Safari Excursion

A few days ago we went on a four day excursion in what is called the Top End of Australia. It is called the Top End, because it is the northern tip of the Northern Territory (NT for short) of Australia. The NT is very large, but there is a very small population of people living there. The population is so small that the Territory is not an actual state. Our excursion started in Darwin, the capital of the NT, and ended in Darwin. In this excursion we went to Kakadu National Park, Arnhem Land, and Bamurru Plains.

"Jumping" saltwater crocodile

Day 1

The first day of our excursion we went across Fogg Dam. Fogg Dam is a road that goes through a failed rice field. Australia is covered in outside culture. What I mean by that is a lot of people in Australia are not originally from Australia. People have tried to bring a lot of outside ideas, like growing rice. They built Fogg dam to grow rice. The rice project failed because the water levels in the wet season were unbelievably high and the magpie geese were eating the rice. At Fogg Dam we saw a bunch of birds. Fogg Dam is a huge wetland so it is covered with different kinds of grass and a bunch of little patches of shallow water.

Wetland at Fogg dam

After Fogg Dam we went on a jumping croc cruise on the Adelaide River. We saw so many crocodiles and birds. The skipper of our boat put raw meat at the end of a long pole and got a few crocodiles to jump out of the water! They are so big! When the crocodiles want to cool down, they get out of the water and open their mouths.  It looks like they are yawning, very funny. The next stop was at a resort that was near the campsite we were staying. At the resort we got drinks to cool off. Next we went on a sunset cruise on the Yellow River, which was really cool. On the Yellow River cruise we saw crocs birds and a magnificent sunset. In Australia ,the sun sets really fast and it sets at 6:30 pm, so it will 7:00 pm and pitch black. The reason it sets so fast is that Australia is so close to the equator.  

Yellow river

Saltwater crocodile on Yellow river

After the cruise, we went to a campsite that had safari tents. We spent the next two nights there. That night  we had dinner by the fire. For dinner we had salad, steak,  sausage, and pork. It was so good. Dean, our guide called it a meat-fest. That night we slept in the safari tents. The tents were so small you could only fit two beds in there but they were so fun to stay in. that night I stayed with my mom in the tent. In these tents you could hear everything outside which was so creepy.

Cooking dinner (meat fest)

Day 2

Rock art - Injalak hill

The next day we went to Arnhem Land. This is a sacred land  to the Aboriginal people, and we had to have a special permit to enter this region. On our way to  Arnhem Land we crossed a road that went through a river that was infested with crocodiles. In  Arnhem Land there are many little different villages. The village we went to was called Gunbalanya. In this town is a big art center. In the art center they sell  art that the villagers make. The villagers make painting and baskets.  They also do  silk screening. We got to see women weaving baskets and men painting. The men painted animals and plants. They planted with acrylic paint and traditional paint made out of rocks and charcoal.  After we went to the art center we went to a sacred hill that the Aborigines took shelter on during the wet seasons.  During the wet season, the entire valley floods, so indigenous people had to leave the lowlands and go high on rock hills. We hiked the hill with a really nice Aboriginal guide named Gabriella, and when we got to the top we had lunch. Gabriella showed us the three resting spots of her people. We saw a bunch of cave art and Gabriella told us that the paintings were two hundred years old. Gabriella told us the  stories of her people. When we started down I saw a skull sitting there, just sitting there! The skull was pure white and it was sitting in between two rocks. Gabriella told us it was a burial site. That many Europeans have stolen the old bones and taken them to museums all over the world.  After that we made our way down the hill  and got back in the car and went back to the village and got a few pieces of art. Then we went to the resort to swim in the pool. Next we went back to our campsite and had dinner.

Yellow river

End of another great day by the fire

Day 3

The next day we went to Maguk Falls. We swam at the falls for about an hour, the water was warm and there were no crocodiles, so it was safe. After that we got in a car and drove to the Bamurru Plains. In Bamurru we stayed in a cabin. Before dinner we went for a swim and we went on a drive to a billabong to watch the sunset. at the billabong we saw horse, water buffalo, and a lot of birds. We even saw a buffalo skeleton. Then we went to sleep.

