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Tylers Going Aussie

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Another great day at the Ooramimna Bush Canmp! After the short flight from melbourne to Alice sprigs we boarded the coach to get on our way or so we thought. But no in the rare rainstorm out here(they have had 28 cm in the last 7 years) we couldent drive. So after we got our 4 wheel drive coach we were on our way sliping and sliding down the dirt road. When we arrived at the camp we had a delicious BBQ with fresh organic beef. Next we learned a traditional survival technique of making bread. Here's the recipe: put six cups flour in large bowl. Slowly while mixing it in add about a gallon of water. Once the dough is a good consistency knead it and put it into a speacial pan. Finally put all of the pan but the top of under the sand and put hot coals on top. While our bread was cooking we had other buisness to attend. We were divided in half and one group went to whip cracking and the other went to setting up their swags for the night. I finally got the hang of the whip when my finger busted open. No need to worry mom I cleaned it out. Then we swithced stations. While we were setting up our swags the guide keept us intertained with some cool facts. We learnd that all cows on the property(150 thousand acres) were beef cows for one reason. In beef cows 70 percent of energy goes to making them fat while 30 percent goes to making milk. In a milk cow the numbers are reversed so those cows are much skinnier. After our swags were all ready to go we went back and tried the bread we made. With some honey it was delisious. We went on a walk to the old police station and saw the nicest jail I've ever seen. Next we came back and had some dinner. Finally we went out next to a fire and listened to an astronomer talk about the stars. Did you know that on Austrailas flag the 5 stars represent the southern cross and the lone star represents the Commonwealth. We crawled into our swags and fell strait asleep.


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Ready For the Wild Ones

Friday, May 29, 2009


Wow what a great day at the Healesville Sanctuary and the Victoria Market. We started off by looking at a sugar glider that was 10 years old! The sugar glider is a marsupial just like most other animals in Australia. And like all other marsupials there is a embryo that grows in the pouch. The embryo of the sugar glider is about half the size of a grain of rice. Next we did an autopsy of a kangaroo. It was interesting to learn in depth about its digestive track. Although it was a bit smelly.

The second part of our day included an incredible Birds of Prey show. Some of the birds that were featured were the black breasted buzzard and the wedged tailed eagle (Australia's largest eagle). One thing that was very peculiar was the buzzard can pick up rocks with its beak and slam them on eggs of emus to crack them open. It was honestly one of the funniest things I have seen in a while. After the show we were privately introduced to Jess the wedged tailed eagle. Jess is the oldest animal on all of Healesville. Finally we went to the Victoria Market where I literally shopped tell I dropped. So far I have had tons of fun looking at captive animals but now I am ready to fly to Alice Springs tomorrow and start seeing the wild ones! So long for now.
- Tyler

A Day in the Rain Forest

Thursday, May 28, 2009

(Tonight’s blog post was a group effort. All students collaborated to create the post.)

There was a spiral road that never seemed to end. After three hours on the bus, one of our teachers even got sick. (And no – it was not Mrs. Jensen.) On the way to the rain forest we got to see our first wild koalas in the trees along side the road.

After arriving at Otway Fly, it was fun getting our hands dirty as we each planted two trees, one Myrtle Beech and one Mountain Ash.

The Mountain Ash tree is the second largest tree in the world. It can grow up to 150 meters in height. You can tell how old a Mountain Ash tree is by measuring its diameter at about chest high. For every centimeter it is one year old.

The moss grows on the south side of the trees because it avoids the sunlight. This was surprising to us because back home it grows on the north side of trees.

Some of the trees in the rainforest are shaped like a boomerang because another tree has blocked its sunlight. It curves to find the sunlight. This movement of the tree was interesting. The aborigines would make their own tools out of trees, mollusk and kangaroo tail.

We also learned that there are lots of threats to the rainforest including people cutting trees. In just one minute about 10 regular-sized football fields of Amazon rain forest is cut down. Realizing how much forest this actually is, it seems that it could all be destroyed in a matter of years. Without our rainforest, we would have less oxygen and water…both are necessary for life. Yesterday we learned about many endangered frogs. They are endangered because their habitat is being destroyed, due to deforestation.

We walked up the Otway Fly, which was 47 meters high. We got to see a great view of the rain forest below. The rain forest gets 2 meters of rainfall a year. While in the rain forest we got to drink some of the fresh creek water. We were surprised at how clean this water was.

Our second day in Australia was successful. Although it was raining most of our time in the “rain forest” we were still able to soak up some great information along with all the water.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

What's up everyone. Sorry I haven't blogged for a while, I've just been so busy with baseball, school finals, and any other random stuff that keeps getting in the way! Well anyway just showing my dad how all this "high-tech"  stuff works. Cant wait for Monday night!!!! Talk to you soon.

P.S. Thanks to all of you who have blogged to me 

Amazing Australia

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Wow! I cannot believe we going on this trip. Ever since my cousin went to New Zealand I have always wanted to go. It sounds like we will be staying busy with all of the amazing adventures we have planned. Some of the events that I look forward to the most are the snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef, zip line, camel riding, getting to meet all the kids that will be traveling with us, and no joke the plane that we get to fly on. Good gravy the walk up snack bar, entertainment, comfort, I am at a loss for words. This is so cool! Well stay with me throughout the trip as I will be blogging all the time. You can also follow me on twitter. Peace out.

Essential Programs Details

Duration 14 days
When May 25th - June 7th, 2009
Focus Marine Biology
Conservation/Wildlife
Aboriginal Culture