Australia: Uluru

Travel Date: 18 August 2013

It was a rough morning trying to wake up on time and be out in front of the YHA Alice Springs in time to be picked up for my 3-day adventure in the Outback. Though I originally wanted to rent a 4WD and do the trek from Alice Springs to Uluru with friends, I wasn’t able to convince any of my friends to come along on this trip with me and I sure as hell wasn’t about to tempt fate by doing it on my own because with some of my travel luck, I’d inevitably get bogged down in some sand, run out of water, and get bitten by a snake trying to find a cell signal! So I booked a 3-day tour of some of the Outback’s most famous sites.

WayOutback tours offer a number of trips ranging from 3 days to over a week, some of which are more rugged than others. The one I’d booked was “all inclusive” in the sense that all food was provided for, sleeping arrangements were already made, and all I had to do was show up, sit down in the bus, and enjoy the scenery. Soon enough, a big…truck? I’m not entirely sure how to describe it. It was a vehicle that had the front cab of a small semi-truck and instead of a cargo hold on the back, it had a relatively small coach like a charter bus with big windows and two seats on either side. The bus accommodated 24 people and was jacked up on big 4WD tires.

Our driver, Adam, helped the two of us being picked up put our luggage in the storage hold on the back of the bus. It took us a while to pick up everyone else from their respective hotels and hostels around Alice Springs, but soon enough we had a nearly full bus with people from all over the world: an American girl, her father, and her Swedish friend, a hip-hop dance teacher from Amsterdam, a girl from Glasgow, an adventurous guy from Vancouver, and your typical handful of German and French backpackers.

The bus was chatty at first as we all were introducing ourselves and going through the typical banter common amongst backpackers in Australia, but it was still pitch black out and we had a good 6-hour drive ahead of us and soon enough everyone was sleeping.

The thing anyone needs to know about the Northern Territories is that there are very very few towns and everything is incredibly far apart! When you drive down the highway and come across a petrol station or bathroom, you stop and fill up and use the bathroom because you never know where the next one will be. Between the towns are small roadhouses that usually have a gas station, some hotel rooms, camping spots, toilets, and a bar.

Sleeping dingo at the Stuart's Well Roadhouse south of Alice Springs

Our first stop was at one of these roadhouses, the Stuart’s Well Roadhouse, and it was the first chance we had to stretch our legs, and grab a coffee. This roadhouse was unique in that it also had a number of pens where Australian animals like emu, kangaroos, and various birds were on display for tourists stopping in. But they also had two of the more unique sights in the Outback: camels and a dingo. Camels are obviously not native to Australia, but were imported from the Middle East because of their hardy survivalist instincts in desert environments and the preferred cargo animal over horses, which require a lot of water. A transcontinental telegraph cable was built from Adelaide to Darwin with Alice Springs being used as a transfer point along the way. Camels were used by the crew that laid down the cable. But like many non-native animals in Australia, some of the camels escaped and proliferated in the desert and today there are over one million wild camels roaming Western Australia and the Northern Territories. Dingoes were also introduced to Australia over 40,000 years ago and have also adapted and proliferated throughout the continent and have just recently been described as a separate canine species and not just a variety of wild dog. The one dingo at this roadhouse was old and used to tourists, so was not caged up and was pretty snoozy and docile.

Adam, our driver, didn’t let us linger too long as we still had a long ways to go. We drove another few hours to the Erldunda Roadhouse for another bathroom break, and turned off the Stuart Highway onto the Lasseter Highway toward Uluru.

Most people have visions of Australia’s Outback as being rocky with lots of sandy deserts, dry eucalypts, and brilliant soils stained red by the rusting of iron in the dust and soil. These images are spot on what you actually see and it is beautiful! Nothing but flat land as far as the eye can see until a few low-lying rocky ridges or mesas rise up in the distance, like Mt. Conner. But I was surprised at just how green it was! The trees were, by no means, lush and foresty, but the gum trees here were not as brown and dry as I thought they would be – really a testament to just how well-suited for every microclimate in Australia these trees are!

