Didgeridoo, Rottnest Island, and swimming!

I'm really adjusting to life here in Perth, where the people are chill and casual and there is essentially very little stress (or so I've been told). As of this moment, I've used up about 20% of my wifi that I am still mildly angry about having to pay for, and it's been a bummer that I've had to live without Netflix. But my adventures here definitely make up for the lack of streaming tv shows, so I'm not complaining!

Last Monday, Paul drove us into Freo (Fremantle) where there are lots of neat little shops and restaurants and cafes/bars. There, we had a half-hour-long didgeridoo lesson, where we attempted to make cool sounds by making funny faces and ridiculous noises. I was actually a little surprised at myself because there were a few moments when I made pretty decent sounds! To make the most basic drone sound on the didgeridoo, you have to put your lips together, loosely, and blow gently. Kind of like you're a baby blowing a raspberry or imitating a horse sound. Then you put the didgeridoo to your mouth to form an air seal and blow like that. It's actually that simple, yet still takes some practice. Didgeridoo isn't about having a huge lung capacity or blowing hard, it's more about controlling the amount of air you use. It also helps a lot if you know how to circular breathe, which, as a string player, is not a skill I have. To make different sounds, you can talk/sing/imitate animal noises into the didgeridoo while still vibrating your lips. You can also do rhythms by moving your tongue as you would if you were saying different vowels (but you're not actually voicing them aloud). I found it similar to playing the jaw harp in that aspect. Musical instruments always intrigue me, so I think I may go back sometime to the shop (it's called Didgeridoo Breath) and try to play more!

Lots of didgeridoos from different areas of Australia

Didgeridoos can even be made out of PVC pipes!

After the super awesome lesson, Paul walked us around Freo and showed us some neat little shops.
We also went through an old whaling tunnel, where we felt a strong breeze called the Fremantle Doctor. It's a sea breeze that really cools us down on hot days, and occurs because of the temperature difference between the land and the ocean. Once through the tunnel, we walked on to the Round House, which is a twelve-sided building originally built as a gaol (jail) in 1831 to house locals who broke the law. I took a peek inside a couple of the cells, and there were no windows. A small closet-sized cell could have housed a few people, too, so imagine being stuck there in the dark with practically nothing else but the company of other people.

View from nearby the Round House

View of Freo from inside the Round House walls

Tuesday was AMAZING. We CIEE "peeps" (Paul calls us peeps. Frequently. I've honestly had a dream where I heard him saying "all right peeps") woke up early and headed toward the ferry at 0630 to go to the one and only Rottnest Island. It was rainy, windy, and cold, but the rain stopped midway through the morning. I'm actually thankful it was a little cooler than usual because we were out and about all day in the sun, and I can't imagine what it would have been like if it was hotter than it was that day.
The ferry ride, for me, was lots of fun. For others, maybe not. It was rough and choppy out on the open ocean for the entire 30 minutes we were out there, so some people got sick and some people got wet. I was in the middle on the outside deck area, so I only got a little damp. Some of my colleagues were right in the splash zone and got soaking wet. Kudos to them for riding it out and taking it like champs!
I think everybody heard "ferry" and thought it'd be like the giant, calm ferries we're used to back home, where you can fit lots of cars on them and they move at 5 mph and there's essentially no turbulence (do they call it turbulence if it's a boat?). Instead, we were essentially on an oversized jet boat going high-speed, or as my colleague Josh said it, "running-from-the-Coast-Guard speed" (shoutout to you, Josh, if you're reading this, for being quotable)!

Splish splash!

The girls on the right were soaked by the time we got to the island.

We arrived at the island and ate some brekkie (breakfast) before hiring bikes and snorkeling gear. Then we set off on a bike trek around the island. At first I had a really tough time because we had to bike up hills and such, but after a while I got the hang of it and was perfectly fine lagging in the back, taking my sweet time. We also had to ration our water, because there weren't any potable water sources along the bike path. We stopped by a few vantage points and spotted quokkas for the first time. After months of looking at quokka pictures on the internet, I finally saw them in person and they are so ridiculously cute. They're also amazingly calm, probably because they're used to people fawning over them and taking selfies with them. It's especially important, however, to NOT feed them, because that can make them extremely sick.

