The Bicentennial Tree - Pemberton

Arriving at the Dave Evans Bicentennial Tree; I had only planned to climb to the first platform of the 60 metre karri tree - well, I hadn't even planned that really.

Named after a local politician, the lookout was constructed to commemorate Australia's bicentennial celebrations in 1988 as opposed to older and functional fire lookouts. Easily reaching the first platform, the camera came out of the bag and the snaps began. I had removed my spectacles, as there was a fairly good chance of them slipping off on the way up or down, I wasn't climbing blind but I had to concentrate on the way up and down, I wasn't able to change my camera settings either but shooting on auto worked fine. I emptied my pockets but left my DSLR in its bag and began my climb with my camera slung around my back, I regretted that, the bag got caught on nearly everything on the way down. 

In my previous life working in underground gold mines; I was frequently climbing 30 metre ladders with my toolbag strapped to my back so this was nothing new, you couldn't see any further than your caplamp allowed so you just concentrated on where you were at - right here, right now. Well apart from the fact that I was 24 and I am now 44, losing muscle mass, fitness and gaining 20 kg in anything but lean mean muscle.

I made the decision to go to the top after standing on the first (halfway) platform, somehow my thought process told me there in no value doing anything by halves - so up I went. I was also wearing sandals, not my first choice of climbing shoes but as I was climbing rungs of a ladder, not the actual tree itself. A wonky left knee and arthritic neck doesn't really help my case for a fast climbing style.

A further four platforms up the top required climbing ladders and not spikes drilled and hammered into the trunk, the platforms were also caged so no chances of falling can occur. The top platform is complete with tin roof and caged with a slot for photographs, resting your camera housing against the platform isn't recommended as the swaying motion of the trunk affects resolution.

As the Warren National Park is out of town, the Bicentennial Tree is less frequented and hence less busy than the Gloucester Tree, this would be the choice of climbing trees. I was going to also climb the Gloucester Tree later that day when back in town, the lines to climb the tree somewhat shocked me - it was an easy decision to not to make the second climb later that day. I had been up the tree seven years prior so it wasn't as if I required the challenge, the crowd up top was noisy so I had no qualms about not making the effort.

As I was on the top platform admiring the view, a young guy climbed through and armed with a Nikon DSLR took a series of shots. I offered to let him down first as this young Swiss guy from Berne was pretty slick and I knew I would be holding him back. I was surprised when I made it to the halfway platform to see him walking away from the base of the tree, still plodding along I made it down and off to a meal at the bush tables with the local flies.

Hanging out on Sipadan

I have only had one dive trip to Sipadan Island, in my mind I would be coming back every second year - that was 2007 and I can't believe I haven't returned. I have been diving in South East Asia many times since, it just isn't Malaysia and it hasn't been at Sipadan Island.

I had an amazing time with twenty eight dives over ten days in this Malaysian diving oasis. The dives were great, well, they were better than great, they were fantastic. I made a bunch of new friends, it is just unfortunate that after too many years have elapsed, we are no longer in contact. Sipadan Island is one of the world's great diving destinations, I am privileged to have dived there once, I know I have to return soon.

Understanding economic policymaking

I stayed true to my first Coursera outing from the very well credentialed Madrid based IE Business School immediately signing up for Understanding Economic Policymaking beginning a mere couple of weeks after the late completion of Critical Perspectives on Management online class.

I am very excited about this class with the first week kicking off with the basic variables of GDP, inflation and unemployment. The second week will look into macroeconomics and ask questions regarding business cycles. Fiscal policy will be the focus of the third week, monetary policy covered on week four with the fifth and sixth weeks concentrating on the effects of economic policy making. 

I am really looking forward to this class despite the fact that I am currently undertaking two university units and working full time. I won't be able to complete the assignments for this course, I will take solace in downloading the lectures to watch at a later date and I hope I will be able to at least get involved in some of the discussion forums. I reckon get on board and support the great work of Coursera, they have some really interesting courses.

Hanging in Amed

When heading on my yearly pilgrimage to Bali, I avoid Kuta as much as I can. The peaceful lifestyle I can experience up on Bali's east coast makes my trip worthwhile, I am here to relax, leaving the stress of my employment at home.

I work as a lecturer at a vocational college developing engineering tradespeople for industry. For undertaking professional development in my own time, I am awarded an extra week at the end of the teaching period so Bali is my usual destination - I refer to it as my short holiday.

The week before Christmas is my unwind period, I always return to spend Christmas with the family and then engage in normal post festive season activities. I see this as a free holiday as that week is in recognition of all the extra work throughout the year, it would be a shame to waste it away.

Ironically, as I study at a university utilising a trimester system, I bring my assignments, reference books and prescribed reading with me. I am still undertaking my uni work during this period, where else would be a better place to undertake study anyway?

Amed is an area not well patronised by Australians, Europeans and British prefer Amed with its picturesque bays, rocky coastline and green foliage, well it is green during the wet season at Christmas. There are no real bars, definitely no nightclubs, bar girls or nightlife - it is a room close to the water listening to the breaking waves.

Daytime activities include diving coral reefs, the Liberty wreck at nearby Tulamben, eating out at the many small restaurants and cafes and driving around visiting the local villages. Some people turn their noses up at Bali, I prefer not to be a destination snob, getting out of the Kuta trap and interacting with the locals is a great experience.

