We are now in the end of DR write up time.  I have been working on my project for the past two weeks and am very excited for it to be over.  No matter how interesting a topic is, staring at a computer screen gets boring pretty fast.  My power point presentation is tomorrow and then the actual paper is due Saturday.  I have 18 different graphs and 3 tables in my results section.  It is a bit rediculous, but really cool because I have never done such an indepth sceintific study on my own before.  Not much time to write at the moment, I have to go back to work.

This Saturday marked the official end of DR field research and the beginning of write up time.  On Sunday, our free day, 12 of us went to Lamb’s Range to hike up the mountain.  It was a 12 kilometer hike, with a 6-7 hour estimated return.  The day started out beautifully, if a bit hot.  We chose to start the hike on the less steep side of the mountain in expectation that going down the steeper side would be much more enjoyable than going up it.  The trail had 5 main lookouts along the way.  When we stopped at the first one it was breathtaking.  Since the entire trail was enclosed by vegetation up to this point we had no idea how far up we were, nor how far we could see.  But when we climbed out onto the protruding boulder we could see a jeweled landscape open up below us.  It was amazing.  At the second look out we stopped for lunch.  The fourth look out was arguably the best of the lot.  It opened up out onto a valley, with a slight shelf on the edge of the cliff that was covered in springy moss idea for sitting upon.  There were wild flowers covering the side and a seemingly endless valley of trees below us.  To the right was a huge lake and beyond that Cairns.  To the left we could see the beginnings of the Tablelands.  The return trail was impossibly steep.  I don’t believe it is possible for people to make it up that way.  We slide at least half the way down, it was easier than trying to walk down.  When we reached the bottom we were just over 6 hours and incredibly sweaty, so we stopped at Davey’s Creek on the way out of the park to go for a swim.  Everyone stripped down an jumped in.  The cool water felt wonderful after the long hot hike.  The sun was setting as we drove home, coloring the sky and clouds gorgeous oranges, purples and reds.  As we drove a storm began on the horizon and we watched the lighting send streaks of fire through the clouds, occasionally striking the ground.  One time we saw a fire off the side of the road that must have been the result of a lighting strike.  We had just enough energy by the time we got home to make dinner before all heading off to bed.  It was a most enjoyable, if tiring, day.

This Sunday a group of us went to visit Phil.  He is an aboriginal man who makes didgeridoos.  It is really quite amazing.  He can look at a person and know which piece of wood is just right for them.  To get the raw wood he and his brother Pat go out to Chillagoe and look for the trees that have been hollowed out by termites.  They cut these trees down, after asking permission of course, and take them back home to be fashioned into instruments.  When we got there he had several pieces laid out for us and after looking us over he picked out one for each of us.  Next we got to begin the process of making them.  We each got a chisel and a mallet and made the opening at the bottom of the didg wider.  After we had finished hacking away we got sandpaper to smooth it down.  Next came bark removal with a machete, which was really fun.  The knife slid through the wood like butter.  Phil and Pat used power tools to smooth the outsides of our didges.  It was so cool to watch the different colors of the wood reveal themselves.  You never would have guessed how different each piece would look from the outside.  After the sanding was complete we coated them in varnish and left them to dry while Phil showed us how to play on some other didges he had.  We left knowing that he would pick out a unique totem for each of us and when he presented them on Thursday not only would we have a beautiful instrument, but it would be made just for us and fit our personalities.

Last weekend was our weekend in Cairns (pronounced cans).  We got dropped off there Saturday afternoon after classes were finished.  Everyone made a huge group and started looking for the hostel we were staying in.  After a bit of a wander we foung it and got all settled in then walked around the city in smaller groups.  There were many cute shops and eateries but it was a bit overwhelmin after being away from cities for so long.

Sunday morning we woke up early to catch the boat out to the reef.  It was amazing.  After an hours ride or so out we stopped in the bluest water imaginable and there was the reef.  You could actually see it fron the boat the water was so clear.  There were so many fish there.  My favorite was definitly the parrot fish.  They’re huge and bright purple and teal and such colors and really look like parrots.  The front of their faces look like beaks even.  It was amazing.  After a whole day spent snorkeling I was willing to be dragged out of the water to return to the city.  The sun was setting on the way home.  It reflected on the water and made everything pink, purple and gold.  Gorgeous.  We had dinner at a cute little pizza place before being picked up to return to the centre.

This past weekend was homestay weekend.  Different local families adopted small groups of students for the weekend.  Lilly and I went to stay with John and Pauline, an older couple who live outside of Malanda.  Pauline made amazing food for us.  Saturday we went out to Etty Bay, about an hours drive.  It was a wonderful day, warm and relaxing.  Right before we got ready to leave a Cassowary and juvenile walked onto the beach right in front of us.  It was so cool!.  They are pretty rare so it was really exciting to see one.  And then, when we were driving out from the beach there was another adult crossing the road, we stopped the car directly in front of it.  Sunday we took a driving trip around the Tablelands area.  We saw several of the small towns in the area; Malanda, Ravenshoe (pronounced Ravens -hoe not Raven - shoe).  Before we had to be dropped off in Yungaburra to go back to the center our homestay parents took us to Gallo Dairy, where we saw a rotary milking barn and got some really good chocolate.  All in all it was a wonderful weekend.

