Keeping Busy.

I’ve been trying to keep busy as much as I can, though it’s definitely more difficult with classes. I’ve had at least two beach visits since orientation week. Two weekends ago I went to the beach with my Guelph friends again. It was sunny and warm for a couple hours before some clouds rolled in and we called it a day. However, we were able to jump off the pier. I didn’t jump off the highest part of the pier, but I managed to get the courage to jump from a lower platform. With one big splash, I hit the cool water before swimming back to shore. We spent some time collecting shells on the beach as well.

On my latest beach visit, Manny and I took a really long walk down the beach and we didn’t even make it to the end - I had no idea it continued for so long! Afterwards we had a delicious lunch at a small Mexican restaurant that not only had great food, but also yummy lime Miller beer. We walked down Jetty Road and all the shops that line the street. There were several nice clothing stores, souvenir shops, and a cheap book store (where I bought a new book by my favourite author, Terry Goodkind). We finished our day off with some really good ice cream!

This past Saturday, we headed over to the Adelaide Botanic park to tour around the gardens. Unfortunately, the majority of the gardens were closed due to the cultural festival, Womadelaide. It’s similar to Folklorama in Winnipeg, except that it is held over 3 days in the park. We thought it would be fun to go to the festival, however the entry fee was a VERY steep price of $120 for the afternoon and evening. We made the most of our visit by finding the duck pond, a greenhouse, some smaller gardens, and stopping for a while to lie in the grass. 

The Duck Pond

The greenhouse

A sign in one of the gardens

Looking up at the blue sky

We also found the National Wine Center. Although I hear that the Barossa Valley Wine Tour is a must, the National Wine Center is a bit easier to get to (being right in the city next to the Botanic Gardens). The building has some beautiful architecture and the inside is just as impressive as the outside. I have to go back to taste some of their wines since there were way too many to taste in one go.

The massive amount of wine bottles.                                                     The inside architecture of the National Wine Center.

A look at the exterior of the Wine Center.

We also stumbled on a peculiar looking fruit tree and to my delight, I realized that it was none other than a pomegranate tree! Unfortunately the fruit wasn’t ripe enough to pick or there might be one less pomegranate on that tree. I think you need one of these in your garden dad! 

That just about sums up the most interesting parts of the last couple weeks. I can bore you all with the details when I get home. The only other thing I think I should mention…the sidewalks in downtown Adelaide are quite interesting. I’ve seen chalk drawings, coins embedded in the concrete, advertisements in paint, and my personal favourite: random hug spots! Seriously, here’s proof!

Miss you all!

Classes Begin!

Classes Begin!

It’s been a while since my last post, partly because I’ve been getting back into the swing of things at university. First thing to note: post-secondary education at University of Adelaide is quite different from the University of Guelph. I have a total of three classes, which add up to a full course load. They are: Design Studio, Environment II, and Foortprints on a Fragile Planet (a geography course). Here’s a bit of a low-down on each:

Design Studio is the most drastic change for me. I knew that the method of teaching would be different from what I’m used to, but I wasn’t expecting what I got. This class consists of a 2-hour formal lecture and a 4-hour design seminar. The lectures are interesting but seem to cover most of the information I feel that I already know. In my honest opinion, the design seminar is even less impressive. The focus of the course is supposed to center around Urban Design, yet there is almost no design component in the seminar. Our first couple assignments have been silly little exercises that I find are not helpful to furthur my design abilities. I also don’t like the idea that our main professor is not hosting these seminars, but that TA’s (Teaching Assistants) run them. Overall, not my favourite course and it makes me appreciate my design courses at Guelph so much more.

On a better note, I’m enjoying Environment II very much! Though this course is more orientated to architecture than landscape architecture, I find it quite interesting to learn how to build more sustainably and how to utilize passive heating and cooling. The assignments are all useful and engaging. The tutorial for this class is also much better as the TA is enthusiastic and positive about what she is teaching. I am definitely learning a lot!

