back to sydney

Last sunday I went back to Sydney after Uluru. Spent some more time in the city- also had my last meeting and finished up with my 2nd year medical student group.

This time the weather was great. The sky was blue, and it was warm- 75 F. When I was there I went to the Museum of Sydney- which was ok. But a great museum was the Hyde Park Barracks. This was built my Macquarie- he was the 8th gov (i think) in 1810. He decided Sydney should be a regular colony and not just penal colony. He built a large number of building during his years and is considered the father of the sydney/country. Just so you know, Sydney is named after an English lord in 1787 that arranged for the first fleet, commanded by Adm Phillips in 1787-88.

This museum tells the story of the penal colony- how the prisoners were treated, worked, lived. I also saw Cadman's cottage- one of the fist building in Sydney- right on Circular Quay (pronounced key). It was where the harbor master lived and is named for one of them John Cadman.

Interestingly, Circular Quay used to be known as Sydney Cove, and the shoreline has changed over the years- they have markers for that. The cottage above used to be right next to shore- not its about 200 meters back. Lastly, went to royal bontanic gardern- a ton of sulphur crested cockatoos were about, toured other museums, parts of Sydney, went on a ferry ride to the zoo (red male kangaroos are huge!) and ended up watching my last Sunrise in Australia on the 15th before heading to the airport.

One last point: sit on the left side of the airplane so you have a chance to see Aussie from the air as you depart.

I just want to say- one the elective was great- wrote some interesting tox stuff, will get to publish, and worked in med ed. Two Australia rocks and I need to go back!

I hope anyone who reads this had a good time following me around. I took several hundreds to thousand pictures- if you want to see more email me and I will give you a link to where I store them.

uluru and Kata Tjuta

uluru at sunset. the woman is an aborignal who gave a tour.





The above are pics from Kata Tjuta and some are from sunset.

Both rocks were made from run off from mountian ranges that have since disappeared. Kaja Tjuta (aka the Olgas) were closer and made of sediment and rocks, where as Uluru was made of mainly sediment (and later turned on its side). You can see rock/sediment layers in these rock.

So spent 2 days at uluru in the center of the country. The background is like this: originally Caucasian Australians thought no one could live in this area so they made it an aborignal area. But they a road was built and tourism took over- people wanted to climb what was known as Ayers Rock and a national park was made. The aborigines hated that- it is a sacred site and several areas around it you are asked not to take photos. Eventually after aborigines had their rights restored the national park reverted to their control. When the climb rate drops below 20% it will close permanently- it is about 25-30% right now (80% used to climb).

So Kaja Tjuta (or many heads) has many climbs/walks including the Valley of the Winds (which is what I went on). After that, I viewed the sunset- both were amazing. The soil is so red! And when the lights hits the rocks it turns different shades of orange to red.

The next day I strolled around Voyages resort: they have several outlooks, resorts, even a gallery with an artist or two and aboriginal artwork. In the afternoon I took a Uluru tour by the Anagnu tours (aborigine group)- the Kuniya walk. My tourguide was Judy and Mimi was the translator- both were local peoples. They both speak several different dialect/languages. We were told the 2nd half of the Lira- poison snake man and Kuniya- python woman story. We were also pointed out drawing/features of the rock/plants/tracks. The features of the rock correspond with this story. Afterwards I viewed a gorgeous sunset. My last day I viewed a sunrise, did the Lira walk and heard the first part of the same story- different guide/interpreter. We also did some spear throwing, piti walking, glue making and during the walk we again saw many features. Both tours went through foods, plants etc. Really well done. During one tour I saw another group take a similar tour but it was not given by a native group, but by a regular touring group. While the story was the same, it felt very different hearing it from an aborigine.

I'm going to touch on 3 more subjects in this post. One dreaming- that is the culture/religious beliefs of all aborigines. They draw their dreams from the top down which is why most dots, lines, etc. It items they sell they will draw animals now, but those are not actually stories. in fact they generally do not sell their stories. They will draw a meeting at a gathering place with a waterhole, but not what happened at the meeting. (so only part of the dreaming is drawn).

Two: I happen to agree that its really inappropriate to climb uluru, the aboringines own it- and its a spiritual site with many stories. You are free to walk around, but please don't climb.

