It's their winter here and just for the record, it's not cold. (Everyone was hounding me for going to Australia because it's their winter). We've been walking around in shorts and t-shirts while most people are wearing jeans and jumpers. Funny.
We've been travelling back and forth between two hospitals for our neurosurgery elective. They're pretty confused as to why we even bother doing an elective at all. Apparently when people come to Australia for an elective they attend the first day and never come back. We've been consistent, and as a result (I think) they've been letting us scrub in & help during surgery. We only end up doing either an afternoon or morning 4 days a week, so there's plenty of time to explore the city and travel elsewhere. I got to screw a piece of skull back on one of the patients who had a tumor taken out… Yikes. Other than they make us do catheters and taught us to do IVs, and I’ve been scrubbing in pretty much whenever we go to the hospital. (Melissa isn’t a huge fan of scrubbing in, so it’s great news for me).
The last week of our elective the doctor is away, so we're heading up to Cairns to check out the Great Barrier Reef.
The second weekend here one of the docs we work with took us out on his Yatch to explore the surrounding islands. We saw tons of dolphins and once we stopped the boat they were swimming all around it. It was pretty epic - we would have paid a hefty sum to have a similar experience under other circumstances.
Australians are connected by fewer than 6 degrees of separation. When you meet one person, they're incredibly eager to introduce you to EVERYONE they know. As a result, we've had people showing us around the city and letting us know about the tourist traps we should avoid. The first week here was a bit rough - we had a few issues while trying to figure out the transit system. We also realized that we didn't have any laundry facilities, so we now have to walk quite a few blocks uphill to get to a Laundromat. (Yes, I know it's not that bad - but I'm allowed to complain a bit, no?)
We went to the Gold Coast (Surfers Paradise) one afternoon last week after a morning at the hospital. It was pretty crazy - tons of people there even in the middle of their "winter". It wasn't a very nice day out, but the hardcore surfers were still out! Other than that, we've climbed one of the bridges here in Brisbane, and hiked through some rainforests. We’re always busy, especially when we go to the hospital in the morning. Neurosurgeons are crazy and start rounds at 6:30ish, so I have to get up at 4:30am to go for a run in the morning. On the bright side, I’ve seen many amazing starry nights and the wonderful sunrises that follow them.
Last weekend we went to Frasier island - the biggest sand island in the world. We had to drive on the beach, hop on a ferry (while still in the 4WD vehicle) and drive 75 miles along the beach to get to our hostel. The first day there we went to a fresh water lake on the island (nothing compared to our Great Lakes, but still impressive after hearing how it came into existence). We stopped at a place called Red Canyon which had sand stained red by iron rich minerals. Frasier Island is one of Australia's 11 World Heritage sites and I can understand why. You can drive inland for 30 minutes and find yourself in the middle of a sand dune, and then drive north another 20 min and hike through a rainforest. On Saturday night when we came home from the beach bar, I stood outside for 30 minutes to look at the stars. I hope I get the pleasure of seeing a sky like that again in my lifetime. On Sunday we stopped at Indian Head which is further north on Frasier. We climbed a cliff and got an extraordinary view of the ocean. We were lucky to be there during their winter because the whales were migrating South. They would periodically peak through the water - the water was so clear that we could easily spot them. There were also a few sharks swimming around but they were much less impressive than the whales. Melissa was flippin' out because I got really close to the edge of the cliff to get some pictures - they were worth it. :)
We went to Byron Bay on Friday that just passed - hippie central. We wanted to go surfing, but the weather wasn’t cooperating so we’re leaving that to next week in Cairns. We were in Sydney this weekend – the opera house is amazing, especially at night. We went whale watching. Holy shit those things are huge. We also spend a day in Blue Mountains and caving in the Jenolan caves which was pretty impressive. There are aboriginal “dream-time” legends to explain how all of these rock formations and colors came about which I found pretty neat. I wrote some down so I can remember later. OOOHHH, I almost forgot! I ate a Kangaroo Steak (cooked rare to my liking, of course). It was a bit tough, but very flavorful. I would definitely have it again.
We arrived in Brisbane from Sydney on Monday night at 1am, and flew from Brisbane to Cairns on Tuesday afternoon. I’m happy to be in Cairns despite the humidity. We went scuba diving to check out the Great Barrier Reef. I’m determined to get my scuba diving license now. (Sorry mom and dad, I know you don’t like the idea). I took pictures of the reef with my camera and they turned out ok. The pictures don’t really capture all of the colors and the dimensions though… I found these colorful worms that inhabit the coral and disappear when you snap your fingers near them. So fun. I think that about sums it up for now! New Zealand is next and I’m sure they’ll be plenty to tell when I go there…
Sylvie
No comments:
Post a Comment