Football is coming home... (a.k.a. Como no te voy a querer)

Hi everyone, it's me again, today I'm not going to speak about any of the experiences I'm having in Australia (or yes). Today's entry is all about FOOTBALL.

How come? Well, because of a combination of factors. First, I am a big football fan in Australia, a country where little by little football is becoming more and more important... but not really... so I miss football sooooo much.  Secondly, a 400 million world-wide audience witnessed the Spanish Clásico (Real Madrid vs Barcelona) yesterday. Third, after an amazing football season playing twice every week with my friends in Úbeda and especially in Granada, it's been almost 3 months since my last football match... and I also miss that!! And last but not least, my chilean neighbour asked me yesterday if I was interested in playing with them next Wednesday.... Are you kidding!? Of course I am!!! ;)

So suddenly a song came into my mind, "Three Lions", or as it is more commonly know, "Football is coming home". As you might know, football was "invented" in England more than 100 years ago. In 1996, the UEFA European Football Championship, in short the Euro96, was held in England. To commemorate that "Football was going home" that year, Ian Broudie, with the help of the comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner, wrote this famous song (here you have a Youtube link just in case you don't know it). By the way, Spain was kicked out by England on penalties (2-4) after a 0-0 draw on the quarter-finals.

I think a have a similar feeling as English people had those days, "Football is coming to my Australian house these days". Saturday 25th October 2014, 3 a.m. I was wearing my Real Madrid T-shirt and trying not to shout at every Real Madrid goal (I did a great job, although I do not feel proud of that)... It was an amazing match, after these two months without football, it was exactly what the doctor orders ;)... and if everything goes as planned, next Wednesday I will be playing football at ANU (Australian National University) pitches... GREAT!!

I am not going to write a report about the match (although I could and I feel tempted), in fact I think I am going to stop writing right here.... I think you've got the idea: a football fan, a Real Madrid supporter, in a foreign country, trying to watch the match on the Internet, trying to play football where it's not easy to find people to play with.... and finally... FOOTBALL IS COMING HOME!!!

If you don't like football you won't understand me, but this entry is not meant for me to be understood, it is just for me to express what I feel... and I feel HAPPY because of FOOTBALL. Yes, because of 22 men kicking a ball and running after it... this is the way we are, or at least the way I am...

So, instead of saying goodbye, or see you soon... I will say....

COMO NO TE VOY A QUERER... (just in case... this is a link you should check)

Whale and penguin watching at Narooma

Hi again!!

Last week we were in a "writing retreat"... one week on the Australian coast (Batemans Bay, in the south east coast of Australia) writing articles and improving our writing skills (something really important for a non-native speaker of English as myself). It was an intense week with a lot of work (9 to 10 hours every day) and also a lot of fun! I would like to thank Lisa and everyone in her group for such an amazing week! We had everything you can ask, good company, good friends, great fish and chips, Australian barbecue, coast, good weather, also some rain... EVERYTHING!! ;)

But I would like to focus on and show some pictures from (thank I-Ting for the great pictures I am going to show here) our trip to Narooma (thank Fuyan for the perfect organization). The main objective of the first part of the trip was to watch the whales in the region between Narooma and the Montague Island. It was hard at the beginning, but really impressive afterwards when we were able to see them approach the surface to breathe and the ''fountain'' of water and air and the sounds that we are so used to on documentaries but that is really breathtaking when you can see them with your own eyes.

Three astonishing images from our whale watching experience

Some seals at Montague Island

During the second part of our excursion we visited the island itself and watch the Little Penguins come ashore to the Island. It seems that penguins can stay at sea for months but they have to come on land for breeding and moulting. There is a big colony of Little Penguins in Montague Island (around 6000) and after months at sea they come back to this Island, especially during the months of August and September. And they do that at dusk.

We were waiting for them, it is something unpredictable, there could be hundreds of them or none. We were waiting, almost running out of patience, but in the end... they arrived! A wave arrived to the coast and suddenly a bunch of Little Penguins (they arrived in groups of 5 to 15) appeared in front of us, very little and cute penguins (no more than 40 cm.). And it seemed like if they knew how many of them there should be, because they waited until another few of them arrived to start their fast (believe me, they are really agile) way up to the hills. I was quite funny watch them arrive, jump over rocks, and their way up to the hills in groups.... so cute!! ;). Here you have a link with some more information about Little Penguins in the Montague Island.

Little Penguins!!! So cute!!

