Bye bye LEI...

I can't believe I went to bed before 9 last night. Just call me mom.

You'd think after getting that much sleep getting up for the 6 am snorkel would be easy. False. Absolutely false.

We had a pretty good turnout this morning for the snorkel, I'd gander about 12 or so including Bob, me and Jayna. We didn't see a whole lot of colorful fish aside from the rabbitfish, butterflyfish, parrotfish... the usual. However, we found our pack of baby barracudas again except this time they were being chased about by a massive fish (name unknown to me) that was trying fervently to grab a bite. In addition the bottom of the ocean was swarming with massive grouper, each anywhere from 2-3 feet long. Big, big fish.

It was a morning of the green sea turtles though, these guys were everywhere and quite friendly. Sylvia let me borrow her wetsuit which was great for me but it doesn't allow the wearer to dive deep. It was probably a good thing though, given my ears. I dove down anyways which was an uphill battle but I got some epic sea turtle pictures. It's definitely worth the pain.

It was nice to have a big chunk of time before leaving LEI. We had the quiz that morning as well as a review. The rest of the waiting time was spent looking at Jayna's (incredible) photos. I'm talking amazing.

Once we finally were summoned to leave, it turns out that Kyle L. and I were on a separate and absolutely tiny plane. It had about 7 passengers and two pilots. However, promptly after we took off one of the pilots went to sleep and the other was doing his log books. I felt safe. Oh, and we were given earplugs. It was that noisy.

The takeoff was terrifying and the landing equally so. The ride to Noosa was far less thrilling. Bob (human) got an email from Simon that informed us that Bob (glider) had died. Not the happy news we were thirsty for. Poor Simon.. he loved that little guy!

The grocery shopping for the students was absolute mayhem, mainly on my part since the rooming arrangements were swapped up and I was doing math at warp speed while students were asking questions I didn't have answers to. I think my brain is fried.

Lucky for me, Coral Beach Resort is practically luxury accommodations. Not only that, but JoAnn found a cane toad! I literally dropped all my luggage, jumped the unsuspecting critter and proceeded to parade this warty creature around the complex, knocking on each room and shoving him in the faces of the residents.

It's actions like this that make me confident that I'm well suited for this position.

Ohhh barracuda..

Something about a 6am snorkel is just magical. I do wish we had more sunshine though...

It was a “typical” snorkel for LEI: turtles, a bunch of baby barracudas, a squid, plenty of parrotfish and the like. Joey, ahead of the troop, saw a 5 ft + long grey reef shark.

The winds were awful and the currents were pretty wretched as well but it was still a wonderful experience. It's hard to call any snorkeling experience on the Great Barrier Reef a bad time.

After snorkeling at 6 I had a short 3 hour break to eat breakfast, watch cute little buff-banded rails sneak my bread and enter in more data from last night. With no time to dry, I grabbed the snorkel mask, fins and camera (all the essentials for this island) and hopped on the shuttle to the boat.

It was a sunny morning, unusual for this trip, and the mantas were out. Almost as if we were watching hawks from above, the mantas encircled large isolated blocks of reef, feeling as they swam. Diving down time and time again, I was able to get a close look at them. Regrettable, since my ear isn't fond of the pressure and it still hurts. Worth it.

We also saw several sea turtles feeding on the bottom, mostly greens but I suspect that one was a hawksbill. Once we all reached the bulk of the reef, the sunshine pierced through the very large waves, revealing the brilliant colors that the fish possessed.

I think I have an unhealthy obsession with parrotfish.

All the time in the world simply isn't enough to take in all the wonders that the Great Barrier Reef has to offer. Fully exhausted though, we all took the chilly ride back to the LEI main area and lazed by the pool before lunch.

I've never napped so much in my life- I suppose to invading ear infection probably didn't help matters much seeing as I woke up still shaky on my legs and under the firm impression that the room was slowly rocking side to side. I'm really relieved that reception had medicine. And I brought ibuprofen. An ear infection would definitely be a one way trip to pain city and a near ruined rest of the trip.