Three: Voyages owns all the resorts. As a result everything is overpriced and expensive. You can find cheaper food, but it still is pricey. You can buy your own food and BBQ it- but its still $$$. But this was an amazing experience. At first I was unsure if I was going to go, but in retrospect, totally worth it! One of the most gorgeous places on earth, and how the Anangu lived off this land was interesting.

The word palya means how are you, good, im doing good, etc. its used in many different phrases.

Melbourne in detail

So spent a long weekend (sat- tues am) in Melbourne. it is a very European city with small streets and lanes. It is known for its food- which was totally amazing as I splurged (I am a foodie). On Sunday I went out on the great ocean road. This road was built originally by WWI vets years ago. Over time it has had to been moved on the western portion. You can see why in photo of the Apostles. Years ago, there were 12. 2 years ago 9 and today 8. They are always forming due to the soft nature of the continent there. I believe they mentioned it was sandstone with a mix of a harder rock. The sandstone wears away, leaving the hard rock as an apostle, but it still can not stand up to the Southern Ocean.

Monday morning was a free morning. I toured around the CBD. took a ton of pictures of the cbd including flinders street station (their main train sta), st paul's church, the skyline, the garderns, anzac memorial and the mcg. The garden's were amazing- supposedly one of the best in the world and I have to agree. The MCG is the big sports arena- its called the melbourne cricket ground, but Aussie Rules Football plays there.

Monday afternoon I went to Phillip's Island to see the little penguin parade. These birds are no more than 1 foot and 1 Kg. Every night some return from the ocean and parade on the beach up to their burrows- they due this to avoid their predators during the day. You are not allowed to take photos as the flash can blind them. It is an amazing site, as hundreds of birds walk up the beach. There are pathways made by years of this march in the grass (past the beach). They are a very social bird at night-with a ton of calls.

This week: some work with med students....going to Newcastle and Uluru!

Melbourne

melbourne skyline at night

Arrived in Melbourne today- no cool welcome sign like for Sydney. Maybe its because that was an international arrival area with that cool sign I posted and I flew domestic here. Can't believe my Australia trip is almost over- 13 days left.

Melbourne is a very European like city. didn't get to do too much since I got to my hostel at 5pm. Monday I will tour the CBD/downtown and maybe the botanic gardens. Today I ate at am amazing Italian restaurant in north Melbourne. Tomorrow I get up early to go on the ocean road and see the 8 remaining apostles. (12 apostles).

A quick note about work- the med students first-third year really love working with a clinician for the their PBL and their "learn to take a history". Ah I remember those days of med school....so long ago. In a way I wish their was some nasty tox problem that I would get to respond to, but its better for the population that those things don't occur.

Things I might do in the next week or two: uluru (a quick fly in, stay one night, fly out), beach at sydney, harbour cruise, bushwalk south of sydney, zoo tour with keeper. Wish I had more time- if I did I would also check out the hunter valley wineries.

Below I posted a video of snazzle- hopping around the med school courtyard to show how fast roos hop. Supposedly an adult roo could hop over my shoulder from a standing position!

work

Snazzle- the school mascot/7 month joey



in her pouch, trying to give me a lick. By the way, when going into the pouch she goes head first and then moves around so only her head sticks out- typical "Roo" behavior according to the guy raising her.




this pic shows how close the mountains/tablelands are to the coral sea. Forgot to post it yesterday.

Spent a day with the second year med students precepting a small group session on how to go a lower extremity motor and sensor exam. Also discussed a project with someone at the medical school. Found out some differences in Australia and US medical school systems listed below. So we know how med school and residency works in the US. I think I already addressed med school in Australia- either they are similar to the US or they go straight from high school to med school and have a 5 year program. Med schools here are similar to the UK model- e.g. you have a med school which might send medical students to several hospitals. As a result they also have a "clinical school" on the hospital site. They do report to the medical school, but the relationship is quite different than UHB and Downstate.

Residency in Australia is different. First you apply for internship and resident medical officer (junior RMO). These are broad years with both medical, surgical and emergency terms. During your pgy-2 (rmo) year you apply for your specialty and to be a registrar which can be another 3 years for general practice, peds or emergency medicine. Surgery is longer. The residency years are in hospitals are are run on a state/territory level. You can apply to multiple states- e.g. NSW and Queensland. The individual colleges (e.g. emergency medicine, peds, etc) have more say in the registrar years. Even though registrars teach med students, they only report to the hospital and do not have anything to do with the medical school.

