My first experience with the Great Barrier Reef!

The Great Barrier Reef.  

Holy cow, an absolutely amazing experience!!  I truly did not expect to see as much as I did, and although did not see any turtles or sharks, I did see some beautiful fish.  As promised, I have tonnss of photos to share with you of the various fish species I snorkeled with and of the beautiful island I visited.

Off the coast of Cairns, Queensland, about 45 minutes by ferry is Fitzroy Island.  A beaauttiffuull island that houses a full resort where you can stay and enjoy a nice little vacay. (As if, ALL of cairns isn't perfect for a vacation), but anywho, in addition to the resort, Fitzroy has a lovely little beach front bar, where you can go to grab some lunch/dinner and drinks.

                                          

My mermaid photo.

Seriously, what's better than a day on the beach, swimming, snorkeling, eating, and drinking..? 

Nothing. That's what. 

Okay, here's the pictures of the fishies.  All thanks to Aaron and an underwater GoPro.

Unfortunately, the coral right off of the shore of Fitzroy, isn't as lush and vibrant as the coral out on the outer reef, but nonetheless very cool to see.  Not trying to do the whole, "save the reef" campaign here, butttt this is what happens when reef meets tourist interaction and pollution.  Sad, really :(  

Little, bright, blue fish! So cute.

Fish, literally, everywhere.
I was one with the fish. (And look! Gill from "Finding Nemo"!)

WOW. I am soooo great at photography.
Okay, kiddinngg. These little guys are Parrot Fish and were all over the place.  However, I didn't manage to get a photo of them that truly showed how beautiful they were, so I went the cheater way and stole one off of google.  Feel free, to think that my photography skills are still superb though.

"Oooohhh, Baraccuda! Dun, duda-dun duda-dun, dun dunnnn."

My first experience out at the reef was perfect in every way.  I had a wonderful day with some good friends, a great guy, and some beautiful little fish.  I certainly plan to go out to Fitzroy again, and hopefully the outer reef, as well.  Maybe next time, I'll even see some turtles, sharks, and Nemo.

What can I say, just another day in paradise.

Why doesn't the U.S. have THIS. (& other news)

Having lived in Australia for the past 2 1/2 months has shown me that the U.S. is seriously lacking some amazing things.  Things I use here on a daily basis, that I now can't imagine not having when I return to the states.

Let me explain:


Tuna.  Pre-flavored Tuna.  Sounds gross, I know, but seriously, probably one of the best things to ever exist ever.  Tuna, here, comes in a variety of pre-seasoned/flavored cans.  These include: Tomato & Basil, Sweet Chili, Lemon & Black Pepper, Japanese Style, Mexican Style, Indian Curry, Thai Curry, and several others.  Now, I'm a lover of Tuna, and the fact that I can buy a can of Tuna that already has spices, and sauce, and all kinds of deliciousness is wonderful. AND it's only $.90 a can! Major score.

So damn tassstttyyyy.

Why the states lack flavored Tuna in Fred Meyer, Winco, Albertsons, etc, is BEYOND me.  Get crackin' U.S.! I want flavored Tuna upon my return, chop chop!


Although, not as exciting as Tuna, another wonderful thing that Aussies have, involve the power outlets.  They have on/off switches! It's brilliant!  If you have something plugged in, (say your straightener, hair dryer, phone charger), you can turn off the power to the device, without having to unplug it! Just turn the power outlet switch to "off", and boom! No power.

It's genius, and soooo ridiculously simple.  To my green/slightly hippy heart, these on/off power switches are fantastic! Again, WHY DOES THE U.S. NOT HAVE THIS?!!??


Now, that I've alerted you all to these vital essentials that should be present in the U.S., I'll move on to other things.

Life, here in Cairns, is still just as wonderful, if not better, than it has always been.  The weather is warming up, and hot temperatures are slowly emerging.  80-85, is becoming the present norm...with 40% - 60% humidity, (I may be adjusting to it, but I'm still HATING humidity. Gross.)


