Kangaroo Island!!!

On Friday I went to class like normal, then got home and packed my bags. 2 of my friends and I were going to Kangaroo Island for the weekend! We knew which bus we had to catch so we had to walk about 20 minutes to the bus stop and got there early. The bus we were supposed to take (the 400) came and we got on but it was an earlier bus than we had anticipated getting on. We drove for awhile and then the bus stopped and we were told it was the last stop. We got off the bus totally confused because it was a 400 and it was supposed to go to the airport. Thankfully the stop he let us off at had another 400 come along and this one was indeed going to the airport. We got on that bus and got to the airport at 6:50 pm (the plane was leaving at 8:45). We were flying Tiger Airways (which I DONT recommend) and at 7 pm one of the guys at the desk called final call for our flight. The whole line was trying to get on our flight and everyone started to panic. Then he realized that he called last call an hour early. Our flight ended up being delayed an hour anyway which they failed to inform us of until after we were supposed to board. We finally got into Adelaide and to the hostel around midnight. It was COLD! Brrr! The hostel was really cool looking... it kind of reminded me of the houses in Boston that are narrow but have the super high ceilings. Just our luck, the hostel was lacking heat! So I slept in ALL the clothes I brought and still froze my butt off!
We woke up at 5 am on Saturday morning and was SOOO cold! And I walked out of the room and into the hall way and some people in the middle of the night had used the fire extinguisher all over the hallway... what a mess! Not really sure why, there was no fire to my knowledge but I’m not positive. We got picked up outside our hostel at 6 am by the tour we were taking. We drove in the bus for about 2 hours to get down to the ferry and out to the island. By that time it was raining, along with it still being freezing. That night they were predicting snow in the mountains of Adelaide, and here the mountains aren’t very high either. We rode the ferry across to Kangaroo Island and drove around the island for awhile.





We found a couple of them and then went on our way to see the Bird of Prey show. It was the coolest one I have ever seen because we actually got to hold the birds! I got to hold a kestrel (which is a type of falcon) as well as a Kookaburra (which was by far the coolest!).








After that they led us down to the beach where we got to see a bunch of Australian Sea Lions. They were everywhere, in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. It was cool because one came really close to us!







Because of the rain we had to change our plans a little bit and our guide took us down to a deserted beach and we went on a walk up the river. The river was brown because of the oil from the tea trees!





It was neat because our tour guide grew up on the island so he knew where to take us to find cool stuff, and to not be in crowded areas. It was cool to see because a lot of places were where he had hung out growing up. He was telling us that growing up on the island was quite an experience because there is nothing really to do. So he really learned to appreciate nature and what is has to offer. There was no cinema, bowling alley, mall, nothing like that. So as kids they did a lot of goofing around at the beaches and in the countryside. We then went up to “Little Sahara” and got the opportunity to try out sand boarding! We climbed to the top of a sand dune and rode wooden sleds down it. It was so much fun! It was a bit rainy so that kind of stunk and it was also super windy but it was fun all the same. It was a bit too rainy and the sand was a bit too sticky (and I was just bad at it) to get down the hill on the board that was similar to a snowboard. I got part of the way down the hill and wasn’t getting caught by the momentum and gave up. It is incredibly hard for people to make it down the hill without falling and I really didn’t feel like falling and getting hurt either. By the end of it I had figured out how to run and throw the sled under me and fly down the hill on my stomach. It was great fun! By the end I had sand in every place imaginable! Even in the pockets of my jeans, it was crazy! Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any pictures as he told us our cameras would most likely get ruined if we brought them and I didn’t want that. After that our guide took us down to the ocean to a spot where the ocean is especially powerful and we just hung out there for awhile. We waited for it to get dark and then we went looking for fairy penguins! They spend all day in the water and then come back up on the shore after dark. They had to walk up this huge hill of rocks to get back to their holes so we waited for them and then got to see them climbing the hill. They are surprisingly good at climbing up the rocks! There were also a couple of babies around so it was cool to get to see them too. When we were back at the cabin around the fire our guide found an echidna and caught it! It was so exciting because it is one animal I haven’t been able to see in the wild yet! I got to touch it and it was very spiny, reminds me a lot of a porcupine.




On Sunday we were awoken with the smell of pancakes. Our guide had made us pancakes for breakfast! Yummm! We then went on a koala walk where we saw at least 10 koalas, and 3 kangaroos.






We then went over to a place called seal bay and saw a bunch of New Zealand fur seals. They were funny to watch as they interacted with each other and swam around. We also got to experience Admiral’s Arch which was pretty cool.






