Traveling to Cairns

During the mid-tri break, some friends and I went to Cairns with the main intention of exploring the Great Barrier Reef. The flight from Brisbane to Cairns and hostels in the area were pretty cheap. While planning the trip, we realized just how much there was to do in Cairns. Because it was still in Queensland, the bus system was the same used in Brisbane so getting around the city was easy, but renting a car was also an option because my friends were over 21.

The Great Barrier Reef was the main attraction. The second I was in the water I was surrounded by marine life. Even though it's bleaching, there is still so much life and beauty there. I loved it, but I also hope we can stop and reverse the effects of bleaching so future generations can experience the abundance of life the reef holds. There were other beaches nearby including Palm Cove and Port Douglas that were good for relaxing, swimming, and tide pooling. 

My friends and I decided to rent a car for two days to drive to Daintree rainforest, the oldest rainforest in the world. In Kuranda, the part near Cairns, we hiked Baron Gorge and admired the amazing views from the skyliner. Deeper into the rainforest, we took a river cruise and spotted wild crocodiles. My favorite part was walking along Myall Beach at Cape Tribulation. It was so surreal to walk along the only place in the world where two UNESCO world heritage sites meet: the Great Barrier Reef and Daintree rainforest. Cairns was a beautiful place with incredible wildlife, and I hope to one day go back and look at it from a more scientific point of view.

Events on Griffith Nathan Campus

Especially in the beginning, I was very anxious about making friends. However it was really easy to meet people at events the campus put on. There was an international students orientation where I made a group of friends I kept up with the entire trimester. I also made a lot of local friends at clubs and other school events throughout the trimester.

Orientation was really focused on introducing international students to Australia and all of its animals. The Nathan campus is in the middle of Toohey forest, a protected sanctuary for koalas. We were welcomed with a traditional, aboriginal smoking ceremony where an Elder walked around with smoking eucalyptus leaves to cleanse our energies and invite us to a new land. We also got to go to the Australia Zoo and see the famous Crocodile show. 

The early trimester had a lot of social events at the UniBar on campus. Karaoke was a fun event with gift cards as prizes. Movie night in the forest was a cozy way to chill with the new friends you made. All events on campus were free, but the school also provided us with discounted tickets to events in the city. When the musical Jesus Christ Superstar came to the Queensland Performing Arts Center, we could buy cheap tickets and go with other students. We also got discounted tickets to climb the iconic Story Bridge in the city.

There was almost always something happening on campus. From game nights with prizes, to dogs to destress for midterms, to forest hikes where you could see koalas sleeping in the trees. It was easy to find something to do, and it was easy to make friends at all the events.

Semester at Sea: Field Programs

Semester at Sea offers many amazing opportunities while abroad, such as field programs! These are experiences you sign up for through the Semester at Sea program itself. They offer a wide variety of different adventures for all kinds of interests, including getting to see the local environment through hikes and unique wild life or getting to know the culture through meeting local people and trying local foods. These programs were so convenient because they had everything planned out for us, down to transportation and local guides, which made traveling a lot easier and stress free. I signed up for many of these programs and it was definitely worth it! A few of my favorites were in South Africa where I got to see Africa Black Footed Penguins in the wild, going to a Cheetah Conservation Center where I got to pet a cheetah, and go to a Safari in a Game Reserve. In Morocco, I also did an overnight field program where we went surfing, road camels, and got to eat dinner a a local family’s house which was my favorite meal of the whole trip! These programs offered so many unique opportunities that I could not have done on my own, I would definitely recommend future students going on Semester at Sea to sign up for ones that interest them!

Boulder Beach Penguin Colony (South Africa)

African Black Footed Penguins (South Africa)

Cheetah Conversation Center (South Africa)

Safari Game Reserve (South Africa)

Surfing (Morocco)

Camel Riding (Morocco)

Semester at Sea

For my study abroad I decided to go on Semester at Sea! One of my favorite “ports” was the MV World Odyssey… This ship was our home for the three and a half months we were abroad and we made so many amazing memories there. This is where we went to class, studied, ate, slept, and all hung out during our stretches at sea. There were so many fun events, including clubs, ship kid and crew talents shows, movie nights, and incredible guest lectures from the countries we were visiting. Two of my favorite events were Neptune Day and Sea Olympics! Neptune Day is a maritime tradition that sailors take part in when they cross that equator for the first time. Some of the “Staculty” (staff and faculty) put together a ceremony for us to celebrate. Sea Olympics was a whole day where we got to compete in games around the ship. It was very fun getting to cheer on my friends and team, as well as become closer with my shipboard community. Go Arabian Sea! Getting to go to school and live on a ship while traveling and getting to meet people from all over the world was truly such an incredible experience that I am grateful I got to have.

The pool deck

The Union, where we have classes and events

The Bridge, where the Captain and crew steer and oversee the ship

Picture with the Captain after the Alumni Ball

Sea Olympics 

 

!Arabian Sea

All of the seas together on the back decks of the ship