Treasure Hunting

This week I got to go treasure hunting in the forest! One of the men who work at the sports centre is an expert on the native flora and fauna of this region. He was generous enough to show me around. There are lots of treasures to be found in the 100 yards or so of bush that line the beaches, I don't even think we scratched the surface in three hours.

First of all, nearly every species of bird is either beautifully colored or has some other showy feature. Some of the birds whistle in a human-like fashion so convincing that I actually mistook them for another camper.

The rainbow bee eaters usually hang out near our cabins on the electrical wire. This picture doesn't do their beautiful colors justice.






Another common bird we have seen along the beach is, of course, the silver gull. I know they are probably a pest to the locals, but I love them never the less.

The trees in this area are curious as well. This tree is Coast Banksia - it has flowers that look and feel like a hairbrush. It is one of the most common trees in the area.Here is a fun game: can you find the animal in the picture below? Its a leaf mimic butterfly. Its coloration and jagged wings make it look just like an old dead leaf. I would never have noticed it had it not started flying.











The butterfly below is one that is common around the beach. I don't know its name yet.


In other news, the group passed the written and swimming portion of the scuba test on Saturday. It was a very long day to say the least, but we are all glad it is over. Now we just need to practice with our scuba gear in the swimming pool in order to be officially scuba certified!

Sunrise and Surf

The day we arrived in Australia we were in desperate need of sleep, so many of us crashed at 7 or 8pm. I decided to take advantage of this fact and set my alarm for 5:45am the next morning. An eastern ocean sunrise is one of the only reasons I would ever willingly do this.

In the distance here you can see Lennox Point, one of the best surfing spots in the world. Of the many water fowl we have spotted in the last few days, these pelicans are one of the few I recognize.

With a landscape like this, we just had to get in the water. But because its winter, the water is still very cold. So, later in the week, we bought used wetsuits and went boogie boarding.

This is me and my buddy Jackie in our swanky new suits.

Planes, Planes, and Automobiles

I have finally arrived in Australia! It certainly wasn't an easy journey - in fact it took almost two solid days of traveling. Here is the rundown of what it took to get us here:

- We arrived at the airport at noon on August 16th. After checking in with our travel agent, we received our tickets and itineraries for the trip.

- The first plane left for Phoenix took off at 1:40pm. Several hours later we boarded a plan for LA.

_ In LA we had close to a six hour layover. Finally, around 10pm we boarded the plan for Auckland, New Zealand.

- The flight to Auckland was close to thirteen hours. Luckily for us, it was night time, so we could (try to) sleep. The place was equipped with individual televisions on the backs of the seats that we could watch TV or movies on. (Yay!) A few hours after boarding, it was midnight so naturally, we were served dinner. After this it was lights out until about 4am New Zealand time when we were served breakfast.

Unfortunately, sometime during the night, I seem to have misplaced August 17. I went to sleep at 10pm August 16 and woke up the morning of August 18th. Perhaps somebody snatched it while I was sleeping - how rude.

- After arriving in New Zealand, we had several hours of layover that was mostly spent going though customs. Near daybreak we boarded our final plane which was headed to Brisbane, Australia. After arriving in Brisbane we went through another bout of customs (where, oddly enough, I was required to have the bottoms of my shoes inspected) and then were finally allowed out of the airport. A short two and a half hour bus ride later and we arrived in our new home: Lennox Head. It had been over 30 hours of air time, and two days without a real night's sleep, but we all agreed it was totally worth it.

Its All About Location, Location, Location

View Larger Map

Here is a google map of the area we will be staying. We are staying at the Lake Ainsworth Sports Centre which is located at the northern tip of the lake you see in the picture. Oh, and that big blue patch to the right of your screen? Don't be alarmed, its just the FREAKING OCEAN!!!!


Hello Blogies,

Its two days until the big move to Lennox Head, Australia. I thought I would give everyone the address I will be located at just in case anyone wants to send letters (or cookies)!

Linsi Latimer, Ball State University
Lake Ainsworth Sports and Recreation Centre
Post Office Box 121, Pacific Palisade
Lennox Head 2478 NSW
Australia

My email addy is lblatimer@bsu.edu

Although I don't have any spectacular stories or pictures yet, I would suggest you check out a few of these links in order to get a feel for this area:

Lennox head beach sunrise in Australia
This is just an awesome site I found that enables you to see a 360 degree picture of the lennox head beach.

This is a video about the platapus - an animal that defies all common taxinomic boundaries.
It is a mammal that lays eggs with the body of an otter and the bill of a duck. It also has a nasty venomous barb on its foot that it can use to stab predators or curious tourists.