Two staples of the UW-Stevens Point Australia winterim trip are a seven-mile hike from Spit Bridge to Manly Beach and a visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens in downtown Sydney. To see photo galleries tied to my Jan. 27 Portage County Gazette column from Australia, click the link to go to the next page.
Sydney
Weather down under
These photos represent a spectrum of the open, green, urban spaces I found in Australia during our first week or so of the recent trip Down Under by UW-Stevens Point’s COMM 373 (Communicating Social Change) class.
I was fortunate to be able to chronicle the trip through my Portage County Gazette column. The first of four weekly posts from Sydney and the surrounding environs is linked here.
Read on to see the photo gallery. Continue reading
Airfare tips for Australia winterim, part III: When to purchase
It only takes a bit of searching around the web to realize how complex purchasing an airline ticket can become. A final aspect I’ll deal with, at least for the time being, is when to purchase tickets.

If we really wanted to save on airfare, we’d have to schedule our Australia class in September. (hopper.com on Chicago-Sydney flights)
In a nutshell, check for flight deals on Tuesdays (because airlines post sales on Mondays) and plan on buying soon to be safe. But keep in mind that prices could go down, according to some reports, and always remember that you’re dealing with a business with lots of data but which is still difficult to predict.
Airfare tips for Australia winterim (part 2)
Now that we’ve covered some of the basics for the COMM 373 winterim course, here’s some other information you might find useful.
While I mentioned in Thursday’s post that I thought it unlikely you’d be able to find a cheaper deal than the $2,600 or so my flight is costing, I did find at least one cheaper deal today (Aug. 7) for essentially the same flight. Read on …
Airfare tips for COMM 373 Winterim in Australia (part 1)
As we approach a new school year, the COMM 373 Australia Winterim trip has almost firmed up its itinerary (with only a couple of minor items not scheduled) and it’s time for students to get their airline tickets. Here are a few critical tips for doing so.
From everything I’ve been able to gather so far, it’s not particularly likely that you’ll be able to get flights much cheaper than the $2,600 or so that it’s costing for my flight. I’ll post again on this topic by Saturday with some more tips and links, but for now, go to the next page to see a bullet-point list of basic reminders. Continue reading