Australia

Friday, May 26 – Mackay – Airlee Beach – boat

I got up and got ready to leave McKay. It was a lovely rest stop and I left feeling that I could have used at least one more day to really relax. I guess I still have that lesson to learn.

I took a cab to the bus station and had time to go find a cup of tea and a cookie for the ride. Greyhound bus, I haven’t been on one of these for years. During the ride, the bus driver put in the movie “How to loose a guy in 10 days”. I didn’t plan to watch it, but I was so close it was hard to miss. Any time the bus went over a large bump in the road, the VHS stopped and the girl sitting under the player had to restart the machine. She had to get up a lot.

Two hours of a ride and I arrived in Airlee Beach right on the water. The bus terminus was in a parking lot and when I asked directions of a backpacker van, they indicated a convoluted route with me going up and over a hill and then around. I knew they were pulling my leg, and it turned out to be a mere 200 meters down the sidewalk. I left my big piece of luggage in storage and went to check in for my 3pm departure to the boat. Upon registration of the office, it was obvious that I had way too much luggage in the wrong type of bag. They gave me a little synthetic bag for some of my stuff and I went back to the hostel to repack, drop off my computer and pick up my towel. I also stopped and picked up a beach towel, new sun hat and a beach wrap. Caught a quick lunch and then went to the bus stop. There was a collection of people already waiting. By the time the bus arrived, most of the group was assembled. Early research showed guests from Canada, US, the UK, and Australia. We were to be a total of 20 guests on a boat that can hold 24.

We were delivered to the wharf and were told that no alcohol would be supplied and if we wanted any, we could buy it at the marina but it must be in plastic or boxes, no glass. I bought a few more bottles of water and a little chocolate. It was low tide, so the vessel was moored out in the harbor. Before we got on the boat, we rented our stinger suits, basically medium thick wet suite for two reasons – it is the end of stinger (jellyfish season) and the water is a bit cold. We were “tendered” out to the ship 6 at a time and most of us had soggy bums by the time we arrived at the boat. Up the ladder and surrender your shoes into a large sack. YAH no shoes!

The ship/boat/vessel was called the Spank Me. It has the unique honor of being the only sailing vessel from Australia that has won the America’s Cup for Australia. (This fact needs to be validated) Originally built by Alan Bond from Aust in 1989, it is a 25M craft and is now owned by an American Company. At the back (stern) of the ship on the top deck were the air cylinders for diving. Immediately in front of that were two wheels so that the skipper can stand and sail on either side depending on how the boat is leaning. Next to the wheels were two metal triangular steps. They are in place so that when the boat is leaning all the way over, the skipper has a stable platform to balance on. In front of both wheels are dual controls and gauges along with the deck that runs from the back to the middle of the ship and the steps that go down into the hold. On this part of the deck, we spent most of our time talking and watching things go by. In the aisle way between the benches, were 5 different cranks that the guests and the crew used to raise different sails. It took 8 of us to raise the mail sail with 4 grinders in use and a pair of people facing each other. One person would be grinding overhand or forward and the facing person would be grinding underhand or backwards. ¾ of the way to the top, the crewmember would say, stop and reverse and then the team would reverse their hand movements. With the reverse, the gears were changed and it became an easier task. After the main sail was up, 4 people would help to raise the fore sail. Same technique and frankly a harder task. Just in front of the steps into the hold was the main mast. In front of the mast heading to the bow of the boat, the deck came to a point. On the way to the point, there were two panels that could slide back and let air into the forward cabin where 8 people were sleeping.

The crew was Dave as skipper (who I called Mr. Skipper Sir, until I could remember his name. He said he preferred Dave!), Murray as deck hand and tender driver, Brice our dive master who also helped with the sailing, and Adam, our chef and host. Adam was low man on the totem pole and had all the menial tasks. He would like one day to be skipper, if for no other reason that he would not have to handle the toilets when they clog up. During our trip, none of the crew drank any alcohol, as they could be fired if reported. Nice men, all of them.

We were told that were not enough single berths for all of us, so they asked couples and people traveling together to come forward. That left about 5 of us. I located a lower single bunk across from the galley and Carl (37 yr old Brit) took the double above me. Kate from Perth/Sydney on the other side of the galley and Lucy and Marie in the very narrow doubles directly behind the galley. The crew had the stern of the boat for quarters and writing area. The other couple that shared our hallway was a pair of African-American sisters, Tavia and Leah from Iowa. They were a stitch and when one was out of eyesight of the other and she wanted her attention, you would hear “SISTER” at the top of her lungs. They were darling!

