For our last morning in Melbourne, we went on an Aboriginal Heritage Walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens of Melbourne. We walked to the Queen Victoria Markets and from there took the free tour bus to the Gardens since it was raining pretty hard. When we arrived at the Gardens, we met our guide, Den, at the café and then he led us to a bungalow in the park which is especially reserved for the Aboriginal Heritage walks. There he spoke to us about the Aboriginal culture and his life story of being an Aboriginal. We also participated in a traditional smoking ceremony, complete with clapping sticks and eucalyptus leaves. We then split us up into two groups and went on two different walking tours. Our guide taught us about different uses for plants as we walked by them and we even used some of them. I rubbed up my hands on the massage tree, chewed on special roots which relieve pregnancy cramps (obviously did not feel any effects), and our guide even wove a bracelet using those same roots and gave it to me!
When the walk was over, we took the free tour bus back to the Victoria Markets for some lunch. Because we were having an early dinner, I chose to have a lighter lunch and ordered half of a grilled falafel wrap. I have honestly eaten so much fresh falafel here, I don’t know how I will go back to eating mediocre falafel in the US. After lunch, we headed back to the hostel to finish packing before leaving for dinner and the footy game. For dinner, we went to a pub by the stadium (which happened to be the Melbourne Cricket Grounds) called Beer DeLuxe. This was our last group dinner and it was free for us, so we were all planning on stuffing ourselves completely. I ordered a pizza with roasted pumpkin, mushrooms, rocket, pine nuts, pepitas, and no cheese. It was a great last meal and I wish I could have eaten more, but that pizza was pretty filling.
At around 7, we started walking to the stadium since kick off was at 7:50 pm. The sports event we watched was a game of Australian Rules Football (called footy) between the Carlton Blues and the Essendon Bombers. I do not know much of the background of these two teams, but we were told that it was a pretty big game since they are both highly ranked and are two of the more hated teams in the league due to their constant dominance. It is also one of the largest spectator sports in Australia and it was expected to have about 80,000 people in attendance tonight (there turned out to be 87,000 which, although large, still does not beat Michigan football attendance.) When we arrived at our seats, there were Essendon fans sitting next to us and the man closer to us asked us who we were cheering for. Our response was obviously Essendon based off their apparel and we became good friends with them. Although we had had a quick lesson about footy at the University of Sydney, they re-explained some of the rules for us throughout any points of confusion.
Since gambling was legal in Australia and extremely popular, the guys decided to use all of their leftover change and bet on the game. According to Tom and Jayson, there were over a hundred things you could bet on like which player was going to score firsts or how many failed goal attempts per team, etc. Not knowing much about either of the teams, they decided to just bet on which team was going to win and they put all of their money on Essendon. Essendon was the first to score so it was starting to look promising. But then, Carlton started scoring and at the half, things were not looking promising for Essendon, who was losing 41-22. However, in the 4th quarter Essendon started picking it up and somehow caught up to Carlton to make it an extremely close game. Then there was the classic, one team would score and then the other and then the one team would score again. At the end of the 4th quarter though, when it looked like Carlton was for sure going to win, Essendon comes in and scores a goal with seconds left in the game to beat Carlton 77-72. It was so exciting to be in that environment surrounded by both Essendon and Carlton fans—so both emotions were felt and witnessed. Something I noticed about these fans though is that they are only loud after something big had happened to either celebrate or yell angry remarks. In fact, during the game you could only hear a couple people in my program who felt it necessary to provide commentary throughout the entire game—something I do not think the Australians sitting near us enjoyed.
After the game, the entire group headed to a pub to celebrate both the Essendon win and our last night together in Australia. Since we had to leave for the airport at 5 am, we decided it would probably be best to not sleep that entire night so that we could sleep the entire 14-hour plane ride to the US. So we did just that—went to a pub in the city, danced, played pool, and hung out with each other since it would be the very last time we would be able to do this is a group.
Friday, June 7, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
toodle-loo kangaroo.
Today, we had the morning free before heading to Phillip Island in the afternoon, so we took advantage of that to do some last minute shopping. We visited the Queen Victoria Markets and then headed to the CBD once again. And the morning would not have been complete without stopping at Haigh’s Chocolates once again. Upon entering, the lady who had attended to us, greeted us and gave us even more chocolates to sample. She also brought us a bag of chocolates that Kaitlyn had purchased, but had not made it to the bag; she had written a note on it saying “Belongs to 3 American girls!” After saying our final goodbyes to the kindest Melbournian we have met, we headed to the Central Arcade to grab some lunch. I stopped by a vegan restaurant and purchased sushi made out of brown rice, vegetables, and tofu, while other Dana bought soup at a nearby restaurant and Lexi bought scrambled eggs at a café. We ate outside that café in a large seating area in between the shops of the arcade. I don’t know what it was about it, but it felt like a very cultural experience: eating lunch outside among other Australians in a very popular, local place, drinking my soy chai latte to warm up from the early winter breeze, and eating my uncut sushi roll like a banana (pretty much the only way sushi is sold here.)
