colin c bassett

The Adventure of a Lifetime

July 6th, the day I started the journey of a lifetime. Leaving the states without any supervision, it was a weird feeling of both excitement and nervousness. I have now been overseas for over 4 months, and yet it seems like only last week I was furiously packing at 4 in the morning preparing to leave. These 4 months so far have been a whirlwind of new experiences, cultures, and excitement. I’ve been diving on the GBR, climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge, gone to the rainforest, and seen some amazing places. Oh, and of course the obligatory holding of a koala. It’s kind of weird, I love the idea of staying longer, and yet home seems so nice. Not really sure what’s going on up in my brain, but all I know is that this journey is far from over and hopefully some new and exciting adventures await before I leave. New Zealand? Skydiving? 500’ bungy jump? Who knows. Either way, I’m far from sitting in my room and staring blankly at the floor reliving old memories. I’m in Australia going to some crazy places! So on that note, I’m signing off. If you want to chat when I’m stateside again, we can go grab a cup of coffee and chat. But for now, It’s time to get explore.

As for the photos, I failed, I know. I’ll work on that ASAP, I hope.

Major update soon!

Dave Mckinney pointed out that I am a terrible person and haven’t updated anything is awhile. WHOOPS!

I PROMISE UPDATES AND PHOTOS SOON!

Field trips have taken over my life, sorry!

Reality Check

Welp, first lecture tomorrow at 5pm. Shortest summer vacation yet. Lame.

Unfortunately, thanks to being a marine science major, I am taking 4 difficult courses. No joke classes to spare! I will be taking Aquaculture of Tropical Species, Biodiversity of Tropical Australia, Coastal and Estuarine Ecosystems, and Introduction to Plant Science.

I’m both excited and nervous. Excited because I’m in Australia and studying things not available in Connecticut, but nervous because I have exams and papers worth up to 50-60% of my final grade. Stressful.

Oh and on a side note, JCU has a confusing system of numbers, letters, and symbols for their scheduling system. It’s a fun thing to decipher.

Off to bed, even though I don’t have class until 5pm. HA! Stupid jet jag fixed my sleeping habits…….for now.

Consumerism in Australia

Recently I’ve spent a far bit of time exploring the city and going shopping. There’s a pretty large gap between the US and Australia. In my observations, one of the greatest differences is the huge difference in the level of consumerism.

First of all, lets get a few facts straight. The population of the US is well over 300 million people. The population of Australia is approximately 22 million. Both countries share roughly the same amount of space. That’s a huge difference in population, both in size and relative density.

I recently walking into one of Townsville’s many shopping centers and something was evidently clear. The number and variety of stores. More on that later. Back in the US, specifically the Garden State Plaza Mall, there are around 300 stores, 2 floors, and more parking spaces than anybody should really need. Except there really aren’t enough parking spaces. Walking into the Williows shopping center here in Australia was a completely different experience. Fewer stores, less variety, and less people. I’m so used to a ridiculous number of people, a ridiculous number of stores, and a ridiculous amount of variety. You can buy almost anything in the GSP mall in NJ. Not so here in AUS. There are very few stores and if one doesn’t have the item you’re looking for, well you may just be SOL. A bit aggravating.

A note on variety. Oh Australia, you have beautiful scenery, nice beaches, and warm weather, but you really need more than clothing stores. The Williows shopping center is 80% clothing stores and 20% everything else. Variety is important.

The city I am currently inhabiting is around 200,000. Only a pipsqueak compared to other large cities in the USA. But here, it’s a large city.

Consumerism may be lacking here compared to what I’m used to in the US, but it’s both a refreshing change and a pain in the arse. We’ll see how it goes as I’m here longer.

JCU!

So I finally made it to Townsville a couple of days ago. …After a 4+ hour bus ride. At least I slept for most of it. Other than that, I had a delicious turkish bread brekkie sandwich on the way.

So…

I’m in Townsville. It’s pretty nice so far. The days are warm, a bit humid, and it just rained. Campus is massive, at least compared to UNH. It’s a 20 minute walk to the center of campus. Not that bad, but the sidewalks here are terrible.

Oh and EVERYTHING is expensive. Internet, gym memberships, the bus, GROCERIES, GROCERIES, GROCERIES, and pretty much everything else. People in the USA should stop whining about “expensive” things, it’s ridiculous over here. Nearly spent $30 on just a few items at the grocery store…

Oh and if you’re an alcoholic over here, that’s a sad day. Nearly $80 for a 500ml bottle of jack daniels.

Well, off to explore the city…maybe.

Community Day

Today was community day and it was boring. Thought we’d be doing something exciting, but we just picked up trash. It was an easy day.

TOMORROW IS REEF DAY. First dive in Australia, WOO HOO!

Cairns

Done a bunch of stuff in Cairns so far. Went to a jungle preserve yesterday and got to throw a boomerang, hold a baby wallabie and python, hand feed kangaroos and wallabies, and hold a KOALA. HELL YEA. Today I went whitewater rafting and it was awesome. Class 1 to class 4 rapids. Tons of fun. Got thrown out of the boat a few times. Having an awesome time so far. We’ll see how tomorrow goes with community day.

The Adventure of a Lifetime

Major update soon!

Reality Check

Consumerism in Australia

JCU!

Community Day

Cairns

Australia!

34,000 feet

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