last day on fraser island. we had spent the last night trying to finish off as much of the food and alcohol as possible. i didn't drink much though - just ONE beer. i should've had more. it would've helped me sleep better. the ground was hard and terribly lumpy, but matt didn't seem to mind. he had enough of the goon and beer to keep him snoring all night long. ;)
on the other hand. i'm glad i didn't drink any cause otherwise i wouldn't have remembered all the silly shenanigans that the rest of the group pulled. there were dance offs, drink offs and even a push-up contest. everyone was pretty loose. i think matt has some of this on video. i'll have to try and convince him to put some of that up on youtube. it'll come in real handy for people's weddings some time down the road.
last on the agenda was lake mackenzie. (4) lake mackenzie is arguably one of the biggest draws of fraser island. it has creamy white sand and crystal clear warm water.
we goofed around...
played some frisbee...
slept on the beach...
and enjoyed the last few hours of our stay on fraser island.
and just as we went back to the ferry, it started pouring. we couldn't have timed it any better. chalk up another successful trip with plenty of good memories.
we woke up to the sun just peeking over the horizon.
first on the agenda for day 3 was a trip up past indian heads to what are called "champagne pools". (3) as the tide comes in, it splashes over the rocks and sprays the swimmers. in the pools there are also tons of little fishies that swim around. that was cool.
we then headed back down the beach and up a short hike to the top of indian heads. there we were able to see sting rays and sharks through the water. we had some awesome views. ... ... after that, we drove back south towards our campsite for the night.
on the way down, we stopped by the maheno shipwreck. (3) the maheno used to be a luxury cruise ship in the early 1900s. it served as a hospital ship during the first world war. and in 1935 it was being towed from melbourne to japan for scrap metal when it was hit by a huge cyclone. a few days later, it drifted ashore and beached itself onto fraser island. apparently more than 3.5 storeys of the ship is buried under the sand.
we then dropped by eli creek. we rinsed off the sand and salt water at eli creek. eli creek is one of the bigger washouts where freshwater from the island drains into the ocean. we were told the water was clean enough to drink - as long as you weren't downstream of all the swimmers! despite the water being a chilly 16 degrees celsius, there were plenty of people that floated down the current. this is us walking up the creek.
as we drove up to our campsite, we caught a glimpse of a dingo!
that night we had dinner, played marco polo in the dark on the beach and admired the jellyfish that washed onto the shore with the incoming tide.
went to fraser island for a 4 day/3 night camping trip. had an amazing time. before i get into all the details, here's some quick background info: -fraser island is the largest sand island in the world. there is sand EVERYWHERE. by the time you get home, you have sand EVERYWHERE. in every crevice you could possibly imagine. -it's home to some of the purest breeds of dingoes in all of australia. which we saw on a couple of occasions. -it's only accessible with a 4 wheel-drive vehicle. with anything else, you don't stand a chance. - access to the island is via a ferry from hervey bay which is roughly 300 km north of brisbane. simple map of fraser island.
we were a group of 16. 16! our house: matt, susan, alan, laura, myself. susan's friend from canada: jenn. our friends shawn & yi. shawn's sister: wang-ee. yi's girlfriend: angela. bunch of third years: claudia, henry, jason, priya, vincent. and claudia's friend from vancouver: ali.
our first night was spent at a hostel in hervey bay. (1) we kept it pretty low-key. some of us did end up taking unwanted dips into the pool though.
the next day we picked up our bright pink, 9-seater toyota land cruiser. she was a beauty!
we then picked up some groceries and headed to the barge. we backed the car in... and enjoyed the boat ride.
after a 35 minute ferry ride, we arrived on the island. we drove across the island - this was real 4-wheel driving, and headed to the beach. driving was so much fun. after about 10 minutes you start feeling invincible. there is no rock or tree or pot hole that you can't clear in this thing. shift down into 2nd, take you're time and this bad boy in pink just powers through anything. after driving across the island, we made it to the beach on the eastern shore. driving on the beach was also hilarious. couldn't help but to scream the baywatch theme song a couple of times.