Mt. Conner off in the distance near Curtin Springs

We pulled off the main road shortly before the Curtin Springs roadhouse to collect some firewood for our campfire that night. Part of the reason why I booked this particular tour is that while everything was catered for us, we still had to participate in collecting firewood, preparing dinner, and washing up dishes. It gives you that little tinge of roughing it! Like anything in Australia, simple tasks, like collecting firewood carry inherent dangers. Out here, it was snakes. Some of the world’s most deadly snakes are found throughout Australia, but exceptionally potent ones here in the Outback. We had to be very careful when picking up dead wood that no snake was sunning itself nearby! But soon enough we had our firewood, and we made our pit stop at Curtin Springs, and carried on west to Uluru.

There were a lot of rocky plateaus and mesas in the distance along the Lasseter Highway and every time we thought we saw Uluru, Adam would shake his head and assured us and assured us, “You’ll know when you see it!” And sure enough, another few hours down the road, the rock loomed into view, dwarfing any and all other mesas we’d seen! Everyone knows what Uluru looks like as it’s one of the most photographed rocks in the world. And with good reason! It’s the world’s largest monolith – or single rock, and it juts up from the flat Outback surroundings to over 300 m in height. We kept driving closer and closer and Uluru kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally, we pulled into our campsite in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

I couldn’t wait to get up close with the massive rock, but it was going to have to wait a bit. A few more people were joining our tour, but were flying directly in to the airport at Uluru, rather than Alice Springs, so Adam gave us directions for lunch and he left to pick up the others. Soon he came back with a French family that had a few kids with them, and a blonde girl from Canada who was finishing up teaching fashion at a school in the Melbourne area. I’m not entirely sure if she knew what she was signing up for. Everyone else was dressed in hiking and outdoor gear and those of us who’d collected firewood were already covered in dust, whereas the Canadian fashionista rocked up in a flowy sequined top, hair done up like a pro, and flip flops more appropriate for a cocktails near the beach than heavy walking in the Outback!

With lunch in our stomachs, Adam gave us the cultural sensitivity talk about Uluru. The rock features in numerous Aboriginal stories about Tjurkupa – the creation time of the world – and is a very sacred site as it is the birthplace of the Anangu people who still reside at Uluru. As European Australians had a penchant to do, they named the rock after the Chief Secretary of South Australia (Ayer’s Rock) and it became known as Ayers Rock – Mount Olga National Park, under the government of the Northern Territories until 1985 when the park was given back to the traditional owners of the land and renamed Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park. One of the most popular things to do at the park is to climb to Uluru’s summit and there is only one trail to the top, but because of Uluru’s sacred importance to the Aboriginal communities, doing the climb is not recommended by any of the tour companies who have access to the park, though they all allow the tourists the option.

Finally here! Uluru!

As a geologist and someone who loves a good hike, I was really tempted to do the climb, but when our bus pulled into the parking lot and we saw a full charter bus-full of tourists swarming up the trail to the summit and I just felt sick from the blatant disrespect for this sacred site. A small group from our bus decided to do the hike, and I understand their decision, but I thought that in the long-run, I’d feel better knowing that I hadn’t tread on sacred ground without fully understanding its importance to the local people. Thousands of people do the climb each year and some of them even feel the need to pick up a little stone and take it home as a souvenir from Uluru. In the National Park’s Visitor Centre, though, there is a binder full of letters from people who, after taking the stones from Uluru, experienced so much bad luck and racked with guilt that they mailed the stone back to the park in an effort to rid themselves of their curses. These small rocks are now collectively known as Sorry Rocks.

While the hikers did the climb, the rest of us did the short Mala Walk to Kantju Gorge. Uluru has a lot of curves creating alcoves along its base which are perfect for allowing water to pond and gives the appearance of little oases in the Outback. The Mala Walk took us past a number of sites that are featured in the creation stories of the local Anangu people. Some of the rock caves at Uluru’s base contain carvings and petroglyphs that are thousands of years old. The trail leads you to Kantju Gorge which features a small water hole at the base of a cascade of steps that have eroded into the steep sides of the rock over millennia.

By the time we got back to the parking lot, the hikers hadn’t yet returned, so the rest of us drove around to the Mutitjulu Waterhole around the other side of the rock where there is an even bigger waterhole and forms in the rocks tell the story of  Kuniya, a python woman who had traveled from the east. Kuniya’s nephew had been killed by the Liru, poisonous snakes. When Kuniya arrived, she exacted revenge for her nephew by taking her walking stick and striking the Liru with it, killing him.

