G’day mates!
Unbelievably I have arrived at Murdoch University in Perth. My luggage showed up four days late, but aside from that hiccup everything went smoothly. I still feel in a daze because the time zones worked out in such a way that I technically never had a February 11th. So far there are so many differences that I jumped out at me and it was shocking for someone who is a little disoriented. The first was getting into a car and seeing the steering wheel was in the wrong place. Also, on campus there are quite a few varieties of species of birds I’ve never seen, the coolest by far being the Australian Raven. Native Aussies just call them crows but they are a more intimidating than crows in the States. Also there are these big rats called Quendas and mini kangaroos called Quokkas which are as common as squirrels in the U.S. (I think they are kinda cute)
Some other small cultural differences I found were that everything is super expensive. I bought a stick of deodorant that cost $7.98 and a pint of beer at a restaurant is around $9.00 and that is in Aussie Dollars which are worth 1.10 US dollars. There are also no dryers for clothes. Most everyone puts their clothes on a line.
As far as trips go, we have been all over the local city of Fremantle or Freo as the locals call it. The architecture reminds me of that in New Orleans but the weather is like that in San Diego. Another destination was a two day stay at Rottnest Island which was about 20 km away from the coast of Perth. It is a government owned island meant to be for the people to enjoy. The island was about 12 km in diameter so it was easiest to bike to the camps and beaches. Here we were treated to a bike tour of the island and we were able to snorkel and see an astounding amount of tropical fish and coral.
Quakka begging for food
One of the many pristine beaches on Rottnest Island
Sunrise at Rottnest
So far this trip has been more than I could have imagined and there is still more to come!
Cheers for now,
Andrew Clark
Location: Perth, Australia
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