By Kate Bowmar (The University of Queensland, Australia)

Hey guys,

So, it’s been a while since my last post as I have been extremely busy finishing my Ozzie life, packing up and moving home! I thought I would backdate my posts and write about my final month at UQ.

After getting back from mid-semester break on Fraser Island and the Great Barrier Reef (which I wrote about in my last blog post), I only had one month left at UQ. Unfortunately, this final month was mostly spent cramming for the four finals I had in November! In contrast to Manchester, UQ lectures only finished one week before final examinations started, which for me meant one solid week of revision. However, it wasn’t all that bad as the final examinations are only worth a maximum of 50% of your final grade. The examinations at UQ for Life Sciences students are similar to those in Manchester, consisting of MCQ questions and short answer questions.

Thankfully, before all the boring revision started I was able to go on one final QUEST trip ( a society everybody going to UQ MUST join!) to Moreton Island. Moreton Island is only roughly an hour away from Brisbane by ferry and is absolute PARADISE. It is the worlds third largest sand island, meaning the only way you can get around is via 4×4 trucks (which is really fun). The QUEST trip is run every semester and is organised completely through the society at UQ, with about 100 tickets it means a weekend in paradise with 100 of your international besties!  We stayed at a camp site on the Island, which had hostellike dorm rooms of sixteen people. The weekend included sandboarding, snorkelling, sunbathing, games and just an amazingly fun time with so many great people. I definitely recommend this Island weekend for everybody going to UQ next semester. Below are some pictures from the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another day trip in the final month at UQ was to Australia Zoo, the home of the famous Steve Erwin (i.e. the crocodile hunter). Australia Zoo places so much emphasis on the work of Steve Erwin and his contribution to the Zoo and conservation as a whole, it was amazing to see how his legacy has been carried on by the staff and the amount of care that is placed into looking after the animals. The best bit about the day was that it was arranged by the BIOL2001- Australias Terrestrial Environment course, and being a field trip, we were allowed backstage access and extra talks with the keepers and their animals!