The day was getting on and sunset wasn’t far away. Next to the Uluru climb, one of the most popular events every day is to watch the sunset on Uluru. The bright orange sandstone takes on a new life as it’s shadows and colours change in the dimming light. Our bus pulled into a parking lot that was just swarming with tour buses and vans, each with their own cohorts of tourists sitting around make-shift tables while everyone sipped on champagne and snacked on finger-foods while watching one of the most beautiful sunsets in the world. The bright orange rocks faded in and out of various hues of red and pink as the sky behind it darkened. The shadow of the western horizon slowly works its way up the rock until the final moment when the only the tip of the rock is illuminated a gentle pink colour before the shadow envelops the entire rock. Even with all the people around, I was able to take a little walk down a path where there were far fewer people and the whole sunset just becomes a peaceful experience leaving little doubt that this gigantic rock is indeed an intensely spiritual place.

With the sunset over, we bussed back to our campsite where some of our group got a campfire started so we could cook dinner while the rest of us started to prepare our beds. There were large stationary tents at the site, but the weather was wonderfully mild and we all had the option of sleeping in swags under the stars. Swags are nothing more than a big canvas bag that has a rough sleeping pad inside and you then put your sleeping bag in the swag on the pad. A canvas flap can then be pulled over your head in case it were to rain. Swags feature heavily in Australian culture, most notably in the song “Waltzing Matilda” in which Matilda is actually the name of the man’s swag! I don’t think I ever met a respectable Australian who didn’t have a swag or hadn’t spent a night in one. Being in the middle of the Outback, at Uluru, there was, for me, little choice about spending a few nights sleeping under the countless stars in my swag.

With our stomachs full of food and beer, it wasn’t long before everyone was comfortably in their swags (or uncomfortably in the case of our Canadian fashionista!) and fast asleep. It wouldn’t be too long, after all, before we would wake up at 4 am for our next day’s worth of amazing Outback experiences!

Australia: Tasmania - Hobart

Trip Date: 28 April 2013

On my last day in Tasmania, Danielle had to do some work and dropped me off at the harbour in downtown Hobart. I bought a ticket for a ferry and admission to one of Australia's - if not the world's - premiere museums: the Museuem of Old and New Art (MONA). Before the ferry left, I spent about two hours walking around town and visiting the Tasmanian Museum where I learned more about the Tasmanian Tiger.

Hobart Post Office, Tasmania

The Tasmanian Tiger was the island's main predator before the arrival of Europeans. Once Europeans began grazing sheep in Tasmania the Tasmanian tigers were considered a nuisance because of their taste for sheep. The government put a bounty on every Tassie tiger that was killed and before long the only tigers left in existence were caged in zoos. But even that didn't last long and in the early 1900s the last Tassie tiger at the Hobart Zoo died. The tigers have not been seen since and the species is considered all but extinct. I say all but extinct because there is a very very VERY slight possibility that a population of tigers may have survived in the vast wilderness that covers Tasmania's southeast. Expeditions and surveys to find any remaining tigers have returned inconclusive. In the 1930s, after the last zoo tiger died, a biologist went looking for wild tigers and found footprints, but never found any tigers. Some people believe they still exist and sightings are reported but unconfirmed. I'd like to believe that life found a way and that some do exist, eluding humans for nearly a century. I like to believe this because the same story exists with mountain lions of Vermont - the catamount. While reports of them surface every now and then, there is no biological evidence that they still exist. But a few years ago, my Masters supervisor and I were driving to New York and on the rural highways of Vermont a large cat ran across the road in front of us. The cat we saw was definitely a cat, and much larger than a bobcat (which is larger than a housecat - or even a feral cat). To this day, I swear we saw a catamount and because of that I hold high hopes that the Tassie Tiger has cleverly maintained low populations in Tasmania's vast wildernesses.

