Snorkeling on Lizard Island

You guys, I'm living in paradise

On Thursday, March 18th, we woke up early and boarded a charter plane to Lizard Island off the northeastern coast of Australia. We took 3 small planes in order to carry our entire group…each was basically a minivan with wings. We went for a snorkel that afternoon in stinger-infested waters. Jellyfish are some of the most beautiful yet scary creatures in the water. We did wear stinger suits with hoods, but parts of our faces were not covered and I found myself swimming with my hands covering my chin the whole time. I can't say that I was dying to stay in the water that day.
Today, however, we went in small boats to a different spot on the reef where there were fewer stingers. We saw numerous giant clams, all kinds of hard and soft corals, sea cucumbers, Christmas tree worms, stingrays, a sea turtle, starfish, sea anemones, anemone fish (nemo), and heaps of other fish species.

A typical day here is: breakfast at 7am, snorkel from 8:30-10:30, lecture, lunch, snorkel from 2:30 to 4:30.
The island is totally isolated--so much so that we had to order our ten-day supply of food in advance and have it shipped here. There are no stores here; only a research station and a 5-star resort ($1,600/night). We are not allowed to visit the resort, but we are allowed to go to the resort staff bar. Fine by us--we'd rather drink with the commoners!
I'm trying to take as many pictures as I possibly can because unless I become a marine biologist or a billionaire, I probably will not have the opportunity to return to this paradise.

Rainforest Trip

I've just returned from our rainforest trip in the Atherton Tablelands. We spent a week and a half walking on trails through various types of rainforest and taking notes on its vegetation types, hydrology, geology, geomorphology, and human impact. On one of our walks we saw a 7-foot python! Ahhh! We also went night spotting one night, which is basically hiking on the forest edge and shining your flashlight into the forest to spot nocturnal mammals. We saw a few possums (spelled without the 'o'), a white-tailed rat, and a pademelon (very small kangaroo). Another day we did mist-netting at Jack's house. This involves setting up nets, which birds fly into and get caught in so you tag the bird and record its weigh, gender, etc… and then let it free. By the way, Jack (our Academic Director) lives in a tree house in the middle of the rainforest. Above is a picture of the "house" that he built for himself. He gets his electricity from solar energy and catches rainwater for bathing and drinking. This guy literally has a no ecological footprint on the planet.
The weather during our trip was pleasant for the most part. It was fairly sunny for the first few days, but rained on and off for the last four days, which was actually kind of refreshing. We were beginning to get nervous that there was no rain in the rainforest during the rainy season.
We stayed in a cabin on someone's property and although it was nice to have a house to ourselves, the snake infestation was less than ideal. We found 4 snakes inside the lodge during our stay there, one of which was a Small-eyed snake, listed as "Dangerously Venomous" in the reptiles field guide. On Saturday, we were scheduled to climb Mt. Bartle Frere, the highest mountain in Queensland, but unfortunately a looming cyclone canceled our hike. Instead we hiked up what is called "The Bluff," which had no real trail, so we trekked through the bush using a map, compass, and GPS to get to the top.
Overall, it was a fun trip, and now I can name almost every plant in the rainforest!

$2/day on food, $10/day on happy hour

Since I lost my wallet, I've been forced to seriously budget my stipend. Jack gave us $100, meant to last for the five and a half days that we are back in Cairns. So far I've been taking advantage of the free breakfast at the hostel each morning, which includes cereal, milk, bread, peanut butter, jelly, butter, and vegemite. Shrewdly, I've been making PB&J sandwiches in the morning and saving them for lunch in the afternoon. For dinner, we've been cooking the leftover pasta from the camping trip and heating up $2 packages of frozen vegetables from the grocery store. I managed to spend $0 on food yesterday since some of hte kids in the hostel cooked extra kangaroo meat and were giving it away for free! Our thrifty behavior has allowed us to spend more of our stipend on happy hour drinks. We never pay full price for a drink when we can help it.