On the side of the galley just at the bottom of the stair, was the engine and the cover that was used to serve us our meals. There was a semi circular bench and the two heads (bathrooms) that also doubled as our showers. We had detailed directions on how to use the head. 1. Do what you do and only three things go down the very narrow pipe – 2 from us and paper. 2. All other things go into the rubbish bin. 3. When done, turn on the salt-water tap. 4. Turn on the 15-second masticator that sucks down the stuff and grinds it up. 5. When the timer is done, turn off the salt-water tap. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO TURN OFF THE TAP OR YOU WILL FLOOD THE BOAT. When you want a shower, there was a faucet on the sink (only 1 temperature) and fresh water came out of the hose. There were 4 cabinets in the closet sized room where you could hide your dry clothes in hopes they would stay dry during your shower. If we clogged the toilets where they could not be used, we would have to return to shore. If we used up all the fresh/drinkable water, we would have to return to shore. Therefore, with everyone listening and taking care with only 1 short daily shower, we should be okay. In front of that area, at the bow of the ship, was a compartment that had 4 double bunks for 8 with the two panels above the closest bunks for air circulation and stargazing.

Back up upstairs we heard about our itinerary and then raised the sails. I was on one crew and I think it would be much easier with a guy as your partner. I will try and arrange that for the next time I help. Then all there was to do was lie on the deck, take pictures and get hungry for dinner, which was very good spaghetti.

img=http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/36046/THE BOAT1.JPG]

I had not brought any wine and Carl had not brought any chocolate, so we agreed to trade. For most of the time on the boat, there was someone’s ipod connected to the speakers and we had the most eclectic selection of music. I had left my Ipod on land so the group missed the show tunes, ragtime piano, Secret Garden and classical selections. Maybe next time. I will also know in future to bring a lot more quick drying sailing shorts and tops.

It had been a short night the night before and with the cafuffling with the luggage and getting to the boat I was pooped. It was also a cold wind and I already had all my clothes on. I went down to rest for a bit and try and get warm. It was only 8pm and I expected to go back up. I ended up waking up at 2am and found that the radio was still playing softy and there was loud snoring going on around me. I managed to get back to sleep.

Saturday, May 27 – Over the Fringe Reef – Partially cloudy

After breakfast at 7:30, we were tendered to the island to walk around the beach and over the knoll to the backside with the picture postcard waves in the sand. There were two Australian girls who were with the group, Kate and Leanne from Sydney who were very nice and friendly. We had been given our shoes as we entered the tender and upon arrival to the island, Leanne found she had two left-foot brown thongs. She asked Murray to bring the other shoes when he returned with the last group. Over cast and threatening rain, we went and stood at the look out point for a marvelous 360 of the island and then down the backside of the island to the famous beach. At the lookout point, two people from our group finally managed to have one complete set of brown thongs each, 1R and 1L. The sand was the whitest I have ever seen and so powdery, you would swear it was talcum powder. I have a picture to show that my legs are not the whitest things on the planet, the sand on Whitsunday Island is!

The water had receded in places and you could walk quite a ways out on the sand bars. There were also some rocks that Gil (pronounced Z – heel, aged 30 from France) and Carl posed on. Then as we were gathering to go back, we found William (Britain) who was working with a set of poi. Poi are two weighted objects on the end of a chain with finger holes which he was twirling them at his side, eventually in front of him, and then alternating in front of him in a figure 8 pattern. It reminded me of the NZ Maori movements that the women do with the white-feathered balls. I got to try it and had finally managed to use only by wrists to make the motions. It was quite fun.

As we motored and eventually sailed away from Whitsunday Island to the outer reef, we had a lovely day of lying on the deck and hoping that the sun would peak through.

We finally dropped anchor in a bay at Hook Island and had lunch before the first dives. Carl, Katie and I were the only certified divers. Brice checked our cards and took it at face value that we knew what we were doing. Katie opted to go with the beginning group to refresh her skills. (She had certified 2 years ago). Carl had just finished his advanced certificate in Cairns. I had certified over 15 years ago and hadn’t dove in 10+ years. I decided to go with Carl for two reasons – I felt pretty confident from my snorkeling on Cook Islands and if I did not go, Carl would have had to tag with the intro divers too. (NOTE TO SELF – Not good enough reasons for me to not have gone with the intro divers.)