Mt. Wellington looming above Hobart Harbour

Soon enough, I boarded the ferry from the city centre out along Port Arthur to the museum which is some distance up the River Derwent. The Lonely Planet guide for Australia says that this museum is one that is NOT TO BE MISSED and that it is "a veritable Disneyland for adults." Built right into the sandstone along the waterfront, the huge underground museum is home to a myriad of old and new art pieces including sarcophaguses, Aboriginal Australian art, modern sculpture art, interactive art, and modern paintings. Some of the exhibits I found utterly fascinating like "Kryptos" a dimly lit maze leading to an inner room; along the walls of "Kryptos" are words from the Epic of Gilgamesh in binary code and you get the sense you are entombing yourself as you walk toward the centre. Other pieces I liked included a huge wall of small Aboriginal paintings that fit together to form a much larger mural. There was also a room with a series of lightbulbs overhead. Visitors could take turns holding a handle of sorts which would record the pulse of their heartbeat and the lightbulb directly overhead would begin flashing in sync with your heartbeat. As each new visitor lit their lightbulb, the previous visitor's bulb would move down the line through a room that must have had hundreds of randomly flashing heart beats. But then there was the weird art, like a machine that was designed to replicated exactly the human digestive system. Every day the machine is fed food from the cafeteria and at 2pm the machine poops. Yes. This machine literally poops. It was disgusting and I don't really understand how it is considered art. Nevertheless, the day at MONA was absolutely a day worth the price of admission and I suggest anyone going to Hobart visit the museum because there is something for everyone there!

"Kryptos" at MONA

I took the ferry back into the city and Danielle met me down at the wharf and we walked over to Salamanca Markets, some of the oldest preserved buildings near Hobart's waterfront that now boast the city's best restaurants and shopping venues. We had delicious pizza from Cargo Bar and then stopped a few doors down at Jack Greene for a drink before heading back to her apartment for the night.

The night wasn't quite over yet as a huge full moon rose in the east and I couldn't help but run outside with my camera and try to capture this beautiful setting. We'll call it a mild success as I need a tripod!

The next morning, Danielle drove me out to the airport and I all too quickly found myself on my way back to Sydney. The five days in Tasmania were absolutely stunning with their jaw-dropping scenery, amazing food, wonderful people, cultural experiences, and wildlife encounters. It made working all through my Easter holiday weekend worth it. But, of course, like all of my trips, there is still so much I need to see in Tasmania and I am already planning my next trip back where I'll tackle Launceston, Cradle Mountain, and maybe even hike the Overland Trek! But that has to wait until another time.

Tasmania: Australia's Island State. Go there. You'll love it!

Australia: Tasmania's Lyell Highway from Hobart to Strahan

Travel Date: 24 April 2013

Back in early April, while everyone in Australia was taking their Easter Friday and Monday off of work, I was grading assignments and in my lab working, being the diligent PhD student I am! But I needed a getaway, and part of my excuse for working over Easter was that I'd previously purchased a round-trip flight down to Tasmania for five days in late April.

I needed a break. After four solid months of slogging through lab work, research, writing, reading, and teaching, I needed to step off the Sydney merry-go-round or go insane. Having moved to Glasgow in winter of 2012, then to Sydney in August, I pretty much had a year of winter immediately followed by the Australian summer with no change of seasons to speak of and definitely no Fall, which is my favourite. Sure I got a little taste of Michigan Football last September-November, but no pumpkin spiced lattes, no leaves changing colour, nothing. But the nice thing about Tasmania is that it is as far south  from the Equator as Michigan and Vermont are north of it, and April in Tassie would be the same as October in the northern hemisphere. In other words, it was Fall!

Fall colours along the River Derwent in New Norfolk

I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania's capital, at 8am, picked up my rental car - a wee Suzuki Swift which I really ended up liking! - and started off down the Lyell Highway. My goal was to get to the small town of Strahan on the western coast of Tasmania, but I also wanted to see as much as possible. My initial plan was to drive north toward Launceston and then west to Cradle Mountain before arriving late in Strahan, but took the advice of locals on the r/tasmania subreddit who thought I might be better off taking the shorter route and actually experience it. They were right.

My first stop wasn't planned until Lake St. Clair in the Tasmanian central highlands, but after picking up coffee in New Norfolk - a town originally set up as a new homebase for Australian convicts stationed out at the soon to be abandoned Norfolk Island camp in the Tasman Sea - I crossed the River Derwent and had to stop because the trees along the riverbanks were on fire with autumnal colours! It was beautiful! From what I'd heard about Tasmania and the Tasmanian culture of environmental awareness and power of purchasing locally, I imagined it to be much like Vermont in the US. The similarities, I would find out, were uncanny, and the trees along the river were just the beginning. I do have to say, though, that this is the only time I've been happy seeing invasive species; you see, no native Australian trees change colour with the seasons, only the imported species from Europe and North America!

