Research Abroad Program (RAP)
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Journal: Sunita Gupta: Australia
July 5, 2007
This last week in Australia, I am going to the Gold Coast and Cairns. I took a surfing lesson at Surfer's Paradise. I wasn't good at it, but I had a blast! I also lounged on the beaches and looked around the shopping areas. There are lots of theme parks in Surfer's, but I'll save those for next time. Cairns, pronounced Cans, has so many tours available. I went to Tjapukai, pronounced Jab-o-kai-ya, By Night. It was a great Aboriginal experience where the participants are involved in the fire ceremony. I volunteered to go on stage, so I got to make fire, do an Aboriginal dance, and then won a boomerang signed by all the dancers! The day trip to the Great Barrier Reef was both exciting and relaxing. The introductory scuba dive was very exciting. There's nothing like waddling up to the edge of the boat with a 40-pound tank on your back and flippers on your feet. The coral was beautiful, and I especially liked seeing the rainbow fish and touching the giant clams. After the diving and snorkeling, it was off to swim and play ultimate frisbee on Green Island. Cairns also has great nightlife. The places to go are P.J. O'Reilly's and The Wool Shed. A girl I met on my Great Barrier Reef boat and I went to the latter. We had a great time dancing!
The last day, I went on the Kuranda railway to Kuranda, a small village in the rainforest. It has good Aboriginal artwork, although there are some better things at Victoria Market in Melbourne. The best part was taking the SkyRail down from Kuranda. You float over the top of the rainforest. It is an amazing view!
Staying in hostels and meeting people from all over the world has been great. In the Gold Coast, I stayed at Surfer's Paradise YHA, where I met a bunch of students at a stunt academy. The students were from Los Angeles, U.K., New Caledonia, and even South Africa. They are hoping to be stunt doubles or to be able to do more stunts while they act. In Cairns, I hung out with my French roommate and some people from Melbourne. The great thing about Australia is that so many people are genuinely friendly, and because of the low crime rate, I feel safe here.
I've had a great time in Australia. Not only have I been able to work towards my master's thesis, but I've developed very close relationships with several people in Canberra and Sydney. I hope that I get the chance to come back again next year and continue my research!
Cheers,
Sunita
