My list of firsts (Part 4 – Final Installment)

This is the final installment of my list of firsts. My trip through northern Australia has come to an end. I am glad to say that a bit more adventuring took place than I had expected for the GSE program. People, places, history – those were the things I wanted to connect with while in Australia. I feel satisfied with the new experiences and connections made during my trip.

The final installment of my lists of first includes my: 

-first Australian meat pie

-first taste of local tropical fruit- mangosteens, dragon fruit, custard apple, and rambutan

-first time I've gone white water rafting

-first time playing lawn bowls

-first time eating kangaroo

-first time holding a python

-first time holding a koala

-first time hand-feeding a kangaroo

-first time seeing a banana tree up close

-first time learning about Australia's sugar cane industry

-first time watching an outdoor orchestra performance at sunset

-first time learning about crown of thorns starfish and their effect on the Great Barrier Reef

-first time I admitted my love for Australian butter – this one pack I ate was made of 88% milk fat!

-first time at Australian beachfront markets (in Airlie Beach)

-first time enjoying a beach in Australia - at Magnetic Island

(Getting a tour of a sugar mill.)

(A night in Ingham; taking in a concert in the park and learning lawn bowls.)

(Holding on to some of nature's other creatures.)

(Yummy local fruit.)

(Taking in the beach.)

(Meat pies. A tasty taste of Australia.)

 

(Adventuring included white water rafting with new friends.)

Our Hosts are Our Windows

Our GSE hosts have been our window to Australia and its people, places, values, customs and stories. The people who serve as hosts volunteered their time so we GSE participants experienced an educational and enriching journey through Aussie-land. 

Let me clarify this point - I am defining hosts to mean everyone who helped make our GSE trip possible. This includes the GSE coordinator, lodging hosts, drivers, Rotary Club members, hosts of the many places we visited, and everyone else who added to the coordination of the month-long trip. 

The majority of our time during the trip was planned out for us. We were masters of only a few hours of our time - leaving little time for self-exploration. I realized early that I would have to turn myself over to our hosts and trust them to show me their Australia. From this point forth, I was a sponge for insight and information. This doesn't mean I shut off my critical thinking, did not contribute or did not ask for some things during the time I did control. I simply allowed myself to be taught (something I've told former players on teams I've coached).

Our hosts opened our eyes to Australia. They did this by serving in several roles, such as:

-Serving as our educators

-Serving as our second (and third, and fourth, and...) point of view

-Serving as our coaches

-Serving as our cheerleaders

-Serving as our laughing companions

-Serving as our friends

Through our hosts the intense introduction to Australia flowed seemlessly. We learned about: the Northern Territory; Queensland; small towns; mid-sized cities; "blue collar" people who work with their hands; professionals who occasionally wear ties; Timor Leste; young, emerging leaders; ANZAC day; Easter traditions; employment practices; and life-long Rotarians.

The values of Rotary and good-hearted people shined throughout the trip. Our hosts were: kind; giving; thoughtful; proactive; loving; sociable; inquisitive; humorous; teachers; concerned for the common good; fraternal; whole-hearted; and much, much more.

This whirlwind GSE tour was exhausting - but in a good way. Now at the end of our trip I feel the accomplishment of learning from our Aussie hosts and sharing of ourselves and our home. The future will include at least one project to support our new friends in Timor Leste. This is one of the outcomes of our trip - learning where else we can serve.

I did not know what all to expect on the trip. And I did not know what all to give. I decided to simply open my arms to our hosts and receive from their generosity. And in returned I tried to give as much of myself as possible. I feel nourished by my hosts' generosity and hope they gained from me as well.

Our hosts were our window to Australia.

Our hosts were our windows to personal courage we didn't know we had.

Our hosts were our mates on this voyage.

Our hosts have become our friends.

God bless our hosts and their (our) beloved Australia. 

(Lodging hosts in Ingham, Queensland - Vincenzo and Monica.)

(GSE coordinator Asha and husband John (right).)

(Lodging host in Darwin, Northern Territory - Raquel.)

(Lodging host in Darwin, Northern Territory - Peter and Bronwyn.)

One Day On an Island

It seems that no matter where you are in the world, life on an island is a thing apart. Physically separated from the rest of the world, islands attract people looking to get away, to relax, to find serenity, to live their own unique brand of existence.