We had a tour of the island facilities by Bob, one of the the many Bobs working here. He showed us the desalination plant that is used on the island as well as the giant array of solar panels that the island's power is derived from. From there the whole group assembled on the opposite side of the isle to see the sunset.

Tonight's evening was filled with food, an intriguing interlude from the dive instructors involving peppers, and more lecture time. I made a valiant attempt to find some critters on the beach after sunset which was mildly successful.... a stray ghost crab. I think the wind was just far too strong to (a) lure any animals out to play and (b) see into the water.

It's like a sea cucumber minefield...

Best way to start a morning on LEI: sprint around the airstrip and then watch the sunrise. Can't get much better than that.

Shortly after breakfast Jayna had us scheduled for a reef walk. In short, this is a hike through the reef flat maze that we snorkeled in yesterday. Rather than a maze, it was a minefield dotted with sea cucumber and razor sharp coral just dying to slice into all intruder's flesh. Sound cozy, right? Further evidence that Australia likes to kill people.

Mere minutes into the entire affair, the rain started to pour. It was so laughably cold and miserable. I think Carnarvon's hatred has followed me here. However, during the bizarre storm, a gorgeous double rainbow was visible just to the south of us. Perhaps it's a promise that the weather will improve? I think I'm asking too much.

We saw the usual reef flat residents including deep blue starfish, clams that were the color of the brightest peacocks, more sea cucumbers, and coral with blue pigments to protect them from the sun.

Someone in our group managed to find a hermit crab... a big one. It was interesting the way he behaved. He would steadily creep out of his shell and when he got mildly frightened, quickly retract back in. When you're holding this the feeling is quite similar to the kickback a gun offers. He was such a cute little bugger: bright vibrant red with white spots and furry little legs. Definitely not the typical hermit crab most people picture in their mind when you mention the animal.

Walking all the way to the reef rubble, we continued our trek towards the island again. We encountered a red-eye crab which are quite territorial I have discovered. Lipscomb (our animal snatcher) promptly scooped him up for everyone to see. He's the same one that managed to capture our crawdad in Binna Burra.

On the beach we found two dead crabs which had been completely eaten aside from their hard chitinous shell. Gross, but really quite lovely.

Mandy and I made an attempt to hop on board with the 10:45 boat snorkel but no luck so we waited until the 11:45. It was an absolute blessing. The most torturous part of the entire affair was the trailer ride out to the coral gardens where we waded through the coral rubble to the topsy-turvy glass bottom boat.

The boat ride was short but similar to riding a roller coaster. Although, despite the gentle rise and fall of the very large waves, it was much more gentle than I remember from last year. Nearly immediately after we ventured past the buoy, we spotted a manta ray feeding on the surface. Then we saw another and another.. and another. Throwing ourselves out onto the platforms we all literally jumped ship into the water. Cold, but finally the wind stopped. I'd forgotten how incredible this experience can be. One manta ray after another drifted our way, probably totaling in the neighborhood of about ten mantas. We had a few of the “normal” grey and white ones, a black one, and another unique bugger without a tail. In between the mantas gliding by, we spotted a small white tipped reef shark patrolling the bottom of the ocean. Unfortunately my camera wasn't quite ready and I didn't get a picture. 

There was very little scanning time spent in the water since nearly right after the mantas seemed to have passed a green sea turtle came to play. Like the one yesterday, this little guy was the complete opposite of shy, coming incredibly close and acting as if he enjoyed the shell scratches he nearly consistently received. I even dove down and was able to get a snapshot very close.. sans zoom. I love this place.

Reaching the reef closer to the beach, I dove down countless times to get up close and personal (very personal) with colorful parrotfish, rabbitfish, damselfish, Moorish idols, and plenty more sea cucumber. The picture is of a parrotfish. I find myself so frustrated with the lighting though, the fish are the most spectacular colors and my camera can't seem to handle the array of pigments.

As if we hadn't seen enough, on our way back in we saw an absolutely massive loggerhead turtle in the shallows. I'm talking a meter long. BIG ONE.

A short break later for lunch and I was back at it for a lecture on the ghost crab collection and GBR management. Dinner and then back out again.. this time on the beach doing ghost crab collection.