At around noon, we headed back to the hostel to gather our things for the long bus ride to Phillip Island. On the way to Phillip Island, we stopped at a wildlife sanctuary. At first, I was not really that excited to stop because my nap was interrupted. But upon entering, I completely changed my mind. This wildlife sanctuary featured native animals of Australia such as koalas, emus, Tasmanian devils, wombats, and most importantly kangaroos and wallabies. The best part of the sanctuary was that the kangaroos and wallabies were roamed the grounds freely and weren’t in an enclosed area like the rest of the animals. I bought a small bag of kangaroo and wallaby food, placed small amounts in my hand, and before I knew it they were coming at me from all directions. It was so much fun! Especially since the kangaroo exhibit at Taronga Zoo had been somewhat of a letdown.
After about an hour, we were on the road again towards Phillip Island. We had a strict timetable to stick to because we had to get there at around 5:00 pm or sunset. At that time, a penguin species native to Australia called Little penguins, rightfully named because they are the smallest species of penguin, swim up to the beach after a long day of fishing at sea. In order to protect the penguins, they are very strict about where you can watch the penguins and not allowing any photography. It was about a 5 minute walk down a boardwalk to the viewing decks where we had to stay seated in a set-up very similar to an amphitheater, facing the beach. From there, we waited until 5:29 pm, when the researchers calculated that the penguins would arrive. Right on the dot, the first herd of penguins arrived. This herd was small and had about 20 penguins. The following herds were larger and would contain a couple hundred. At one point, there was a penguin that fell behind his herd and could not catch up. Then the cutest thing happened—a penguin from his herd noticed him falling behind, turned around, and waddled back to him to help him catch up with the rest of the herd. From the beach, the penguins climb up a hill and head to their nesting areas. To get there, they would go underneath the boardwalk and continue on up the hill to their nests. At this point, it was recommended that we leave the seating, and head to the boardwalk to get a closer look at the penguins. They were really precious and I wish I could have taken pictures of them, but after seeing a penguin freeze in confusion after another tourist decided to ignore the rules and take a picture with flash, I completely understand why we were told not to.
Once it was too dark to see anymore penguins, it was time to get back on the bus and begin the two hour drive back to the hostel. By the time we returned, we were starving since it was 9 pm and we had not eaten dinner. Tom, Chris, Jayson, Josh, Lexi, and I decided to grab a quick dinner nearby. We headed to a bar called Prudence where they do not sell any food. Instead, they have take-out menus from a variety of restaurants and it gets delivered to your table at the bar. The guys chose to order pizza, while Lexi and I opted for Thai food. I ordered a green curry with tofu and vegetables and it was probably the spiciest meal I have ever had. I felt the burning in my esophagus and stomach until the next morning, but still worth every delicious bite.
At around noon, we headed back to the hostel to gather our things for the long bus ride to Phillip Island. On the way to Phillip Island, we stopped at a wildlife sanctuary. At first, I was not really that excited to stop because my nap was interrupted. But upon entering, I completely changed my mind. This wildlife sanctuary featured native animals of Australia such as koalas, emus, Tasmanian devils, wombats, and most importantly kangaroos and wallabies. The best part of the sanctuary was that the kangaroos and wallabies were roamed the grounds freely and weren’t in an enclosed area like the rest of the animals. I bought a small bag of kangaroo and wallaby food, placed small amounts in my hand, and before I knew it they were coming at me from all directions. It was so much fun! Especially since the kangaroo exhibit at Taronga Zoo had been somewhat of a letdown.
After about an hour, we were on the road again towards Phillip Island. We had a strict timetable to stick to because we had to get there at around 5:00 pm or sunset. At that time, a penguin species native to Australia called Little penguins, rightfully named because they are the smallest species of penguin, swim up to the beach after a long day of fishing at sea. In order to protect the penguins, they are very strict about where you can watch the penguins and not allowing any photography. It was about a 5 minute walk down a boardwalk to the viewing decks where we had to stay seated in a set-up very similar to an amphitheater, facing the beach. From there, we waited until 5:29 pm, when the researchers calculated that the penguins would arrive. Right on the dot, the first herd of penguins arrived. This herd was small and had about 20 penguins. The following herds were larger and would contain a couple hundred. At one point, there was a penguin that fell behind his herd and could not catch up. Then the cutest thing happened—a penguin from his herd noticed him falling behind, turned around, and waddled back to him to help him catch up with the rest of the herd. From the beach, the penguins climb up a hill and head to their nesting areas. To get there, they would go underneath the boardwalk and continue on up the hill to their nests. At this point, it was recommended that we leave the seating, and head to the boardwalk to get a closer look at the penguins. They were really precious and I wish I could have taken pictures of them, but after seeing a penguin freeze in confusion after another tourist decided to ignore the rules and take a picture with flash, I completely understand why we were told not to.
Once it was too dark to see anymore penguins, it was time to get back on the bus and begin the two hour drive back to the hostel. By the time we returned, we were starving since it was 9 pm and we had not eaten dinner. Tom, Chris, Jayson, Josh, Lexi, and I decided to grab a quick dinner nearby. We headed to a bar called Prudence where they do not sell any food. Instead, they have take-out menus from a variety of restaurants and it gets delivered to your table at the bar. The guys chose to order pizza, while Lexi and I opted for Thai food. I ordered a green curry with tofu and vegetables and it was probably the spiciest meal I have ever had. I felt the burning in my esophagus and stomach until the next morning, but still worth every delicious bite.