Magnetic Island is no different. Just a short ferry ride away from Townsville, we were lucky enough to get a glimpse of this tropical oasis in just a quick 24 hours.

"Hope you're ready to relax!" yelled our host Chris as we stepped off the ferry. And after four packed weeks of travel, we sure were.

After loading up our ever-expanding luggage pile into the back of Chris's white pickup truck, we squeezed in and made the five minute commute from the ferry terminal to his house.  A lush garden partly obscures the walkway to Chris's tropical-style house, as if to say - all who walk through these doors will be relaxed. Oh, and he has a no shoes allowed inside the house policy, too. Inside we met Kaye, Chris's wife of ten years and partner of 21. Quick to laugh and quick to poke fun, the couple treated us to a lovely night of shared stories, a delicious meal, and a healthy supply of wine and beer. Not to mention barrel-aged brandy and Tim Tams - an Aussie chocolatey treat reminiscent of Kit Kats.. Did you know that the thing to do in Australia is use Tim Tams as a straw to drink your coffee with? Well, it is. And we tried it, of course, much to the amusement of our Aussie hosts.

The next morning - after waking up without an alarm clock for the first time in weeks - we scrambled back into Chris's truck and got our own personalized tour of the island. We learn that Maggie (as the locals call it) is the type of place where you can pull over to the side of the road and see Koalas hanging from trees. Where Wallaby Way is a street you can live on. And where sometimes you find old pianos slowly deteriorating on the beach. That's just the kind of place this is.

Mid-morning we had a swim at Radical Beach, a lovely bay with clear, crisp water and green slopes of rocky forest. With only a handful of other swimmers, you almost got the feeling that this was our own little beach, our own little place of the island. Accessed via a slowly crumbling, windy, and potholed road, the simple adventure of getting there (so should we get out and push?) added to the feeling of isolation.

It's almost a bit surprising that Magnetic Island can feel so secluded at times - because there are a lot of tourists. Quite a lot of them, in fact. Most people on the island (and most people we met in Australia) term these folks "backpackers." These might be tourists who come and stay for a short stint, but others stay for a long while, picking up low paying jobs so they can stay for extended periods of time. They're easily spotted by their tie-dye wear, big backpacks, and skimpy bikinis. Not to mention the brightly colored golf carts that many tourists cruise around in.

After feeding some rock wallabies near Horseshoe Bay (a peaceful beach with a strip of restaurants, shops, and bars) we settled in for an outdoor lunch at The Early Bird, a quiet cafe with a surprisingly extensive menu. It was nice to just sit in the shade, sipping an espresso and looking out onto the beach. I think I could get used to that.

In the afternoon we had a few hours of free time, so I took the opportunity do something I've been craving - a hike. So I quickly threw some sunscreen and water in a backpack, Chris pointed me in the right direction, and I set off to find the trail. I climbed up to the top of a ridge overlooking the harbor, blue skies overhead, and managed to bust through one or two spiderwebs, with only minor panic that there could be those famous poisonous Aussie spiders attached. A very successful hike indeed.

To cap off our day, Chris and a few other members of the Magnetic Island Rotary Club hosted us for a beach side picnic, kangaroo kabobs included. It's true what they say - Aussie's really do love their barbeques. As the sun set on our last day in Australia, surrounded by new friends, good food, and the promise of Tim Tam cheesecake, I couldn't help but feel already nostalgic for this country, and the people we met here. To me, Maggie Island captures the true Aussie spirit we've come to know and love - independent, quick to laugh, bold, adventurous, and just a little bit different. As the ferry took off for Townsville, just a little closer to the real world and to home, we could feel the island life slowly slip away. But even in just 24 hours, we were reminded that sometimes to live the life you want to live, you have to simply live it. Thanks, Maggie.

The Great Barrier Reef

Even since arriving in the state of Queensland about two weeks ago, we've heard a lot about the Great Barrier Reef. And rightly so - it is the biggest tourist attraction for the region, the largest living thing on Earth, and a truly incredible wonder of the world.

When you think of the Great Barrier Reef, what comes to mind? If you're from the U.S., you've most likely heard the most extreme story - that it's dying. Or even dead already. You may have read about it in National Geographic, or heard President Obama say that he needs to take his daughters there before there's nothing left to see.