Blacksburg, VA has wind advisories and these mean business. LEI is no different. It was comically ridiculous, each group battling both wind a rain to count crab burrows and measure distances while their measuring tape flew uncontrollably in the wind. Once the rains started, keeping their data sheets dry was a near impossible task, and I have a lot of sheets that look incredibly akin homemade paper.

Once students actually found some of the little crabs, the activity got a lot more fun. Some even went so far as to dig up the little buggers, grabbing them and often getting pinched in the process. And this is my job.

I love my job.

Hervey to LEI

Can 4 hours actually be counted as a full night's sleep? Delirium has set in.

You'd think after the hellaciousness that was the Carnarvon cold no cold would affect me. Lies, such lies. Ever shivered all night and wait anxiously for the alarm? That happened.

Hervey Bay is a really lovely place- and the run along the beach was fantastic... since it kept me warm. I reached one of the pier outcroppings and scared off a sea hawk of some sort before heading back towards the holiday park while running on the sand. This is real life.

The check out was typical- graded papers flying in the general direction of students, frantic room checks, and absolute confusion. Lucky for us, the Hervey Bay airport was literally a hop, skip and a jump away from the lodge.

Fortune finally smiled on us as we had all our flights switched to 11am, each of the planes held about 14 passengers including the pilot(s). Much bigger than last year.

As terrible as this sounds, fighting sleep on the 40 minute plane was a very common theme. Until we saw Lady Elliot Island...

I fear the Carnarvon weather may have followed us to LEI. Within an hour of our arrival, we had a tour and lunch. Quickly thereafter we hit the water with our snorkel gear in hand.

The air was cold. The water was cold. Seeing a common theme here?

Just as I remember last year, the water was warmer than the air. Hitting the surf, it was an instant start of hyperventilating until my body finally accepted the conditions it was enduring. In the lagoon the water was much more shallow than the “normal” lighthouse entry so everything was CLOSE. Blue starfish, leopard sea cucumbers, triggerfish, damselfish, butterflyfish, all sorts of coral and plenty of unidentifiable critters. Only a mere two hours in to the LEI ordeal I saw inches away from a gorgeous green sea turtle. He unabashedly brushed right by me, poking his head above the ocean surface several times for air. He certainly didn't seem to mind me being there since he hung around for quite a bit before the chills got to me and I bailed for a hot shower.

After lecture and nap time I walked to the opposite side of the island to see the (nonexistent) sunset with no success. Instead, I saw looming dark clouds and fun seashells. Battling the wind tunnel effect, I hiked (quite literally) back to the lecture on Great Barrier Reef critters before dinner.

Despite the green group being here and it being slightly overcrowded, I'm thrilled to be back with the green faculty again. I don't think I've laughed so hard at anything other than ridiculous circumstances.

I might just cry

After swing after swing of bad luck coming our way, the light finally is rounding the corner. The sunrise this morning was acceptable, more than that really. We didn't get equipment to the coach until about noon, but we were FINALLY out by three.

The morning was agonizing playing the waiting game and grading until the coach was out. It apparently kissed the tree on its way out of the rut, but no significant damage. We're very very blessed.

You'd have to refer to the photos of the coach to comprehend the reference.

It was incredible. 

10 hour coach ride.

And tonight I have a bed. That is indoors.

WOW. 

Protect the Dunneys!

Carnarvon must hate me. I think it has a vendetta against my person for what ever reason- a reason that I have yet to determine.

This morning I dragged one of the students to see the sunrise which ended up being clouds with bits of lights shining through. It was rather disappointing I have to confess since I had talked up the sunrises so much before coming here. Such is Carnarvon.

Colin made me a special treat this morning, in addition to the three successive cups of coffee, which was an english muffing with jam and cream. Apparently this combination is quite common among the Ozzies. Many of the students received some puzzled looks from Steve when they questioned the combination. Though, puzzled looks from Steve are certainly not uncommon.