We were put into the tender with our equipment – stinger suits on and mask and fins with us. We were driven out to the reef area and Murray helped us get into our gear. Then we did a back roll entry into the water with me doing a complete summersault from the weight of my tank. We were told we could go along the reef for 20 minutes in one direction and then return. I had the dive watch for time. From the first entry, I could tell that this was not going to be the same experience I had in Mexico or Florida. First, the visibility was only about 25 feet and in overcast skies, not much light from the top. Two, we were in a bay close to an island and there was a lot of silt coming off the mountain into the water. Third, the coral heads were very close together and when we began to descend, the coral was directly beneath us. Still, coral is coral and fish and fish and I could see there were some interesting things to see. Carl quickly went to the bottom and began poking into tiny crevices and looking under ledges. I hovered close to the top and attempted to get my breathing regular and smooth. As I dove, I remembered that this was my preferred position, somewhat closer to the top as you have the best available light as most of the cool stuff that I want to see is found around coral heads. Carl likes to wander and cover as much territory as possible. Looking back as I see it, we might not have been the best buddy pair simply due to a difference of agendas. There was one fish that kept giving me a start, a large batfish. Think of a large square fish of white and black, like an angelfish but no wings. He was very interested in Carl and kept circling him from distance and angling so that one eye was on Carl. He would appear unexpectedly in my field of vision and take my breath away for a moment. I realized I am not as agile as I was 15 years ago and due to that and my nerves, I tend to hold my head in one position and not look around too much. Therefore, if I happened to be swimming close to a wall or coral head, when I shifted my gaze, I am surprised at how close I was. It is considered very un-cool and environmentally unsound to touch the coral even inadvertently so I try as hard as I can to give myself plenty of distance. I did see many old favorites like the colorful parrotfish and the triggerfish. Also the minute-ly aggressive Sergeant Majors and the plentiful yellow fish that I can never remember their names. There was one type of coral that I could not identify but looked like brown fingers with blue fingertips. Close to the end of the dive, Carl disappeared into the depths and that scared me. What I realize now was that I was ascending faster than I had expected and he had remained at the same level. Sigh! He was very generous as I apologized. Carl dove to 10 meters (30 feet). It is safe to say that I probably only got to 15 feet.

As we gathered together, the intro divers were very happy and loved what they had seen. Many people took every opportunity to jump back in and snorkel for a bit.

One of the things that had been discussed with us as we arrived on the boat was that there was to be no plastic on board that might blow over. Cigarette butts were to be properly placed into the trashcans. Any infraction would be met with a Vegemite fine. Tonight, two fines were leveled (the Italian pizza chef, Daniel and one of the young American boys) which meant that the offender was given a tablespoon full of vegemite to eat. Vegemite is an Australian staple and an acquired taste. The best description would be a spoonful of vegetable bullion on a spoon – VERY SALTY!

This night, the music of choice was 50’s music and almost everyone was in a great mood due to the successful day of diving and snorkeling. I shared my chocolate and received a glass of wine and even danced a little on board. The burritos were great. I decided to not chance fate with the possibly phantom snorer again, so with a sleeping pill, I went off to sleep.

Sunday, May 28 – Over the Outer reef – Cloudy and rain

This morning we were going to sail to the outer reef. This meant that we had to be underway around 5:30 in order to get to the reef and then back into the island bay that night.

I joined in at the 5:30 sail hoisting. Luckily, my partner was Podrick (Irish and married to Caroline). It is much easier with a guy as your partner, but it still takes it toll. We stumbled back to bed and rose around 7:00 for breakfast.

This day it pretty much sprinkled or rained all day. Under the main sail were two tent awnings that we opened and tied into position. It did not entirely protect us from the rain if the angle of the boat or the wind shifted, but it was better than all of us stuffed in downstairs.

Today would be the longest dive for the certified and Brice would accompany us. Before I suited up, I managed to clog one of the heads. Adam had to come to my rescue. Not the first time today that one of the crew would help me. With that slight embarrassment to my credit, I went to suit up for our dive.

We were at Bait reef for a 40-minute dive. This time, we tendered out to the site and put our tanks on in the water. I told Brice I was nervous and he said it would be better under the water.
We began the dive and it soon became apparent that we would be doing a wall dive – a dive where the reef is on one side and due to the depth to the bottom, the other side is limitless blue below and to the side. (Not one of my favorite type of dives). We were down about 10 meters and I was feeling pretty good, but again, the group was going much farther and faster than I was comfortable. The visibility was at least twice what we had the previous day. Finally we were going through rather narrow canyons of coral. At this point, I realized that I was hyperventilating. I was still tailing the group so I caught up. Brice was doing a head stand in the water facing me when I gave him the something is the matter signal. He was right side up and over at my like a shot. I signaled I wanted to go up. I couldn’t tell him that I just wanted to rise a little bit. He kept checking in with me and his instruments as we rose a few meters in the water and when I felt okay and he saw that, he tucked my hand under his and we continued. At this point, it became a much better dive for me because we were going slower and I could even see things on the coral heads as we passed. I finally found the coral I had a question about and pointed it out to him. When we finally rose to the surface, we had done a 35-minute dive to about 16 meters (48 feet). Katie said my eyes had been the size of saucers just before Brice came to my assistance. Brice told me that I was looking at Staghorn Coral. This was a good lesson for me to remember my preferences for diving. I had forgotten how I like to dive and therefore, it did not even dawn on me to discuss my preferences before we got into the water. I know now that before I dive again, I will take a refresher course.