And met the med's school unofficial mascot- one of the employees there volunteers at a rescue for Australian wildlife. They also allow petting at this place (these animals will not be released). So a mother kangaroo (already stays in captivity) got pneumonia. Often mother roos will kick a joey out if it is sick (due to energy requirements). So this joey was 1 month old- they saved it and raised it in an artifical pouch. It is now seven months. Since it will always stay in this reserve habitat and be surrounded by homo sapiens he allows it to be touched and fed by other humans- assuming you are calm. See pics.

For further info: this is a young female Red Kangaroo. Male red's get really large- as tall as 6ft and 120kg. females are smaller and also have some grey fur. Got a chance to touch the tendon on the rear legs, its really tightly stretched which allows for their hopping. Other kangaroos are the eastern grey, western grey and the tree.

FNQ- GBR, Rainforest

cape tribulation: where rain forest meets the coral sea....

crush

parrotfish- i think
saltwater croc 2 wks old: maybe 12 inches in length
stringray beach: notice how close the coral comes to the beach. (coral sea near the cape)
3-4 METER croc....this one pulled a cattle in slightly downstream


So this past weekend was amazing. What did I do- let me show you some pictures- went to GBR- amazing experience- Didn't see a nemo, but did see a Crush. next day went to rain forest. This is the only place on earth with 2 completely different types of world heritage sites next to each other. One- GBR. The other: Daintree. What is interesting is how close the mountains are to the coast (i took a bad picture from the air to show this). You can also see it in the Cape trib picture.

This forest is the same since millions of years ago. It stretches from mossman gorge all the way to cape tribulation. BTW: the cape is names as such because that is where Capt Cook's (no relation to Hook) ship got a whole in it and had to be repaired in 1770. So he named the cape: tribulation and all the mountains have depressing names (dismay, etc). But the scenery is amazing. The only thing I couldn't fit in was a long exploration of the Tablelands: they have alot of wildlife there (kangaroos, playtpus etc). So far I have only seen them in partial enclosures: slightly annoying. its hard to go out on a true safari to see them without a car and $$, but I will try! There is one tour to southern new south wales I might try to fight in- we'll see.

Back at work on this Tuesday but there was not much work to be had and I left at 11a- to update this blog, etc. beaches are 90 min each way and the city is 60min from where I am. So just chilling today. Tomorrow will be busy- meeting with 2nd year med students for clinical skills and then a meeting for a project. Thursday somewhat similar: also a PBL with 2nd years. But this weekend is Melbourne :)

Check out the pictures below:

Far North Queensland

Arrived in FNQ (as it is abbreviated here). Amazing scenery- the Tablelands (hills) almost reach the ocean. On arrival was a great view of that. After an 90 minute drive I arrived in Port DOuglas- a small community north of Cairns. Most people stay in Cairns, but then have to travel to Port Douglas to see the rain forrest. POrt Douglas has both reef (great barrier reef) and rain forrest.

Today I went to four mile beach in POrt Douglas (on the Coral Sea) at 2pm when I arrived for 2 hours. Currenty there are stinger nets for the box jelly, but the water was clear as it could be. So the swimming area is quite small (esp for a 4 mi beach). But the water was 29 degrees- thats celcius for those who couldn't figure it out. It works out to be 85 degrees F. It was warmer than the air! Tommorow I head out to the GBR, followed by a Daintree/Cape Tribulation rainforest tour on Sunday. It finishes with a hot air ballon on Monday and travel back to Sydney. Will post pictures when I get back.

UWS

So quick overview of what I worked on the last 2 days. yesterday worked on a description for the tox/disaster group to be used in a focus group. Then went to campbelltown public hospital for a couple hours to see if its different. NG tubes for dehydration if fail po challenge- its part of the guidelines.

Registrars are the same as residents, though their training is different. One- attendings are on call, but not always in the hospital. Two everyone does a similar intern year. Three- basic training is the same as residency. Advanced training is similar to fellowship. But even if you just want to do general peds you would still do a form of advanced training. An example would be peds: intern year, 2 years basic, 3 years advance. total post grad time 5-6 years.

Med schools have 2 different types here- one is similar to the U.S. (undergrad, then med school). The other style is similar how UWS is. They apply to med school from secondary school and enter at the age of 18. They have a total of 5 years of med school. Interestingly, because girls are more mature than boys at 17, they have to predict if they will mature more or not.

