State of Origin

The stadiums are sold out. The crowds roar with excitment, joy, and anticipation- they are painted and flag waving. The Maroons vs. Blues. Queensland vs. New South Wales. It's Australian Rugby Leagues most popular event- it is the State of Origin!

Ok, I am actually just watching this on the tellie in my friends' apartment in the next building over. I don't understand rugby- league or union- well if at all. (What knowledge I have gained is due to the patient repetitions of my friend Anthony about what is going on and answering my very odd questions)

Rugby enthusiasts forgive me in my explanation. Rugby is a very athletic sport where you can only pass the ball behind you (or throw backwards) while your team is trying to run the ball down the field to score. While doing this your opponent is trying to tackle you. They don't where much padding and many opt out of a helmet. These are big tough blokes.

The State of Origin is a best-two-of-three series between the Australian State of Queensland and the State of New South Wales. The teams are made up of players based on which state they started their professional career in. The rivalry is fierce!

Image Source: footygear.com.au

The Queenslanders are decked out in Marroon and advertising their state's beer XXXX. New South Wales wears Blue and advertises Victoria Bitters.

In the first game, held in Brisbane or Brizy, Queensland won handily.

In this close second game- or what to me looked close based on the actions of the players- New South Wales won. Tying the series up and leaving the passionate Queenslanders hungry in anticipation for the next and deciding game!

Feral or Ferrrrall!

Feral is a term used to describe a wild version of a domesticated animal or an invasive species. (All ferals are invasive but not all invasives are ferals.)
Ferrall!! is what you or your friend say to describe a horrible, disgusting, rude, or occasionally epic event or experience.

These are some of the many ferals and invasives that live in Australia.

Young Adult Cane Toad

Cane Toads- this is probably the most famous case of an introduced species that has caused problems. It is featured in textbooks everywhere as why humans should be extremely careful or not interfere by introducing new species intentionally. The cane toads were introduced to eat the cane-beetle which was damaging the sugar can crop. The toad has no natural predators, it secretes a poisonous toxin from glands behind their necks, and can lay hundreds of eggs in puddles too small for other amphibians to utilize. All of these factors makes them an extremely successful species. Unfortunately this leads them to out compete and eat native amphibians. They aren't picky either they consume native insects, reptiles, and when they get big enough, even birds and mammals. Their extent and massive ability to reproduce makes it impossible to eradicate them. Containment involves events where volunteers go toad bashing and prizes are given to those who bring in the most dead cane toads.

Cactus- Prickly-pear cactus is considered one of the most noxious weeds in Australia. It was transplanted from the Americas for gardens and as a potential hedge plant. It escaped from these plantings and began out competing local vegetation. To control it cactoblast caterpillars were introduced which only eat the prickly pear cactus. Now both populations come and go in waves but, the cactus is still a pervasive problem.

Pigs- Feral Pigs are one of the most destructive feral species in Australia. Their feeding habits and behavior damage plants and animals and they eat whatever they can find. When they eat plants the use their snouts to dig up the soil and get to the roots and shoots of tasty native plants. Like cane toads they will eat whatever native animals they are big enough to swallow. This includes endangered species such as sea turtles. They are fast, smart, adaptable, and produce large litters of piglets all year round. They travel in groups and lead to wide spread environmental and agriculture degradation. Different management plans try to keep them from spreding/invading new areas using fences. To control in areas they have already entered they are hunted, culled, and trapped.

Domestic Camels: the same type as the feral camels

Camels- these fuzzy beasties are definitely one of my favorite ferals. Camels were brought to Australia's arid areas to transport people and goods before automobiles. One of the stories associated with how the camels became feral is that when the automobile was introduced no one (the rich people developing arid Australia) wanted to use the camels. The handlers were ordered to kill their camels but instead they let them go. Since camels are browsers and grazers that need little to no drinking water they adapted to the climate well. The negative impacts they have occur to vegetation and water places. Because their numbers have increased so much over the years they have the potential to over use certain species of vegetation and cause those species to become extinct. During drought, they are driven like other creatures to seek refuge in waterholes. All these camels in one place causes damage to the plants and the quality of the water. There is currently a management plan in development and camels are considered a useful feral because of its meat and that it can be re-domesticated.