We then drove over to the Remarkable Rocks, which were indeed pretty remarkable! It was weird to see them sitting there, as they are really in the middle of nowhere, and the formations are so random! We got to climb all over the rocks, and really get to see every bit of them.







Because of the weather, we then checked out an old one room schoolhouse and it was pretty neat to see how they used to have schools.



Then because of the weather we went over to a honey factory. We learned that around the world bees are being infected with a fungus and the bees on Kangaroo Island do not have any of them so they are being exported to places around the entire world. We checked out the factory, had some honey bee ice cream, chocolate covered honeycomb and just hung out. We then got back on the ferry and took it back to the mainland, and yes, it was STILL rainy and cold! We got back to Adelaide around 9 pm and went wandering for a restaurant to eat dinner at. We ended up at this nice, little Italian restaurant and I had a super delicious pasta. It had lobster in it with a tomato cream sauce. We stayed in the same hostel and we made sure to ask for extra blankets this time! It was much warmer tonight, it was comfortable even though the heat was still lacking!

On Monday we woke up early again, and went to catch our flight. We got to fly Qantas this time which was WONDERFUL! Unfortunately though, the flight was delayed due to weather in Sydney. It was so nice being on Qantas though, the service was great, there was so much space at our seats, and we got individual TVs! It was also nice because we got breakfast on the plane! We were not expecting it so it made it that much better. We arrived back in Sydney and I went home and spent the rest of the day catching up on life and finishing up a paper that was due tuesday.

Mid semester break!

So for one of my classes (Life in Arid Lands) we are required to go on a field trip over mid-semester break. We went out to the Uni’s research station called Fowler’s Gap. It is in the middle of the desert... 2 hours from the closest town (called Broken Hill). Somewhere on the trip there it went from to this:

We were out there to do some labs, as well as some research of our own.

On Saturday I had to wake up before dawn as our train left the station at 7:10. I had to catch the bus to the station, which was a bit scary because I had NO idea where I was going. I managed just fine though thankfully and made it to the station on time. As many things here, the station looks like it is right out of Harry Potter! It is darker inside; it is made of stone with high ceilings and pillars. I really wanted to ask where platform 9 and 3/4 was but I refrained. I meant to take a picture of it but I forgot. Oh well! So we got on the train, and then a bus, and then another bus and arrived at Fowler’s Gap at about 1 am. It was so cool, as we were on the buses (especially the second) there were kangaroos everywhere. Unfortunately they were jumping all over the road and there were a few as roadkill. We didn’t end up hitting any though so that was relieving. It was still crazy to see them hopping around everywhere! It felt like a dream! As we got to Fowler’s Gap we talked about accommodation and we were supposed to be staying in 2 rooms of 16 but there were a few extra of us so some of us had to stay up at the house. I was lucky enough to be picked! We got to stay up at the house, in a room of two, with a bathroom of our own, and electric blankets! We were so lucky! The only downfall is that it was right by the kitchen so when people got up early to prepare breakfast they often woke us up but it was totally worth it!

We woke up on Sunday and ate breakfast and had to listen to the plans for the week. It sounded like it was going to be a very busy week! As people were finishing up breakfast a couple of the other girls and I found 2 friendly kangaroos. Come to find out that they were hand raised by the family who lives there and then released into the wild. They stay around the buildings as they often get food and are very friendly! It was cool to hang out with them for a bit, they are such unique animals!

We then went out into the field and began setting up our pitfall traps to catch invertebrates and small mammals for one of our pracs (practicals). We did that for awhile as we had to dig 40 of them. We went back in for lunch and then that afternoon my group went to do the prac on the mammals and inverts. Because of the heat in the desert most organisms are nocturnal so we hadn’t caught much by the time we went to look, just a couple of ants. We also had to try to estimate the vegetative cover in the area and that was super tedious! We had to walk 20 meters and then check if there was vegetation every 50 centimetres and estimate that way. We had to do that 20ish times. It took forever! We finally finished, went back in for dinner and had a short speaker that night. He spoke about the station and a bit of the history of it. Thankfully it was short and sweet as we were all so tired!

Monday consisted of 2 more practicals. For the first one we were dropped out in the middle of nowhere with only a water trough and a bunch of sheep in sight. We were looking at the impact of grazing on vegetative cover with distance from a water source. So I counted a lot of poo that morning and a few plants as well. While we were waiting to begin, some wild goats wandered over which was pretty cool. They are not native to the environment and generally cause quite a bit of damage on the native species of both plants and animals.