Finally, I chose to take a geography course called Footprints on a Fragile Planet. Most of the broad concepts that are outlined in the lectures, I have an understanding of, however, I am learning a lot about environmental and economic issues in Australia. For example; did you know that Australia has the opportunity for substantial mineral wealth? Another interesting tidbit (relating more to landscape archiecture) is that due to Australia’s dry climate, vegetation has adapted to a low amount of topsoil and lack of organic matter/nutrients.

To sum all this up, I found the first week back at university a little frustrating, but I’m quickly getting used to it again. I’ve gotten over the initial shock and am for the most part, enjoying my classes. Although I sometimes miss the familiarity and style of education back home, spending a semester on exchange is a really good experience!

A Week of Fun!

Orientation week is officially over and I managed to do everything I planned to! I’m continuing to love Adelaide as I explore it more and more. Here’s a quick summary of what I got up to over the last few days:

On Tuesday, Manny and I walked over to the South Australian museum for 11am. The greatest part was that the museum is free! We joined a two hour tour that took us through the Aboriginal gallery, animal gallery, Egyptian room, Mineral room, and more. It was your standard museum tour with tons of interesting information that I can now impress friends and family with. I think my favourite part was the giant squid that they had added to their gallery in an unused elevator shaft. The squid spanned the entire 3 storeys! There was also a wall that held a ton of boomerangs. The tour lady said she was able to get the returning ones to land back at her feet! Cool! I may have to invest in one of those…

After lunch, we headed over to the Adelaide zoo. Some of the highlights for me were the giant pandas, giraffes, alligators, hippos, wallabies, kangaroos, and flamingos. We ordered a couple of Slurpees and found, to our surprise, that it was actually just frozen coke! Yummy!

Wednesday was your standard beach day…lots of sun, swimming, and suntan lotion. Manny, new Aussie roommate, Emily, and I enjoyed a couple hours on the beach before we went to a small restaurant nearby where we enjoyed a good lunch and a couple beers.

Thursday, we had a bit of an adventure trying to find the lecture halls where our classes would take place. The University of Adelaide campus isn’t very big but its rather confusing as many buildings are connected. Manny and I managed to get lost a couple times and find doors that led us right back around in a circle to where we started. We also ran into a problem when Manny’s schedule listed a class in Computer Suite 239. That room didn’t exist! The student advisor for our program had to check his computer to find out why such a room was listed on the schedule. Turns out that because of the recent construction, the university had changed the name of the regular CAD lab, formerly known as Computer Suite 508. We found the rest of the lecture halls easily enough and now I can say I’m officially ready to start my classes on Monday. I even bought some school supplies! Don’t worry mom and dad…I won’t forget that I did come to Australia to study (though I do plan to make my day off every Friday my weekly beach day).

On Friday, Manny and I woke up early to walk to campus for the trip the University had planned for the international students: Victor Harbour and Urimbirra Wildlife Park! Turns out that it was a perfectly sunny and hot day to go…a little bit too hot for my liking; it got to a scorching 39 degrees!

Our first stop was Urimbirra Wildlife Park which was an hour and twenty minute drive from the center of Adelaide. We got to walk around the park and get super close to emus, koalas, and tropical birds. We also saw dingos, wombats, crocodiles, chickens, and wallabies. It was a totally different experience from the Adelaide zoo as all the animals were active and curious. The best part of the park was the fact that they had food for 50 cents that you could buy. I bought a bag and got to hand feed it to the kangaroos! Yay for getting my first picture up close and personal with a kangaroo!

Around noon, we hopped back on the bus and drove to the nearby town of Victor Harbour. The bay was discovered in 1802 by Matthew Flinders. The town was originally called Port Victor, but adopted its current name of Victor Harbour in 1921. Apparently it was going to be chosen as the state capital of South Australia, but the sparce water resources were unable to support a large population and therefore Adelaide became the capital city. The town may have had a small population, but was very spread out along the surrounding hills on the coastline. It is largely a tourist town, showcasing the nearby island called Granite Island. 

Manny and I had a quick lunch before crossing the footbridge to the island. The hiking trail that runs around the perimeter of the island takes approximately 45 minutes to complete. We only explored a small part of the trail as the rocky island only heightened the already scorching outside temperature. We did manage to climb a few big rocks and take a few pictures of the the bay before heading home.