From there we packed our bags with excessive quantities of PB&J (we've gone through pounds of the stuff much to Steve's dismay) and headed to the trail head to start the 14 km of glorious Carnarvon track. Instead of the original plan to split into the platypus and echidna groups, we attacked the footpaths with all 33 of the students meandering somewhat aimlessly behind Simon.

I had to get a photo with Frank, the Sydney blue gum.

Our first stop on the trek was the Art Gallery, which is mildly inappropriately named since it was more of an area for the Aboriginals to document ceremonial processes. It was particularly used for special burials which was evident by the small alcoves towards the bottom of the sandstone that they shoved bodies in. Ceremoniously, of course.

We had a lovely lunch on the rocks by Carnarvon creek in the sunshine which was positively heavenly... aside from the frequent harassment from the Australian ravens. Ward's canyon was our next stop: a picturesque locale with an endemic population of king ferns.

Clambering 200 meters back down to the main trail, Simon led us to the ever-popular Moss Gardens where the sandstone leeks ancient life-giving water. Off the boardwalk we could see a lovely small waterfall as well while Simon talked to us about the CWA (country women's association) who invented the ANZAC biscuit recipe.

While the majority of the students waited, about 8 of us scrambled up Hellhole Gorge, a labyrinth of rocks and waterfalls. Simon pointed out a nice little spring where we tasted some wonderful spring water which was like drinking a combination of moss and dirt. Yum. Passing the point we reached last year, we discovered caverns reminiscent of the Moss Gardens but on a much larger scale. We only had one near casualty where Joey was soaked up to his waist when he miss-stepped.

Walking back the way we came, we passed the dunneys (bathrooms for you non-Ozzie folk) which were surrounded by charred black dirt. The forest rangers here have controlled burns which mimic the Aboriginal form of fire stick farming since so many of the plants around here thrive on fire (pyrophilic). Simon's explanation for their choice in location was simply “protect the dunneys!”

We had an unexpected attendee on the trail: Bob the yellow-bellied glider. Absolutely adorable.

Plopping down in the roo-poo laden grass, Simon had a chat with us about fire use in the gorge. From there we went on a coach hunt... and ended empty handed. How difficult would it be to find a coach?

It wasn't there. Not in the car park, not by the visitor center, no where.

Steve, driving like an absolute maniac, came whizzing around the dirt road. His ute kept becoming airborne as he hit the dirt ramps formed by the heavy rainfall. The news? “Keep walking”.

Lovely. More knowledge would be nice.

So, we began walking back to Takkaraka. Bob came back and forth, picking up the students in the back. We finally reached the coach... and no words can explain what we witnessed.

The entire right side of the bus was off the ground.

Standing around hopelessly was about all we could do other than start to walk back towards the camp. Simon flagged down a friend of his to give us a ride... in the back of a truck. In the cold.

As if the prospect of not leaving Carnarvon wasn't enough, while Steve was cooking us roo for dinner the power went out no less than 4 times, making module writing that much more difficult for everyone. Since we couldn't go out to the airstrip for our usual stargazing activity, we made do with the “boomerang field”. This is the same place that the dingoes attacked the swamp wallaby last year. Safe.

Simon pointed out several constellations including the Emu, a dark constellation that is popular among the Aboriginal mobs nearby. He also pointed out scorpio, libra, the southern cross, and alpha and beta centauri. Using his high-powered telescope, he showed us some star clusters, including some red and blue stars. The blue stars are the hotter of the pair.

The highlight of the night was seeing Saturn, which was unrealistically like the textbook depictions. One difference that was easily noted was that it was devoid of color as our eyes cannot comprehend it.

Cold.

Rain is a good thing. (?)

Rain is a good thing. Unless you have to hike in it.

Last night's weather conditions offered some of the best sleep I've had in quite some time but the downside to sleeping to the lovely pitter-patter of rain on the safari tent is waking up when it is still raining. The weather has been absolutely relentless and the rain has been constant since last night. I had to cross a literal river to get anywhere. I expected Noah's ark to pass our tent by this morning but the ground was surprisingly dry, meaning I didn't need to swim to get to breakfast.

