On Top of The World - or atleast Stradbroke

Me on the top of the dune!
The group walking on water...well, a mudflat anyways
Mangrove Roots

I can't believe it's been so long since I've written...when WAS the last time I wrote? Monday we started Coastal Forest Ecosystems. We had one lecture in the morning and then we headed out for our field trip. We went to a wet sclerophyll forest (this is adapted for low moisture and low nutrients) and did a survey of the vegetation in the area. We learned to identify eucalypts, melaleucas (paper barks), and some rainforest vegetation. It was great fun and only rained for a few minutes.

Tuesday was also fun. We learned about fires in the morning, because apparently Eucalyptus is highly flammable. We learned to date grass trees in the morning by counting the rings around the trunk. Then it rained and I had forgotten to bring my rain jacket. We went off to the beach to eat lunch...I am so sick of peanut butter that I opted for a luna bar instead. We finished up the afternoon with a little hike, a gelato break, and surveying vegetation in a heath shrubland. I got bitten alive by mosquitos. That night we celebrated a birthday...my professor basically came into the library where we were studying for his test tonight and said, and I quote, "Bring your bloody books and come to the damn bar!" So, I went to the pub, had some cake, went back and fell happily asleep.

This morning I got up and went bird watching! So cool! Then, we had a fun hike to Blue Lake, which is a men's lake for the Aborigines. We also climbed a dune and looked out over the world! For lunch we had the same thing...but they forgot the peanut butter... :( Then, this afternoon we had our first lecture on mangroves. We visited Myora Springs mangroves...sticky icky mud! I took a walk to the cemetary when we got back. I gorged myself at dinner, probably because I'm starved during the day. Now, I have to go take a test.

-Signing off!