G’Day Mates!
Our first two weeks in Australia have been filled with fun day and weekend trips, daily walks, figuring out public transport, and adjusting to the time difference. Overall, we have been loving our time in Brisbane and the surrounding area, so here are some highlights and insights!
- Day trips to Stradbroke Island and Moreton Island are a must! They are both just off the coast of Brisbane and are accessible by a ferry ride. Stradbroke is known for their nature and the natural koalas and kangaroos just hanging out around the island. Moreton Island has a great beach and fun activities you can decide to do at an additional cost.
- We did a weekend trip to Sydney, which can sometimes result in some eyerolls from Brisbane locals as we have started to learn that Queensland and New South Wales have a bit of a rivarly. We went to the Sydney Opera House, attended an exciting rugby game, and did a day trip to the beautiful Blue Mountains.
- Our supervisor at QUT arranged for us to go to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary on the Gold Coast which was such a fun trip. We got to see all of the local Australian animals up close and also see the beauty of the beaches and small towns along the Gold Coast.
- It is really easy to get around using public transport. We got go cards which you load and then almost everywhere along the city and coast is only 50 cents a trip!
- The time difference was slightly challenging off the start. We could barely stay awake past 8:00pm and were often up anywhere between 4:30 and 6:00am. We decided to take advantage of this and use the time to explore early in the mornings before the streets get busy. The sun also sets very early here (5:30pm), so it gets dark much earlier than what we are used to! This made it even harder to stay up at night.
- Overall, everyone is super active here. Even though they are just starting their Spring, it is still great weather compared to what we are used to which means people are walking, riding bikes, scooters, and running EVERYWHERE. Just make sure when you are walking, you are on the left side of the pathway! This took a bit of adjusting to get used to… we were definitely worried about getting hit by bikes at the beginning.
- We have also learned that it is mating season for all animals and birds which apparently causes some of the local birds to swoop. This may sound weird and we didn’t think much of the warning signs at first, until Kat was the victim of one, haha! Don’t worry, she is okay. (The photo is also not one of these birds, that is a cockatoo which were everywhere in the Blue Mountain area). This is apparently quite common but is also why many Australians will wear sunglasses, as the birds will go for your eyes.
- Our QUT supervisor has also arranged a few different school visits for us, so we have gotten to see a variety of the kinds of schools they have here in Brisbane. We have also already seen how important and prevelant Indigenous culture is in Australia. It has been really interesting to see the way they incorporate this into their schools and even just their everyday life, and also compare to how we do it in Canada.
Cheers!
Mollie, Megan, Katarina, Tayah, Madalyn