Today, wrote a nice description of why hydrocarbons are additive (ASTDR)- at a request from NSW health.

Tommorow onto Port Douglas for some reef, beach, rainforest, and perhaps a hot air balloon!

day in Syndey and start at university

the entrance to Port jackson aka Sydney harbor (north and south heads)


me at Mrs macquarie's chair

So yesterday spent the day in Sydney- I started by going up via Bus (it was raining) to Manly. the surf was strong- did not see any do not swim due to shark signs, but did see a shark net. On the way took some nice pictures of the harbor. Also got some history from the driver- apparently the Aborigines and English didn't like each other- who would've thought. One point on the northern side of the harbor and Benalon (not sure if spelled correct- this is where the opera house sits) are named for aborigines.

Next went to the aquarium- see below for a picture of a platypus. It might look like some people's relatives. In the afternoon my tour of Sydney continued. Mrs Macquarie's chair/point has a great picture opportunity of both the opera house and bridge combined. Its named for the wife of the 5th governor. She apparently like watching the ships. The chair is just some carved rock. I also went to Bondi and Kings Cross- the coca cola sign is protected landmark. Many things need to go back to- the garderns, hyde park, a couple great museums and the zoo.

Today started work- everyone has been great so far and really nice. Met 2 working groups- air pollution and tox/disaster and finished the day by a great restaurant in Glebe (oysters rocked).

Sydney

So day 2 in sydney had some up/downs- one down: it poured in the am- and my umbrella broke- but that was the worst. Today started Sunday at 9am with a tour of the opera house. apparently, clubs in sydney stay open till 6a that plus rain allowed me to have a personal opera house tour. took some great pictures of the house- both inside and out.

Then explored the Rocks and Macquarie street- the oldest and first settled area of Sydney. It rained a bit, but learned some cool facts about those convicts- Bligh (of bounty fame was here as a governor). Macquarie was a governor in the early 1800s that built alot of the first infrastructure- I got a picture of the barracks, but hope to get more pictures of those old building (they are by the botanic garden) at another time.

After that it was time for Bridge climb- expensive, and was I glad it stopped raining. The wind was bad enough- the worst part is from the pylon to the main arch. the walk up the arch is not that bad. After that ate some great food at a fish place at circular quay- barimundi anyone? And topped it all off by watching the youtube orchestra. And for the 2nd time ever, the opera house had projections on the side as the music played.

Blue Mountains pt deux

here are the pictures I promised in the last post. the first one has the 3 sisters via echo point- I oped to see that today, but was unable to wit the storm and mist- there is an interesting legend about the 3 sisters. Years ago the local shaman's 3 daughters were being chased by a yeti like animal. To save them he turned them to stone. The animal then came after him so he turned himself into the fastest bird. But when the animal left, the bird could not find his magic bone/wand. As a result he stayed a bird, and his daughters stayed as stone. The second is from scenic world where you can bush walk part of the rain forest (this part also mined coal in the 1800-1950s). Even with the mist, the trees provided some gorgeous pictures.

Blue Mountains

Day one I spent recovering from jet lag. but did get some pictures of the queen victoria building.

So I attempted to go to the blue mountains- to give everyone stateside an idea its about 60 miles northwest of Sydney. The easiest way to get there is to join a day tour 24 hours in advance. So that is what I did. Only problem with a tour group- no weather guarantee. And guess what- the weather hit bad- it rained almost all day. There was one point in the am, when it seemed to let up and there were some peaks of blue sky, but alas it didn't make a prolonged appearance. So the negative was I went to a temperate rain forest hoping to see some great scenery, but did not get to see it. I did see some nice, mist covered trees. for comparison, there is a link and my pictures.

http://www.explorerworld.info/2011/02/blue-mountains-sydney.html

Also went to Leura, a quaint Blue mountains artsy village and Feathersdale Wildlife preserve (on the way back). That was interesting. The later is a rescue preserve- they take in only australian animals that can no longer survive in the wild.

sydney arrival

Store in terminal 5 of LAX- the delta terminal. was hoping to find a cool welcome to LA sign, but clearly they either don't exist or you have to go to baggage claim- I had 3 hours to kill so I started a blog. Truly I must be bored.

boarding pass

Boarding passes in JFK-waiting for my flight to LAX.