And the best is still to come, but I will leave it for a new entry ;). Cheers!!!!

PS: Of course, thanks I-Ting again for the great pictures!!! ;)

Tidbinbilla natural reserve

Hi again!! It's me from 'down under'!! As I said in my last entry, last weekend we went to the Tidbinbilla natural reserve and visited the NASA Space Centre. I think you had enough of space science in that entry, so today's entry will be focused on the natural reserve itself, and the kind of animals that we were able to see. Needless to say, this was the first time that I saw these animals in their natural habitat!! But first of all, I would like to thank Tiantian for organising this great excursion and the pictures I am going to show you and Mimmo, what two great photographers!!

The day started as it should, no clouds in the sky, sun shining, and early (I am becoming a morning person in Australia). And we learnt a valuable lesson, that I think we will need to re-learn in not a long time... Do not trust GPS!! They will lead you to the place... but maybe the path is not worth it!! So we got lost, but fortunately we decided to go back and follow the signals!!! ;)

The natural reserve is a vast space of nature, very well preserved but you can tell the action of the human being... and this is something that really annoys me. Although I should say that we saw the amount of animals that we saw because this natural reserve is organised as a very, very big 'zoo'... not as artificial as a zoo... but with fences, paved paths... not completely natural... But, even taking that into account, a great place to have a great day!!!

We were focused on finding koalas, but other animals came to our visit such as wallabies, dark swans, red-bellied black snakes (a bit dangerous, but really impressive from such a close distance), platypus, and a bunch of different kind of birds... Below you can find some nice pictures as an example of what you can see there!!

Koala. God, it was hard to find him/her!!!

A wallaby, it was so close to us...

A pelican and a turtle... it seems like if they were speaking to each other ;)

A platypus, it was focused on hunting, this was all we could see :(

A black swan... So elegant

A red-bellied black snake... Thank God it was not interested in us!!

This region was partially devastated during 2003 Canberra bushfires, but they are doing a great job recovering the area and they have left (on purpose) some black logs to show the next generations how harmful a fire can be... Something we should learn sooner rather than later. Bushfires are one of the main natural problems that Australians have to face every year. However, although we might think that this has just negative side effects, nature has been able to take advantage of such harmful event. Native flora in Australia is used to this kind of fires, so it uses bushfires as a means of reproduction (see this link for further information).

And, as I am not a biologist, and I have no idea about animals, I think that's it for today's entry!! See you!!!!

One small step... one giant leap

This weekend, some guys from MSO (Mount Stromlo Observatory) and some visitors (including myself among them) decided to have some fun and breath some fresh air at Tidbinbilla natural reserve, a wonderful place that I really recommend for having a nice day with the family embedded in the Australian nature (kangaroos, platypus, koalas, etc...). But I am going to let this experience for another entry and I am going to focus on our experience at the Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex... I cannot imagine a better place to finish an excursion for a bunch of astro-geeks!

A picture of myself at the CDSCC entrance. Thanks Tiantian for the great pictures!!

This complex is one of the three stations that are spread over the Earth forming the NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). The other two stations are located in Madrid (Spain) and Goldstone (California, USA). In short, these three stations along with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena are the main link between deep space crafts and people on Earth.

So basically, it is a bunch of antennas (the main ones, three with a diameter of 34 meters and a 70-meter dish) that NASA uses to communicate (send and receive information) with the ongoing missions on Space (Mars Odyssey, Kepler Space Telescope, CASSINI, SOHO, Spitzer, Voyager 1 and 2, etc). Can you imagine it? And everything deep in the breathtaking landscapes of Tidbinbilla.

And, as everything built by Americans, it has a great outreach program around it. A really nice (and small, so you cannot get bored of it) visitor centre with cafeteria, exhibitions, video projections, documentaries, etc... and specially, some fascinating pieces that well deserve being in a museum. Among them, one of the four cameras used by the astronauts in the well-known Apollo missions but especially... a small piece of shiny rock brought from the Moon!!! I was 10 cm. away from a piece of rock that was formed 3.8 billion years ago by crystallisation of lava which has been orbiting the Earth 384,400 km from us!! AMAZING!!! According to studies on this rock it has been part of the moon surface for 200-400 million years, since a meteorite impact released from deep inside the moon to the surface!!!

Sample of Moon rock displayed at CDSCC.

And I think with this piece from the outer Space, it's time to say goodbye or better off... see you soon!!!