This type of coverage is important, and necessary. The world should know that the reef is in trouble, and that there are real impacts of climate change. But - like most things - this is only one side of the story.

We've talked to people who have a stake in the future of the reef. We went scuba diving and snorkeling on the outer reef. We've visited the Australian Institute of Marine Research and spoke with scientists who are on the front lines of reef preservation. Things are much more complicated than you might think. And, everyone has something to say about it.

"People will tell you the damage to the reef is coming from sugar cane farmers," said one friend in Mareeba. "Don't believe what they tell you."

"What's happening with the reef now is part of a typical cycle," said another in Ingham. "The coral bleaching you're seeing now is natural, it's happened before. It'll come back."

One frustrated friend told us, "tell Obama that he's wrong. People should and need to come to the reef. He's scaring people away."

Emotions about the reef are high, from what's causing the damage to the way it's portrayed in the media. People are upset about how the reef is portrayed, fearing it will keep tourists away. But, separate from the emotions and bias are the scientific facts. And that is, the ecosystem around the reef is irrefutably changing - and it's because of climate change, human impact, and its after affects. Disastrous cyclones are a part of it. And so are pesky things called the Crown of Thornes Starfish.

Crown of Thornes eat the organisms that live inside of the coral - and which give them their vibrant colors. The coral can't exist without these organisms, and will die if they don't return. These starfish make easy work of it - according to the research by AIMS, Crown of Thornes starfish are responsible for almost half the decline of the Great Barrier Reef.

According to scientists at the Australian Institute for Marine Science, a research center outside of Townsville, the population of Crown of Thornes Starfish has skyrocketed to out of control proportions in recent years. There are many reasons for this. Warmer waters are ideal places for these starfish to thrive. And their own predators - like the Triton shellfish - have been harvested well below natural levels.

So what are the folks at AIMS doing about it? Quite a lot, in fact. They're figuring out what makes the Crown of Thornes tick, and how best to manage them. They're breeding Tritons and growing their own corals. They're advocating for the reef, and it's power to not only provide the building blocks of life for thousands of species, but to provide livelihood and a robust economy for towns along the coast.

So what's happening to the Great Barrier Reef? For starters, it's not dead. It's still here, it's still beautiful, and it's still worth a trip around the world to see. But it also needs our protection, and it needs some of the best minds in the world thinking about how to save it for generations to come. We met some of those people, and they're doing amazing work. So read about them, about the reef, about what you can do to help save it. And then come and check it out for yourself.

My list of firsts (Part 3)

Regardless of whether they are large or small, my "firsts" continue. This is a list wrapping up my time in Darwin and transitioning to Mareeba. Here you go:

-first time eating Tim Tams

-first visit to a mango farm

-first sip of mango liqueur

-first Rotary District Conference (district 9550)

-first hot air balloon ride 

-first discussion with aboriginal-focused social enterprise

-first history lesson of the contribution of Chinese immigrants to Darwin

-first time hearing aborigine creation story

-first time visiting a coffee museum and tasting 8 types of coffee

-first time eating an Aussie meat pie

-first time sharing a golf course with kangaroos - I got the pictures to prove it

-first time meeting a "Nordic Princess"

-first time tasting Bundaberg Rum

-first time teaching the "Chicken Dance" to people from Timor Leste

-first time participating in comedic skit - I was making farting noises; gotta start somewhere

(Hot air ballooning over the Tablelands around Mareeba)

(No, this was not at Outback Steakhouse - the pie came from a cafe in Karunda)

The 'Roos share the golf course with us all day. 

Mango farm outside Mareeba.

At the district conference. 

Tasting mango and other fruit-based liqueurs.

Thank You Small Town Australia

In early May I spent four days in Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. A few things were different about Mareeba compared to other small towns I've lived in or in which I have family. The people drove on the left side of the road; the city had several round-abouts; and there were crocodiles in nearby streams.

But in many other ways Mareeba was just like many of the small towns I've called home. Agricultural was a major part of the economy. The city had a local manufacturing plant, in this case it was a chicken processing plant. Main street in Mareeba could be swapped out for many a Main Street in small town USA (minus the parking in the street divider). Small town America and small town Australia also have other similarities - the children can play and ride their bike without much fear of harm; and residents of small towns remind me that they can leave their houses or cars unlocked without fearing anyone will take anything. 