Waiting for us was some delicious fluffy enormous pancakes... perfect long hike fuel. However, when we finally got to the trail head after slipping and sliding along the mud road in the enormous coach, the rangers informed us that most of our destinations were closed due to the monsoon-caliber rains. So, in order to accommodate for such a travesty we decided to do the Boolimba Bluff hike which consists of about 1,000 steps to the top. Begin mad sprint.

The view was disappointing after having last year's experience and it was about 100x as wet. Simon, after stuffing us with fruitcake and ANZAC biscuits, lectured us a good bit about the surrounds all the while we became increasingly soaked. Once Simon gave the final word, I turned tail and ran the full 3.2 km back to the visitor center.

Apparently rain jackets are only waterproof to a certain point, and once you get past said point, you can effectively ring out several milliliters of water.

Returning to the tents, I crammed my clothes with some sacrificial module papers in a desperate attempt to have dry clothing. Eh, I have an electronic copy.

Colin treated me to more coffee, to the point where I'm pretty sure that I have a caffeine circulatory system instead of a blood circulatory system. Feels great. I wonder if I'll get any sleep tonight or the next couple days.

In addition to the successive cups of coffee, I also received a tim-tam while the rest of the lunch crowd watched as I proceeded to have a tim-tam slam. It's even better with coffee than hot milo... that's saying a lot.

Peeling myself away from the constant flow of coffee, I trekked to the end of the road where another covered area is for Bob's biology group talk. We had a number of spectators aside from students including several very large grey kangaroos and a group of red-winged parrots.

Simon came to join us there as well and pointed out a fan-tailed eagle just gliding along on the horizon.

After the freezing cold chat we headed back to our cabins, shivering. If you close your eyes and think about it hard enough it's not impossible to imagine that the fluorescent light bulb is the sun. I just want warmth. I knew we got away with too much when I didn't shiver the first night here.

In the hour and a half or so that I had to waste I managed to avoid doing anything productive which involved staring at the NZ things that I should be planning. Only staring.

Before I knew it, it was time to load up the bus for round two of mini-hiking. Tonight we were spot lighting. We found a few gliders, one greater glider and another feathertail. A bit of opposites, really, since the greater is one of the larger species and the feathertail, if I recall correctly, can cram into a matchbox.

On our way out of the hiking spot Simon spotted one of my favvvooorrriiittttee animals: THE CANE TOAD. Enter squeals of excitement. It was a little tyke, about 6 inches long and about as round as an orange.

Driving back and slipping all over the place in the mud, we (Colin) spotted a bandycoot. Simon quickly jumped out of the coach, bearing a massive grin on his face, and chased the little bugger out of the bush. What a strange little animal.

Tomorrow- early morning sunrise and then the long hike! I can't wait!

Formed track ends here

Repeating the habit from last year, this morning I awoke about four minutes before six in just enough time to hike to the top for the sunrise. Joey, one of the students, met up with me there and braved the hike in the dark. Unfortunately for us it was incredibly anticlimactic and was a mere dark to light, no special colors involved. Even the cockatoos were virtually silent during all the action, or rather lack there of.

Not wasting the early morning, I quickly ran back to change for a run. After chatting with a native NSW ozzie for a bit, I met Joey again and headed off on a run down the Carnarvon Road. The time flew as I pointed out the grey roos and pretty faced wallabys all along the way. I will never get tired of this scenery.

Post-heaping foods from Steve, Simon gave us a lecture about the general Carnavron wildlife. It was the usual fascinating talk about Carnarvon fauna and Aboriginal visitors. He over viewed the bird species including the native kookaburra which perched themselves on a nearby tree watching and waiting for a handout from one of the students. He also talked about the apostle birds which earned their namesake by often hanging out together in groups of twelve.

Simon went on to talk more about the flora, which included the cycad tree. These unique trees are pyrophilic, meaning that they thrive on forest fires. Ironic, no? They also produce seeds which are edible.. if you get rid of the cyanide. Tasty.

Just like last year Simon had an activity where the students broke into two groups to participate in three successive competitions. They had the task of making a rock sharp enough to cut through rope, shape a boomerang, and create a container strong enough to hold a good bit of water. The rope cutting was intense- and injuries were sustained.

