I was tired last night, but I couldn't sleep. I was comfortable in my swag, and I pushed all thoughts of creepy-crawly's out of my mind, but I couldn't sleep because the moon and the stars were too bright. I would drift off, and then their brightness would jolt me awake. Of all the reasons that have given me insomnia in my life, this was by far the most worthwhile one. If sunset last night was obscured by the smoke from all the bush fires, sunrise this morning was even hazier. I was craving coffee as we made the pre-dawn journey from our campsite to the Kata Tjuta viewing platform. We watched dawn chase the shadows away, and the weathered mounds of Kata Tjuta emerged. On the horizon, a distant red ball appeared, outlining the shadow ... read more

When I arrived in Sydney last night, the sky was glowing with a bright sunset as we landed. By the time I got through Customs & Immigration and caught the train to the station near my hostel, it was dark out and busy with commuters at the end of the work day. I was up early this morning, not wanting to waste a moment of my only day in Sydney, so I started walking right after breakfast at the hotel. It was a bout a 40 minute walk to the harbour, through the CBD. I like being out and about during the morning rush--it gives a great sense of what a city is really like. My thoughts as I made my way down George Street were that there was nothing special about Sydney. That is, until ... read more

Up until today, I'd only ever seen White Island from the Bay of Plenty. Since I'm staying so close to where the White Island Tours launch from, I decided to splurge and book myself in. I wasn't disappointed. Just as morning tea was being served on the boat trip out to the island, whales were spotted nearby. The boat swung around and we spent about fifteen minutes watching a pod of orcas swim around. We were right above a reef where a mum and two little ones were feeding. Even when the bull swam over, they stuck around for a few more minutes. It was an exciting start to the day. Just before arriving at the volcano we were given hard hats (mandatory at all times) and gas masks (optional, except during a major eruption). Once ... read more

I am not a morning person. I could be--I enjoy early mornings but I'm not very good at going to bed early enough to drag myself out early the next morning. This makes it hard for me to be ready to start a geology field trip at 7am (especially since I toss and turn the night before because I'm worried about sleeping through my alarm). Somehow though, I made it to the meeting point on time. I had a Thermos of coffee to enjoy as the bus left Calgary on the way to the mountains. Our first stop was somewhere I'd been before, on two previous field trips, and , to look at Mount Yamnuska and talk about the McConnell Thrust that cuts through it. The weather was spectacular, and even at 9am (which was about ... read more

Less than an hour after I arrived in my nation's capital, the government of Canada fell. We'd been warned that it would happen. I watched things unfold on the live TV on my flight from Calgary to Ottawa. By the time I got to my hotel room (that smelled like a cross between a museum and an ashtray) three blocks away from Parliament Hill, the non-confidence vote had taken place, and the government was done. I was in Ottawa, my nation's capital, for the first time ever to attend a geoscience student research conference (although representing one of the sponsoring organizations which I volunteer for, not as a student) but as always, I made sure I had at least one day to explore the city myself. I started out by visiting Parliament Hill which, thanks to ... read more