The next day I went to Glenelg beach once again…this time with all my LA friends from Guelph. Turns out, it was even hotter than Friday! The temperature at around 2pm was 43 degrees in the city (so a little cooler at the beach, but not much)! We spent a ton of time in the water, bought ourselves some ice cream, and were super excited to get back to our air-conditioned rooms in the evening.

Overall, what a great way to spend my final week of vacation! This week: the start of classes and back to reality...

Arriving in Adelaide.

Kaitlyn and I have the worst luck with international flights…or at least the ones to and from New Zealand. We once again arrived at the airport two hours early. This time, however, we didn’t have trouble getting our boarding passes or going through customs at the Christchurch airport. It seemed your standard procedure and I let out a breath of relief – We would catch our plane to Melbourne and I would have 3.5 hours to chill in the Melbourne-Tullamarine airport. I relaxed too soon perhaps, as once we had boarded our plane, we were told after about twenty-five minutes that there were some technical difficulties and engineers were assessing and trying to fix the problem. After disembarking the airplane and waiting anxiously in the airport, our plane ended up leaving two whole hours after it was supposed to. The flight was rather long and boring…nothing but ocean below to stare at for 3.5 hours. Thankful to finally be at the Melbourne airport, we made our way to Australian customs (at this point I had an hour before my flight to Adelaide was supposed to board). Turns out, we arrived at the end of line. It took us a good 45 minutes to get to the customs desks and retrieve our luggage. No problem, right? I had 15 minutes to get through quarantine, drop off my luggage, go through security, and find my gate. Well needless to say it was cutting it REALLY close. After a super quick goodbye to my awesome travel buddy, I rushed off to the domestic terminal and caught my flight to Adelaide. I think Kaitlyn and I decided that there’s no more international flights for us until we leave Australia to come back home in July.

I spent the next few days settling into my new home for the next 4.5 months. I met three of my roommates and a fellow Canadian named Manny, who is also an architecture student. My room is pretty standard (very white) but larger than my residence room in first year so I was quite pleased. The air conditioning works great…and boy have I needed it! The weather here has been wonderful, but after a while in the sun, there’s nothing like a cool bedroom. Adelaide is a really nice city, a bit big for my liking (apparently the population is about 1 million people), however since I live right in the center of the city, it doesn’t seem all that big. It’s full of both old and modern architecture that create a great diverse CBD that is a pleasure to walk through. The center of the city is surrounded by a large greenspace that separates it from the large amount of residential areas. It’s quite a unique and interesting layout for the city and defines the different areas with beautiful park space that both sides can enjoy.

During the international student orientation week, I picked up my student card and attended a couple of lectures but I found that they were mostly just a repeat of the information I already knew. Although I don’t think I needed to arrive quite so early to attend these events, I’m glad I did as the campus was a bit crazy this week for the first year Orientation Week. I did sign up for a Dolphin Tour and a Wildlife day trip though!

The campus of University of Adelaide is beautiful – it has some very unique architecture (some buildings come straight from Hogwarts, I swear), a great amount of greenspace (complete with lawn chairs for relaxing), and overall just a great atmosphere. I think it helps that the entire campus is a smoke-free zone! It is also right nearby Rundle Mall – a large shopping mall, both indoor and outdoor - , the Adelaide zoo, the botanic gardens, the State Library, Art Gallery, and South Australian Museum. There is so much in such close vicinity I will never run out of things to do! I do like being able to walk everywhere too…it’s great exercise!

Last Saturday, I decided I’d try and find my way to the beach. After a bus completely passed me by, I tried my luck with the tram that goes directly to Glenelg Beach (one of two popular beaches near the city). Turns out the tram is free within the city but costs a very reasonable fee of $2.40 for a single ticket out of the city for students. I spent a good two and a half hours lying on the beach soaking up the sun and even took a dip in the ocean! There was also a large pier at the beach too where I watched people jump and dive into the wonderful cool water. The sand was smooth and warm and the water was a beautiful blue colour. I know Grand Beach is supposed to have some of the best sand in the world, but there is something about a beach on the ocean that a beach on Lake Winnipeg just doesn’t have a chance to compete with…

The next day, I went to campus for 10am for the university tour to Port Adelaide where we would get to go on a dolphin tour! Port Adelaide is situated on the Port River and has been declared a Dolphin Sanctuary by the South Australian Museum. Apparently the Port Rivver is one of only a few places where dolphins live within a major city and approximately 40 Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins live in the river. 