All of these species put added pressures on native species by introducing diseases and new invasive plants or weeds. These coupled with pressures from humans, like development, or environmental disasters such as cyclones.
These pressures increase the chances of endangered species becoming extinct, and non-threatened species to become endangered.

This is why it is so important to prevent new invasives or ferals from moving in to an area and develop management plans for those already there.

The source for much of this information came from http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/ferals/index.html. This is also a great website for more information on these and other ferals. The images are my own photographs.

The Beaches

Trinity Park

Down the road from Smithfield are a series of little communities named things like Trinity Beach, Kuarra Beach, or Palm Cove. These communities all derive their names from the sandy shores they butt up against. And if one was determined they could walk from the pier at Palm Cove all the way to Trinity Park Beach with only one sojourn inland to scramble over a rocky outcrop.
But it is just as lovely to sit in the warm sand, swim in the equally warm water, and avoid being stung by stingers (jellyfish).
These are three of my favorites and are in order of south to north - or the one closest to vs. the one you would have to walk the farthest to get to from the student lodge.

Trinity Park: This one is closest to the lodge and my favorite. There are no structures though it butts up against the Trinity Park Marina at the far end. It has a mangrove swamp at its back. No stinger nets or life guards so you are swimming at your own risk but its worth it. Local families and students use the beach  and it is on the opposite side of the Trinity Beach's rocks so it is more isolated then the others. It is the beach I visited the most to celebrate with friends or find a peaceful place to study.

Trinity Beach: This beach officially starts the series of communities who all have the coveted word 'beach' in their name. Houses, apartment buildings, small eateries and a couple small hotel like establishments line the street. It has a very casual laid back feel. The area of sand it claims is a little smaller then those further up the coast but it has a rocky edge that is fun for climbing and investigating sea life. There is also a trail that leads up the rocky point to a huge boulder that presents a great view of the ocean. This beach doesn't receive as heavy tourist traffic as Palm Cove and lots of locals use it for running or walking their dogs.

Palm Cove

Melaleucas or Paper-Bark Trees

Palm Cove: Like Trinity Beach, this one is a blend of tourism and locals. There are hotels lining the street facing the beach as well as cafes and a fish and chips place. Memorably there are these huge beautiful trees that are a species of Melaleuca or Paper-bark trees. They have the girth of some of the oldest cottonwoods in the states, shready sandy color bark, and are three to four stories tall. Absolutely beautiful. From this beach you can look back and see the great sweeping crescent of sand which stretches from the rocks at Trinity Beach all the way to Palm Cove's Pier.
The pier is used by locals to catch all sorts of sea fair- from cod to small sharks. Once we even saw an osprey try to make off with a shark-fisher's bait fish. Both survived the incident none the worse for wear. If you are lucky, and look up from shell collecting or crab spotting you may even see dolphins!

Kuranda with the Folks

Mom feeding a wallaby

This week not only is one of the last weeks of classes but also I am lucky enough to spend some time with my parents who decided to visit Australia in honor of my mom's retirement.
Apart from spending some time in Cairns and on the Esplanade we all took a trip up to the village of Kuranda.

Dad becomes a parrot perch

Though slightly the epitome of a tourism town; by corralling my parents to the walkway through the Koala Gardens, Bird World, and the Butterfly Sanctuary we were able to have a lot of fun and avoid most of the interpretation and ROS analysis. Mom got an official Australian souvenir of her picture with a "cuddly" koala. The grey kangaroos weren't too active so we coerced the wallabies into posing for pictures.

Her hat is now a toy

Then there was the birds. They needed no encouragement as my parents boldly ignored signs asking hats, shiny objects, and other lose hanging objects to be put away. The birds saw everything from their glasses, hats, and backpacks as new toys and perches. 
We walked around a bit and had lunch. Unfortunately, I am feeling a bit under the weather so we called it quits there. They are headed up north for some days on the beach and in the rainforest. I really hope they get a chance to relax and have lots of fun; it's been ages since they have had a real vacation.

Aunt Nancy do you recognize this one?

