October 2011

Saturday the 8th

I added a picture to the end of my 15 August post.

At the end of my July postings, I mention that I met a member of Janet’s extended family, Alf, who is a Rotarian from the Caloundra Rotary Club. Last week, Alf and his wife hosted me for several days in their wonderful home located in Shelly Beach, Caloundra. Interestingly, Alf and his wife have a friends in the Melbourne area who originally lived in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, which is adjacent to Chester County, my home county! They live just a few steps away from the beach, so I could hear the relaxing sound of waves crashing at night from my bedroom window and feel the refreshing sea breeze. The beach environment was certainly a nice escape after inhabiting urban areas in Brisbane for a while.

My presentation to Caloundra Rotary Club was my 10th overall and my first presentation to a breakfast club; they meet at 6:30 am for a 7 am start. Alf told me that most people in Caloundra go to sleep early and get up early to follow the period of daylight, avoid late-morning summer heat, and to go for a swim or surf before work. Despite the early hour, the members were very energetic and asked many questions about the content of my presentation, including questions about my research project, where I see myself in 10 years, and the Pittsburgh area.

At the meeting, I met two visiting Rotarians. One was from Mackay (pronounced Muh-kai), and the other was from Darwin; both invited me to speak at their clubs! After the meeting, I had coffee with several of the members and learned more about them.

Speaking of surfing, I was in the water every day. I went swimming, bodyboarding, surfing, and took a windsurfing lesson with Alf’s daughter. Windsurfing was challenging because the sail was difficult to maneuver so that it always caught the wind and, if it caught the wind too much, it would pull me over or I would strain to keep it upright. I also found it hard to turn; I easily sailed in one direction but found it much harder to sail in the opposite direction. One of the Caloundra Rotarians is an avid longboard or Malibu surfer who offered to teach me the basics of surfing. I wasn’t shredding any waves, but this was much easier for me to learn compared to windsurfing, and I had a great time learning to handle the longboard.

Alf took me to see the hinterland town of Maleny nestled among the Blackall Ranges with a good view of the coast and the Glass House Mountains in addition to the Mary Cairncross Rainforest.

Maleny is a small town home to many artists and a main street dotted with quality galleries and shops. The rainforest was impressive because it contained many old-growth rainforest trees native to Queensland, like Red Cedars, certain gum trees, and strangler figs. There are very few of these old trees remaining because the white settlers cut down nearly all of the Queensland timbers during the 19th and 20th centuries to sell for lumber and to clear the land for livestock pastures. As we walked through, we saw four pademelons (small kangaroos) and heard several types of birds, including whipbirds, catbirds, and kookaburras. Click here to listen to their calls. The pictures below are of an old vine supported by a strap, a palm forest, and buttress roots supporting a tree.

I presented to the Rotary Club that night after dinner, and they enjoyed listening to me. One member liked my presentation so much that he gave me a six pack of XXXX beer, which is made in Brisbane! Here is a picture after my presentation of, from right to left, a Rotarian who introduced me to the club, the Club President, and a Rotary exchange student from France.

On Tuesday, my host showed me around the Mary Valley, which consists of pineapple, macadamia, beef cattle, and dairy cow farms situated among rolling hills. Pine plantations are also scattered about with nearby sawmills for timber processing.

Loose cattle in one area forced us to stop until they moved across the road:

Just a few years ago, this area was the center of an intense debate over whether a dam should be built in the Mary River to create a reservoir for public water usage. After public outcry and the spending of hundreds of millions of dollars on surveying and buying land that would be flooded, the project was fortunately halted. Reputable experts demonstrated that the reservoir would have been too shallow for its intended purpose and would have caused more harm to the environment than benefit. Other dams have been built in the area, and I visited one called the Borumba Dam:

That Sunday, Janet and her family took me to the Brisbane Jazz Club for a nice dinner and an evening of great music by two big bands (the style, not the size) from the Queensland Conservatorium. Their son attends the Conservatorium and played in one of the bands. Accompanying singers added great vocal elements to the concert as well. The venue is located on the riverside, so it was flooded this past January, but it is back in working order and has a great atmosphere.

I went up to Mooloolaba and Caloundra on Monday and stayed two nights with a Rotarian and his wife from the Mooloolaba Rotary Club. Arnaldo and Tricia are excellent hosts just as all of the other people I stayed with in the past. They live in a wooded area with kangaroos and several different native birds that are very friendly.

Feeding the kookaburras:

Lorikeets:

My presentation went well Monday night, and the members were a pleasure to meet. One Rotarian grew up in Pennsylvania and went to Mansfield University, which isn’t too far from my home. Talking with a person from Pennsylvania after hearing the Australian accent for an extended period was a welcoming experience.

Tuesday was both busy and fun as Arnaldo showed me more of the Sunshine Coast. We first went to the Buderim Ginger Factory (actually located in Yandina), which is home to the “World’s Finest Ginger.” I had a spider there, which Americans would call an ice cream float. The spider was made with ginger beer (like root beer) and ginger ice cream; the combination was very tasty. From there, we went over to Nutworks Macadamia Factory. There were many samples available of nuts and dipping oils, and I learned about the harvesting and processing. The nuts are named after John Macadam. Notice the typical size of Australian cars in the picture (I often seen small car models, like the Ford Fiesta, Nissan Micra, BMW 1 series, Mazda 1 and 2, and a Mercedes A class); petrol, aka gas in America, is about $5.50/gal AUD or, currently, $5.72/gal USD. We also looked inside a unique shop and cafe called the Timber Hut.

Next, we went to a small area called Ninderry that has great views of both the coast and hinterland. Arnaldo and his family have a property on top of Ninderry Mountain, so we drove to the lookout point. Pictures are on top of the mountain, looking outward toward the ocean, and looking toward the mountain from a distance:

In Mooloolaba, we ate at the local fish market that had excellent calamari as well as the staple Australian meal, fish and chips. After that, I toured Underwater World, which is a first-rate aquarium known for displaying Australian aquatic and marine life, a transparent tunnel through a massive shark tank, and entertaining seal shows. Since the aquarium is near the beach, I went swimming afterwards. That night, we had a barbecue with Portuguese-style chicken and many other delicious foods. Joining us were Alf and Alva (my hosts in Caloundra, relatives of Janet, and friends of Arnaldo and Tricia!), a Rotarian from Mooloolaba, Arnaldo and Tricia, the Rotarian's wife, and a Rotary exchange student from Sweden (shown clockwise starting at 9 o’clock).

On Wednesday night, I gave my 13th presentation to Ashgrove The Gap Rotary. I’ve been to this club before but had an opportunity that night to meet more of the members and provide them with more details about myself. I learned that one of the members has family in Macungie, PA! Also there that night were members of an Interact club sponsored by Ashgrove as well as a student nominated to attend the National Youth Science Forum, who subsequently invited me to speak at one of his high school assemblies.

On Friday, I joined Philip to see an art exhibition and attend a jazz gig by the daughter of a Rotarian from my host club. Mango season recently started, so I bought some at the market. I have never eaten fresh mango in the whole-fruit form; there are big pits in the middle and the skin doesn't taste good. The flesh is wonderfully sweet, packed with flavor, and very juicy. This weekend, I started swimming in the pool for people that work in the hospital and academic complex in Herston. The outdoor pool is especially nice because it is very clean and filled with mild salt water, which doesn't cause dry skin or irritation like chlorine. Besides that, I’ve been keeping busy with my research project and plan to give an update about my progress in the coming weeks.