Made it!

There are pelicans everywhere!

So I arrived yesterday and attempted to write a little blog post in the afternoon - but after 37 hours with only a couple of hours of very uncomfortable aeroplane sleep I was not terribly compos mentis. What I managed was this:

Arrived in Sydney!

Exhausted! - No sleep on the plane - did watch 4 movies though! (score)

Picked up at the airport by Brian and Beverley with a SIGN (felt like a VVIP).
Have kept the sign.

Saw some pelicans on the drive up to Nelson Bay!

Trying to stay awake to beat jet lag..

Resulting in extremely crossed eyes, and slurred speech. Come on brain.. get a grip!

Had a shower (amazing after 2 days travelling).

Need to buy wellies and towel.

Can’t keep my eyes open.

I give up. SLEEP TIME.

Nearby beach

But now that I am a little more with it - after sleeping for 11 hours - I might be able to construct a slightly better arrival post..

The water in one area has a very
familiar colour.. the nearby tea trees
stain the water reddy-brown with
tannins

I arrived in Port Stephens yesterday afternoon and the whole place is beautiful! Beverley informed me that it was quite cold due to it being winter - it was 18 degrees and brilliant sunshine so I was quite amused that that counted as cold (although the forecast for next week back in England is for the temperature to be in the mid-30s!).

Kookaburra

I've spent the day today being introduced to the area and the wildlife, and have taken many touristy photos! We went a little round the coast and found some rockpools to explore (I'll probably have to do that again soon). Later in the day we drove round to the other side of the bay where I will be staying for the next couple of months, and I met my hosts: Doug & Jenny.

Tomorrow morning I start at the Fisheries Institute - I'm very excited to see where I'll be working for the next couple of months! But for now I seem to have hit another brick wall of tiredness so I should probably retire to bed. I think as well as the time difference the difference in length of the day is probably not helping me - at home at the moment it gets dark around 21.30, and here it gets dark at about 18.00. So at 6 my body decided it was midnight and demanded that I sleep immediately.

This seems to happen a lot

Some obligatory 'I'm in Australia' pictures..

Not posing

Oh you're taking a picture? I hadn't noticed..

Nearly there..

My plane arrived in Hong Kong more than an hour early! Which would be great, except that I now have a 7 hour wait before my next flight, which is 10 hours long. I am very tempted to go off and explore Hong Kong - it looks very exciting! But I'm just slightly too worried about getting lost and missing my flight. Also I am completely exhausted and could fall asleep anywhere, so it's probably best to stay put.

What an airport view!

Saying bye

Leaving for Australia is super exciting, but I'm really going to miss seeing all the excellent people from the shop in Reading where I began working in September. But hopefully we'll all meet up when I return - either in Reading or perhaps in London! Bye for now guys!

Onwards!

A few months ago I expressed an interest in a program organised by the Rotary Club - a New Generations Service Exchange (NGSE). This program involves the Rotary Club (a huge international organisation) attempting to find a vocational placement for a young individual who wants to pursue work in a specific field. The program is an excellent idea as it allows young people to gain experience in the vocation they wish to pursue (this is becoming increasingly important, especially for recent graduates), whilst also supporting the individual by searching for a host family for them to stay with during the placement.

I applied to the program quite late and wasn't really expecting to be accepted anywhere. But, thanks to some very fast-moving and dedicated Rotarians, my application was quickly sent off to see if any organisations might be able to offer me a placement.

After a great deal of intercontinental emailing, a fisheries research institute confirmed that they would be able to offer me work experience for 10 weeks! So, on Thursday 25th June I will be flying off to Sydney, Australia (total journey time of around 30 hours! I have bought flight socks for the first time ever)!

I will be staying in Nelson Bay in the NSW area of Australia, and working at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute - where research being undertaken includes:
- Aquaculture Research
- Marine Ecosystems Research
- Fisheries Resource Assessment
- Aquatic Biosecurity Risk Management
- Invasive Plants and Animals
- Aquatic Habitat Rehabilitation
- Fisheries Operational Planning and Review

I am super excited to get out there, meet my hosts, and get back into doing science again!