Manny and I walked to the nearby railway station where we bought multi-trip metro tickets. Instead of always buying the single trip tickets, the multi-trip tickets are a better deal and you can use them ten times before you have to buy more. The best part is that all metro tickets can be used interchangeably to ride the bus, tram, or train. It’s the same ticket for all public transit! I personally love the idea of not having to buy tickets for each different method of travel. We arrived at Port Adelaide too late to go on the earlier dolphin tour so Manny and I had lunch at a nice little café that had really yummy fish and chips. At 2pm, we boarded the river boat for our dolphin cruise. Personally I was a bit disappointed, the scenery was not all that great and I only saw two dolphins. I was expecting more from the trip, but that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy what I did get. Who wouldn’t like to see a large red lighthouse, a bunch of seagulls chilling on a boat, and a couple of cool old ships? Not such a bad day after all…

My plans for Orientation Week:

Monday – Relax and sleep in

Tuesday – South Australian Museum & Adelaide Zoo

Wednesday - Glenelg Beach (again)

Thursday – Explore campus

And finally Friday – Victor Harbour and Urimbirra Wildlife Park

So much to do, so little time…oh wait, I have 4.5 months in Australia! Bring it on! Cheers from Adelaide.

Christchurch, New Zealand

The morning after Kaitlyn and I arrived in Christchurch, we decided that we would spend the day exploring the city. While asking the receptionist for suggestions on where to get breakfast, we also inquired about different places to visit. She recommended a shopping district, the botanical gardens, and a few museums. We were told to avoid the CBD (Central Business District), otherwise known as downtown. Kaitlyn and I were eager to visit the botanical gardens once again. As we began to walk, it became clear to us why we had to take a 45 minute detour to get to our destination.

The entire downtown area of Christchurch was fenced off and closed. The destruction caused by the recent earthquakes was immense. As we walked around the outside of the CBD, we got a peak into the damage caused to the varying infrastructure. Buildings were half toppled, rubble piles could be seen everywhere, sidewalks were missing paving stones and patched with aspalt, and there was construction on many roads. I can only imagine what the center of the city looked like if the areas that were open were still in such disarray.

Kaitlyn and I walked through the make-shift shopping district – where they were using shipping containers as temporary store outlets. It was a really cool and innovative way to set up a shopping area to use while the CBD area is closed and being repaired. In a way, I hope that they keep this area open once the original shops are opened again downtown as the area is really open and engaging, and the bright colours and set-up of the shipping containers create some great architecture and definition to the space.

Next, we made our way over to the botanical gardens. I once again really enjoyed walking through the park and taking ideas from it. I definitely think I’ll have a whole new outlook on how to approach solutions to designs (especially in urban areas) from what I have seen so far in Australia and New Zealand. Kaitlyn and I really enjoyed several big trees that we found throughout the botanical gardens – they had tall and had large canopies with hollow centers. We were able to walk right under and through them. One was even used as a very well-used playground for kids.

For our last day in New Zealand, Kaitlyn and I decided to leave Christchurch for the day and take the Tranz-Alpine train to a place called Arthur’s pass. This train ride was supposed to be the most stunning of the three routes that run across New Zealand (we went on two of these). Although we didn’t go all the way to Greymouth on the east edge of the island, we were still able to see beautiful mountains, large canyons, waterfalls, and more. The journey took us about two and a half hours through this breathtaking scenery to a tiny little town in the middle of the Southern Alps.

Our accomplishment of the day: we climbed a mountain! With approximately four and a half hours to spare until the train came back to pick us up, Kaitlyn and I completed two hiking trails. The first one (which I’m glad we did first because there were LOTS of steps!) was called ‘Devil’s Punchbowl’ and was the most popular trail in Arthur’s Pass. After some great views of the surrounding mountains, the climax of the trail took us up to a rather spectacular waterfall. After taking a bunch of pictures, we sat on some rocks near the falls and ate lunch.