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
sports on sports on sports.
Today was a sports filled day as we toured the National Sports Museum, Melbourne Cricket Grounds, and the Rod Laver Arena. The National Sports Museum was both dedicated to Australian sports as it was the history of the Olympics and conveniently located below the cricket grounds. It was really neat because the guides of the museum were former Australian Olympic athletes. The guide I spoke to was named Maureen Caird. She ran in the 80 meter hurdles in the Olympics in Tokyo, Mexico City, and Munich and won the gold medal in Mexico City. It was extremely interesting to hear about the changes in the Olympics from her perspective. When we finished in the museum, we headed to the interactive part, which was extremely similar to the one at the Australian Institute of Sport. After that, we met up with our tour guide, Leslie, to tour the Melbourne Cricket Grounds. The Melbourne Cricket Grounds is the largest sports stadium in Australia and can fit up to 100,000 people and one of the oldest as well (constructed 1853). It was also used for the 1956 Olympics. In comparison to the Sydney Cricket Grounds, I find it interesting the two remarkably different styles and environment. While both were constructed in the 19th century, the Sydney Cricket Grounds are all about preserving tradition and keeping the old stuff, new. The Sydney Cricket Grounds look very similar to what they did back in the 1800s, but by looking at the Melbourne Cricket Grounds, I cannot tell what was originally part of the structure—if that even exists. The Melbourne Cricket Grounds are very modernized and sleek, while the Sydney Cricket Grounds are very old-fashioned.
After we finished the tour of the MCG, we had a couple hours to kill before our tour of the Rod Laver Arena so we grabbed some lunch in the café located in the stadium. Luckily, there were televisions showing the NHL playoffs because lunch only took about 20 minutes. When it was finally time for the Rod Laver tour, we walked down there in about 5 minutes. For those of you that do not know, the Rod Laver Arena is the venue of the Australian Open. The tour took us through the Walk of Champions, which features every single male and female winner of the Australian Open. We then headed to the male locker room. Our guide informed us that all the players get to choose their own locker, but it’s based off rankings. He then showed us which ones Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal always chose. (I was slightly tempted to temporarily move into Rafael Nadal’s locker until next January…) From there, we went onto the court where the final game is always played, but they were preparing it for a concert so you could not see the actual court and it was rather underwhelming. Because of that however, our guide took us to the practice courts which is what we are used to seeing on television when watching the Australian Open. Needless to say, lots of pictures were taken here.
Since it was the last night for a person in my program who was heading home early for her brother’s graduation, we decided to make a group dinner like we had in Lennox Head and in Sydney. The group decided on Mexican night and the boys were in charge once again so they did the grocery shopping and cooking in the hostel kitchen. The meal turned out great and it was nice to have a relaxing and cheap meal. After dinner, we headed to a pub by the University of Melbourne campus to watch the first game of a three-game series between Queensland and New South Wales, known as the State of Origin Series. We were hoping to be in a college student environment so we could experience that and compare it to our college bars. However, the University of Melbourne is currently in their finals week, so students are either home or studying is what we were told. Once the game ended, we made a quick stop at Equinox because the guys wanted to take part in their beer deal, while the girls just bought gelato and then we all headed back to the hostel and called it a night.
After we finished the tour of the MCG, we had a couple hours to kill before our tour of the Rod Laver Arena so we grabbed some lunch in the café located in the stadium. Luckily, there were televisions showing the NHL playoffs because lunch only took about 20 minutes. When it was finally time for the Rod Laver tour, we walked down there in about 5 minutes. For those of you that do not know, the Rod Laver Arena is the venue of the Australian Open. The tour took us through the Walk of Champions, which features every single male and female winner of the Australian Open. We then headed to the male locker room. Our guide informed us that all the players get to choose their own locker, but it’s based off rankings. He then showed us which ones Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal always chose. (I was slightly tempted to temporarily move into Rafael Nadal’s locker until next January…) From there, we went onto the court where the final game is always played, but they were preparing it for a concert so you could not see the actual court and it was rather underwhelming. Because of that however, our guide took us to the practice courts which is what we are used to seeing on television when watching the Australian Open. Needless to say, lots of pictures were taken here.
Since it was the last night for a person in my program who was heading home early for her brother’s graduation, we decided to make a group dinner like we had in Lennox Head and in Sydney. The group decided on Mexican night and the boys were in charge once again so they did the grocery shopping and cooking in the hostel kitchen. The meal turned out great and it was nice to have a relaxing and cheap meal. After dinner, we headed to a pub by the University of Melbourne campus to watch the first game of a three-game series between Queensland and New South Wales, known as the State of Origin Series. We were hoping to be in a college student environment so we could experience that and compare it to our college bars. However, the University of Melbourne is currently in their finals week, so students are either home or studying is what we were told. Once the game ended, we made a quick stop at Equinox because the guys wanted to take part in their beer deal, while the girls just bought gelato and then we all headed back to the hostel and called it a night.
