourne (151 photos), by Amanda Fucinato
I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos
Monday, October 19, 2009
30 days
That was the thought that hit me when I got out of bed this morning. In 30 short days, I am getting on a plane and starting the journey back to the states. Is it just me, or did this go really fast? I know some people who would tell you my absence has been far from easy, but I am shocked at how quickly I have settled into a pattern of life here. Honestly, there are some days i forget I am on the other side of the world. It feels like a home now, and I could picture my family living right down the road (even though that will never happen). So what did I do after I had this actualization this morning? I worked, all day, on the big essays I have due for the end of the semester. Pretty awful, right? Well don't feel sorry for me because I am going to Melbourne this weekend, and I am not taking my work with me. I also spent the whole weekend at the beach in 80 degree weather. This is a picture of Cottesloe Beach. So this day was much needed. They really know how to pile all the work on at the end though, that is some universal college thing. I hope you like the pictures from the ball. It was great to get dressed up fancy for something. I going to take this last month and make sure, while finishing my work, I live a little everyday in the australian culture. I will be eating tim tams and saying g'day a little more as my adventure comes to a close. I will spend a few days in Sydney when I leave Perth, and then take a two week vacation to New Zealand before coming home. My flight plans are almost laughable, but I will share that with you later. Enjoy your cold weather!! : )
Sunday, October 11, 2009
a very entertaining weekend
After my awesome night at the festival, I had more fine arts fun to look forward to this weekend. As some of you may know, I joined the university choir on campus, which combines adults from the community as well as staff and student from the three universities in Perth. We had our concert on Saturday night, and I had forgotten how much I love performing. It's been three years since I was in choir, and while I knew I missed it, I didn't realize how much until I had that post-concert high pulsing through my system again. I'm thinking now I should make an effort for the short time I have left at Madison to get back into the fine arts community. Today I treated myself to a childhood indulgence and went to see the Moscow circus with a friend. To be honest, it was my mother that insisted I go, and I couldn't thank her enough for the prodding. The circus does not tour in North America, and today they announced the company will be on a three year tour break in order to design a new show. The performance was incredible, complete with all the magic and wonder of the big top tent (yes they had a real tent!). A little cultural difference would be that there was no big space between the performance and the audience the way we have in the states. Also, the Moscow performers deserve credit for having much less safety netting than any circus I have seen in the U.S. . I was tempted to buy myself a big "nemo" mylar balloon, but then I found out they were twenty dollars and was able to restrain myself. I had a great time. In tribute to my mother, I have to close by saying, may all your days be circus days!
Friday, October 9, 2009
Swan Festival of Lights
Last night I went to an amazing festival in Perth. The performance is sponsored by Smoke Free WA and a fine arts school in Perth. It featured dance performances from many cultural backgrounds such as belly-dancing, Cossak dancing, and chinese fan dancing. Th final number included fire works and the Swan bell tower, which I have pictures of in my Perth album. I found the unity of all these backgrounds in one performance to be very moving. The best part was, it was free! Check out the website! www.swanfestivaloflights.com.au
Monday, October 5, 2009
Recap of the Northwest Trip
What an action-packed vacation! I don't even know where to start, we covered so much on this great trip. The ten days took us over 6,500 km of the beautiful northern part of Western Australia. I kept a log everyday of our activities which I will share with you. Overall, I learned to appreciate how spread of everything is in this country, and some much I enjoy being a city kid. I was proud of myself on the camping front, no crying at all. It felt good to come home and take a hot shower. I slept great on a real bed for the first time in over a week. I could have never seen these sights on my own, it is too much driving and without the knowledge of our guides I would have missed so much. I am very happy to have had their knowledge and experience on this journey.
Day 1 = Over six hours of driving was broken up by stopping at gas station every two hours. This was a great way to drive though several small towns and take in the changing landscape as we got further north. One minute you were staring at miles of fields with sheep, and then suddenly the ocean would peak out on the horizon. We slept at a sheep station in a barn.
Day 2 = More driving, including a stop in Kalbarri, a town known for the view where its river meets the ocean. It was beautiful. We also stopped at a gorge and hiked around, taking pictures at "nature's window", a rock formation that has a perfect snapshot through a hole in the rocks. We slept in tents at a caravan park.
Day 3 = We spent the day at Monkey Mia, the world famous beach where wild dolphins come everyday to be fed. Apparently, the process used to be much more natural, but for the dolphin's safety it is now very regulated. A few fish are given to a couple dolphins by scientists who give a talk about the animals. You as a tourist must stand on the beach and watch. Lucky for me, the rule is once the feeding is over you can go in the water and take your chances with the dolphins. I was treated to a great show, but I was not able to pet them. After the dolphins, we took a boat out into the water and went boomnetting. This consists of four or five people getting dragged behind the boat at a fast speed and playing in the waves like dolphins. It's like tubing without the tube. I loved it. We spotted some manatees, but they were too far away for me to take photos. We spent the night in tents at the same caravan park.
Day 4 = Full day of driving again, but that evening when we arrived at our sheep station for the night, we went swimming on a private beach and watched humpback whales jumping about a half a mile off shore. It was beautiful
Day 5 = Diving at Ningaloo Reef in Coral Bay, the only fringe reef with coral in the world. The weather was stormy, so the big manta rays were not around, but the coral was beautiful. There was more diversity than in the Great Barrier, but less color. I was happy we didn't see any sharks. That evening we went to the only bar in coral bay (they only have one of everything really) and my peers indulged in two dollar beer night. We spent the night in a sheep station that had dorm rooms with real beds. It felt so good to have a real room!
Day 6 = All day drive to Kaijini national park. We got there after dark so setting up our tents was a challenge. I was really worried about spiders, snakes, lizards, and dingos. We managed to scare them all away with our noise I guess.
Day 7 = We spent all day hiking through gorges and swimming in fresh water pools at Karijini. It was so nice to be active all day after all that driving. The land was beautiful.
Day 8 = We hiked and took a swim in the morning before starting another long drive. I ran into a snake, but it was a pygmy python so I wasn't in any danger. I did scream though. We arrived in the mining town of Newman in the afternoon. It is home to the biggest iron ore mine in Australia. The miners work hard days, four weeks on and one week off. Our guides took us to the local miner bar, and as you can image a large group of international students got a lot of attention, especially the women. We stayed in groups, and managed to all get home without having our butts touched too much. I don't know if the work is worth the money because the lifestyle is so lonely, but to get paid 100,000 to hold a stop/go sign all day isn't bad. We spent the night in the tents in the parking lot of the caravan park where the miners live.
Day 9 = All day driving to a sheep shearing shed where we had a big fire to mark the end of the trip.
Day 10 = Driving all day to get back to campus. It was cool to watch desert turn back into farm country and then city again. I will miss the random emu or kangaroo standing by the road side (or laying if they were unlucky). I really am not a camping girl at heart though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
