Travel: Day 10 - Australia - The long road home

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to one's heart. 

In January 2011, I taught Tropical Ecology  and, for one of the class activities, I took a group of students on a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico. (Click here to read about the trip to Puerto Rico). 

In January 2013, I taught Ecology of Australia and, naturally, it entailed a field trip to Australia! What follows is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned while exploring a land far removed from home.

(You can see the previous posts in this thread here).

Day 10 finally rolled around in spite of our best efforts to stave it off.  The wee hours of the night were spent in packing and reminiscing about our time in Australia. Even Marie's travel companion - Gumby - seemed a little sad that the trip was coming to an end.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

So, it was with a heavy heart that we left Cairns early in the morning, getting onto the plane the old-fashioned way - via a stairwell to the cabin.

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

Cairns to Sydney was a short flight.  After a couple of hours, we then got onto the longer flight to Dallas. We left in the morning to bright skies, much appreciated by Gumby....

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

(Note: In order to conserve space on the blog and make it easier to scroll through, I am condensing how much of  the post is displayed.  To read the rest of it, simply click on the "Click here for the rest of my jaywalk" link below).

Travel: Day 9 - Australia - Botanical Gardens and scavenger hunts

One of the advantages of teaching at a small liberal arts institution is the freedom to design and offer courses that are close to one's heart. 

In January 2011, I taught Tropical Ecology  and, for one of the class activities, I took a group of students on a 10 day trip to Puerto Rico. (Click here to read about the trip to Puerto Rico). 

In January 2013, I taught Ecology of Australia and, naturally, it entailed a field trip to Australia! What follows is a travelogue of our adventures together, the sights we saw, the things we did, and the lessons we learned while exploring a land far removed from home.

(You can see the previous posts in this thread here).

In the original plan, Day 9 was to be a free day for the students to explore on their own.  However, since we had unsuccessfully tried to visit the Cairns Botanic Gardens earlier in the week, we added it to the agenda.

(Sandra 2013)

The Cairns Botanic Gardens is located about 5km from the city center.  We took a bus to the Collins Avenue entrance and began our tour of the facility.

(Trey Cusick III 2013)

The Cairns Botanic Gardens (also known as the Flecker Botanic Gardens) is a typical botanical garden containing a wide range of plants (clearly labelled with their scientific names), focusing mainly on ones found in the wet tropical regions of the world such as Southeast Asia.

(Trey Cusick III 2013)

Distributed over 38 hectares, the property was established in 1886 indicating that many of the trees are really old and well-preserved in their native habitat.  

(Katherine Lederer 2013)

(Note: In order to conserve space on the blog and make it easier to scroll through, I am condensing how much of  the post is displayed.  To read the rest of it, simply click on the "Click here for the rest of my jaywalk" link below).