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
no such thing as too much chocolate.
Today, Lexi and I woke up craving some fresh produce, so we headed to the Queen Victoria Markets, which were about a ten minute walk from our hostel. I bought kiwis, grapefruits, oranges, bananas, carrots, raw nuts, and a box of muesli—all this for about $6. For the rest of the morning, we had the great fortune to take a tour of Melbourne by a born and raised Melbournian, Matt. The tour lasted about an hour and a half and there was a lot of information to share with us, so he spoke and walked quickly in order to get the most in as possible. He started off by sharing some history with us about Melbourne. It was originally inhabited by indigenous people, but the Europeans arrived in about 1835. The leader of the settlement was John Batman and Melbourne was almost going to be named Batmania, which would have been awesome. Even more interesting is that he had had syphilis and was ashamed of what he looked like and did not allow anyone to paint him so no one knows what he looks like—they can only guess.
Melbourne is known to be a very artsy city, so as Matt took us to different areas of the city, we walked through alleyways covered in colorful and intricate graffiti. As long as the graffiti artists receive a permit from the owner of the building, then it is actually completely legal and has quite a big following by the locals. When we weren’t looking at the graffiti in the alleyways, Matt showed us through Queen Victoria Village, Greektown, Chinatown, the CBD (Central Business District—what Australians call “downtown”), the Royal Arcade, the Central Arcade, the Block Arcade, Federation Square, and then across the bridge to the Melbourne Art Museum.
After the tour, a group of about ten of us decided to take the free tour bus back to the Queen Victoria Markets (round two for me), which are open every day (but Monday and Wednesday), and the stands sell a variety of things ranging from extremely fresh produce to souvenirs. First, we went straight to the food court area for lunch. I ate a surprisingly light Indian vegetable and potato curry with naan bread—extremely delicious meal, I had to restrain myself from licking the plate. After lunch, we walked around the souvenir stands and did a little bit of shopping. Once Kaitlyn, Dana, and I had seen enough of the market, we headed back to the downtown shopping area of Melbourne and traced back the steps of our tour in order to find a couple of stores we had seen and wanted to return to.
We surprisingly were able to trace back our steps perfectly and stopped to do some shopping; the most notable of which was Haigh’s Chocolates in the Block Arcade. We probably spent an hour there looking at all of the variety of chocolates. Every type of nut and fruit was sold covered in white, milk, or dark chocolate or in bar form. When it came to ordering the individual chocolates, we had an absolute field day. The lady that attended to us was an absolute gem and gave us over $30 of chocolate to sample—milk chocolate coconut, milk chocolate banana caramel, dark chocolate almond crème, dark chocolate marzipan, dark chocolate passion fruit crème, milk chocolate macadamia honey, and so many more. At the end of tasting all of those, I decided upon dark chocolate covered scorched almonds, milk chocolate macademias, dark chocolate marzipan, dark chocolate pastilles with sprinkles, and an assortment of truffles. Don’t worry; all of these were gifts for my family (which I am totally planning on ‘sampling’ once they open them).
After a long day of shopping, we returned back to the hostel to change for dinner. That night the group decided to grab dinner downtown and then go to a bowling alley that we had seen on our tour. For dinner, we went to Grill’d, a healthy burger joint. I had a roasted pumpkin, quinoa, and rocket salad with lentil patty on top. I hadn’t even been hungry after eating all of those chocolates, but the second I my food came, I devoured it. When we finished eating, we headed to Strike, a bowling alley located in the mall that had a special that night of $8 per person for one game of bowling and $8 per person for a game of laser tag. By some miracle of God, I bowled the highest score out of the people in my lane so I was feeling pretty accomplished. On top of that, it was such a fun night to be out with all 20 of the students in the program and spend time together doing something casual and laidback.
Melbourne is known to be a very artsy city, so as Matt took us to different areas of the city, we walked through alleyways covered in colorful and intricate graffiti. As long as the graffiti artists receive a permit from the owner of the building, then it is actually completely legal and has quite a big following by the locals. When we weren’t looking at the graffiti in the alleyways, Matt showed us through Queen Victoria Village, Greektown, Chinatown, the CBD (Central Business District—what Australians call “downtown”), the Royal Arcade, the Central Arcade, the Block Arcade, Federation Square, and then across the bridge to the Melbourne Art Museum.
After the tour, a group of about ten of us decided to take the free tour bus back to the Queen Victoria Markets (round two for me), which are open every day (but Monday and Wednesday), and the stands sell a variety of things ranging from extremely fresh produce to souvenirs. First, we went straight to the food court area for lunch. I ate a surprisingly light Indian vegetable and potato curry with naan bread—extremely delicious meal, I had to restrain myself from licking the plate. After lunch, we walked around the souvenir stands and did a little bit of shopping. Once Kaitlyn, Dana, and I had seen enough of the market, we headed back to the downtown shopping area of Melbourne and traced back the steps of our tour in order to find a couple of stores we had seen and wanted to return to.
