Amazing week

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Hey all! Sorry it has been a while. We've been busy with classes and field work and stuff and I've been trying to do my paper. Which I finished sunday night and then checked over last night and handed it in. Which was a relief. So, let's see. During the week I think we were just mainly having Forest Management Class and field work. Our field excerise for that class involved picking samples from many different trees, shrubs, vines, and weeds. Then we took different measurements such as flammability, leaf area, specific leaf area, wet mass, dry weight and some other stuff.

Thursday we went on a little trip with Jess, the Ecology prof. We went around to different fragments of Mabi 5b forest and talked about stuff that we had learned previously in lessons. This also included going to Curtain Fig, which is another huge fig tree similar to Cathedral Fig. I liked them bother, but I like Cathedral Fig better. We took a group pic at curtain fig so that is cool. At one of the fragments we were able to walk across the street to this fresh fruit and veggie stand and they also had gelatos there so i got that. mmmmm mmm good. =) Upon returning to the fragment, we went in groups of 8 with Jess to go look at her bats (that is what she studies and they sleep in this fragment). oh my goodness it was amazing. They were HUUUUUUGE! Called Spectacled flying foxes. amazing. I took some pics and they actually came out pretty well so later on I shall try to put some up. Seeing them made me want to work in Jess's DR (directed research) group even more. So yeah.

Then on Friday my group stayed at the center and did work in our nursey. This involved going out and collecting seeds which was really cool. We got to try using a slingshot, which is one of the ways that they get stuff down. I was not so great. But nobody really was. hehe. Then we walked around collecting from the ground. Even found a fruit that Tim (the prof) didn't know so when we got back we looked it up... turned out to be something whose common name was Poison walnut. fun times. apparently quite toxic. hehe. luckily no one ate one. lol had to all wash our hands really well though. so yeah then we potted the seeds and put them in the nursery! In the afternoon after Warrawork (cleaning the center) we went into Atherton like we always do on Fridays. I bought a head lamp because my flashlight that I brought kinda sucked. Also just kinda walked around.

Saturday was amazing. We went to the Yungaburra market in the morning which was really cool. I bought some stuff for some people and just enjoyed looking at all the stands. Then we had a field lecture with Tim... we went to the Gillies Lookout, which was another breathtaking view. Many pics were taken. Learned quite a bit as well. =)

Sunday I got up and went to Lake Barrine at 10am which was optional. Soooo glad I went. Any time they go from now one I am going. They had gone once before at 6am and I didnt go cause I didnt want to get up. But now that I know what it is like, I will definitely be going. The lake is stunning. It is another crater lake. Surrounded by rainforest. There is a really nice path all the way around. Me and 3 others walked part of it taking lots of pics. Then walked back to the main area, where there is a tea house. ooooo my goodness. I got tea and scones. Fresh local tea. scones with like raspberry and then light cream stuff I guess. AMAZING. soo good. ah I thought I was in heaven. Sitting on a balony overlooking the lake eating delicious scones and drinking spectacular tea. Real tea mind you. Vigi, I thought of you the whole time. =) You would love it. So yeah. That was great. After that I hung around and then went to Tim's house (he lives on site with his wife). They invited us over to watch a game of cricket if we wanted to come. It was really cool. Seems incredibly confusing at first but I think I am starting to vaguely understand it. I like it. So yea that was fun. Once I left there I pretty much spent the rest of the time trying to do work. At night some people made a bonfire up at the carpark. I went up there for an hour or so and that was really fun. When we first got up there the sky was clear and you could see TONS of stars. It was stunning. Got cloudy by the time I walked back though.

Must run. Will write more later!

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Comments

[Virginia]

tea!
That all sounds great, Jackie - especially the tea part :-) Thanks for telling us all about your week, and hope you're having a great time on your extended field trip! I love you!