While the students worked fervently on their newly assigned projects, I took my sweet time piddling around the rocky surrounds and spotted myself a keelback (freshwater) snake skin! Surprisingly this particular snake isn't the venomous sort. It's actually the only known Australian snake that can eat cane toads and survive.

The water holding competition was a little intense as well.. I was the judge on the aesthetic portion. Team Echidna won though with their lovely little braided palm branches. The other team did a great job as well but it just wasn't quite as green. After that we threw the boomerangs and team Echidna, yet again, won. The boomerang came right back to Simon's feet!

We had a quick lunch and it was back out to do some hiking. We headed to Warrumbah Gorge which was a mad scramble through moss-lined walls and wading in icy cold water. It was absolutely absurd. And gorgeous. At the end there was a lovely little DEEP portion where the majority of the crew decided to go for a dip. I was the designated photographer. Definitely passing on the hypothermia, thanks.

Backtracking, we tramped up another route leading along and eventually in to Mickey's Creek. This one had a relatively wider path, but was much more rigorous. The rocks were huge and in many cases required some serious maneuvering. It was impossible to get past some parts without getting at least up to your waist in the frigid water.

The entire time we were hiking Colin, AKA spider monkey, somehow managed to keep himself dry.. until the final few meters before the turn around. While I was maneuvering down some rather steep rocks (I earned the title spider woman as I refused any help offered.. sounds about right?) I heard a SPLOOSH and in a thick Australian accent, “I'm all wet!”

Colin was no longer dry.

I felt like I was five again, going through an all-natural version of White Water which was way prettier and probably had a much smaller chance of getting E. coli issues.

We drove back to the campsite after Colin treated us to chocolate and starburst babies (phenomenal combination- orange is the best) where the big old roo was waiting for us. I snapped a photo quickly before jumping into the shower, sans towel, clothes and all. Sometimes I don't think my brain works.

Steve treated us to a really nice dinner complete with pumpkin which is even better over here than in the states. He also had a wonderful orange cake for us... so much food.

Unfortunately due to the rain, no, monsoon, we couldn't go spotlighting tonight for gliders. I literally had to cross a river to get to my tent tonight. The rain hasn't let up at all and to be perfectly honest I'm getting nervous that we'll be able to get the bus out of here in the next few days. The hike is still on tomorrow. All 14 k's in the bloody pouring rain.

Oh. What. Fun.

Butterfly strainer

5 am alarm. Too early. The mummy sleeping bad cocoon was far to warm to venture out. At least all I needed to do was pack everything up, heard the students, clean the rooms, haul my 50 lb suitcase down the mudslide hill and somehow fall back asleep after the entire ordeal. Doable.

Luckily for me, Colin has a bed underneath the coach bus which he offered for me to sleep in during the ride. It was the BEST 3 hours of sleep I have had since I've arrived in OZ. The bus literally rocked me to sleep while I was wedged between pillows and blankets. It was magical.

Carnarvon is about 10 hours, more or.. more from Binna Burra though the ride wasn't as terribly painful as I had recalled it to be. The majority of the conscious ride was spent grading the seventy-two modules. Oh my poor pitiful brain. At least I got most of them done.

We stopped in Roma for a bite to eat, where Colin sent me on a mission to buy good coffee defined as “anything but Nescafe” which was still instant coffee.

Crumpets were also on the grocery list. Surprised? Never.

We got ourselves stuck behind a “beef bus” which was a comical name for a massive truck with TWO trailers, each double decker, to carry beef cattle around.

As we always do en route to Carnarvon, each student pair took turns doing Bob's roadkill census which is exactly how it sounds. One student in the duo sits in the ejector seat up front and the other records the type of roadkill and the condition. Oh yes, this means fresh, slightly old, or completely decayed. Yummy. Most were wallabys, as predicted, but there was a MASSIVE wild boar thrown into the mix. It was a bit grotesque and hilarious having about four of us ID-ing dead critters that littered the road.. and being so excited about it.