Continuing along through pastoral farming/grazing communities, the Lyell Hwy suddenly started its ascent into mountains and the roads became narrow, steep, and windy (and windy)! I passed some of Tasmania's many hydroelectric facilities in Terraleah and the road then spit me out onto the highland plateaus just east of the central Highlands.

Tasmania's central highlands and the entire southwest quadrant of the island are all preserved as National Parks, most of which make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, and while you can access many places in those parks, the majority of it is left as a natural wilderness for your experienced outdoor exploration! The famed Overland Track is one of the World's best wilderness walks right through Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park,and something I hope to do before leaving Australia.

My first planned stop, though, was at an artistic site just east of Lake St. Clair called The Wall in the Wilderness. I'd heard about this artist who is carving out scenes from Tasmania's varied industrial, cultural, and environmental histories in huge panels of wood. In my mind I imagined it to be like a huge detailed collage of various moments that I could learn a lot from. Surely I wouldn't be disappointed. But when I walked up to the door there was a big sign saying something along the lines of:

No cameras allowed! Personal photographs do not capture the essence of my artistic vision when taken in the wrong light. When I have people throwing punches at me for not allowing them to take photos it gives me the right ban all cameras. My art is self-funded and I will decide what I will and will not allow.

Well, that kind of made me stop in my tracks and think, "Wow, what an ass." But not knowing what this guy has gone through, I returned my camera to my car. I thought the $10 admission fee was a bit steep, especially with no student discounts, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. The building was cold and dimly-lit and in the central hall was the Wall. It was impressive to look at. Dozens of wooden panels of Huon Pine were hanging from a central wall, the majority of which had images of Tassie history hand-carved into the wood: hydro power, convict history, the extinct Tasmanian tiger, and natural scenery - and those that weren't yet carved had the pencil marks on them showing what they would eventually be. It was neat, and the artist is obviously a talented wood-carver, but was it comparable to Michelangelo's painting of the Sistene Chapel (as the Wall's website claims)? No, not in the least bit! Maybe it was the sour taste left in my mouth from not being able to take my camera in, or the tone with which that message was conveyed, but I thought the wall was impressive in size only. There were no information placards describing what I was looking at, but I could buy a book for another $20 to learn about each panel. Essentially, I thought this piece of art was a waste of time and money and I do not encourage anyone to visit. You'll just be nickel-and-dimed out of $10 and with nothing given in return. It's not educational and not all that spectacular when all is said and done. And even though I paid to see the Wall - thus paying for the future work on the wall - I didn't even get to take a photo of it. Crap. Don't go.

Sitting on the ferry pier at Lake St. Clair

It was still cloudy out from morning rain showers, but I drove on to the entrance of  Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park at the southern end of Lake St. Clair, which fills a glacially carved basin and is Australia's deepest lake. I went to buy a pass from the Visitor Centre, hoping I could use it at all National Parks in Tasmania I'd go to over the next few days, but it turns out that the passes can't be transferred between cars and if you go to Cradle Mountain, you have to pay a separate, exorbitant, entrance fee - so I settled on the day-pass and went to inquire about the Lake's ferry service. Being on the south side of the park, This is the ending point for anyone doing the Overland Track and a ferry service operates between both ends of the lake taking OT walkers and day-hikers to various piers. Not having enough time to do a four-hour walk, I was just hoping to get into the wilderness via the ferry, but after inquiring about it, I found out I was 10 minutes late and that no more ferries were scheduled for the day (damn Wall in the Wilderness!). So I walked down to the lake's edge for a bit taking in the staggering mountain scenery that was constantly peeking in and out of low-hanging grey clouds. Even on a bleak afternoon it was beautiful.

Back in the car the clouds started clearing, changing to big puffy white clouds, and the sun came out! Not much further down the Lyell Hwy I started seeing huge mountain after huge mountain loom into view from road as it twisted between them and the geologist inside me took over and every time I saw something new I'd let out an, "Oh my Gaaaawwwwddd!!!!! Woooowwwwww!!!!" The National Parks of Tasmania really earn their status as being stunning and beautiful! With stops at the Great Divide and Happy Valley overlook, I parked down at the Franklin River Nature Walk.

