Homesick for School?

Yep.

So, it turns out that things that I thought only seemed a little different from home, are actually a lot different. Primarily the way the landscape architecture "program" is set up here. There is no actual LA program unless you are taking the graduate program. Instead, it is called design studies where students interested in architecture, landscape architecture & urban design can all choose from the same classes, depending on what they would like to major in. So with all this mish-mosh of students, I am left feeling excluded from the actual program itself.

Although what we are learning in our courses is quite interesting, I am finding it frustrating at times in the way that it is taught.

I would just like to sum up my feelings towards the SEDRD faculty and staff back home in two words: Thank You! I am definitely grateful in the way things feel like an actual community within the building back home.

a rainy foggy day at the Cleland Wildlife Park.

Last week I left you with a little taster of the fun we had while at the wildlife park. However, we did not spend the whole day chasing emus, whatever you may have thought.

The Cleland Wildlife park is located within the Cleland Conservation Park about a 35 minute bus ride from the city. The day we traveled turned out to be cooler, but it was nice because the park wasn't busy on the Monday, and the animals were plenty active enough. The park is very large and not like a regular zoo. The animals are in very large open spaces suited to their needs. The great thing about the park is that you are allowed to walk around with the majority of the animals, feeding and petting them as you (or they) please. There is a wide range of kangaroos and wallabies within the park including Western Grey, Red and Kangaroo Island kangaroos, as well as the Swamp, Tammar and Yellow-Footed Rock-wallabies. 

The park also has a Ocean to Outback Exhibit which shows the different ocean life found along the coast as well as different small animals, snakes, turtles, bats and reptiles found throughout the country. It was quite interesting (disgusting) watching the bats eat mice while hanging. 

Dingos, they sure are cute but better watch out or the dingo might just eat your baby!

Em and I with Steven the Koala! (Next time we go, we will be sure to pay the extra to hold him!)

Who's the crazy bird lady??

What's in the bag lady?

I thought I smelled food.

Bird life in one of the Aviaries

Just chillin'

got a joey in there mate?

fast friends

I smuggled this one into my bag.

why can't we be friends? oh why can't we be friends? Oh ya...I remember now.

until next time!

Do Not Chase The Emus!

no animals were harmed during this shoot.

Meeting the Roos!!

Emily and I headed into the city today to check out the Adelaide Botanic Gardens.  I was instantly thankful for the amount of shade, since for some reason I decided 24 degrees was cool enough to wear pants. The days here are starting to get slightly cooler, which is actually quite nice for being outside. After we wandered around the gardens for a few hours we decided to head back over to the zoo for a third time, because somehow we managed to miss the native animal contact area the past two times! So for the first time in my life, I pet a kangaroo!! They are very cute and soft!! And I plan to smuggle one home as a new pet! :)

Cauliflory!

making friends

35, Hot & Humid...

well yesterday it was. Today it was still humid but with heavy rainfalls, which was probably great for the locals, but it didn't do much for my hair.

The days here have already begun to mesh together. Last week Emily and I checked out the South Australian Museum located next to Uni. I can't recall everything I saw, because something about the lighting and the quietness makes me feel like taking a nap. It was pretty good though, and free so great for us! Some of the exhibits we took a look at were the Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, World Mammals, the Pacific Cultures, and the South Australian Biodiversity Gallery.

Boomerangs! Used for thousands of years by Aboriginal people across Australia for fishing, hunting, fighting, playing and for ceremonial purposes.

After having a walk though the museum, it was between the Rundle St. Mall or the Art Gallery of South Australia. We decided to save the Art Gallery for another day.  The Rundle St. Mall has fast become one of our favorite destinations. With over 700 retail stores, most fronts are located off of the pedestrian street or within the malls or arcades which can also be accessed off of the street. Yes, we occasionally make ourselves feel better with a bit of retail therapy ;)

On Friday, Emily and I attended an international students pizza meet and greet. Something about being thrown into a room full of strangers without any cheesy quizzes or games makes it a little awkward. But hey! We met a few other Canadians, as well as a couple of Chinese students, and we filled up on free pizza. So, I guess you could call it a success. While waiting for the train that evening, we decided to watch the sunset over the Torrens River.

 

Prospect-refuge & large, but scarce garbage bins

On Saturday, Emily and I took the 1 hour bus ride to Mount Barker. Our first impressions were not good. We were dropped off on the side of the road accross from a large parking lot, it was hot and there was no shade. As we walked around the town, our impression barely changed. Aside from the attractive main street (due to there actually being trees), the areas we saw were broken side-walks with the odd tree for shade, no pedestrian friendly crossings, no bike lanes, and alot of hard surfaces where there could be beautiful gardens. This is the area where the growth for Adelaide is to be concentrated in the next 30 years, and it could use a more welcoming feel.

Mount Barker Streetscape

Yesterday, we made our way to the beach. By the time we got there we only had about 40 minutes before we needed to rush back to catch the train so we wouldn't have to use 2 passes. But 40 minutes was plenty enough as the weather was almost uncomfortable and there was a pool and air conditioning waiting for us back home. We will have to go back again soon when the weather isn't quite so hot. But, after rushing to get back to the train to only watch it rush by as we ran from a distance, it turns out we could have stayed longer anyways. Instead we waited at the stop in the shade for the next train home.

Tomorrows forcast:
light rain and a high of 24!

Emily at the Semaphore Beach

Adelaide, I think we are going to get along well...

Minus a few moments throughout the day of homesickness, I'm already in love with this city.

Seriously, how could you not be? Okay, so the train arrives not totally on schedule, but it gets you where you need to be, arriving right into the city, with about a 3 minute walk to campus. Our days so far have been pretty relaxing, but today we sat through our first class. So far so good. It's a sustainable design course that will mainly be focusing on identifying design solutions to accommodate growth in the Mount Barker area, about 35km from the city center of Adelaide. The main project of the course is worth 70% but have decided not to sweat. The subject seems very interesting and should be well worth the amount of work we will have to put into it.

River Torrens, the backyard of campus

After 2 hours of lectures, Emily and I decided we would pay the Adelaide Zoo our first visit. I say first because it surely wont be the last, as we have purchased memberships, giving us unlimited free entry to every major zoo in Australia (Oh YA!). It also gives us the advantage of not feeling the need to spend an entire day there, as we can visit anytime we like, conveniently located within walking distance of about 5 minutes to the campus. Today we spent the majority of our time in the Children's Zoo playing with the deer and laughing at the goats (yes, we are kids at heart).

Do you see Bambi licking his lips? That's cause he just tasted Em's shorts before taking a bite into my dress

Turtle Turtle

You know your in LA when you start getting your friends to pose by the benches

Currently, the Adelaide Fringe festival is on until March 13th. We attended a few comedy shows on Saturday night, which were definitely out there, but we had a great time just the same. The festival was packed on Saturday, and parking was hard to come by. We managed to be the last car allowed into the lot before it was announced full. Almost all of the shows were sold out but we still managed to see "The Half Naked Chef" (ok, it was only $5), "Nothing is Really Difficult" and "Comic Strip." Here is a little info on the festival if you'd like to learn more: http://www.fringevault.com.au/page/history_snapshot

Meet Marty! (and the pool)

That's the update for now!