The zoo is also fantastic, but is bittersweet as I only have a week left in Reptiles, which I surprisingly have grown to really, really enjoy.  In fact, just the other day, I conducted my very first Snake Show. YAY me!
The Snake Show is put on by the Reptile Department and is a 20ish minute presentation about various snakes, venomous snake bite first aid, and allows for the visiting public to touch, see, and learn about native and exotic snake species of Australia and across the world.  A pretty cool tourist interaction, if you ask me, and I did it all on my own!  Have to say, it's pretty great to be able to demonstrate how much I've learned over these past couple months, and feel competent enough to educate others about snakes and reptiles.  A great experience overall, that I certainly hope to do again!

So. This next week, I have "tentative" plans to ffiinnaallllyyy experience the Great Barrier Reef, (I know, it's silly that I haven't been out to it yet).  I truly cannot wait to see the beauty that involves this phenomenal living structure and all of the ocean animals that live in, and around, the reef, like Nemo, Dory, Crush, Squirt, etc. (kidding... Kinda.)
I've never had the opportunity to go snorkeling/diving before, so the anticipation is killing me!  You can bet your butt, that my next blog post will be all about the Great Barrier and should be full of a 347339273127 photos.  (Yes, exactly that amount).

Until then!
Cheers!

Finally, a post about all of the animals! YAY!

Obviously, at this point you all know, or should know, that I am an intern at the Cairns Tropical Zoo, and am currently working in the reptile department, with everything toothy and scaly!  I know for some of you, that working with lizards, snakes, Iguanas, Geckos, Monitors, Alligators, Crocodiles, etc., sounds like your worst nightmare coming to life, but in reality, it's pretty amazing! Every day, I am able to handle both exotic and native reptile species to Australia, and have advanced my knowledge of reptile physiology and care to a completely new extent.  To a nerdy, animal science graduate, it's my heaven on Earth. (Minus the snake bite by a 3m Olive Python, so NOT so cool - photos later.)

Look at me! All official and what not ;)

I'll be moving onto birds and mammals soon, but until then, the majority of my photos consist of reptiles, and beautiful ones at that! So enjoy!

Juvenile Green Iguana who enjoys a little bit of love

 

Adult male Green Iguana.
(Yes, he's not actually green.  You won't believe how many times I hear, "But he's not actually green....?" And no, he's not, but he's not called an "Orange Iguana" hahaa. They can turn an orange color as they mature.)

Bearded Dragon

Fijian Crested Iguana.  That coloring isn't affected by a filter either. He's that beautiful!

Green Tree Python.  They sit in this position for hours upon hours.  However, offer them food and they'll smash it quicker than your eye can see.  Pretty intense strikes these pythons have.  So would nooottt enjoy having them mistake my hand for a mouse.

 

  

Madagascar Ring-Tailed Lemurs, Cutest little things.  And yes, of course I sing the "I like to move it, move it" song in my head, whenever I walk by them.  Thank you, Dreamworks Animation for Madagascar.

The classic Aussie animal, the Koalllaa! Sleeping 21 hrs a day, is an exhausting job for them.  One of those freak moments, where the little guys is actually awake!

Shedding of an adult male burmese python. 

Tokay Gecko. Beautiful, but feared by the entire Reptile Department. Vicious little buggers. 

Zont. 4.3 meter Salt Water Crocodile.  

Female American Alligator. Currently being trained to do encounters and interactions with the visiting public.

Black-headed Python. One of the few species of snake that will actually eat other reptiles.  They don't play well with others.

Learning how to snake wrangle... Started off easy with a Corn Snake... Oooh, scary.

Force-feeding of a Common Death Adder. Yes, they're venomous, but these guys are pros.

The first bite, occurred a little over 3 weeks ago, and was a good one at that!
3m Olive Python. Australia's heaviest python and the second longest.

And in case, you wanted to see the teeth involved with a bite like that.  Here you go.  An Olive Python jaw of approximately the same size as the one that nailed me.  A fun time, I can assure you.

Two weeks later, and my hand has turned
all kinds of fun colors!