This weekend was the Yungaburra Folk Festival.  On Friday night a group of us were dropped off to volunteer, I worked a fun 5 hours behind on of the bars next to a performance space.  The music was really cool, pretty different from a lot of what I have heard before.  There was, of course, Australian Folk music but there was also a lot of Celtic music that everyone got up to dance for, myself included.  I didn’t get back to the center until after midnight.  Saturday morning we did data processing for our DR’s and then got dropped off in Yungaburra again, first for the monthly market and then to the festival to walk around.  People who had not volunteered last night volunteered Saturday.  We had a deal with the people running the festival, each person volunteers for 6 hours and we get into the festival for free.  A weekend ticket was normally $85, so this was really nice of them.  I had a fun time walking around and listening to all the music.  The whole group camped there overnight and in the morning we had more time to explore.  There was an amazing duo, Nick and Liesel, that we heard, I even ended up buying their CD and getting it signed.  They had a certain style that is a bit hard to describe, it definitely had folk in it but there were many other influences.  All in all it was a very enjoyable weekend.

For the past 5 days I have been on mid-semester break on Magnetic Island, a small island about 6 hours south of Cairns.  it was amazing, we were busy doing things most of the time but it was still nice and relaxing.  I went on a lot of hikes with other students who came with me and a lot of swimming on the beaches.  The last day there we went on the Forts Hike, so named for the defensive forts at the top of the climb.  Along the way we got to see 5 koalas.  They were so cute. They looked like stuffed animals.  The first 2 we saw were a mother and baby in a tree just off the trail right at eye height.  It was so cool.  We were actually able to touch her.  After the hike, we hiked about 3k to get to a beach.  There was almost no-one else there.  It was like the 5 of us had our own private beach.  That was our last day on break but it was a good one.  The next morning we had to pack up and clean the house where we had been staying to catch a bus, then a ferry and then another bus back to Cairns to be picked up by the staff to go back to the center.

 Today was the start of DR’s, directed research projects.  I will be working with turtles for the rest of the semester, snappers and saw-shells.  We had turtle collection today, caught 12 of them which was exciting.  Tomorrow will be more of the same and then voluneering at the Yungabarra Folk Festival tomorrow night.

Yesterday we began the day with a lecture from Siggy. After we all piled into the vans to go to a different segment of the rainforest, called Mamu. It is an informational educational park of sorts. There is a canopy walk there that we went on. It is a raised platform that is high enough up to put you in the lower canopy level. It was pretty cool there. Some people got to see Cassowary. I sadly didn’t.

We went to another section of rainforest after that to hike to a waterfall. It was about a 4k hike to the big falls. It was a really pretty hike, I saw a golden orb spider along the way, and a whole bunch of other cool things that I don’t know the names for. When we got to the big falls we all went swimming. It was awesome. The falls were really heavy but some of us climbed up the rocks behind them anyway. It wasn’t as bad as it would be in the wet season. It was so much fun to sit in and behind the falls. It hurt a bit when the water was hitting you but it wasn’t really that painful. Whenever the falls shifted a bit we were out of the direct stream and could see better. I got some neat pictures underneath the falls and behind it. And the best part…all of this counted as class time.

This past week we spent a few days in Chillagoe, which is almost the outback but not quite.  It was super hot there though.  The first night we camped at an Eco-lodge.  The second night we traveled to Uncle Tom’s. He is an Aboriginal elder. We camped there that night.  Almost no-one set up tents, we all slept under the stars. After dinner Uncle Tom’s grandsons performed Aboriginal dances for us and played the didgeridoo. I took videos of some of the dancing. After they were done with the performance they invited us up to learn some of their moves. Then they invited us to show them some of ours. It was really fun. We stayed up telling stories and riddles and playing games around the campfires.  The stars were gorgeous. And the moon, so cool. You could see the dark side too.

In the morning Uncle Tom told us about his history and his culture.  Then one of his sons helped us learn to throw boomerangs and spears, which was pretty neat.  Then we all piled back into the vans and headed back to CRS.

This weekend the group went to Malanda Falls and Granite Gorge.  Malanda was beautiful.  It is part of the World Heritage site here in the Australian Wet Tropics.  We were given a tour of the rainforest by Uncle Ernie, an aboriginal tribal elder.  We saw several trees that were over 500 years old.  They were absolutely amazing, really huge.  We also got to see a group of turtles swimming in a river below us.  After the walk we ate lunch at Malanda Falls.  It is a waterfall about 4 meters high with a lake at the bottom.  We went swimming in it after we ate.  On Sunday, our free day here with SFS, we took a group trip to Granite Gorge.  The main attraction is a tribe of rock wallabies that will come to you when you offer food, and sometimes even if you don’t.  They were adorable.  One of the females had a joey in her pouch.  The head poked out while we were watching.  There was also a swimming hole there that we got to use.  A big rock in the center was perfect for jumping off.  All in all it was an amazing weekend.

                                                                                                    -Carolyn