The second trail called ‘Bridal Veil’ was a bit easier for the most part. Definitely longer, we saw more small waterfalls, streams, beautiful tree canopies, snow on the top of one of the surrounding mountains, and an old historical house at the end of the trail. Needless to say, Kaitlyn and I definitely got our exercise! Forget indoor workout machines and gyms, go climb a mountain in the sun all day! We jumped on the train when it arrived in at the station and headed back to Christchurch. After grabbing some pizza from dominos (since all those calories we burned off during the day allowed us to eat whatever we wanted…), Kaitlyn and I went to sleep early so we’d be able to wake up at 3am the next morning to catch our early flight out of Christchurch.

Overall, Christchurch was not my favourite city; however my opinion may be a bit biased as I wasn’t able to get a real feeling of the city due to the damage from the earthquakes. It is called the Garden City, and although it has lots of great parks, much of the area that we walked through along the streets was grey and drab and lacking greenery. We were informed on the train that Christchurch used to be the second largest city in New Zealand, however due to all the migration because of the earthquakes; it is now the third largest city. I hope that over time, Christchurch will return to its former self, and at which time I can return for a true sense of what I’m sure is a great city.

Points for Picton!

Kaitlyn and I left the hostel in Wellington on February 8^th and took a shuttle to the ferry terminal where we boarded the Interislander ferry to take us to Picton. The ride took 3 hours and 10 minutes to get us from the bottom edge of the North island to the tip of the South island. Luckily, I didn’t get sea-sick, however Kaitlyn took a Gravol just in case. I’m definitely glad we took the ferry as I was able to get A LOT of beautiful pictures of the coastlines instead of taking the alternative, which is a tiny plane that takes just 25 minutes to make the journey.

J ust one look at the port of Picton from the Ferry told both Kaitlyn and I that we were going to love this quiet little town. After disembarking the ship, we decided to walk to our hostel, as I was pretty sure that it wasn’t too far away. Turns out it was less than a 5 minute walk!  Score one for Picton! After looking back and forth at the outside of two somewhat sketchy looking hostels, we chose to try our luck at the Picton Lodge. [We were greeted by a very nice receptionist and a very cute ( and somewhat vocal until you gave it attention)  poodle. We ended up getting two beds in an 8-bed dorm, which we were pleasantly surprised to find that we only had to share it with one other girl. The beds were super comfortable and the showers had decent water pressure!  Score two for Picton!

After taking a short rest, Kaitlyn and I changed into our swimsuits and made our way to the beach ( another short walk of approximately 10 minutes) . This time the sun was out in full shine and we were able to suntan on the beach for a couple hours. Score three for Picton!  For all those who had to remind me a hundred times to use sunscreen, I did remember to put it on and didn’t get sunburnt! It was so nice to just relax and soak up the sun. I think it finally hit me that I was in New Zealand, on a beach, with my best friend!  Talk about enjoying the finer things in life.

We stopped for dinner at a small restaurant near our hostel, called Toot ‘N Whistle. Here we tried a different kind of beer called Tui blonde, which turned out to be just as good as the Kiwi Beer in Auckland. We also each got a ‘Toot Burger’, which came almost fully-loaded, including an egg to top it off. It was actually really yummy ( though I was craving a burger…)  Score four for Picton!

The next morning we bought a couple tickets for the Coastal Pacific train which would take us all the way to Christchurch; through the mountains, along the coast, and past some agricultural areas. The train left at 1:00pm, so we decided to do some hiking through Victoria Domain ( which would be classified somewhere between a cross of a big hill and a mountain) . Turns out, this was a great idea as we got some great views of the harbour, the channel that lead to the ocean, and the town of Waikawa. Talk about some classic New Zealand scenery!  Score five for Picton!