Seagrass and Dugongs

Ok so earlier in the field trip posts I nerded out about the mangroves. Now I am going to do a similar job of it on seagrasses and dugongs.

Seagrasses are this amazing group of aquatic plants that occurs in small pockets of temperate and tropical shallow waters. They are for the the most part rhizomatous, but do produce flowering structures and can reproduce by that method occasionally. They have an exceptional cuticle that allows for gas exchange but also helps to exclude salt from the plant. They grow in these massive lawns that resemble an underwater prairie.

Some of the most incredible creatures rely on seagrasses including sea turtles, sea dragons, and dugongs.

Sea dragons are a special type of sea horse that has fleshy projections that resemble weeds to help them be camouflaged within their home. The documentary Life has some great footage of a pair of courting sea dragons. I've linked a clip from YouTube to the right to share with you.

Dugongs are the relatives of North America's  manatees (who also eat seagrass in places like off the coast of Florida). They are slow gentle swimmers and have a similar lifestyle to manatees. They even look a like. The quickest give away that you are looking at a dugong and not a manatee is that the dugong's tail has two flukes shaped a bit like a dolphins while a manatee's tail is an oblong round shape like that of a paddle.
Dugongs are megafauna and a combination of habitat loss and past hunting has put them in danger of extinction. There is little we can do as humans but to protect their habitat and avoid running over them with our boats.

Image Source: DERM QLD Gov.© Colin Limpus

There is an excellent documentary released this past spring by a group headed by a professor from JCU Jamie Seymour called simply The Great Barrier Reef. I was trying to find just a clip of their dugong footage but couldn't. However the whole Australian version of the documentary and live Q&A sessions with this professor are available on YouTube. Check it out!

Taboo Topics

In the United States there are plenty of social issues that people get quite heated about, and have endless debates on- some of which leaves the rest of the world scratching their head on. Here are some examples of heavy topics that in either the States or Australia are considered dinner-table taboos.

Religion- In the U.S. this is supposedly a big deal! What religious affiliation you have seems to automatically slip you into a category and fascinates the media. Don't believe me? Look at all the attention that has been paid to the various associations different prospective Republican Presidential Nominees. For example the idea that Mitt Romney missed out in 08 because he is Mormon? or people concerned about the views of a pastor at a church the President Obama used to attend?
It is difficult to identify if either Australians don't have this situation because of A) they feel their communities are pretty homogenous in spirituality B) they don't feel like spirituality interferes with politics or C) its not that serious of a topic- really- No worries' mate!

Evolution- Dare mention evolution in the States and you get into a can of worms from the Scopes Monkey Trial to Creationism to Intelligent Design. In Australia, evolution is a given and a standard part of biology education.

Climate Change- Is it real? Is it a fabrication of arguing scientists? Is it human caused or completely natural?- No. In Australia there is no debate. Scientists here observing everything from extreme droughts & fires, coral bleaching, and the rise of tropical diseases have come to the conclusions: The climate is changing. Humans play a role. And its called Global Warming by the way.

Homosexuality- In the States this is hotly debated, mostly by those who want to debate what the definition of marriage is. Acceptance of a person's sexuality-no matter the orientation is on the rise every year. Six states and D.C. allow same-sex marriage, and five additional states have civil union legislation giving partners legal rights.
In Australia the topic is taboo. It is something never considered or talked about. (Unless brought up by curious, nosy, international students wanting to hear an opinion)

Politics- There is no tea-party but with the adds, roadsigns, debates, and passionate followers- heck it could be the states. Though not as much crying or petty whining after the election is over though, but that might just be my personal take on things.

Super Moon!

For those of you who didn't look outside your windows this past weekend: there was a supermoon. Otherwise known as a full moon that is much closer to the earth then usual.

The other students and myself came to the conclusion that the best place to view the supermoon was Trinity Park Beach. And it was incredible. Pictures and words do not capture what it was to see that beautiful orb emerging over the horizon and turning the blue/black world silver.

The tide was higher then we had ever seen it and the crashing waves were gilded with light. Swimming, fire dancing, and even some peaceful contemplation ensued.

As I said pictures seemed superflious so I didn't take any, but for some cool shots and more info on what causes a super moon visit this link: http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/supermoon_2012.html