The Law Won & Melbourne Fun

I fought the law and the law won, well I guess you can say I fought the law. Apparently, the Australian Customs and Border Patrol does not appreciate foreigners bringing in certain items to their country. My nearly finable offense was bringing some beef jerky to Australia.

Getting a little McDonald's while in Australia.

It is understandable to not allow fruits, vegetables, wood products, or even live animals because of the threat of disease. For this same reason I was asked to throw out my beef jerky that I had brought with me to snack on during my travels. I complied with the customs officer who processed me at the airport, but I did question why I could not bring beef jerky.

He told me it was because of the threat of foot and mouth disease. I then asked again to make sure because foot and mouth has not occurred in the United States since 1929.

The officer then told me it was because of a problem with the US beef herd that had happened a month ago. I then corrected the officer by stating that it was a case of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in California that did not even enter the food supply.


Also, during the questioning process I was asked if I had been on a farm in the past 30 days. I stated that I had been on a ranch and that I fully understood why they were taking the action that was required.

The great looking views on the outskirts of Melbourne.

Finally, I was on my way out of customs and making strides towards my tour group. Once reunited with my fellow K-Staters we were off to the Healsville Sanctuary, a zoo and refuge for Australian wildlife. 


Before reaching our destination we did have to make a pit stop at an American icon: McDonald's. Many members of the group dined on some breakfast food and beverages before our bus drive to the wildlife park.

After the stop at McDonald's we drove through the city of Melbourne and several suburbs before we reached the countryside. A much needed break from the hustle and bustle of airports and metropolitan areas. 

Engaging in a staring contest with a bird. I think I was the victor.

We saw many interesting sites like a strawberry and cabbage growing operations, a lot of vineyards, cattle and sheep in co-grazing systems, and the beauty of the Australian countryside.


Upon reaching the Healsville Sanctuary we broke into two groups where we were guided by several insightful people at the park.


Highlights of the park stop included seeing native wildlife to Australia (bilbies and kangaroos), taking a ton of pictures, feeding and holding parrots, and playing didgeridoos.

No more charger parties for my power strip.

We did finally have to leave all the excitement at the wildlife park so we could check into our hotel rooms. Then some more excitement occurred for my roommate, Grant Gardiner, and I, when the electricity in our room suddenly went out.

Between a combination of my converter and power strip not liking the new power outlets in Australia, we were without power for a half hour. I thought I might have ruined the wall sockets, but luckily the manager at the hotel just needed to flip a breaker and we were back in business.


Needless to say my power strip will likely not be involved in anymore "charger parties" at airports or other fun stops along the way, because I'm pretty sure it was toasted.

I got a little gelato for desert at La Camera.

To end the night the entire group went out to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant called La Camera. Which I thought was quite coincidental because we had all been taking a lot of pictures at the Healsville Sanctuary and there are only more to come.


Well until next time, happy trails!

City by the Harbour: Sydney

Fireworks over Sydney Harbour during the 2000 Olympics closing ceremonies. 

When I travel with K-State's Department of Animal Science to the Land Down Under, one of the highlights of the trip will be visiting Sydney.

The landmark most people instantly associate with the city is the iconic Sydney Opera House, but just to the west lies an older, lesser known structure: the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

Constructed in 1932, Harbour Bridge is a link between the cultural hub of the city to residential areas in the north. It is known as the "Coathanger" by locals and took over 50 years to pay off with a toll charged to those who traveled the 1,650 ft. long bridge. Just this past week the bridge that is famous for its climbs celebrated its 80th birthday.

A kangaroo hoodie for those who might need one. 

We will be visiting Sydney in May when average monthly rainfall is 3.86 inches and the average daily temperature is between 52 to 67  °F. Be sure to bring a light jacket or hoodie for those cool Australian evenings. And if you wear a hoodie you can pretend you're a kangaroo with the convenient pouch located on the front.

Also, Sydney is 14 hours ahead of Kansas so we'll need to move our watches forward to compensate for the change.


In 2000, Sydney was the host of the Summer Olympics, marking the second time Australia had hosted the games with Melbourne hosting in 1956. Some of the memorable moments from the Sydney games included: USA's Rulon Gardner upsetting Russian Alexander Karelin in Greco-Roman wrestling, Australian Cathy Freeman winning the 400 meter dash after lighting the Olympic Flame, in 200 meter freestyle swimming the Netherland's Pieter van den Hoogenband beat Australia's Ian Thorpe's world record in the semi-finals and in the finals Thorpe lost by half a second to Van den Hoogenband who swam the exact same world record pace.

An example of a public "dunny" in Australia.

Public bathrooms will also be an adventure as Sydney has quite a few of these pay to use facilities located throughout the city. Each one of the public dunnies, as they are called in Australia, cost 50 cents per use. To help keep weary souls from getting lost in the bush there are over 14,000 public outhouses spread across Australia. Patrons get 20 minutes to utilize the facilities before lights and alarms sound to warn them that the door will open, so it's squat or get off the pot.  

Well until next time, no worries mate and happy trails!