seeing the sights

Hey everybody!!

This past week has been filled with sleep, orientation, and sight seeing. Both CIEE and Murdoch Uni have kept us exchange students busy (and fed!) until classes started today.Instead of a second by second replay, here are some highlights which made this week so phenomenal! 

On Wednesday the 15 CIEE students bused to Caversham Wildlife Park. We had a guided tour which included feeding kangaroos, petting koalas, and learning about dingos and local birds. Afterward, we drove to a little section of the park which was set up like a historical village and had a picnic lunch with cold cuts and fruit. On our way back to Murdoch we stopped at King's Park  which has war memorials, an outlook to the skyline and south towards the Swan River, a botanical garden, and a small tree top walk. This park is the largest inner city park in the world. 

Fellow Clarkie, AJ, pets kangaroo at Caversham Wildlife Park

Koalas, wombats, and emus were just a few animals we saw at Caversham

Friday the group of us woke up and left Murdoch at 6:30 am for a 5 hour drive south to Denmark. We took a few rest stops, the first being a gas station where a student and I went halfsies on a huge order of fresh fries (or rather, chips). They were so toasty and delicious. Nom nom. At lunch time we stopped at Kodja Place and walked through a museum about aboriginal life and early settlers. After arriving at The Cove, which was an AFrame house with 20 beds, a kitchen, toilet, and fireplace, we set off for Green's Pool. We walked around and saw Elephant Rock and the proceeded to go swimming in the Southern Ocean. Let me tell you, the water is cold during the winter. Mostly, though, it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. That night we also got to try kangaroo meat. I really liked it, lean and tender. :)

Green's Pool, Denmark, Western Australia

 The following day we bush walked (or hiked) Monkey Rock. The views stretched forever, as the ocean shifted seamlessly into the sky. It was also crazy to see how green everything was - how so few houses/buildings were around and the beach front was completely undeveloped. Needless to say, I wiped out hard on one of the rocks on the path. I felt a little bit like a sore grandma with my throbbing rear.

one of the many views from a peak right outside of Denmark

We ended the day by traveling an hour to the Valley of the Giants, a tingle tree forest where you can cross bridges to walk through the canopy. There were also ground level paths were you could walk through the trunk of trees which had been burned out. 

one of the bridges in the tree top walk at the valley of the giants

On our way back to Murdoch on Sunday we stopped at one of the coolest playgrounds I have seen. There was this awesome rope tower, a spinning gear that you sit inside and it flips you upside down, and a swing that you grab onto with your hands and proceed to spin around its diameter.

photo cred: eva s.