~don't you worry! it's gonna be alright... cause i'm always ready i won't let you out of my sight!~ haha.... aww.... david hasselhoff. THE HOFF! ok. i digress.
after having lunch we headed to lake wabby. (2) lake wabby is about a 30 minute hike into the middle of the island. you walk in and out of nowhere, this lake springs up.
facing the lake is a huge bank of sand. you walk up this hill and all you see is more sand. its like you're in a desert somewhere in morocco or egypt.
jenn tried to ride a boogie board down the sand but that didn't work too well.
after lake wabby, we drove up near dundubara had dinner and camped for the night. it wasn't cold but the ground was bloody hard. (2)
before i tell everyone what i did with my friday night, let me give you a little bit of background information: -there were about 12 of us in total. couple of 1st years, couple of 4th years and a bunch of 2nd years. -i managed to raise a modest $120.80. as a group we raised well over $6,000. -most importantly it was for a good cause.
ok. you guys ready? are you sitting down? cause you might be in for a pretty big shock...
i took part in the leukemia foundation's world's greatest SHAVE! that's right. i shaved my head.
now you see it:
now you don't!
i think the girls had WAY too much fun.
laura and susan & their work of "art".
so why did i do this? 1. for the same reason that i grew my hair out last year. i didn't want to bother looking for places that'll give me a decent hair cut for a decent price. 2. people didn't seem to like the long hair very much. 3. it was for a good cause. 4. its something you have to do at least once i think. 5. it'll grow back. right???
thanks to everyone who DONATED. thanks to everyone that came out & thanks to sara and the girls for organizing everything. thank you to my roommates. they were kind with their money and kind with their support. i was a little worried about my eye brows at one point, but i knew my head was in good hands.
when i got home, matt gave me a hand cleaning it up. we decided to clean it RIGHT up. i hope y'all like it! will post up more pictures on facebook later on in the afternoon.
tonight something HUGE is gonna happen. i'm sorry. i can't tell you any more. i've already divulged too much. you'll just have to wait a few hours until i put up my next post! :D
Monday, March 10, 2008
i didn't win the bet but it doesn't really matter. WE HAVE INTERNET!!!
went to the andy warhol exhibition last night. had a good time. gotta say he seems like he was a bit of kook - now there's an understatement.
unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the gallery. this is supposed to be my "no cameras beyond this point" pose. um... yea. no comment.
they did have these photo booths where you take a portrait & then they get magically transformed into portraits à la andy. the computer didn't do a very good job of cropping out my neck - looks like i gained 20+lbs. i didn't get fat! i swear!
mike left yesterday. who's mike you ask? mike is the first year med student from calgary that has been staying with us for the last few weeks while his housing arrangements got settled. it's going to be weird without him. he's become part of the house. part of the family. i'll admit that i didn't expect him to stay for so long (almost 6 weeks!) but i also didn't expect him to be so easy-going & for him to integrate into our house so seamlessly.
HUGE library news: the biological sciences library (where i do 90% of my studies/procrastination when on campus) is now open until midnight during the weekdays!!! they're conducting a "trial run" for the next 2 semesters to see what the response will be like. this is great. it means that i won't be unceremoniously escorted out of the library at 5pm!!!
med students & doctors often have a favorite disease, organ, medical term or whatever... although not my all-time favorite, hookworm (ancylostoma duodenale or necator americanus - both species are equally cool) has to rank very high on my favorites list. why? they're so cool! where most helminths (parasitic intestinal worms) require faecal-oral transmission, hookworm will actually PENETRATE through intact skin! they then use your venous circulation to enter into your lungs. from there they travel up your trachea & get swallowed into your digestive system. It gets better! once in your digestive system they don't just sit there taking up space like some lazy parasites (e.g. giardia lamblia). they dig their teeth into the walls of your intestine & latch on, sucking your blood. *slurp!!*
good-looking people turn me off. myself included. -patrick swayze *** Vizzini: I can't compete with you physically, and you're no match for my brains. Westley: You're that smart? Vizzini: Let me put it this way. Have you ever heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates? Westley: Yes. Vizzini: Morons! -Princess Bride (movie)
