Tag Archives: Australia

Farm Fantastic 2011

Another day out with friends: Farm Fantastic 2011

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Farm Fantastic 2011
Last Sunday I got a chance visit the Farm Fantastic 2011 expo in Caboolture, with some the fellow Brisbane International Student Ambassadors. Farm Fantastic claims to be the Australia’s biggest outdoor retail expo and this year was their 10th anniversary.

Camel Ride at Farm Fantastic 2011
Farm Fantastic 2011
Farm Fantastic 2011
We got on a Caboolture train from Central station and there were connecting shuttle buses from Caboolture station. We reached Farm Fantastic by noon. What’s a better way to start than with a lunch. We had some delicious burgers at the Outback Eatery with a flavor of Aussie country music. Some of us choose to top it up with some ice cream for dessert and my choice of passion fruit was ‘different’.

Lunch at Outback Eatery at Farm Fantastic 2011
Farm Fantastic 2011
Farm Fantastic 2011
For the next couple of hours we had to roam around Farm Fantastic, looking through a great range of exhibitors and entertainment and stopping by at few.

Farm Fantastic 2011
Farm Fantastic 2011
Farm Fantastic 2011
We had a great time at, I think this is a great way to link the country life to the outer world.

Farm Fantastic 2011

Brisbane International Student Ambassadors at Farm Fantastic 2011

Find more details on the Farm Fantastic website.

Photographs by: Leong Ming En

Into the Wild with Araucaria Ecotours

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I love traveling. I love nature. So what’s better than putting both together?

I’ve been to few places around Brisbane; Glass House Mountains National Park, Springbrook National Park and handful of beaches up and down the coast. Yet, I’ve never got a chance to experience the real Australian wildlife.

Nimal at Daisy Hill

Last week I got a chance be part of an Australian wildlife tour with some Brisbane International Student Ambassadors. It was with Ronda and Darren of Araucaria EcoTours, covering a three-day Wildlife Tour and the Tamborine Mountain day-tour, in one day.

Daisy Hill

I was partly awake after a sleepless night at university/office, but I manage to bounce back as the day progressed (I guess). Our first stop from Brisbane was Daisy Hill. The start was a bush-walk, through the eucalyptus and tea-tree forests while learning about the different types of flora and fauna native to Australia. We weren’t lucky enough to find any wild koalas that day, but we spotted a wild red-necked wallaby. We spent another half-hour at the visitor information center and for a short coffee/tea break.

Daisy Hill

Our next stop was for a walk to a waterfall, but the rain was not kind enough to let us continue with our plans for a picnic lunch in the national park.

Walk

We stopped next at the Skywalk on Tamborine Mountain, and a stroll through the tall forest floor to giant trees and mountain streams. After the Skywalk excursion, we found shelters for lunch at the Jubilee Park in Beaudesert.

Skywalk on Tamborine Mountain

Kooralbyn was our last stop for the day. It was rather a drive through into the wallaby and kangaroo land. There were plenty of red-necked wallabies, whip-tail wallabies and eastern grey kangaroos. They were roaming around houses like domesticated animals. We stopped near an airstrip for a relaxing chat before heading back to Brisbane.

Kooralbyn

Araucaria Ecotours also provides many wildlife tours such as bush-walking, wildlife-viewing, bird watching, rainforests/glow-worms night tour, and Coochiemudlo Island tour to name a few.

Check out their website at http://www.learnaboutwildlife.com/ for more details on the available tours and Australian ecotourism. You can also get in touch with them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/AraucariaEcotours

Nimal

Study in Brisbane

The One Week Diary – From Samford, Queensland

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I’m writing this from the beautiful Samford Valley, Queensland, Australia, after an eventful week of traveling from Colombo to Singapore to Sydney and finally to Brisbane.

Thursday 22nd April

Leaving Sri Lanka: It’s always emotional when leaving home for a long period, but I was able to handle it without making it too dramatic. :) Many friends came to send-off, and even helped me in carrying my 40kilos + 10kilos.

Friday 23rd April

To Singapore: The flight to Singapore was so empty that I could sleep on 3 seats after eating the inflight dinner (the parata and chicken on Singapore Airlines is good… :) ).

12 Hours in Singapore: Landed in Singapore at around 7 in the morning and Praitheesh came to receive me at the airport. After messing up with the terminal, went to his place in train for breakfast. Then came to city again at around 11 and spent some time roaming around and searching for the Merlion.
180° Panorama - Singapore
The whatever coffee at BurgerKing was a mistake, but we later had fairly good lunch with another friend Bala. Spent some more time around the city and got back to his place at around 5 on bus via Little India. We took the airport bus at around 6 as I had to be at airport at 7.30. Had a light dinner at McDonald’s at airport as I had to keep some room for the flight dinner.

To Sydney: The flight to Sydney was on a Airbus A380, and I was on the main deck (which is the lower deck of the double-decker). The flight was full and the dinner was OK. It was a 7 hours long flight, but I couldn’t sleep much except for the 2 hours before breakfast. The in-flight breakfast was fairly good.

Saturday 24th April

Landed in Sydney: The flight reached Sydney at around 6 in the morning and I was received by my uncle and cousin at the airport. We went straight to his place and I feel asleep till afternoon. Went out for some shopping in the evening.

Sunday 25th April

Anzac Day: It was a long weekend and the shops were closed in the morning. So went out in the evening, to Homebush. It is known as an Asian suburb and famous for its spice shops and many Sri Lankan shops. The funny thing is they even sell the Sri Lankan soft drinks such as Cream Soda, Portello and Orange Barley here. I also bought a pre-paid SIM (Lebara Mobile Australia gives cheaper international call rates, almost same as the calling cards), so now I have a Australian mobile number. :-)

Monday 26th April

Day out in Sydney: Went to UNSW and met Sanchayan, Went to Coogee Beach and spent nearly 3 hours and enjoyed photographing around, Went city and Opera House, Met Hesavan near Darling Harbour, Return by train.
Coogee Beach - 180° Panorama

Tuesday 27th April

Lazy Day: Got up late, Went to another suburb with many Tamil shops, Online check-in and additional baggage on Qantas, Went to airport early, Board at 8.45pm take off at 9pm from Terminal 3.

Queensland: Land in Brisbane Airport at 10.30pm, Pick up by Pathmanathan Uncle at around 10.45pm and reach his house in Samford by 11.30pm.

Wednesday 28th April

QUT: Slept a little longer, Went to QUT by 10.30am, The ID card machine was not working, Meet ISS counselor, Went to QUT Higher Research Degree office and filled up the enrollment forms, Went to Information Security Institute (ISI) and meet main supervisor and some other staff, Return by train to Ferny Grove and to Samford.

Thursday 29th April

Travel from Samford: Went to QUT on train via Strathpine to Central, Meet accommodation officer, Meeting with supervisors at ISI, Bought a Go Card ( It’s a travel card which can be used to travel seamlessly on bus, train and ferry services in Brisbane.), Got my QUT Student ID Card, Found a contact accommodation from the Accommodation Services web sire and arranged for seeing the room on Friday, Return by train to Strathpine and to Samford.

Friday 30th April

Accommodation in Brisbane: Went to Brisbane on train via Strathpine to Central, Saw two rooms in Petrie Terrace and St James Street and gave advance for the later, Got money from HSBC ATM from my Sri Lankan account (good thing is the ATM fee is much less and this seems better than bank transfers considering the fees), Meet some UoM seniors who are doing their PhD in Structures, Walk around the city in the afternoon, Return by train to Strathpine and to Samford.