Media bias in Australia

I had to write a university paper on democracy and the media, so as part of my research, I looked at media bias in newspapers and was frankly gobsmacked. 

Throughout the course, we we asked to view the world through the perspective of the left wing paradigm, balanced tuition at undergraduate level at most Australian universities is unheard of unless you are studying business - even then you are bombarded with left wing ideals. 

I decided to research my paper from a right wing perspective as when we shared our short essays online; I noticed more than a little prevalence of the left wing perspective based on our learning material and instruction - I thought I might have a little fun.  

According to Andrew Leigh's research, with the exception of The Guardian and Fairfax, the Australian media is pretty much neutral. The chart displays just four news outlets with News Corporation being the most neutral and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation not far from the pace. The full reference grouping is not listed on the chart, just a number of interesting examples, the rest fall between the slightly left/slightly right bias.

A couple of caveats, the research of Andrew Leigh and Joshua Gans is a little contentious. Leigh, a former Australian National University economist may be interpreted loosely by some as somewhat bias as Leigh is currently a politician for the Australian Labor Party, or more simply - the left perspective. One also has to remember though, their work has been peer reviewed and published. 

Also consider, their research may be deemed fairly accurate as many would argue, you don't need a university education to appreciate The Guardian and Fairfax are left learning, the News Corp and ABC results are somewhat surprising though. 

Interestingly, News Corp is often accused of a right bias and the ABC having a left bias, the numbers would indicate otherwise. Likewise, Fairfax and The Guardian are no surprise either with their strong left wing bias. The United States tends to have a distinct left bias in reporting according to their research with a more neutral reporting stance in Australia - who would have guessed?

Reflecting on "Critical perspectives on management"

Now, after undertaking my first MOOC, that is, a massive open online course, I can reflect on what I have learnt. This is, after all, learning for learning's sake.

A Facebook page was set up to discuss topics with an independent LinkedIn page also running, my preference was LinkedIn as I prefer that particular platform to Facebook, the Facebook page was better patronised by students with over 6000 members compared to the 450 LinkedIn members so I expect this to be the preferred option for the majority of students. Published on the fifth week, there were 11,700 participants on the course, if the standard 5% pass rate is applied, 585 students out of the cohort will pass the course.

A lot of supplementary information was posted on the Facebook page that made compelling reading, to a lesser extent the LinkedIn page had a fair degree of activity too. Collaboration between students is interesting, plenty was learnt from peers with informed viewpoints, I posted some information too hoping it would be of value to other participants.

Online lectures were shot in the IE Business School lecture rooms utilising current students, questions were asked throughout the lectures providing a degree of feedback, further specific feedback comes via the discussion forum. The video lectures were of high quality providing the bulk of the learning outcomes, supplementary written materials were a combination of off-the-shelf reports and custom readings.  

The course started with the Roman grain trade viewing such concepts of information, transaction costs, institutional dilemma, agent dilemma and logistics - this really sets the tone for globalisation, it has, after all, been going on for a long long time. This involved two weeks of online lectures and readings and really laid the foundations of the learning environment.

Moving into the third week, the shipping container was tackled defining innovation and how world trade was rationalised making the world smaller increasing cost-effective trade between nations. Really, this was building on the globalisation paradigm utilising modern logistical techniques and technologies. 

Week four investigated entrepreneurship, the power of narrative and home buying as an investment and real estate bubbles; irrational behaviour in the housing market was tackled. Very interesting for a guy living in an overpriced residential housing market. 

Shareholder value was discussed during week 5; a minor case study examining Apple and the return of cash to shareholders was examined. Of course, it is difficult to be critical of a business currently at the top of its game.

The sixth and final week focused on the case major study - the rise and rapid fall of Nokia. I had always thought the rapid implementation of the smart phone had sunk Nokia, Rolf asked us to reexamine this misconception. This case study provided a thought provoking review of the past six weeks encapsuling the essence of critical perspectives on management.   
   

An online quiz was set up for each week of the course, you get two attempts with the highest mark recorded. The quizzes are timed with a 30 minute deadline for six questions, this allowed the participant to research each answer from the course material, of course, you need to know where to find the answer and had better be prepared. The final exam had 14 questions with an hour and a half time limit, this was somewhat harder than the quizzes with an average 8.23 mark and 4897 submissions. 

The course went overtime and was extended - was I concerned? No, I very much enjoyed the interaction and structure of the course. I understood the sequence, presentation style and flow - for a free course, I learnt plenty.

Thai long tail boats

On some Thai diving expeditions, I have had the pleasure to dive in small groups on long tail boats. Some would say these look awful, for me, no - but I appreciate other views. The advantage of these small watercraft ferrying divers out to sites is that groups are small - a perfect dive platform. 

Diving in Thailand for me has seen large groups mixed with different levels in scuba factory type settings - I vowed never to dive in Thailand a number of times. Sometimes, all you see underwater is other divers and I am willing to forgo a little comfort to improve my Thai dive experiences.

Of course, these vessels are not for everyone, getting in and out of the water can be a little challenging for some. That being said, I can't emphasise enough the value of diving in small groups, it is worth the long tail ride. The engine is swivel mounted on a frame connected to the propeller shaft. 

The skipper steers by manipulating the engine frame and can lift the propeller out of the water to stop drive if needed, all in all, not too bad for dive sites not requiring a long trip. Yep, I am more than happy to dive from long tail boats and miss the usual Thai crowds.