We surprisingly were able to trace back our steps perfectly and stopped to do some shopping; the most notable of which was Haigh’s Chocolates in the Block Arcade. We probably spent an hour there looking at all of the variety of chocolates. Every type of nut and fruit was sold covered in white, milk, or dark chocolate or in bar form. When it came to ordering the individual chocolates, we had an absolute field day. The lady that attended to us was an absolute gem and gave us over $30 of chocolate to sample—milk chocolate coconut, milk chocolate banana caramel, dark chocolate almond crème, dark chocolate marzipan, dark chocolate passion fruit crème, milk chocolate macadamia honey, and so many more. At the end of tasting all of those, I decided upon dark chocolate covered scorched almonds, milk chocolate macademias, dark chocolate marzipan, dark chocolate pastilles with sprinkles, and an assortment of truffles. Don’t worry; all of these were gifts for my family (which I am totally planning on ‘sampling’ once they open them).
After a long day of shopping, we returned back to the hostel to change for dinner. That night the group decided to grab dinner downtown and then go to a bowling alley that we had seen on our tour. For dinner, we went to Grill’d, a healthy burger joint. I had a roasted pumpkin, quinoa, and rocket salad with lentil patty on top. I hadn’t even been hungry after eating all of those chocolates, but the second I my food came, I devoured it. When we finished eating, we headed to Strike, a bowling alley located in the mall that had a special that night of $8 per person for one game of bowling and $8 per person for a game of laser tag. By some miracle of God, I bowled the highest score out of the people in my lane so I was feeling pretty accomplished. On top of that, it was such a fun night to be out with all 20 of the students in the program and spend time together doing something casual and laidback.
Monday, June 3, 2013
a new perspective.
Not trying to break my usual tradition of exploring a new city with a run, Lisa, Kaitlyn, and I woke up at 6 am to see what Melbourne has to offer. It was a little difficult to truly take everything in because the sun had yet to rise. However, it was still fun. Since our hostel is in North Melbourne, we ran south towards the heart of Melbourne and through the Royal Botanic Gardens, then back. On the way back, we decided to go a different route and ended up getting lost. Even with the map we had brought, we couldn’t quite figure out how to get back so we stopped for directions at a café and they were able to direct us back to the hostel.
After a quick breakfast, we were off to the University of Melbourne for a tour of their sports facility and then a shadowing day. As ecstatic as I was for the shadowing day, I was even more ecstatic to finally wear my khakis and polo! (Just kidding. About the khakis and polo.) The tour through the University of Melbourne was very interesting! Our guide was the director of sports at the University of Melbourne, named Rod. He explained to us that it was the hardest university in Australia to get accepted into. It was established in 1853, and they were currently undergoing a lot of reconstruction to their buildings. Other than a few of their ‘heritage’ buildings that legally could not be changed, Rod explained that there were plans to update almost all of their buildings to make the campus appear nicer (which I don’t necessarily blame—some of the older buildings didn’t look really well maintained). I also found their educational model to be really interesting. The Melbourne Model was created in 2008 and it was slightly controversial at first for such a high profile university to completely switch their curriculum. The idea behind the Melbourne Model was to receive a general education in a field of study for your undergraduate degree and then specialize in graduate school. Because of this, the only fields you can receive your major in are: agriculture, arts, biomedicine, commerce, environments, fine arts, music, oral health, and science.
When we finished the tour, we had lunch and then it was time for shadowing. Since there are 13 athletic training students in our program, they split us up into different shadowing days and my group went today. We had the great opportunity to shadow Kusal Goonewardena, a sports physiotherapist who has a very impressive 15-year career. He has treated over 15,000 athletes, opened the most successful chain of physiotherapy clinics in Australia, and has opened another private clinic within the University of Melbourne called elite aKademy. It is opened to all elite athletes at the U of M at no cost to them due to their scholarship, partial scholarship athletes had their membership fee waived, but still had to pay for treatment, and then the clinic was also open to the public at their cost. Kusal also developed a better payment method for his patients in order to increase success of treatment—instead of paying per appointment, they paid for a certain time span depending on what they are receiving treatment for (ex. 4 weeks, 8 weeks, or 12 weeks, etc.)
I was extremely impressed by the way that Kusal practiced—definitely the best lecture I have experienced so far. He is one of 60 physios that follows the Ridgeway Method in Australia and is one of three who has won an award for excellence in practice when it comes to that method. Kusal truly focused on the comfort of the patient and made clear the patients’ goals for each of their sessions. The best way I can put it is that he really emphasized the ‘happiness factor’. For example, when we asked him how he felt about kinesio tape (after seeing him apply the McConnell taping method on a track runner) he said that while evidence based practice was important, if something works and the athlete is content with the results, then continue to use it. During our shadowing experience we got to see one of his appointments and then since the other appointment cancelled, he showed us how he performs the initial evaluation on his new patients. His first appointment was a long distance track runner who had come in with hamstring problems and through his initial evaluation he had been able to pinpoint the primary cause for her tight hamstrings—hypomobility in her thoracic spine. Upon entering his clinic, all you see are tables—there are no ultrasound machines or electrical stimulation machines, which is a major difference from ones in the US. This was not due to lack of funds however, it was simply the way he chose to practice and it made sense once I saw him in action. Through various muscle energy exercises, he was able to increase mobility and show us how she has improved since she started visiting him.
