Chickens can fly! (In Indonesia at least )

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Elly: Unfortunately, my dissertation hasn’t gone exactly as planned! I’m persevering with what I’m doing at the moment for the last couple of weeks, but it looks like I’m going to have to sort out another research project back at home. When going away to do projects there’s always a risk that things will go wrong - I think I’m just one of the unlucky ones. At least I’ll be able to say that I tried!

We’re both really looking forward to Bali, and are trying to organize what we’re going to get up to at the moment. Claire’s friend has recommended a four day boat trip to Komodo and various other islands to us which we’d love to go on if we can arrange it all.

Today is Wednesday, the day when people leave the island, and a lot of the friends we’ve made here are off this evening. Sad!

Claire: Very sad indeed, most of the dissertation student’s are off home or traveling in Bali. We’ve met loads of students; from Trinity College Dublin, Southampton, Newcastle and it will be sad to see them go! I think it’ll be quite quiet for the last couple of weeks, but the work should be getting harder, so maybe fewer distractions will be best! I think I’ve now catalogued 1000 photos of coral, only another 2000 photos, and a new site, which means another 1500 in the last two weeks! We also have to give presentations in front of everyone on the island, which I am definitely not looking forward to!

This morning I’ve seen my fair share of monitor lizards, it’s hard to imagine how big the Komodo dragons will be in comparison! The trip is being organized as we speak; it requires a flight from Bali to Lombok, then a 4-day sailing trip to Komodo and then a flight back from Flores Island to Bali. It’ll still give us 4 beach days in Bali, so hopefully we can work on our non-existent tans!

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