A little over a week after the bite
and I look like I have Gangrene. Seeexxxyyy.

Every so often, wild snakes end up in places they probably shouldn't be.  Aka, in someone's house, shed, car, etc.  Yay, land of the plentiful snake!  In this instance, a wild Carpet Python was found in someone's home and brought into the zoo. So we released it back into the wilderness. Be free, my little snake friend!

  

Certainly a fairly good sized snake!

I'll be continuing to post photos of all of the various species of animals that I have the amazing opportunity to work with, but these photos show the types of animals, specifically reptiles, that I get to work with on a daily basis.  I truly can't describe how much I love my internship and how fortunate I am to be able to do this.  I'm a lucky girl.

Until my next post, Cheers!

Uhm... say what?

Living in Australia for the past two months has certainly taught me one thing.  Aussies have their own language.  Absolutely.  Just because we all speak english, does NOT mean that we can easily understand each other.   Aussies certainly have some bizarre words for things and some very odd phrases.

Also, they abbreviate evveerrrryyyttthhinnnnggg.  Seriously. I'm surprised they don't abbreviate, abbreviate. Ha.


Examples:

Air Con - Air conditioner
Expiry - Expiration Date
Kindy - Kindergarten
Uni - University
Speedo - Speedometer (Not just the little swim suits, that older, grey and excessively tan men, like to wear here... ewww.)
Sunnies - Sunglasses (Apparently "Shades" is a lame name for sunglasses, but "sunnies" is normal....uh huh, sure.)
Devo - Devastated
Aggro - Agressive
Veg - Vegetables, Veggies, etc.
Maccas - McDonalds (because saying McDonalds is too difficult)
Arvo - Afternoon (How does THAT even make sense??)
Brekky - Breakfast
Doona - Comforter (I said comforter once, and my aussie friends looked at me like I was psychotic).
Fairy Floss - Cottton Candy... (my personal favorite, might be bringing this back to the states with me!)
Pissed - (Not used in our terms, as in angry, but used to describe being drunk, "He's pissed/on the piss/let's grab some piss"- too funny, when they say that, as I just imagine someone going to buy...well, not beer hahahaa)
Smoko - Morning break, tea break, smoke break, etc
I Reckon/Do You Reckon - I think/Do you think?



I truly could go on and on with all of the odd little Aussie- isms I have become adjusted to, but I'll choose to stop there.  You all will just need to visit and see the language differences yourself! (Again, visit this place. It's magical.)

Although Aussie's have their own way of saying things, they all seem to believe that it's us Americans that are the weird ones.  Hence why my Aussie friends thoroughly enjoy making fun of me and the way I say and do certain things.

Bananas, Tomatoes, and Potatoes are some of their favorite words to give me crap for.  They sound all proper when they say Bananas, like British people do, (Don't let Australians hear you compare them to the English though, they dislike it.), and yet when I say Bananas, I automatically sound like a country bumpkin as soon as they imitate me.   Not so nice.

However, undeniably one of the most entertaining differences I have observed is in the way we cut our food.  It was described to me once that, "You Americans kill your food again when you're cutting it".  I guess the way we stab our food with the fork and then hack at it with a knife seems very primal to them.  At first I was shocked, as I never thought of my cutting of foods to be violent in nature, but in comparison, it actually really is.  Now, I get all self-conscious when I cut my food, because as soon as I resort to my normal American cutting ways, my friends decide to aggressively attack their food in mockery.  I have such kind and thoughtful friends if you couldn't tell.


The differences between Americans and Australians are certainly more prominent than I would have believed before living here.  They say strange things, drive on the wrong side of the road, and have noooo idea what real iced coffee is... (Their iced coffee is ice cream, coffee, and cream. Uhm, Noooo.). But, it's a beautiful place that I am certainly acclimating myself too, and currently have no intention of leaving!  Hopefully you have enjoyed this little glimpse into some Aussie culture and word use, and plan on experiencing it for yourself some time!

Until next time peeps!!

Cheers!