The afternoon was mellow with lunch and a rest and there were lots of people who wanted to snorkel over the reef again. I was going back and forth about going snorkeling, and when I checked with vibes, they said go. I had joked with Dave the skipper about the money back guarantee if we did not see a manta ray. A group of us went out off the boat and swam off into a new direction and again, although my breathing was elevated, it was because I was working to get to the reef. We had a lovely 20 minutes over the coral and saw many fish. There was something large and fish shaped to my left, but I could not get a good look at it. Dave was in the tender picking people up and he had previously snorkeled close to where we were. As we approached him he said he had spotted some manta rays so 5 of us piled into the boat. There was still one in the area when we got to the spot, but I couldn’t really see it on the surface. In we went, Carl, Melissa and I and as soon as it was spotted, I grabbed Carl’s hand and Melissa with the other for two reasons; I needed a little reassurance and I didn’t want any of us to scare him away. THE MANTA RAY WAS ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT! He started very far from us, but as our unit stayed still, it circled closer and closer. He would bank to get a good look at us and then as it passed, would turn up and show us it’s belly with the 7 little gleaner fish swimming in perfect precision. Finally it was coming so close that as it would finish the bank and face us, it appeared that it’s horns would be coming right at us. It swam within 5 feet of me, but I did not feel it was my place to reach out and touch it. Finally, it went a little bit away and we headed back to the boat. At this point Lisa and Katie were in the water and wanted to see it. I had Katie on my left when it returned and she squealed with delight. I was the last one in the boat and it did one final pass and very close to me so that I could say goodbye and thank you for sharing it’s magnificence with me. THANK YOU VIBES! I found out later that Katie’s reluctance to enter the water was that she thought that Manta’s had stingers like stingrays and Lisa was not a strong swimmer which is why she held back. I was so jazzed when I got back on the boat, it more than compensated for any bad feelings I had about myself from the morning.

Dave relocated to a new island for night dive and berth for the evening. Carl was keen to have a night dive and I already knew before this dive that I would not be going. Luckily Katie wanted to go, but I am sure that Brice would have gone if needed.

Adam made lovely Indian food for dinner and skipper Dave even fried papadoms for us. I had had a sip of my milk coffee drink I had brought with me that I had not refrigerated. It had the consistency of yoghurt, so after a little sip, I pitched it. My stomach was a little iffy at dinner so no papadoms for me.

At 7:30 the night dive was supposed to commence. Just prior to the divers loading into the boat, Murray had put raw chicken into the water next to the boat and it drew a few small sharks. The talk surrounding it was not doing much to calm the two divers, but they loaded into the tender and went over the island. I promised them chocolate when they returned. Gil was surprised that I did not go with them, as I was a certified diver. I told him that I had done them before and that they were okay, but not that interesting to me. You get to see things that you don’t see during the day like crabs, lobsters, octopus and the coral is a lot more active at night. With my anxiety today, I did not feel it was the best use of my diving and my money to do that dive. Brice had said that on our final dive the next day, he would be doing some fish feeding and we would get to meet a huge friendly fish named Elvis. That sounded like more fun to me, especially as it might be in better light and therefore, better visibility and colors under the water.

The night dive was only about 25 minutes because the tanks were pretty low at the start. Katie enjoyed her first night dive and admitted that she held on to Brice the entire time. It really is the way to go as you can focus on what is around you and not your buoyancy and equipment.

With another sleeping pill, off to morpheous' arms I went.

Monday, May 29 – Back to Airlee

I was up early to get on deck to see the sun rise. It looked like another cloudy, overcast day, but there was some hope of clearing. This was our last chance to dive and we were berthed at Blue Pearl Bay. The dive was scheduled for 7:30 and it was a very reduced number of divers, some for monetary reasons and some preferred to snorkel. Brice had 7 of us, 3 certified and 4 intro divers. We tendered to the beach and put on our equipment in waist high water. The rocks and coral were hard on the feet and we were glad to be in our fins. (NOTE TO SELF – if there is any chance I will dive on a trip again, in addition to the dive skin, I will always bring my dive log and booties) As we descended, it was obvious again that we were very close to the coral and there were lots of fish. Not enough sun to really pop the colors, but still better than either of the other days. Almost immediately, a large dark fish appeared and he was Elvis, a bump headed wrasse close to 100 kilo’s or 220 pounds. The intro divers were very excited and had a hard time keeping neutrally buoyant and kept rising and dropping and swimming under me. They all had underwater cameras and wanted a picture of Elvis being fed. Added to this we had Gil who was snorkeling above us and he kept diving down to get a closer look. I kept trying to get far enough a way to watch and yet see what was going on. Way too many people at one time to be diving in such a small area, but I know that we were on a time limitation. Still enjoyable and Elvis passed me several times and let me touch him. He had a bit of a scar on his left side and he was a little slimy. I told him that he was handsome and thanked him for flirting with me. So, now you know, Elvis is alive and well and living off the Whitsunday Islands in Australia. Visibility 15 meters.

