Hello everyone, this is Tyler and Kay-lin giving you all an update (if you remember the amazing blog post way back from Auckland, you should be excited).
Anyways, we spent our last few days in alice springs hanging out by the pool and watching good movies at night. It was all very relaxing and peaceful UNTIL the morning of our departure, two girls (Chelsea and Elizabeth) woke up with a surprise. The girls were covered in bed-bug bites, Chelsea had 72 alone on her left forearm. At first this little turn of events was hilarious to all of us, but hours later it turned into a serious nightmare. Slowly it began to spread throughout the entire group (excluding your dear bloggers- thank god). Luckily Kay-Lin stopped by the hospital and found heavy duty anti-ich/numbing cream. A few days later, once the epidemic (much worse than the Swine Flu) had spread to others, Marissa had had enough and went on a mass cleaning frenzy and exterminated the bed-bugs once and for all. So don't worry, the critters are gone and we'll be a bunch of clean kids coming back to our homes.
Thankfully, the meditation at Chenrezig Buddhist Institute helped a lot of the infected group memebers deal with their itching and scratching. Our week at Chenrezig was filled with yoga, meditation, Buddhist lectures, and great food! We got to pick the brain of Sonam- the coolest nun ever, for an hour each night. Sonam was eloquent and intellectual in answering our endless questions on the philosophy of meditation and Buddhism. We also were able to challenge our flexibility, balance, and minds with multiple yoga sessions with our wonderful teacher Lorie. We think we speak for everyone when we say that we definitely want to explore more yoga and meditation when we get home. Additionally, there was a Mani Retreat happening while we were staying at CI. We were able to partake in a Mani session. This meant repeating Om Mani Padme Hum 108 times while counting prayer beads and then repeating the 108 cycle as many times as possible in an alotted amount of time. We also learned a lot about the situation in Tibet with the Chinese occupation. We got some time away from Chenrezig when we visited the Eummundi markets and the Australian zoo. The markets were ridiculously huge with free food samples galore (including the best banana smoothie ever). And for those of you who didn't know, the Australian Zoo was famously funded by the Irwin family. Everyone that went (Tyler, Blake, and Drew stayed back at Chenrezig) took the opportunity to see the famous crodidile show and loved it.
We were all sad to leave Chenrezig but at the same time all very excited to start scuba diving. But before we could start that, we had to endure the longest, meaning 41 hour, train ride of our lives. Everything that could have possibly gone wrong did, but we still managed to make the best of it and we all had a great time and it was an interesting experience. This included horrible stomach aches for those who ate the "bangers-and-mash" (sausage and mashed potatoes) and they had a hard time sleeping in their triple-bunk claustrophobic rooms.
We're now in Cairns for our last week of the trip (crazy i know) and today was our first day learning how to scuba dive. It involved sitting and watching instructional videos, swim tests, and actually practicing skills in the pool. We have one more day of pool diving and then we finaly get out onto the Great Barrier Reef! We'll spend two days diving and a night on the boat, some of us are nervous for the open water but we all know it will be an amazing experience. There's even going to be an optional night dive (which Tyler and Kay-Lin are for sure doing)!
We'll plan on updating you one last time before we say our goodbyes. So until then, we miss you and love you all, see you in a week! ahhh!
-Kay-Lin and Tyler
P.S. we'll post photos of Alice Springs, Chenrezig, the train, and some UNDERWATER PHOTOS (we're all chipping in to rent an underwater camera) in our next post.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Swine Flu - Update from Carpe Diem HQ
The following is a post recently made to our FAQ page that we wanted to include to all of you who might be reading this blog.
Swine flu has recently been confirmed throughout Mexico and parts of the US. A few other countries have also reported possible infections. While we're in touch with the CDC and monitoring all of the international news we can put our hands on, we also feel we are uniquely placed to handle the situation given that all of our field staff are trained in Wilderness Medicine; two of our office staff are currently Emergency Room nurses; and the other is a Wilderness EMT. We also have contact with a variety of local doctors (including a few with advanced training in international and tropical medicines) that should needs require we can reach out to.
Our spring & fall 2009 programs will continue to run as scheduled although we plan on requiring flu shots for our fall programs as they have been proven (with Avian Flu for instance) to much reduce any severity of infection. We may also choose to outfit our medical kits with extra supplies such as extra hand sanitizer and the like.