To simulate his initial patient evaluation since his second appointment had cancelled, he used Lexi as the patient since she has felt hypomobility in her PSIS joint since surfing in Lennox Head. Before even evaluating her hip, he pinpointed what movements bothered her most and then evaluated her thoracic spine, lumbar spine, gluteus muscles, and supraspinatus to see how they were related because he has found that those are the four main problem areas for most people. His evaluation found that Lexi while she had tightness and hypomobility in multiple areas, the one that was related to her PSIS ‘feeling stuck’ was hypomobility in her thoracic spine. After doing a couple of muscle energy exercises, we went through the evaluation again to see how those few exercises improved her movement, gait, and the way she walked up and down the stairs. Seeing Kusar work was an amazing experience and I will definitely be looking into his past and future published work more.
After an amazing shadowing experience, we returned to the hostel to relax for a little bit before exploring Melbourne for dinner. A group of us walked downtown and spotted a restaurant called Equinox, which had a promising menu with reasonable prices and a happy hour that ended at 9. Needless to say, we stayed there most of the night, ate good food, and were able to be as loud as we wanted since no one else in Melbourne was out on a Monday night.
After a quick breakfast, we were off to the University of Melbourne for a tour of their sports facility and then a shadowing day. As ecstatic as I was for the shadowing day, I was even more ecstatic to finally wear my khakis and polo! (Just kidding. About the khakis and polo.) The tour through the University of Melbourne was very interesting! Our guide was the director of sports at the University of Melbourne, named Rod. He explained to us that it was the hardest university in Australia to get accepted into. It was established in 1853, and they were currently undergoing a lot of reconstruction to their buildings. Other than a few of their ‘heritage’ buildings that legally could not be changed, Rod explained that there were plans to update almost all of their buildings to make the campus appear nicer (which I don’t necessarily blame—some of the older buildings didn’t look really well maintained). I also found their educational model to be really interesting. The Melbourne Model was created in 2008 and it was slightly controversial at first for such a high profile university to completely switch their curriculum. The idea behind the Melbourne Model was to receive a general education in a field of study for your undergraduate degree and then specialize in graduate school. Because of this, the only fields you can receive your major in are: agriculture, arts, biomedicine, commerce, environments, fine arts, music, oral health, and science.
When we finished the tour, we had lunch and then it was time for shadowing. Since there are 13 athletic training students in our program, they split us up into different shadowing days and my group went today. We had the great opportunity to shadow Kusal Goonewardena, a sports physiotherapist who has a very impressive 15-year career. He has treated over 15,000 athletes, opened the most successful chain of physiotherapy clinics in Australia, and has opened another private clinic within the University of Melbourne called elite aKademy. It is opened to all elite athletes at the U of M at no cost to them due to their scholarship, partial scholarship athletes had their membership fee waived, but still had to pay for treatment, and then the clinic was also open to the public at their cost. Kusal also developed a better payment method for his patients in order to increase success of treatment—instead of paying per appointment, they paid for a certain time span depending on what they are receiving treatment for (ex. 4 weeks, 8 weeks, or 12 weeks, etc.)
I was extremely impressed by the way that Kusal practiced—definitely the best lecture I have experienced so far. He is one of 60 physios that follows the Ridgeway Method in Australia and is one of three who has won an award for excellence in practice when it comes to that method. Kusal truly focused on the comfort of the patient and made clear the patients’ goals for each of their sessions. The best way I can put it is that he really emphasized the ‘happiness factor’. For example, when we asked him how he felt about kinesio tape (after seeing him apply the McConnell taping method on a track runner) he said that while evidence based practice was important, if something works and the athlete is content with the results, then continue to use it. During our shadowing experience we got to see one of his appointments and then since the other appointment cancelled, he showed us how he performs the initial evaluation on his new patients. His first appointment was a long distance track runner who had come in with hamstring problems and through his initial evaluation he had been able to pinpoint the primary cause for her tight hamstrings—hypomobility in her thoracic spine. Upon entering his clinic, all you see are tables—there are no ultrasound machines or electrical stimulation machines, which is a major difference from ones in the US. This was not due to lack of funds however, it was simply the way he chose to practice and it made sense once I saw him in action. Through various muscle energy exercises, he was able to increase mobility and show us how she has improved since she started visiting him.
To simulate his initial patient evaluation since his second appointment had cancelled, he used Lexi as the patient since she has felt hypomobility in her PSIS joint since surfing in Lennox Head. Before even evaluating her hip, he pinpointed what movements bothered her most and then evaluated her thoracic spine, lumbar spine, gluteus muscles, and supraspinatus to see how they were related because he has found that those are the four main problem areas for most people. His evaluation found that Lexi while she had tightness and hypomobility in multiple areas, the one that was related to her PSIS ‘feeling stuck’ was hypomobility in her thoracic spine. After doing a couple of muscle energy exercises, we went through the evaluation again to see how those few exercises improved her movement, gait, and the way she walked up and down the stairs. Seeing Kusar work was an amazing experience and I will definitely be looking into his past and future published work more.