We also chanced upon an osprey in its nest, so Paul excitedly "did his best Steve Irwin impression" and told us how rare it was for us to see it. Unfortunately, it was far off, and iPhone cameras can only zoom in so much before the photo quality goes to crud, so I didn't get a good picture.

The osprey in its giant nest

Eventually we made it to the lighthouse and took a few minutes to rest and take pictures. Then we headed back down the hill and fortunately the land was flatter heading toward the spot where we snorkeled. We also passed by some salt lakes, which are even saltier than the ocean and like with the Dead Sea, you could float in them, though I wouldn't want to. They stink.

This white salty foam blew around in the wind as we biked past.

We reached a spot to snorkel and I hung back a little, since I've never actually learned how to swim. After some nudging, Paul got me in the water with a couple of girls in my group who are awesome; they're certified lifeguards and were very helpful and sweet as they taught me to swim with a snorkel. I was terrified, but I knew I'd regret it if I didn't at least try. It was so neat being able to see underwater, and the fact that you can breathe even when your face isn't surrounded by air sort of blew my mind. Also, I definitely breathed/swallowed ocean water and it was gross and burned my nose, but it was worth it.

There's me practicing breathing through the snorkel with my two amazing colleagues who happen to go to PLU in Washington! Photo taken by Emily Morang.

After about 10 miles of bike riding, a very Australian lunch consisting of Subway sandwiches, and getting lost with a friend, I successfully got a selfie with a quokka! Fun fact: Rottnest Island is one of the very very few places quokkas inhabit.

Determined, I got down on the ground for this picture, but this little guy wasn't having it.

This one was eating, so it was much happier to oblige.

Overall, Rottnest Island was fantastic fun and I am so glad to have had a chance to visit. After all, how many people can say they've biked, snorkeled, and met adorable quokkas in just one day?

On Wednesday I took the day off to do laundry and do a little shopping for things I still needed. Then on Thursday, Paul took us out to Trigg beach for a surfing lesson. Since I couldn't swim, I didn't feel comfortable surfing, so Paul got me a boogie board and we tried that. It was really fun, and I caught a few good waves until I lost my balance on the board and a big wave smashed into me. I swallowed a huge gulp of seawater and inhaled some too, and decided I was calling it quits with the boogie board for the day. Besides, it was fun watching everybody else have a go at surfing.
Afterward, we had meat pies at Jester's, which I very much enjoyed. Meat pies are a great comfort food and really filled me up after our time at the beach. On the bus ride back, Sydney and Kylie, the two friends who taught me to snorkel, offered to teach me to swim properly that evening in the pool at the student village. I agreed probably less than enthusiastically, because being fully submerged water still kind of freaks me out a bit, but I was/am determined to finally learn to swim. So I spent half my evening practicing blowing bubbles and floating. I can now manage to swim comfortably with a snorkel, which may not seem like much, but at least now I'm not fully terrified of being in water.

On Friday, I took a nice train trip to my cousin Laure's house to spend the weekend. It's about an hour and a half from Murdoch by bus/train. It's funny when you think about my situation, because in the US, many people are close enough to home that they can go home for a weekend, while I'm stuck in Wisconsin. Here, where pretty much every international student is super far away from family, I can go "home" for the weekend with my relatives. I'm definitely not complaining. It's very comforting to have family that I can talk to and spend quality time with while I'm here.
It was a very relaxing weekend. I tagged along with Laure while she grocery shopped and we visited the Moore River, where the river meets the ocean and it's only separated by a little strip of sand. The colors were vibrant and starkly different. We spent a couple hours there splashing around and running along the beach a bit, then headed home.

So, my first two-ish weeks in Australia have been exciting, mind-blowing, and already a bit trying. This coming week I'll be officially starting classes, which I look forward to after about two months of no studying. I think that's the longest time I've ever gone without having classes since starting college.
Until next time!

~ JP