The Franklin River rose to international recognition in the 1980s when environmentalists started protesting plans to dam the Franklin River downstream from here. It is one of Tasmania's last wilderness rivers and the environmentalists were fighting to keep it that way. The hydro company eventually lost the battle and a new era of environmentally-conscious Australians rose to national political prominence. Furthermore, a new importance was placed on wild areas of Tasmania with an effort to keep them wild and untouched as much as possible. The walk was short but goes right along the banks of the Franklin and Surprise Rivers and weaves between massive pine and gum trees - some of which are the tallest species of trees in the world!

I'm not sure what the Highway is like during peak holiday season, but the Lyell was essentially empty for my entire drive. The afternoon was getting on and I'd decided that I needed to get to Strahan before sunset so I could watch the sun go down over the Southern Ocean - which you can't really do from too many places in the world! In my rush, I almost missed one of the best views of Tasmania: Donaghy Wilderness Overlook. I actually drove past the parking lot, but turned around. Two backpackers from the UK were just finishing and when I asked if the 30-minute walk was worth it, they said, "We've been traveling around Australia for two months and this is by far the best overlook we've seen!" I was sold, parked my car, and started walking.

I was not disappointed. If you take it quickly, it only takes about 20 minutes and the walk takes you to a little knob from which you get a 360-degree view of the surrounding mountains, valleys, rivers, and the ever-impressive Frenchmans Cap - a unmistakably unique mountain crag off in the distance which can be seen from miles and miles around! There was no one else out on the overlook and I had the place to myself under warm blue skies and a sun just beginning to dip below the mountains to the west. I grabbed a bunch of photos and sped back to my car. I only had about 2 hours left before sundown and it was more than 2 hours to get to Strahan.

Sunset in western Tasmania taken from the shores of Lake Burbury

I sped down the road, probably faster than I should have been going, trying to make it to Ocean Beach in Strahan before the sun hit the horizon, but I kept coming across beautiful scenery! I next had to take a quick minute at Lake Burbury because the sun's rays were shining from behind the tips of the nearby mountain peaks, casting glorious rays over the land, and I am certain I got some of the best sunset photos I will ever take in my life! And then the drive into Queenstown - famous for its regional mining operations which have all but stripped the hillsides of any and all vegetation and sediment cover. The road coming down out of the mountains to Queenstown was also beautiful, but in an industrial and destructive way. At least Mt. Owen seemed to still be forested and one massive waterfall was cascading down the hillsides.

I got to Strahan with about 15 minutes to spare, drove around the town and out to Ocean Beach where I missed the sun actually setting, though the sky was still beautifully lit up with pinks, oranges, reds, and the blues of the night. I stepped out and down to the beach where I took my shoes and socks off, rolled up my jeans and walked down to the water's edge, finally allowing myself to breathe and take in the dusky views up and down the beach - Tasmania's longest. I picked up a few pebbles as keepsakes as the ocean waters washed over my feet because after all, it's not all that often you can say you've stuck your toes in the Southern Ocean. Tasmania and the southern tips of South Africa, Argentina, Chile, and New Zealand are really the only places you can do this (and Antarctica, too), and it's quite a surreal experience when you consider its vastness.

Happy with everything I was able to accomplish along the Lyell Highway, I drove back to Strahan in the dark, found my hostel - the Strahan Backpackers YHA - and got great advice from the owner for delicious fish 'n' chips, Schwoch's, in the town's centre. A delicious ending to a busy, productive, and beautiful day!

Sydney: Sculptures by the Sea

28 October 2012

Every year, in the middle of Spring - the Southern Hemisphere's Spring, that is - a festival out along the coastal walk between Bondi and Tamarama Beaches draws thousands of Sydney-siders and tourists alike! It is called, Sculptures by the Sea, and it is a very interesting festival. Now, I am no art critic by any means, nor do I know even the slightest about art, but sculpture art is my favorite. My all-time favorites are the big, geometric sculptures made from metal, stone, and wood. Something about the simple clean lines that tend to follow an unwritten set of rules just seems to please me. With that said, I also like abstract sculpture art, as long as it feel natural, not forced, and not overly symbolic, political, or preachy.

My friend Caitlyn (a fellow Michigan Wolverine) and I decided to see what all the fuss was about and spend a few hours one Sunday afternoon weaving our way through the throng of crowds of amateur photographers and tourists with their  DSLR cameras trying to get the most abstract angle of each sculpture in the best light possible. I don't look down on these people, nor can I get frustrated by them, because let's face it, I am one of them!