After an amazing shadowing experience, we returned to the hostel to relax for a little bit before exploring Melbourne for dinner. A group of us walked downtown and spotted a restaurant called Equinox, which had a promising menu with reasonable prices and a happy hour that ended at 9. Needless to say, we stayed there most of the night, ate good food, and were able to be as loud as we wanted since no one else in Melbourne was out on a Monday night.
Sunday, June 2, 2013
bus, bus, train, bus, bus.
Today was an exhausting travel day. Fortunately, we did not have to wake up too early since we didn’t have to leave until 8:45 am, so we got to enjoy a nice and relaxing last free breakfast at the AIS. Our first bus arrived at 8:45 am. It was the nicest bus we took all day: clean, comfortable, and we each had our own row to ourselves. However, that lasted all of 15 minutes because this bus was just taking us to the bus station in downtown Canberra. Lucky for us, this next bus was not arriving for another 45 minutes after we arrived and it was raining and cold outside, so we all huddled underneath the awning of a closed café. Once this bus arrived, it was not so comfortable, but we only had to ride in it for an hour before we got the train station. When we arrived at the train station, it had stopped raining so waiting for the 30 minutes that we waited was not so bad. This train was also not as comfortable as the train we had taken to Canberra because we did not have our own car and had to share rows. I did not mind it as much and managed to sleep the whole four hours. After the train ride, we boarded another bus for about another four hours to take us to Melbourne. Also not as comfortable, but we managed. And when we finally arrived at Melbourne, we had to take yet another bus to the hostel which is located in North Melbourne.
Although it was about 9 pm by the time we were all settled in, we were all pretty hungry so we decided to try to find somewhere to eat. To make it easier we split into smaller groups. My group was headed to Lygon Street, which is Melbourne’s version of Little Italy. However, we were given wrong directions and ended up on a random street where most things were closed since it was a Sunday night. We managed to find a small Italian bistro that was open until 10 pm, but when we walked in they informed us the kitchen closes at 8 pm (not sure what was supposed to be open between 8 and 10 since there was nothing else there…), but that they would still be able to make pizzas. When I asked if they could make me a salad, they said no. When I asked if they could make me a vegetable salad with no cheese, tomato sauce, or crust they still said no. Since I was not that hungry, a couple of us went to the grocery store next door and came back to the bistro with food. Lexi and I just split an avocado and that was perfect. It was definitely an exhausting travel day and I feel asleep the second I hit my bed.
Although it was about 9 pm by the time we were all settled in, we were all pretty hungry so we decided to try to find somewhere to eat. To make it easier we split into smaller groups. My group was headed to Lygon Street, which is Melbourne’s version of Little Italy. However, we were given wrong directions and ended up on a random street where most things were closed since it was a Sunday night. We managed to find a small Italian bistro that was open until 10 pm, but when we walked in they informed us the kitchen closes at 8 pm (not sure what was supposed to be open between 8 and 10 since there was nothing else there…), but that they would still be able to make pizzas. When I asked if they could make me a salad, they said no. When I asked if they could make me a vegetable salad with no cheese, tomato sauce, or crust they still said no. Since I was not that hungry, a couple of us went to the grocery store next door and came back to the bistro with food. Lexi and I just split an avocado and that was perfect. It was definitely an exhausting travel day and I feel asleep the second I hit my bed.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
a beautiful day for a city tour.
I took advantage of a rainy Saturday morning and I went on one last long run. I woke up at 6 am and ran along the bike path to and around Lake Ginninderra, which was about 18 km total. It felt so great to get in a long run since it is difficult to in the city and I do not know if I will be able to in Melbourne. For our last day in Canberra, we had a cultural tour planned where we were going to visit all of the famous buildings and landmarks in Canberra. Because it was a very rainy and foggy day, we were not able to fully appreciate the beauty of Canberra. Our first stop was at a viewpoint from Mt. Ainslie, which is supposedly breathtaking. However, we were unable to see anything through the fog and so we took a quick group picture and ran back to the bus the second it started raining harder.
The second stop was the Australian War Memorial. It is apparently one of the best war museums in the world and I am not surprised to hear that. Upon entering, there is a large courtyard with a fountain made of black volcanic rock leading up to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where a soldier is buried, but no one knows his name and he is there to represent all of the lives of soldiers lost from past wars. The exhibit themselves were also very interesting and each one focused on Australian involvement in different wars, including world wars. There was a lot of war memorabilia from both world wars including fighter planes, tanks, cannons, propaganda, uniforms, medals, etc. all from different countries.
