A little piece of home in Australia...

I brought this adorable photo of baby UVic bunnies with me to Australia.  Thanks Karen and Sonja!

Sydney - McQuarie Point, the Opera House and Sydney Harbour

Beautiful Sydney - Royal Botanic Garden

I spent my last 2 days in Sydney with Erin and Dean.  Here are some photos of Sydney.

The Royal Botanic Gardens

Yes - these are flying foxes...giant bats that look like foxes!!

A kangaroo in Armidale!

Getting Ready to Leave Newcastle...

So this is my last full day in Newcastle.  I am getting a ride to Sydney tomorrow morning with the Dunkleys and will be there until I leave on Tuesday.  I am quite sad to leave - it has felt like home.  The time has gone much too fast!
It will be nice to get home though, to see my cats, see my friends and to eat a meal at home for a change!
I know I will be back here soon.

Good food!

Sticky toffee pudding is great in any country!

Thunder, lightning and pouring rain in Armidale!

There is a huge thunderstorm in Armidale right now.  I am loving it!  I miss thunder and lightning - we rarely see it in BC.  I can't believe how hard it is coming down!

I have really loved Armidale.  The people have been so nice.  I tried pavlova (delicious Aussie dessert), had some great meals, great conversations, saw kangaroos, wallabies, beautiful birds, beautiful gorges and met some fellow Canadians!

I will definitely be back.

Armidale, NSW, Australia

I have arrived in Armidale.  Far, far away from the ocean filled with scary sharks!
It's beautiful here so far - very green, lots of pastures, sheep, old cathedrals and beautiful buildings.  It's nice to see a bit more of Australia.  Looking forward to visiting the University of New England tomorrow.

Australia is forgiven for the vegemite

These are avaliable in stores with a tiny spoon to eat as a snack!  I may have to move here!

3rd fatal shark attack on the west coast of Australia in 6 weeks

Just saw this on the news:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-22/diver-killed-in-suspected-shark-attack/3595308/?site=perth&section=news

The ocean around here is scary!

Surfing in Australia...great white sharks...

I was going to go surfing today.  I was sure of it.  I leave tomorrow for Armidale to visit the University of New England, the distributed site of the University of Newcastle medical school.  So I figured I should try to get in the water while it's beautiful and I can.

Then I heard about and saw this:

http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2011/10/21/3345298.htm?site=newcastle

And this:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/17/3166660.htm?site=newcastle

I don't think so...

Vegemite...

So I did it. I ate some vegemite. On toast with margarine. It was at 1 am after an evening of eating some great food and drinking some great wine. That may have played a role in my feelings about it.
It was overpowering and salty and VERY yeasty!
I worked for years with Drosophila (fruit flies) in genetic and evolutionary experiments and we cooked their food in the Zoology building at UBC. On those days, the entire building would smell like yeast and other things that were quite terrible.
Vegemite tastes exactly like the smell of that horrible hot room of fruit fly food.
We realized that we were living out some of the Men At Work song lyrics...
"...I come from the land down under..."
"...he just smiled and gave me a vegemite sandwich..."
Until I tried it, I thought I would fit right in here in Australia. Maybe not...

Great food!

I just had dinner around the corner from me at East End Enoteca - an Italian restaurant.  It was fantastic!  I had the beef with beet root chutney - wow!  Australian beef is delicious!  Almost as good as Argentinian...but not quite.  :)

Black Butt Animal Reserve

I just had to post a few quick photos of the koala that I was able to pet yesterday at Black Butt animal reserve here in Newcastle!  They feel just like little teddy bears!  :)  And Black Butt is a type of tree...in case you were wondering...

Me petting Bella!  A 6 year old female koala!

Bella eating gum leaves.

The Dunkleys, me and Bella.

My first week at the University of Newcastle

I've been here in Australia now for a week.  It has been great and I have learned so much.  I can't believe everything that I have learned and all of the people I have already met in the Joint Medical Program.  I have observed three PBL tutorials now - two 2nd year sessions and a 1st year session - a lecture, an anatomy lab and a skills training evening with the students.  I have met with PBL tutors, a Course Coordinator, all of the senior administrators from both locations of the Joint Medical Program, basic scientists in Medical Sciences and Biological Sciences, admissions experts, visited the Wollotuka Institute for Aboriginal activities at the University of Newcastle, participated in GP Club, attended a retreat for curriculum renewal in Scone and saw some old friends from Nepal.  Quite a week!

Next week is packed with lots to do as well and lots to learn.  I am meeting with a few groups of 1st and 2nd year students and I think that will be a great opportunity to find out a lot of information for my research and for their curriculum renewal process.  Looking forward to it!

Newcastle Beaches

A beautiful Saturday in Newcastle at the beaches.

A convict manned whaleboat...proud of their convict heritage...

Nobby's Beach

A chromosome!

Ocean Baths

A smoke shop...

Newcastle - my neighbourhood

These are some photos in my neighbourhood down by the water.  Beautiful!

Some Photos - Newcastle

I have been quite busy, so haven't been taking a lot of photos...weird...

Here are a few:

Beautiful view at Nelson Bay.

Petrified whale bone.

A kookaburra!