Swine Flu is an offshoot of the 1918-19 flu: just as every flu since then has been. In that strain of flu as well as most that have followed including Swine, Pneumonia has been the actual concern and the one we're most on guard for. The good news is that once recognized there are very good treatments for Pneumonia and we are very familiar with good doctors in the areas our students travel. Of course we plan on continuing to take the proactive approach and deal with any medical potentialities quickly and professionally. Since that initial pandemic in 1918, the subsequent strains have historically been more and more benign. The Swine Flu is presenting thankfully as a low-mortality flu (currently, in the US as an example, there have been 50 suspected cases and only one took an overnight in the hospital before being discharged in good health). So, while this particular flu strain is stronger than the typical seasonal flu, we are hopeful that it will continue to be as easily treatable as it has been.
Swine flu has recently been confirmed throughout Mexico and parts of the US. A few other countries have also reported possible infections. While we're in touch with the CDC and monitoring all of the international news we can put our hands on, we also feel we are uniquely placed to handle the situation given that all of our field staff are trained in Wilderness Medicine; two of our office staff are currently Emergency Room nurses; and the other is a Wilderness EMT. We also have contact with a variety of local doctors (including a few with advanced training in international and tropical medicines) that should needs require we can reach out to.
Our spring & fall 2009 programs will continue to run as scheduled although we plan on requiring flu shots for our fall programs as they have been proven (with Avian Flu for instance) to much reduce any severity of infection. We may also choose to outfit our medical kits with extra supplies such as extra hand sanitizer and the like.
Swine Flu is an offshoot of the 1918-19 flu: just as every flu since then has been. In that strain of flu as well as most that have followed including Swine, Pneumonia has been the actual concern and the one we're most on guard for. The good news is that once recognized there are very good treatments for Pneumonia and we are very familiar with good doctors in the areas our students travel. Of course we plan on continuing to take the proactive approach and deal with any medical potentialities quickly and professionally. Since that initial pandemic in 1918, the subsequent strains have historically been more and more benign. The Swine Flu is presenting thankfully as a low-mortality flu (currently, in the US as an example, there have been 50 suspected cases and only one took an overnight in the hospital before being discharged in good health). So, while this particular flu strain is stronger than the typical seasonal flu, we are hopeful that it will continue to be as easily treatable as it has been.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Groovy Grape/ Alice Springs
Hello folks!
Marissa and Chelsea checking in again. So our last post left off with us about to head to our Groovy Grape experience. In case all of you are wondering "Groovy Grape" is a tour bus experience- in which a group of about 20 people (including the ten of us) sightsee the outback. Over the coarse of a few days our bus added on the miles- as we traveled to some of Australias top tourist attractions (Such as Ayers rock). At first, some of us were not to keen on the idea of participating in such a touristy trip- but with the help of our lovely (as well as hysterical) 6'7" tour guide Aubrey aka- Aubs, Orbit, etc, we happily adjusted (or at least the girls did). Within our outback adventure we visited many sights including- Uluru (Ayers Rock), William Creek (AU's smallest town), numerous Aboriginal cave paintings, Cooper Pedy (where 80% of the world's opals come from), and King's Canyon (where we participated in a hike). During the course of this week we also celebrated Dawns birthday- which we started the day off waking up at 5' to watch the sunrise (which Dawn thoroughly enjoyed).
Easter was celebrated with lots of chocolate and long hours in the bus (and one special Easter Bunny suprise!). Overall we ended up really enjoying our trip and were sad to see our new friends go (especially our hottie of a tour guide...)
But things were looking up when we remembered that we had a week of relaxation in Alice Springs ahead of us. After being lazy bums for a day, we rented bikes and pedaled to a desert park 7 kilos from the hostel. Our hostel, by the way, is frickin cool. There is a pool, music is always blastin, and we have officially made ourselves at home.
Soon enough we'll say goodbye to Alice Springs and spend our last roughly 15 real days (Can you believe it?!, we sure as hell cant) in Australia on a yogic retreat just outside of Brisbane and scuba diving the Great Barrier reef.
Overall we are looking forward into making these last few weeks in the land down under extrodinary.
and with that,
Adios!
Chelsea and Marissa ;)
Marissa and Chelsea checking in again. So our last post left off with us about to head to our Groovy Grape experience. In case all of you are wondering "Groovy Grape" is a tour bus experience- in which a group of about 20 people (including the ten of us) sightsee the outback. Over the coarse of a few days our bus added on the miles- as we traveled to some of Australias top tourist attractions (Such as Ayers rock). At first, some of us were not to keen on the idea of participating in such a touristy trip- but with the help of our lovely (as well as hysterical) 6'7" tour guide Aubrey aka- Aubs, Orbit, etc, we happily adjusted (or at least the girls did). Within our outback adventure we visited many sights including- Uluru (Ayers Rock), William Creek (AU's smallest town), numerous Aboriginal cave paintings, Cooper Pedy (where 80% of the world's opals come from), and King's Canyon (where we participated in a hike). During the course of this week we also celebrated Dawns birthday- which we started the day off waking up at 5' to watch the sunrise (which Dawn thoroughly enjoyed).
