And remember, we are entering a desert-like situation....

So my week was boring so I apologize for the long time between posts, but honestly, how many of you care about how my results are going for the superconducting quantum interference device or how T2 relaxation times are affected when using magnetic nanoparticles in a nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer? (Don't worry, I don't know what they do either) But for those of you who do care, they are going well and I am getting results as expected.
So this weekend I decided to take a guided tour, which was well worth the extra money. A lot less planning and hassle is required when everything is already set up for you. So we get to the bus and meet our swiss tour guide Hans, who is a nice guy and pretty funny. So we hop on the behemoth 4 wheel drive tour buses and head off to the desert. On the way there we stop at Caversham wildlife reserve, where we had a chance to see some animals up close. First off, we went by the koala exhibit where we got to pet a koala. These things a really weird up close. They don't even look real, almost like stuffed animals. But since koalas sleep 20 hours a day, they weren't very active and was sorta boring. I did however find out that the reason they sleep for so long is because the eucalyptus tree they eat is toxic and so they spend the whole day in a drug induced stupor. We then went to the Kangaroo pen, which I found as the most awesome. We entered a pen with about 70 kangaroos all jumping around. We were then given the privilege of feeding the kangaroos out of our hands. As you can imagine, 70 hopping 7 foot tall kangaroos all hungrily leaping at your hands was a very relaxing experience. But I did get to see some joeys in pouches so that was pretty cool. We then went to hold a wombat, but she (the wombat) was being mean so we couldn't hold her. We then got back on the bus and continued our ride through the bush. Let me just tell you, you never realize how big Australia is until you ride through the bush for 3 hours. Mile after mile of scrub brush with one tree out in the middle of nowhere. Needless to say I fell asleep. So we finally get to the Pinnacles which are just really weird. They are calcified roots from umpteen years ago that have been exposed from the wind removing the sand. So what you have left is just a bunch of limestone pillars (thousands of them) out in the middle of the desert. From the view on top it was sort of looking out over a graveyard, each pillar representing a tree that once stood there. Some of them were in neat shapes, such as the one called the Queen, which was shaped like a queens head. I can't begin to explain the vastness of this place, so a picture will have to do.

This picture is neat because it is the ocean meeting the bush meeting the desert. After roaming the desert for an hour, we then took off and headed to the sand dunes for some adventure. So originally when I signed u for this tour, it advertised "4 wheeling over sand dunes" so I figured that meant dune buggies, or atvs, or jeeps, or something. Nope, that meant the tour bus. Yep, a bus, riding over sand dunes. So we climbed a big dune an zipped right on down. It was sort of like being on a roller coaster, except with a plush maroon and grey interior. It was a lot steeper than I thought it was, judging by this picture.

So after a few runs at the dune we all got off and tried our hand at sand boarding. This is a lot like snowboarding, except for the gritty eye, nose and mouth after effects. I tried it once but I was too heavy to make it go fast, so I just stood at the bottom and watched people go and wipe out, which was a lot of fun. Here is my favorite video I took.



That girls face was covered in sand, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, you name it, it had sand in it. There was of course the occasional little kid who produced a spectacular wipe out, but who likes to see kids hurt themselves? Anyways after an hour of sandboarding the sun began to set, which by the way, if you ever get the chance to see the sun set over a desert, do so. It was the most unique and beautiful colors I have ever seen.

Anyways that was my Saturday. On Sunday I had the bright idea to experience Perth in the afternoon and go shopping. If any of you ever find yourself in Perth on a Sunday afternoon, do yourself a favor and decide not to go shopping. All of Perth's 1.3 million residents came out to go shopping. I've never seen so many awkwardly dressed teenagers in my life. Anyways after 2 hours of walking around realizing that I cant afford anything here, I decided to head back home. And since it has become my tradition to tell at least one funny story of my weeks adventures, mine came on the bus ride back home from Perth. So I get on the bus and theres only like 3 people one it, 2 people in the back making out and some granny with a walker sitting in the handicap seats. So I decide to sit in the handicap seats across the bus from her(don't judge, they weren't in use and they are comfortable). So about 15 minutes into our ride this lady hits the button to get off and then stands up. She then realizes that this was not the stop she wanted but was further down. At this point any rational human being that requires the use of a walker would sit back down and wait for the bus to get to the right stop, but not this granny. She decides that the best course of action is to remain standing for the next quarter mile before we get to her spot. Imagine a baby deer in the middle of a frozen lake and you have somewhat of the mental image of this granny trying to stay standing. After scooting from one side of the bus to the other and many gyrations in order to not fall, we finally came to the big one. A speed bump. As the bus driver did not realize that there was an 80 year old passenger subway surfing the last quarter mile with a walker, he did not slow down very much for the speed bump. Granny got air. And here comes moose the the rescue. I leap up, grab granny with one arm and her walker with the other, spin around and set here back down safe and sound with her walker firmly in place. Actually, thats not really how things went. She went flying, I jumped up to catch her and she knocked us both down. So here we are sideways in a handicapped seat, me on bottom, old lady on top, followed by a walker, tennis balls in the air. We then slowly got up and had a few awkward smiles back and forth. When we realized that everyone was alright and no one was hurt, she slowly made her way to the exit. The only thing she said to me the entire ordeal was as she was getting off this bus, which was, "I'd thank you for saving me but I'm pretty sure this story is good enough" to which she exited and gave me a big denture smile. I love public transportation.
Anyways, till my next adventure, Cheers.