We returned to pack our bags and then sail into the marina. We were in medium seas with wind of about 25 knots. The boat was leaning considerably and yet, most of us were on deck sitting and getting soaked by the splash and spray. We had several seasick passengers and it was very hard to stay upright. You tended to go from handhold to handhold and even with this, I scrapped myself going down stairs.

We finally got into the marina and everyone was very pleased that we would berth and not have to be tendered in with our baggage. My sandals were soaked. All of the crew expect Brice had to turn the boat around and go back out that day with the next trip. Brice invited all that wanted to meet him at a bar that evening for drinks.

We all vanned into town (only a ten minute walk from the marina) and I checked into the backpackers. Oh, the joy of a warm shower that you stand upright for and use the toilet without hassle. I took a walk in hopes of buying a t-shirt from the boat, but they were all out except for very small children sizes. I also did laundry, as everything that I had on the boat was soaked and beginning to smell.

As I left the hostel for the bar, I came across Carl and Katie and joined them for a drink. We went to the bar and the entire group was there with the exception of a couple from Germany. At this point, I had one wine in me and the first thing I did was loose a bar game where I inadvertently submerged the glass in the pitcher of beer, which meant I had to drink the glass. Well, I did it, yuck! I don’t like beer. I ordered two appetizers, as I knew that I needed some food in me. The group pooled our money and Brice facilitated reduced cost drinks. There were pitchers of something called snake bite (lager, cider and something else red) and I had a glass of that. After that I ate my appetizers and drank lots of water. I watched some of the group play drinking games and watched the others in this large bar. I ended up leaving at 10, as I knew that I was done and had said goodbye to everyone. They were surprised I left so early, but I told them I had already stayed up two hours later than I had on the boat.

Ah bed without sleeping pills.

Around 2:30 I heard noises in the hall and some one cursing and asking to be let in, and then apologizing for scaring the occupant and finally leaving. Hmmmm?[

Tuesday, May 30 – Bus to Rockhampton

I realized when I unpacked my laundry that I was missing my sleeping tshirt, and I planned to go back to the laundry that was literally right underneath my room in hopes that it was still there. It was and with a tea in my hand, I went back to pack.

Katie had wanted to meet me for breakfast and had asked me to call her when I wanted to meet her. I went to the grocery store to pick up some fruit and cheese for the bus trip today as I felt I had not had enough nutritious food in the last few days and then called Katie. I finally ended up knocking on her door, as the phone was not answered. She indicated that she had gotten in late and would need to catch up with me in Sydney. I left my bags at the hostel and went a little way down the sidewalk to a café. Right next to my table on the ground was what looked to be a young dove that was not well. One of the ladies as the hostel was a wild life rehabilitator, so I went back and caught her eye and between the two of us, we caught the little dove. She was very soft and the woman confirmed it was a broken wing, but would take her back and put her in a box for safety until she could determine how to help her.

Then, along the sidewalk came Katie, who decided to meet me for breaky after all. She was the person who had the unwelcome late night visitor and told me that after that incident, she called another friend that she knew was in town in order to get away from the room for a while.

It was time for me to get to the bus station and I found that I also had Carl on my bus to Rockhampton (Rocky). Carl’s alarm clock was not functioning and he only just made the bus. I offered him a bottle of water and a banana. The bus trip was unremarkable and the movies were not that great, but hard to avoid due to the volume of the soundtrack. Garfield, Dirty Dancing Havana nights and Duma (about a cheetah cub and boy). Needless to say, I spent a quality day with my ipod and enjoyed the scenery.

When we arrived in Rocky, I had to call a cab as my motel that was on the outskirts of the city. I agreed to meet Carl for dinner the next night. The motel is good, just a little removed from the main town, but very close to my travel agent who I will meet tomorrow face to face.

Wednesday, May 31 – Rockhampton

A doodle day – slept late, lunch and a little shopping, bloging, travel agent meeting, cab to dinner with Carl. Carl was going to be over two hours late returning with his tour, so I had a cider at the bar and went back to my hotel. Watched a British movie called Deep Blue that was mainly a documentary with various sea animals. Boy, do I hate watching Killer Whales eat! Their food is always so cute.