The third stop was the Parliament House, which pretty much houses all Australian government branches, most notably the prime minister, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. From walking around, you could see a lot of Washington, DC influence on the architecture of the buildings and the way that the capital is set up. The original architect that had the opportunity to design Canberra was an American named Griffin. In his original plans he did not want to place the Parliament House on top of a hill because he did not want it to represent that the government was above the people. However, the capital did not begin construction until Griffin past away and the only available place to put the capital was on top of the hill. So instead, they chose to compromise and what they did was build the Parliament House so that it was directly aligned with the War Memorial. This way, if you were to open all of the doors on the first floor in the Parliament House starting at the front door all the way to the last door (which leads to the office of the Prime Minister), you would be able to see directly across the park (which houses several different monuments in remembrance of different parts of Australian history) straight to the War Memorial as a reminder to the government all the lives of Australians lost and that they are working for the people of Australia. I thought this was a very intriguing idea because something that I have picked up on is that Australians really love their symbolism. For example, the color scheme of the House of Representatives is a light green. They wanted to maintain the tradition of the House of Lords from England, but at the same time maintain their independence as a commonwealth, so they chose the green from eucalyptus and gum trees, which is a shade lighter than the House of Lords. They also made the Senate be red because of the flower of the gum tree. The set-up of both the Representatives and the Senate were also interesting. Both rooms, which are housed in the Parliament House, had the ground floor with seating and table for members of parliament. Then there was seating for the public to watch the processions, as well as a media area, and an area for students to come watch as well. Also, only members of parliament are allowed to stand on the floor, so when Obama came to speak a bit ago, he had to stand on a block as to not touch the floor.
After the tour of the Parliament House, we headed to the National Australian Museum. On the way we drove through Embassy Drive, which resembled Greek Row, but with massive embassies from around the world. It kind of resembled Greek Row, but the houses were larger, the architecture represented each country’s culture, and were also heavily guarded. Notably, the United States had the largest house on the most amount of property on the very top of the hill. At the National Australian Museum, we walked through several exhibits that explored the history of Australia, starting with the indigenous people. It was very interesting, but it had been a long day for all of us and we were getting tired. After the museum, we headed to the Australian Mint and saw where the Australian currency was minted. This did not last too long however because we were exhausted at that point. We had a great time on this tour and that is all due to our guide, John, who was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. Thanks John!
Upon arriving back to the AIS, it was time to finish up laundry, pack, and enjoy our last dinner in the dining hall. Overall, Canberra was a great experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to not only be able to see all of the different parts of Australia’s Olympic Training Center, but take part in it by meeting staff members and athletes, and residing there.
The second stop was the Australian War Memorial. It is apparently one of the best war museums in the world and I am not surprised to hear that. Upon entering, there is a large courtyard with a fountain made of black volcanic rock leading up to the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, where a soldier is buried, but no one knows his name and he is there to represent all of the lives of soldiers lost from past wars. The exhibit themselves were also very interesting and each one focused on Australian involvement in different wars, including world wars. There was a lot of war memorabilia from both world wars including fighter planes, tanks, cannons, propaganda, uniforms, medals, etc. all from different countries.
The third stop was the Parliament House, which pretty much houses all Australian government branches, most notably the prime minister, the House of Representatives, and the Senate. From walking around, you could see a lot of Washington, DC influence on the architecture of the buildings and the way that the capital is set up. The original architect that had the opportunity to design Canberra was an American named Griffin. In his original plans he did not want to place the Parliament House on top of a hill because he did not want it to represent that the government was above the people. However, the capital did not begin construction until Griffin past away and the only available place to put the capital was on top of the hill. So instead, they chose to compromise and what they did was build the Parliament House so that it was directly aligned with the War Memorial. This way, if you were to open all of the doors on the first floor in the Parliament House starting at the front door all the way to the last door (which leads to the office of the Prime Minister), you would be able to see directly across the park (which houses several different monuments in remembrance of different parts of Australian history) straight to the War Memorial as a reminder to the government all the lives of Australians lost and that they are working for the people of Australia. I thought this was a very intriguing idea because something that I have picked up on is that Australians really love their symbolism. For example, the color scheme of the House of Representatives is a light green. They wanted to maintain the tradition of the House of Lords from England, but at the same time maintain their independence as a commonwealth, so they chose the green from eucalyptus and gum trees, which is a shade lighter than the House of Lords. They also made the Senate be red because of the flower of the gum tree. The set-up of both the Representatives and the Senate were also interesting. Both rooms, which are housed in the Parliament House, had the ground floor with seating and table for members of parliament. Then there was seating for the public to watch the processions, as well as a media area, and an area for students to come watch as well. Also, only members of parliament are allowed to stand on the floor, so when Obama came to speak a bit ago, he had to stand on a block as to not touch the floor.
After the tour of the Parliament House, we headed to the National Australian Museum. On the way we drove through Embassy Drive, which resembled Greek Row, but with massive embassies from around the world. It kind of resembled Greek Row, but the houses were larger, the architecture represented each country’s culture, and were also heavily guarded. Notably, the United States had the largest house on the most amount of property on the very top of the hill. At the National Australian Museum, we walked through several exhibits that explored the history of Australia, starting with the indigenous people. It was very interesting, but it had been a long day for all of us and we were getting tired. After the museum, we headed to the Australian Mint and saw where the Australian currency was minted. This did not last too long however because we were exhausted at that point. We had a great time on this tour and that is all due to our guide, John, who was enthusiastic and very knowledgeable. Thanks John!
Upon arriving back to the AIS, it was time to finish up laundry, pack, and enjoy our last dinner in the dining hall. Overall, Canberra was a great experience and I am grateful for the opportunity to not only be able to see all of the different parts of Australia’s Olympic Training Center, but take part in it by meeting staff members and athletes, and residing there.
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