Change....

So a bunch of us were concerned about getting our money's worth out of the program or at least getting some of the things that were promised in the program that hadn't been delivered. So an email was sent and within 48 hours they had sent someone down to come talk to us and they were very cooperative. It's nice to see that they do have a vested interest and are willing to make adjustments on the fly to ensure the program goes smoothly.
They explained that this was the first time they've done the program with Australearn (the organizing host for all of us) and that was the reason why things were a little askew from initially stated. Some things that we were told included: an outback weekend, a surfing lesson, and lunches. So the outback weekend got cancelled initially as it was supposed to be quite cold. Upon reevaluating again we democratically opted for a second option which has us surfing in the morning followed by going to the lantern parade in Lismore. The following day (as it was going to be a camping trip) we will be picked up early and driven out to Mt. Warning to see the sun rise and get an eco-tour of the slopes to keep it all relevant to the class. This will all be happening this weekend preceded by a trip to Nimbin on Friday which we will evaluate the planning there. It is supposed to be a pretty interesting place as it is part of the rain forest and a very laid back, hippie/backpacker kind of town and backpacker towns are a much different kind of place. Additionally they are going to be providing us meals.

A personal issue that I had was that we were told we could not leave on the 26th so I booked all my post-class travel accordingly. Now it seems that we're supposed to leave on the 26th. Other people are in similar situations but they didn't have anything set in stone yet short of they knew where they were going. In any event, I spoke with them and they are going to get me another night accommodation so that's nice.

In any event today was just another day of class and we talked more about eco-tourism and its impacts and indicators and its types. We also went through a survey to evaluate our own positions on a lot of issues that pertained to eco-tourism. It was interesting to see the variety in the answers. Certainly the way you're raised has a big part in that but it also seems to have a relation to where you're geographically located.

So today marks the half way point of the class, which is kinda weird as it seems like we just started. Still I look forward to the rest of class and my travels after. I'm off to bed now as we have class early tomorrow.


PS
I got some cool pictures of the sunset today as a storm was coming in so that'll be cool to post later. Unfortunately I found quick sand on the beach. I was just walking along the beach on dry sand and I took one step and my entire leg just sunk in (which was quite unfortunate as I had sneakers on at the time, I hope they can finish drying soon). It wasn't hard to get out of like in the movies, but it was very surprising to suddenly be knee deep in sand (literally). We then went to a place called Fish Heads for dinner which is actually a pretty nice place. I had a seafood pasta which had prawns, mussels, bugs and good pasta. For dessert I had some Madagascan vanilla tea and a white chocolate pannacotta (spelling?) which was sort of like creme bule but without caramelized sugar on top. On a side note, all sugar is of the raw unprocessed variety here.

PPS
For clarification, bugs are like langostinos. Additionally, all seafood here is ridiculously fresh.