Tomorrow I find the Internet café in Rockhampton – Not wireless, so still can’t post, but at least I can check e-mail. Also, need to buy a sleeping bag for the next two placements.

Thursday, June 1 – Rockhampton

This was to be my last day in Rocky before I headed out to the wallabies. I buses into town, always an adventure in a new place and walked to find the internet café. I ended up making an appointment at the library for a free half-hour of connection time. Before that I found a discount place and bought a sleeping bag, foam pad and daypack for $29.99 Aus. Not bad. During my internet session, I finally remembered to pull off the contact number for the wallabies and called Tina. She indicated that I could come today, and it sounded like that would be easier for them as her partner, Pete, works at the Rocky zoo and could pick me up after work. This shifted my plans slightly as now I had to pack and get ready for my two weeks on the farm.

Pete came and got me for our 1.5 hour drive north towards Marlborough. The sun was setting and it was a lovely drive. As soon as I got out of the truck, there was Tina and a young eastern gray kangaroo named Sugar who was sucking on her pants. I was greeted by three barking and very excited dogs, Mini (black wirehair), Cooper (Jack Russell with broken back leg) and Missie (Red Kelpie). Others in the menagerie include guinea fowl, a friendly Plymouth rock hen, 2 Havana Brown cats (Chico and Kitty Cat) and a lavender point Siamese, (Daisy) and a Galah (beautiful bird and sort of a parrot pink, gray and white) named Sport, a brahma heifer, a sugar glider (flying squirrel) named Simon, tons of bridle nail tail wallabies, 2 Bettong’s (sort of a large rat) and the most adorable and cuddly southern hairy nose wombat named Wiggles. I got to hold Wiggles and she is about the size of a hairy, gray bowling ball when she curls over and sucks her hind toe. She is cute as a bug’s ear and I want to bring her home to the cats. I am sure they will all get along splendidly. Next, I got to give Sugar a bottle. Sugar was here to recover as he was weaned too early and they attempted to release him into the wild. Tina put him back on the bottled and got his weight back up. He was a good baby and took his bottle like a pro. Because he was weaned too early, he likes to suck on things, such as your pants, your pillow or anything else in reach. He is very sweet, but I wonder if he will ever really be able to be released.

Late in the evening, I also had an up-close and personal experience with Simon, the sugar glider (flying squirrel). He is very oral and loves to chew on fingers, as he is climbing down your arm to get to your shoulder, he pees the entire way (marking his territory) and finally climbed into my fleece vest, lodged under my left breast and took a wee nap. As I was going to bed, I put him up a tree and he kept trying to get back on me. I found out the next day the territorial brown possum was in the tree and he does not like to go past her. I smell like Eau de Sugar Glider, but they have a washing machine, so I should be right soon.

Pete and Tina’s two daughters and new granddaughter are also in residence and Marty (Martina) and baby Kasia are visiting from the Gold Coast. Jessica is coming up to 18 and is working part-time at the zoo. Also in residence is an Australian man who is a semi-permanent volunteer, Matt, who pretty much stays on the farm unless there are lots of volunteers. When the volunteers leave, he comes back to help.

I was pooped, but there was so much to see and touch that I kept wanting to pet things. Finally, I went to bed and set the alarm

Entry #19M - Australia Diary – May 9 – July 13 – Third Week – Between koalas and wallabies.

Wednesday, May 24 – Mackay

Sort of a doodle day, which was wonderful. I slept in and did a little internetting. Mark and Dawn had recommended a hairdresser and I had an appointment. It looked like Dawn and I would go together, but it ended up that Mark needed a haircut too, so he drove me over and brought me back. I had a wonderful oil treatment and boy, did my hair need it. (I must admit that at times during the trip, when I had forgotten my shampoo, I had to use bar soap that did nothing for my shine and bounce! I know, I know, you can stop cringing!) She took quite a bit off, but I can still pull it back into a ponytail, which is my preference when I am working with animals.

I also did a little shopping and visited the Artspace that had a great photo exhibit by a Chinese/Australian. There were sections on Bondi beach (pronounced Bond – eye), Aussie food (even roasted echidna’s), Aussie celebrities, Chinese/Aussies, and a very poignant section on the gradual decline and death of a friend/partner to Aids. Bits of it reminded me of my dear friend Steve.

Delma met me at my motel and we went downtown for dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was the Point of Origin Game (Aussie Rules football (I think) where players had to either play for New South Wales (NSW) or Queensland (OL) depending on where they were born). Huge rivalry and apparently in the last minutes of the game, NSW got the deciding field goal. Queenslanders were not impressed.