Easter was celebrated with lots of chocolate and long hours in the bus (and one special Easter Bunny suprise!). Overall we ended up really enjoying our trip and were sad to see our new friends go (especially our hottie of a tour guide...)
But things were looking up when we remembered that we had a week of relaxation in Alice Springs ahead of us. After being lazy bums for a day, we rented bikes and pedaled to a desert park 7 kilos from the hostel. Our hostel, by the way, is frickin cool. There is a pool, music is always blastin, and we have officially made ourselves at home.
Soon enough we'll say goodbye to Alice Springs and spend our last roughly 15 real days (Can you believe it?!, we sure as hell cant) in Australia on a yogic retreat just outside of Brisbane and scuba diving the Great Barrier reef.
Overall we are looking forward into making these last few weeks in the land down under extrodinary.
and with that,
Adios!
Chelsea and Marissa ;)
Saturday, April 18, 2009
So many pictures!
Hello everyone, sorry its taken so long for pictures, but here's a huge recap of everything going all the way back to the Routeburn Track. Enjoy!
Shelby jumping over Ayers Rock
Reid, Marissa, Kay-Lin and Tyler watching the sun rise on Dawn's Birthday
Aubry, our crazy tour guide on the Groovy Grape (you'll hear more about this in the next post)
Looking for wombats!
Lunch break in the desert while monitoring wombat holes
The whole group after seeing a show at the opera house
The BEST ice cream any of us have ever had, our last day in Queenstown
Kayaking in Milford Sound
Jumping for joy on the Routeburn Track
Hiking on the Routeburn
Shelby jumping over Ayers Rock
Reid, Marissa, Kay-Lin and Tyler watching the sun rise on Dawn's Birthday
Aubry, our crazy tour guide on the Groovy Grape (you'll hear more about this in the next post)
Looking for wombats!
Lunch break in the desert while monitoring wombat holes
The whole group after seeing a show at the opera house
The BEST ice cream any of us have ever had, our last day in Queenstown
Kayaking in Milford Sound
Jumping for joy on the Routeburn Track
Hiking on the Routeburn
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Hello from Australia! Chelsea and Marissa checking-in! Sorry it took so long for us to post since the sheep farm but we have just been so busy with our travels.
After the sheep farm we spent two fabulous nights in Queenstown, NZ preparing for the upcoming Routeburn Trek. The trek was 32 kilometers (around 20 miles) and took us only 3 days. Through the trek we were surrounded by a variety of beautiful scenery- woods, mountains, waterfalls GALORE. After each long, eventful day of busting our asses we were pleased with the cleanliness and friendliness of our cabins. One of the biggest pieces of the trek was planning group meals, which eventually (and unfortunately) led to the up-chucking of Reid Miller. Our ten hour/15 mile journey on the second day finally ended with the best cup of Milo we'd ever had. The third day we all awoke at 5 in the pitch-black morning to hike out and finish our journey, some of us without a headlamp... Chelsea and Elizabeth... Which led us directly into a tough day of kayaking the Milford Sound. The day of kayaking started off easy-breezy; all of us enjoying our beautiful surroundings with big open smiles. Yet as the hours passed, the forces of nature grew stronger. For some of us those big open smiles quickly turned into angry frustrated grit teeth as we battled those forces of nature. Some of us were quickly taken away at sea, needing the assistance of our trusty guide Oly, as he harnessed Kay-Lin and Chelsea's kayak to his. But thankfully we all reached land safely.
The rest of the day and the next was spent at the only accommodation in the Milford Sound (the Milford Sound Lodge). April Fool's Day was not forgotten either.
We spent our last day in NZ in Queenstown again, where we enjoyed a family meal followed by the most massive, mouth-watering gelato cone anyone had ever had. With very full bellies we slept all having very good dreams knowing that Australia was "just around the river bend..."