Kaitlyn and I were both very excited to take the train to Christchurch, as neither of us had ever been on a passenger train before. It was to be a 5.5 hour trip. We’d heard mixed stories, obviously the websites offering tickets for the journey said great things about it; however we also talked to a few people who said it wasn’t worth the money at all. All I have to say is: “Man, was I impressed! ” We spent a few hours taking photos from the outdoor carriage, which led to some really tangly hair that took a while to brush, but it was completely worth it. I’d highly recommend the trip to anyone who wants a good look at the varying landscape in New Zealand.

We got into Christchurch at around 6:30pm, checked into our hostel, and went out exploring for a place to eat. Kaitlyn and I were able to see some of the damage from the recent earthquakes that had hit the town, however it wasn’t until the next day that we got a good look at the full extent of the damage. More on this soon!

Overall, Picton was my favourite town in New Zealand. I loved the smaller size – it just felt so much more relaxing and peaceful, not to mention friendly (everyone seemed to smile and say hello)! I’m no country bumbkin like a certain friend of mine, but I definitely enjoyed the smaller town atmosphere better than the large busy cities.

Wellington, New Zealand

We arrived in Wellington, New Zealand by plane from Auckland. The flight was about an hour, which since we were a bit pressed for time seemed like a better idea than the 12 hour train ride (though apparently it had some great scenery). Kaitlyn and I had a bit of an adventure finding our hostel as the bus driver told us to get off at the second stop. We misunderstood his advice and were surprised to find that we weren’t in the city of Wellington but in another small town. We decided to try walking and ended up hiking up a massive hill where we asked a nice woman for directions and she told us to board another bus as it was a very long walk. Although we had walked for about 20 minutes with our heavy hiking bags and backpacks, I did get some nice pictures! The second bus driver was much more friendly and nodded to us to let us know exactly when to get off. Turns out this stop was only a block or two from our hostel! After checking in, we explored the town looking for a place to eat. Many of the restaurants were closed and we did a full circuit that took us about 30 minutes before finding a café/bar called “Joe’s Garage”. Turns out they had all-day breakfast which made Kaitlyn VERY happy. I ended up ordering a delicious ice cream sandwich made with chocolate wafers. Later on we learnt that February 6^th is a holiday called Waitangi Day! It’s a public holiday held to celebrate the day when New Zealand joined the British Empire in 1840.

After dinner we explored the harbour and waterfront. I really enjoyed walking through this area as the space had been designed to be used in a way different from any of the other waterfronts in the previous cities we visited. Both tourists and locals were able to feel comfortable and connected in the space. I saw children jumping off the pier, adults relaxing in the shade, and tourists taking tons of pictures. As well, there seemed to be a seamless link between the varieties of uses along the water. A museum, marinas, grassy areas, small beaches, playgrounds, and areas for commercial and industrial use all shared this space. The artistic use of sculpture, benches and greenspace all enhanced this area to create one of the most functional and widely-used waterfronts so far.

Unfortunately the sunny weather didn’t hold up for the second day that we spent in Wellington, however we didn’t let the rain dampen our spirits. We set off late in the morning to tour the botanical gardens. After grabbing some really strong specialty coffee (since apparently the idea of a regular “double-double” coffee doesn’t exist), Kaitlyn and I ate a small breakfast, consisting of muffins and fruit, on the grass near some local museums. Our walk through the botanical gardens was once again different from the last two..

The botanical gardens in Auckland and Sydney seemed more like parks, with plenty of wide-open grassy spots and large trees growing along the edges and scattered in-between. Both had duck ponds and fountains as well. There were some arranged gardens; however I found it hard to spot signs identifying different species. Overall, these two were definitely not what I expected when I think of botanical gardens. In Wellington, there was so much variety; I saw rose gardens, a duck pond, an herb garden, bush walks, a main garden with annual displays, and after a long walk up a hill…great views of the city. Definitely worth a visit!

After supper, we went to the beach, because unlike both Auckland and Sydney, it didn’t require a car or bus to get to – it was only a 20 minute walk from our hostel. Getting a great look at a rainbow after the rain all day, it was the perfect ending to our last few days on the North Island. The next day, we’d be jumping on a ferry and heading over to Picton on the South Island. So began the final journey of our time in New Zealand.