Back in my room, I watched a new movie, The Island, sort of a remake of Logan’s Run and included favorite actor, Sean Bean. I find that when I have a tv in the room, I stay up too late. Good incentive to get into a hostel when I can.

Thursday, May 25 – Mackay

I had been encouraged my Delma to get to the Eungella National Park (pronounced Young- gula) with Jungle Johno’s to see a platypus. As I boarded the bus, I was met by Keith, the driver, and the only other customer, Martin (Belgium). I am constantly amazed at how the tours go forward with only one or two customers. Good for me, but I can’t imagine they cover their costs this way.

The tour would include a bus ride through the cane fields, a stop at the Pioneer Hotel to sample one of their wonderful meat pies, and the Eungella National Park. Keith in his other life is a cane farmer and belongs to the local Co-op to process the cane into sugar products. The fields were very high and the crush will begin soon. Queensland processed cane for two markets, JA for the Japanese who prefer a sugar with higher molasses content and QL – Queensland Standard that is exported as raw sugar to many countries including the US.

The Pioneer Hotel was very small and the beef curry pie that I had was marvelous. The chips were less so. Off we went to go into the National Park and the overlook. Lovely views and you could even see the islands off the coast from that height. Finally we were on the ridge and driving across to the river to see the platypus. Keith told us that they were only 300-500 millimeters (11 – 19 inches). I keep thinking that things are going to be much bigger than they are. With that gauge in mind, we arrived at the platform where they are normally seen. Previous days they had been waiting for the bus, but today, they were shy. Keith left us with a two-way phone and bino’s and went back to the bridge to see if he could spot any. 4 other couples joined us. As we waited there were turtles, ducks, black loons, and very loud cockatoos to look at. I had positioned myself right in front of where a stream entered the river. Keith had told us that you could usually spot them by the bubbles they make just prior to surfacing and from the cloud of mud that they stir up as they fish. They are only on the surface a very short time and then dive again.

Finally, my patience was rewarded and I noticed a change in the ripples coming from the little branch stream. It as moving much faster than I had expected, but when I rose and went to watch, the ripples came closer to the middle of the river and a little female platypus broke the surface. She couldn’t have been more than 9 inches long and was never on the surface long or close enough for me to get a photo. So I put the camera away and enjoyed the show. I was very happy to be the first one to see her. She put on a great show and did a loop very close to the platform before she turned and went up the river and under the bridge. We kept up with her and followed her until she disappeared around a bend in the river.

Platypus is one of the two monotremes in the world. Monotremes are egg-laying mammals. After the eggs have hatched, the babies are kept in the borrow and suckled. The female does not have nipples, but the milk is released from glands on her chest and the milk is caught on the hairs and sucked by the babies. The other monotreme is the echidna, sort of a little spiny anteater/porcupine that I will work with on Kangaroo Island off the coast near Adelaide in about a month from now.

Keith was nice enough to stop at a local take-away so that I could buy postcards. He also stopped by a large cane field on the ride back so that Quen and I could have our picture taken. No cane toads in sight, drat! I had heard about the poisonous cane toads that were brought in to eradicate one pest and ended up being a bigger pest themselves. They are toads that have poisonous skin and when attacked, they end up killing their attacker by their poison. Keith said they aren’t as rampant or as toxic as foretold, otherwise Australia would be without dogs, cats and other small animals, which we know is not the case.

It was a wonderful day.

Saturday, May 20 – St. Bee’s

We arrived home from night tracking at 10pm and I was so jazzed up, I didn’t shut my eyes until midnight. Even so, I was up and out of bed by 7am.

I had asked the universe for a repeat of my original team of Karin, Chris and Digby and today I got most of them with Chris, Digby and I off to find Abby, Tea, Olivia, Honey, Winston, Jackaroo and Stud.

Chris was tracking and Digby doing the main amount of spotting. We crossed paths with Delma and Tashina as they made their way around the island changing weather monitors and observing animals. Nothing new today except I FOUND MY FIRST CLEAN SKIN!

Chris was on a rock searching down the hill and in the tree just behind him, was a koala, about 12 feet above the ground heading up the tree. I think it was a girl and she was very beautiful. Yaah!

On our final sighting, I was standing next to a small bush looking through my bino’s and my right elbow was right next to a green ants nest. The next thing I knew I was brushing ants off and Digby was pulling off my backpack and brushing ants out my hair and my back. We had been told that if you disturb a green ants nest and are covered, you need to take off your shirt to make sure you got everyone. Luckily, we didn’t have to go that far and I was not even bit once.

We have the afternoon off and there may be night tracking again. I am not sure if I will go, as I am on kitchen duty tomorrow, which means a very early morning.