SYDNEY!! Carpe Diem was in da house. Kings Cross, where we stayed within the city, was dirty but we still had a good time. The Botanical Gardens, Opera House, and Hyde Park were all fab-u-lous. Our first day we were given a super cool SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE!! We got into, real into it. The hunt nearly ended friendships as the teams competed for the romantic dinner prize. The next day, the group split up according to which markets they wished to visit. Tyler, Shelby, and Marissa all had plans of hitting up a few. After walking through Paddy's market, and purchasing a fluorescent pink wig on Marissa's part, things went wrong. Marissa was left behind on the train, and had to fend for herself for the rest of the day... all whist wearing the fluorescent wig.
Our last night, we all attended a play at the Opera House called "The Alchemist." We all enjoyed the play except for poor soul (Chelsea). Again the night ended with ice cream.
Then we hit up Adelaide, where the group settled in chilling with the kangaroos and wombats. There we spent the next few days there working on a Australian conservation project counting wombat burrows in order to count there population (very important in helping protect these cute cuddly creatures). For all of you that didn't know what the wombat creature is - it is a marsupial that looks like a cross between a guinea pig, pig, and a chinchilla- overall a cute little bugger. Our guide Katie became our new best friend as we begged her to cook us more pancakes, and with here eagle eyes she even pointed out two wild wombats, a emu, and a plentyfull amount of kangaroos. Today (April 9th) we left our house in the outback into travel back to civilization to prepare for our next adventure on Groovy Grape where we will be touring the outback. Till next time! Love the fab 10.
Chelsea
Marissa
After the sheep farm we spent two fabulous nights in Queenstown, NZ preparing for the upcoming Routeburn Trek. The trek was 32 kilometers (around 20 miles) and took us only 3 days. Through the trek we were surrounded by a variety of beautiful scenery- woods, mountains, waterfalls GALORE. After each long, eventful day of busting our asses we were pleased with the cleanliness and friendliness of our cabins. One of the biggest pieces of the trek was planning group meals, which eventually (and unfortunately) led to the up-chucking of Reid Miller. Our ten hour/15 mile journey on the second day finally ended with the best cup of Milo we'd ever had. The third day we all awoke at 5 in the pitch-black morning to hike out and finish our journey, some of us without a headlamp... Chelsea and Elizabeth... Which led us directly into a tough day of kayaking the Milford Sound. The day of kayaking started off easy-breezy; all of us enjoying our beautiful surroundings with big open smiles. Yet as the hours passed, the forces of nature grew stronger. For some of us those big open smiles quickly turned into angry frustrated grit teeth as we battled those forces of nature. Some of us were quickly taken away at sea, needing the assistance of our trusty guide Oly, as he harnessed Kay-Lin and Chelsea's kayak to his. But thankfully we all reached land safely.
The rest of the day and the next was spent at the only accommodation in the Milford Sound (the Milford Sound Lodge). April Fool's Day was not forgotten either.
We spent our last day in NZ in Queenstown again, where we enjoyed a family meal followed by the most massive, mouth-watering gelato cone anyone had ever had. With very full bellies we slept all having very good dreams knowing that Australia was "just around the river bend..."
SYDNEY!! Carpe Diem was in da house. Kings Cross, where we stayed within the city, was dirty but we still had a good time. The Botanical Gardens, Opera House, and Hyde Park were all fab-u-lous. Our first day we were given a super cool SCAVENGER HUNT CHALLENGE!! We got into, real into it. The hunt nearly ended friendships as the teams competed for the romantic dinner prize. The next day, the group split up according to which markets they wished to visit. Tyler, Shelby, and Marissa all had plans of hitting up a few. After walking through Paddy's market, and purchasing a fluorescent pink wig on Marissa's part, things went wrong. Marissa was left behind on the train, and had to fend for herself for the rest of the day... all whist wearing the fluorescent wig.
Our last night, we all attended a play at the Opera House called "The Alchemist." We all enjoyed the play except for poor soul (Chelsea). Again the night ended with ice cream.
Then we hit up Adelaide, where the group settled in chilling with the kangaroos and wombats. There we spent the next few days there working on a Australian conservation project counting wombat burrows in order to count there population (very important in helping protect these cute cuddly creatures). For all of you that didn't know what the wombat creature is - it is a marsupial that looks like a cross between a guinea pig, pig, and a chinchilla- overall a cute little bugger. Our guide Katie became our new best friend as we begged her to cook us more pancakes, and with here eagle eyes she even pointed out two wild wombats, a emu, and a plentyfull amount of kangaroos. Today (April 9th) we left our house in the outback into travel back to civilization to prepare for our next adventure on Groovy Grape where we will be touring the outback. Till next time! Love the fab 10.
Chelsea
Marissa
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