Sunset on the billabong

Day 4

The last day went had breakfast and swam. Then we went on an air boat ride which was so cool. I even got to drive it. We saw a lot of water buffalo and birds. After lunch we drove back to Darwin and a few day later we took a plane back to Brisbane.

I want to thank Dean our guide. My mom and dad for taking us on this excursion and Lord's Safari.

http://www.lords-safaris.com

Litchfield National Park

Yesterday I went to Litchfield National Park. On the way everything was red, brown, and orange. We went to Lichfield National park because we wanted to see the giant magnetic termite mounds and swim underneath the water falls; Wangi Falls and Florence Falls.

There are two kinds of termites. They are called Nasutitermites triodinae which make cathedral shaped mounds and Amitermes mederidionalis which makes magnetic mounds where the flat side of the mound faces north and south and the point faces east to west so the mound does not overheat. The Cathedral mounds are built on top of dry soil so that is why the mounds from those termites are red and the Magnetic mounds are built on seasonally flooded black soil so the mounds are gray. Some of the mounds can get up to 5 meters high (thats 15 feet high!).The mounds group around dead trees until there is no tree left then the termites move onto a new tree.

After the termite mounds we went to Wangi falls. Wangi falls is a beautiful water fall. There was two water falls at the site and a giant swimming hole. We also saw a lot of fruit bats. We had lunch there and then we drove to Florence falls. We also swam at Florence falls.

A poem I wrote inspired by the song "From Little Things Big Things Grow".

I am not one big thing 

I am many little things

Woven together 

Wangi Falls

Cathedral termite mounds

Us

Magnetic termite mound

The missing day

I am going to tell you a story about my trip to Australia. A few days ago my family and I hopped on a plane to Montreal Canada. Then we took a flight to Vancouver, which is a city on the west coast of Canada. The next flight we took was from Vancouver to Brisbane Australia. The flight to Australia was 14 and ½ hours long. On the plane, I slept for 10 hours straight and I missed dinner!!! I also watched “The Princess Bride”. P.S.This is the best movie ever because it is a romcom. The movie has three different plots. It is hard to explain, but I highly recommend it.

Now you might ask, “Clio, what about the missing day?” Well, on the flight to Australia something funny happened. All of the sudden, we crossed the international date line. The international date line is basically a line halfway from the prime meridian, and it divides two calendar days. When you cross the international date line east to west, you gain a day. When you cross it from west to east you lose a day. So when we were flying over the Pacific ocean on Saturday, we went into Monday morning when we crossed the date line. Australia is 14 hours ahead of Albany, NY. When you wake up in the morning, I am getting ready to go to sleep at night. So basically, I’M FROM THE FUTURE!! Next time I write a blog post, I will predict the future of the next day!

These are two videos are from my take off from my take off from Boston and my landing from Brisbane.

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Getting ready to say goodbye.

Three days to go!!!!

Hi, my name is Clio and I live in upstate New York. I am going into the 6th grade, at the Doane Stuart School. My favorite thing to do after school is to swim on a competitive team and play the cello. I also enjoy crafts and reading in my room.

In a few days, I am going to Australia for 3 months. I am going because my mom is taking 25 college students on a term abroad.  The students on this term abroad are from Hobart William Smith and Union Colleges. Now, you might ask "Clio, what is a term abroad?" Well, a term abroad is when two professors go to a different county with many college students to study things that you can't study in the U.S. My mom is a biologist and one of the professors going on the trip.  The college students are going to study marine biology, terrestrial ecology, Australian history, and a course on culture, food and the land. As part of the courses, we are going to North Stradbroke Island, Lamington National Park, Girraween, and Heron Island. These are all amazing places I can’t wait to tell you about!

I have decided to make a blog because I want to share my experiences with my friends and family. I have been to Australia before, for another term abroad in 2013. Last time I went, I loved the koala sanctuary we went to, and camping out in Lamington because it was so peaceful. The reason why we are going back to Australia is because I asked my mom if we could go again. The decision took a whole dinner discussion, my mom applying to go, and now we are going. I will be posting two times a week. One of the posts will be about my life in Australia, and the other will be about an Australian animal. I hope you enjoy my blog.