That afternoon our prac looked at the abundance of birds with the size of the water body. So we just sat there and bird watched at 3 different water sources. It was actually quite fun, although there were some loud people in my group that kept scaring the birds away. People were beginning to get frustrated with them, including the demonstrator. We saw some pretty cool birds though, coming in really all shapes and sizes.

We had to pick the groups we were going to do our independent research with for the next 3 days and unfortunately the group I thought I was working with had another girl sneak her way in at the last second and couldn’t say no and since I wasn’t there my spot was lost in that group. So it kind of stunk because I ended up having to work with another group that I didn’t really know. But I ended up very thankful that I didn’t work with the original group. So it didn’t turn out so bad after all! That night we got to have a bonfire and just hung out and relaxed for a bit before heading to bed. It was a great way to get to know each other a bit more.

Tuesday we started our independent research projects. We went with the idea of looking at the impact of Eucalyptus trees on the diversity and abundance of plants around them. It was fairly easy to collect data because they don’t move (hence why we didn’t use animals), and we didn’t have to be out there at any specific time of day. It was actually quite chilly all the days we were there surprisingly. I wore at least a northface fleece and jeans every day, if not even more. But anyway, it was easy to collect data but extremely boring. We were counting plants for hours every day and these plants were less than an inch tall so it was quite tedious. We did that for about 6 or 7 hours the first day and knocked out most of the data collection.

That night we had a speaker talk about life out in the middle of the desert and what it is like to raise a family and such and it was like 2 hours long! It was sooo long! And we were all so exhausted, so we were having a hard time staying awake! We felt bad, but he talked until 11 pm and we had been out running around all day. After that we just went to bed. We even decided that we were too tired for dessert, which hardly ever happens at this age!

Wednesday we continued on with our research, another boring day of counting tiny plants. Today we resorted to playing 20 questions all day to at least keep our minds semi-entertained. It was funny, took me back to being a kid. Haha! Definitely the highlight of the day was the wildlife that we got to see! We saw many wild roos, emus, and even a shingleback lizard! We even got to see a family of emus with chicks (the dad cares for them, not the mom) and a couple of mother kangaroos with their joeys! So cool! It is still odd to be seeing wildlife that looks so different than anything i have ever seen before!

We finished up our data collection in about 4 hours and then began to work on our data for a bit. After dinner we got to go stargazing and OH MY GOSH! I have NEVER see any stars CLOSE to comparable to this. It was absolutely stunning! I wish i could have taken a picture so that you could see exactly what i was talking about. It was strange though to not look for the big dipper haha! We could see the milky way, as well as the southern cross which is the famous constellation here. It is even on the Australian flag so it was cool to see.

After stargazing we got to go spotlighting which consists of driving around in the dark with a spotlight and looking for things. We saw probably between 10 and 20 kangaroos and some let us get surprisingly close. It was pretty neat! I would love the opportunity to do that again!

Thursday we spent all day cooped up inside doing our data analysis and working on our PowerPoint presentation. We then presented to the full group that night, and listened to other people’s projects. Some were quite interesting, others not as much. After that we had another fire and just hung out. We left at 1:30 that morning so we were doing whatever we could to stay awake. I don’t think I have ever played so many games of spoons in my life! Like I said, we left the station at 1:30 am, got on the bus at 3:45 am and switched to the train at 2:00 pm and FINALLY got back to Sydney around 9pm Friday. My Canadian friends that I travelled with last time I was here were there to greet me and it was wonderful to see them! I haven’t seen them in over a year. They came back to the apartment with me and we hung out around the town for a bit before going to bed. They had to get up early to catch their flight as it left at 10am. I spent the rest of the day hanging out, catching up on some school work, going for a run, getting groceries, doing laundry, and enjoying the weather. Today was the first day that I would say it was legit HOT! The beach was absolutely packed! I would bet that people had no more than a foot in every direction before hitting another person. I didn’t actual go lay on it, I just saw it as I was running by and decided to just enjoy the weather from my balcony instead. I have the apartment to myself and I am loving it. A bit of quiet every now and then make me very happy and relaxed. I haven’t seen my roommates for over a week which is strange. Like I said though, I’m enjoying the peace and quiet. I don’t anticipate it lasting much longer though as the first roommate is back tomorrow afternoon. Oh well! Well today in the states is the big OSU vs USC game... GO BUCKEYES! And then Sunday is Vikings vs Cleveland... GO VIKES! Hopefully it will be a double win, guess we will have to wait and see!

Miss you all and please comment,

Val :)