A friend who traveled on a previous GSE trip told me, "people are people Mario, regardless of where you travel to." This statement stuck in my head as I talked with people from Mareeba. The community faces similar challenges and opportunities as small town America. The community's children are going off to the larger cities for their university education and for jobs - many are not returning. The pressures of global economic competition does not spare them - a once highly profitable mango sector in Mareeba is facing growing competition, and area farmers are moving to growing bananas. This after their once lucrative tobacco growing industry was demolished by international competition who benefited from lower labor costs and less regulation.

Small town America and small town Australia don't get enough credit for their role in their respective country's economic and social vitality. Small towns produce the food and labor for large cities (among other things). 

Small town Australia is like small town America in this way also - it is a custodian of long-held customs and values. When we arrived in Mareeba we were greeted and treated as family. Mareeba residents proudly shared their community's history with us. Mareeba honored the past of its people as it looked to the future. 

So here I am, saying "thank you" to small town Australia. Away from the movement and noise of large city living I've seen and experienced the essence of Australia's people and country. And for that I am eternally grateful. 

(Learning about mango farms)

(Dinner and a dance at the "Igloo")

(Yes, this is the same Target company as the one headquartered back home in MN.)

(Having a sausage sizzle on the golf course; which we shared with about 30 kangaroos.)

Out of the Comfort Zone

A key part of the GSE experience is doing things, meeting people, and experiencing lifestyles that are outside of your ordinary day-to-day. In any type of culturally immersive experience, you're bound to push the limits of your comfort zone - and learn about yourself in the process.

In mentally preparing for this trip, I expected moments of exhaustion, of meeting people that held differing opinions of my own, of perhaps not always being having an easy go of it. This didn't necessarily intimidate me. But what I didn't expect was this - being confronted with fears I would normally avoid (like hot air balloon rides, scuba diving, white water kayaking) - but being compelled to undertake them anyways.

The beauty of this trip - and sometimes the most challenging thing - is that we really don't decide our fate. Each day is scheduled, with the various clubs deciding how best to show us their worlds. For some, that might mean visiting the local military museum, or sharing their aboriginal ancestry. And for some - namely the clubs in Mareeba, Cairns, and Mission Beach - that means sharing the sometimes scary adventures that this part of the world has to offer. And we have no choice but to partake.

For me, this is both an amazing and daunting prospect. I've always been a bit nervous about heights - and extreme sports in general. I'd rather keep two feet firmly on the ground, thank you very much. So when I saw a hot air balloon ride on the schedule, I have to admit that my stomach dropped. But the team was doing it, so I did too. The pre-dawn drive to the ballooning site was one I'll never forget - a mix of nerves, and a little bit of excitement. But in the end, what an extraordinary way to see the Tablelands it turned out to be.

Next up - scuba diving. When you have an opportunity to scuba dive and see the Great Barrier Reef, do you say no? Of course not. You go for it. The instructor essentially had to push me (albeit politely) into the water. I thought I would sink like a stone with the heavy gear strapped to my back. It took a few tries, but I focused on staying calm. And lo and behold, I found my breathe. And the experience was truly magical.

And finally - our latest adventure. White water rafting down the Tully River. This one was a doozey. I was incredibly nervous beforehand - even though I've rafted through rapids before, it was always on a big raft with lots of people and a guide essentially doing the work for us. This was different - we were paired up and put into an inflatable kayak, given a few helpful hints, and told to have fun. Of course, the guides went with us as we made our way through category three rapids, but in many ways we were on our own. For most of the way, the time was adrenaline filled but mostly dry. But on the third to last rapid, almost everyone on our team went for a little swim. I happened to swim (or float helplessly, more like) through a few rapids myself sans raft before eventually being hoisted back in. And, I have the scrapes to show for it. What a ride.

Here we are above, sharing war stories post raft - with celebratory beers in hand, of course.

Before diving in (sometimes literally) these experiences seemed scary. I doubted my ability to have fun a mile up in the sky, to breathe calmly underwater, and to navigate a boat through unforgiving waters. But in all three instances, and with just a few bumps and bruises to show for it, I did it. I'm realizing that not only can I survive these things, but I can have fun in the process. I'm building the confidence in my own ability to do something different, sometime really difficult - even something most people wouldn't do. And, I'm realizing, that's what GSE is all about.