I still remember the date of 8th Jan 2020, I have successfully presented the research proposal and travel to UQ got confirmed. I left the hostel on 11th Jan around 9pm for airport. Our first flight was to Bangkok at 12am on 12th Jan. We landed at Bangkok on 12th Jan 9am. According to our plan, we took the Bangkok visa and relished the beauty of Bangkok through a travel agency and friendly guide Nancy. We visited floating market in the river with a boat, Wat Intharawihan, Golden Buddha and did shopping in a local market. Our next flight to Brisbane from Bangkok was at 12.05 midnight. We all were so tired after Bangkok tour that, we simply slept in the flight.
We landed in Brisbane around 12pm and suddenly I felt the curiosity and anxiety inside as this was the first international travel. The travel agency from UQ picked us from airport to Dovercourt Road. I would like to thank to our colleague Siddarth for arranging our stay. Besides, special thanks to Neha and Ishan for taking good care of us and making us comfortable in every possible way. We all visited the university in the afternoon and bought some grocery from Toowong village for dinner. On 15th Jan, there was a welcome ceremony for us at UQ and UQ vice chancellor joined and had a chat with us. Then me, Sudeep and Vallari roamed the university playground, cafeteria, and biological zoo.
Me and Sudeep shifted to our new rented room on 19th Jan and then came the biggest challenge of cooking. For initial days, I used to video call my mother and ask her to tell the amounts. Gradually, I learnt and prepared all kinds of nonveg and veg items. We were having new experience everyday like travel through ferry. On 26th Jan me and Sudeep visited Brisbane city centre, Southbank through ferry and found that a celebration was going on for Australia day. We enjoyed the ride on big wheel and lighting, crackers. Later, travel through ferry in Brisbane river became the best relaxation way for me. I met my supervisor Prof Hal on 03rd Feb and discussed regarding the project. On 15th Feb we visited Lone Pine koala sanctuary and spent time with Koala, kangaroo, different birds, venomous snakes and many more. Meantime, I made some close international friends like Jenny, Wang and Charlyn and spent quality time with them. On 29th Feb we celebrated Holi in Brisbane with Hindi songs and colours.
On 9th March I travelled to Sydney for a meeting with Mr. Byron related to project and spent one day there. On 13th March delegates from IIT Delhi including the Director and Prof Garg came to UQ. We all had a discussion and lunch together. Then COVID 19 grabbed the whole world and there were couple of months of lockdown in Queensland too. After a long wait, on 4th July 2020, we enjoyed a helicopter ride. The view from top of the sky was quite unbelievable and amazing. On 11th July we visited GOLD Coast and enjoyed beach bath and clicked lots of sun kissed photos. Then after we went into the sea for blue whale view in ship and feeling excited but discomfort due to jerks. On 2nd August Vallari and I visited Gurudwara and church in Brisbane and had snacks over there. On 20th September , we enjoyed the Brisbane festival in city centre. The city was decorated with lights and sky was lightening with firecrackers. On 31st October, we went to Mount Cootha. It was nearly 300m above sea level and the scenic of the city was great from that height.
On 14th December I completed my mid-candidature and my 2nd milestone got approved. Meanwhile, Christmas came, but it was not celebrated in a big way due to COVID. Now the one-year journey came its last phase. Unfortunately, the return was not smooth as the arrival due to restrictions for COVID. There were no commercial flights to India and only special evacuation flights Vande Bharat was operating from Sydney. on 21st December, Me and Vallari booked for a charter flight for 01st Jan operated by Singapore airlines. Though the time was tough, still we visited our last and best destination Stradbroke and enjoyed the beaches, kangaroos, and some amazing scenery. On 30th Dec, the charter flight got cancelled and I have assigned indirect emirates flights from Brisbane to Dubai to Delhi. There was 23 hrs layover at Dubai which was a big headache.
On 1st Jan, Vallari and I started our journey and all our friends came to see us off. However, in airport authorities didn’t allow us one kg extra luggage and we had to throw a lot of luggage. After all this drama, we at last said bye and thanks to Australia for all the memories. I reached Delhi on 4th Jan and after 9hrs of waiting period at Delhi left to my hometown, Bhubaneswar.
Campus Life @UQ
UQ campus is a place where you can be yourself and succeed as the person you are. The ambiance of the campus is great due to lustrous green grounds, surrounding trees with birds and nice weather. The most suitable time to enjoy the vibes of UQ campus is the evening time near UQ lake because of cool wind from Brisbane river with the sounds of birds returning to their shed. The expansive grounds are also home to a variety of sporting facilities, museums, cafes, and those famous Jacaranda trees. The St Lucia campus is only seven kilometres from Brisbane’s city centre, making it an appealing place to study, work or visit with best of public communication through Translink app for both buses and ferries. UQ has best supporting facilities for students right from your landing at the airport. The support staffs are very helpful and approachable either through mail or person. There is a student centre and separate centre for international students for any query related to your academics, accommodation, and career. UQ library is one of the biggest libraries in Queensland and it has one central library along with 13 branches. Apart from huge range of books, library offers supportive courses for research like endnote, Matlab, excel, writing research paper. There are more than 220 clubs and societies at UQ to meet new friends of same taste and passion. There are two big cafeterias inside campus which includes Miss India restaurant (Indian food), subway, several vending machines and coffee shops. Student centre used to provide free food to students once or twice in a month.