Saturday, March 24, 2012

Goodbye Hawaii!

Early on the morning of the 10th of February, I found myself sitting at the Kona Airport, enjoying the fresh air and trying not to panic.

The gate. Apparently security isn't really an issue.

Yes, that's my gate. I must say, it was certainly the oddest, and tiniest, airport I've ever been too. Sydney here I come! (Or is it came? Since, you know, I've been here for a month now... whatever)

Catch ya later Hawaii!


Friday, March 23, 2012

Weed Conference in Hawaii!

So, this semester so far has been really awful - before flying off to enjoy the beautiful weather in Sydney (ha), I first was forced to spend the week in Kona, Hawaii.

Yes, life truely is hard. I suffer.

Not only were we staying in Hawaii for a week on Trinity's dime, we were staying at a resort that was so large, we needed to catch a train to get from reception to our room. You think I'm kidding, but I promise I'm not (though apparently I forgot to take a picture...). To be honest, it was all a little much for my taste, but I've gotta admit that the landscaping really was gorgeous.





Of course, it was all fake. Being in Hawaii with a bunch of weed scientists was really a disheartening experience.

Weed Scientists

Me: "Oh, look at that! It's so pretty!"
Dr. Lyons: "It's invasive."
Me: "..." :(

Is this native?

At least the weather was a little better this time around - instead of cloudy and rainy, we got sunny and windy, which made for some awesome days at the beach.

Thankfully not a nude beach.

Dad would have had a heart attack...

They're way braver (stupider?) than I am

Luckily we had some Hawaiian guys to show us how to properly handle these waves:



I have no idea what he's doing... but he's doing it like a badass.

We also took a trip up to the Akaka Falls State Park,


explored some tide pools,


ate some pulled pork sandwiches,

om nom nom


and did a little studying (well, not me exactly, but the guys did).

A terrible place to "study"

But the week went entirely too fast, and next thing I knew...