Going further closer into Carnarvon we spotted some camels, which are wild here, munching on the side of the road. A less wild encounter was the hundreds of cows that littered the landscape as we turned in on the familiar Carnarvon Road. Colin was constantly honking the horn to startle the buggers since getting off the road was seemingly an uncommon affair for them.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by Simon and the newest addition to the Ling household, Bob the yellow bellied glider. This thing was ADORABLE. Orphaned and left to die, Simon has since scooped the beastie up and cared for him. He's itty bitty and cuddly to boot.

Steve, the owner of Original Tours and master chef, made us dinner. He offered us seconds and thirds before we even had the chance to complete the first part of our meal. I swear his mission is to fatten us all up.

A nice steady rain just started.. magic!

Just the facts

This morning... cold. Last night.... colder. This morning's sunrise made up for all of it.

It really is a shame that we didn't do Binna Burra last year... it's an incredible place. Being a rainforest, it reminds me quite a bit of Costa Rica. However, no mosquitoes. Perfect? Yes. Oh, and minor detail: we got a hot and cold breakfast today... not to mention that we had lunch provided as well.

This morning after breakfast I had the chance to check out the bawer bird's nest which was, as suspected, a perfect “U” shape surrounded by blue items. It seemed odd that there was a high concentration of equal packets in such a tiny spot and that it wasn't humans that did it.

One thing Binna Burra has that I failed to mention is the most AWESOME playground ever. I would notice this. It's like an obstacle course.. but cooler. It's all-nat-ur-al with wooden fencing and looks akin to a maze.. crossed with a teepee. And I never got the time to play on it.

Barry Davies, our field guide, brought along his son, Matt, to help with the hikes. He grew up here on the Gold Coast and is doing a Master's degree working on bird calls. Pretty schnifty.

We broke up into two groups, Bob and I with Matt and Silvia with Barry. We slowly eased into the forest with Matt leading the crew, pointing out the strangler fig trees and buttress trees along the way. One strangler fig in particular had successfully killed its victim tree. The tree it previously enclosed had rotted out under it and left behind was a perfectly hollow strangler fig. Another photo that I have on here is of me inside a buttress tree that is just MASSIVE. It's a lot like the foliage in CR. 

 

Matt also showed us a trap door spider's lair before stopping to tell us about some more unique critters like the marsupial frog (everything is a marsupial here.. even the amphibians) where the male has pockets to carry the tadpoles until they emerge as teeeennnnyyy little frogs. See what I did there? Heh. Bio humor.

A short snack later gave us our first chance to get a good group photo! 

 

Continuing our hike, it was interesting to see the foliage change from the vines to ferns. It started to look a lot like New Zealand. I can't wait.

We stopped at the Coomera Falls where we ate lunch. Meanwhile, the southerners (Spencer and Kyle) decided to splash about in the freezing cold stream. Joey took it to the next level and completely dove underwater. Eventually the team ended in success.. and pinched fingers.

Fun fact time! Some birds we encountered were the log runners which use their study tail to create a tripod which enables them to dig much more vigorously. Another is the lyrebird, boasting the loudest call of the birds here. It's a songbird that makes the most exquisite music. We were very fortunate and since I lagged behind with Barry he pointed these species out to me and a few others that were in the back of the crowd on our return hike.

High priority was a shower.. and then with wet hair we went tramping about looking for the duckbill platypus. AND WE FOUND ONE. The little bugger came quite close to us but didn't hang around long. Switching species, we then tracked down a flying fox colony and counted them as they left the roost.. in the thousands.

Later tonight after watching the “Queen of Trees” about figs.. and wasps.. we saw a bulldog ant (UGLY) that Barry had caught. I hope I never seen one without the plastic bag barrier.

Barry and Matt led us around the area where we spotted pademelons, a (cuter) possum, a tawny frogmouth, and some other small marsupial that I can't recall the name of.

Delving deeper into the forest, we found no less than five funnel web spider residences. We spent about 20 minutes taunting them with beetles and other insects but no such luck. Amazing how we were within inches of the world's deadliest spider. Not one, but five of them. FIVE. That's enough to kill me five times. Australia is awesome.

A ten hour bus ride and no internet connection awaits tomorrow... and the next few days. Yipee!