Sunday, May 21 – St. Bee’s

I was on kitchen duty after a not too restful night and broke a blood vessel in my right eye. I was pretty pooped and as I look back on it, the last three days were pretty intense. I am able to do most of the hiking, with sufficient rests, but it becomes more difficult if I have to carry a lot of extraneous equipment. Usually when you go out as a team, each member carries some of the load. Some people don’t have backpacks or don’t care to carry too much. Bill is wise enough to know that this is strenuous and unaccustomed activity for most of us and is very reasonable if someone wants to take some extra time off the mountain. The two half days of rain helped to give us a rest. I am torn, because at some times, I would like to have a little rest, but how can I skip a chance to see these beautiful animals.

Delma left today but she will met us at the marina on Tuesday. She is very friendly and we have lots of common interests such as dancing, music, and animals and are of similar age. I may have the chance to see her for dinner once I am back in Mackay.

My team today was Digby, Tashina and Me going after Abby, Tea, Olivia, Honey, Stud, Digger, and Winston. There were two koalas that were normally close together and on the way home, so whatever team got there first was to go after them as well, Natasha and Macaroon.

Digby on tracking, Tashina on self-doubt and Jane on spotting, off we went. It was lovely sunny weather again and we had lots of friendly swamp wallabies that accompanied us.

Photo – Wallaby

I was happy that I managed to spot the first three and I finally feel that my eyes are dialed in to seeing them. They are still hard as they are a small grey animal, next to grey bark and on this trip, against a grey sky. It also doesn’t help that some of them love to hide, high up in dense foliage in the dark. Tashina spotted one and I mistakenly thought that was her first that she had seen and announced it over the two-way radios. I was corrected that she had seen one before. Digby saw almost all the others and was adding to his cleanskin/unassisted scores during the day. We got a call that the other team had Stud and had found Natasha.

Bill was hoping for us to catch Frontier and Stud at least as their collar batteries are running low and once you loose the signal, it is hard to find them. We got the call after we had finished Olivia that there were two clean skins to be caught, so we went back to base to get the gear.

Karin at spotted two on the top of the knoll and up we went. Usually, we stop quite a lot to listen and reposition, but this time it was straight up. I brought up the rear with several stops and lots of sweating.

We started with the poles but when Digby’s pole separated and beamed Antonio on the head, we ended up with the tarp method to catch the koala. I was on the tarp and just as we brought it up in the center, our koala popped out over the top on my left. She leapt to the ground and I dropped the tarp and helped to pin her to the ground. As I had a hand on her, as she was a clean skin I would get to name her. She turned out to be blind, corneal scar on the right eye and left eye totally opaque. She was quite old and the letter I had to name her with was F. I decided on Freedom, as she had been free for so long. She was a little feisty, but I did not want to saddle her with a difficult name for the rest of her life. We did the normal data collection and I was scribe for Bill and when it was time for release, I got to do it. Normally, you get to the base of the tree that she was in, put down the sack and seat the koala and then slowly open the bag and let them see the tree. Freedom was already climbing out to the sack as I approached the tree and I did not get her to the ground. I positioned her near the trunk, but she took off to the right and kept going until she found a larger tree to climb. She would approach an obstacle, bump into it and then modify her position and keep going. I felt very bad about not getting her back into her tree, but I am sure her first priority was to get away from the large smelly things and up into a very safe tree.

The next cleanskin was very close to Freedom, so we did not need to move the equipment. This one really tested our resources. Again we began with the pole and both Digby and Bill ended up with a shower of urine. They the koala moved into three different trees before we finally got her after no luck with the tarp, with Antonio and Damien pinning her to the tree. Antonio got a slight scratch for his trouble. She turned out to be Quince, who had been caught before and had successfully gotten rid of her previous ear tags. She was very happy to only have one ear tag and happily went up her tree and as far up and over as she could get.

We sent down the hill as a combined group to locate the last 4 koalas on our lists and Karin found another cleanskin. Again, catchable, we managed to tarp a koala that turned out to be an un-named koala that we named Groucho. We didn’t have a proper catch bag, so Bill collected him in a canvas shopping bag and as I had never held one during data collection, I had the honor. Bill found he did not have a proper sized collar and as we were close to base, he left us and went off to get the equipment. We put Groucho back in the bag, as he was whinging. He would sit with his head out of the bag and let out a long, grouchy sound, not necessarily moving around, but letting us know of his displeasure. He got a little quieter in the bag and finally settled down. It began to sprinkle so we moved under cover and put on coats.

When it was time to release him, I asked if I could do it so I could do it properly once. Antonio was with me, thank heavens. As I went to release him, I had him on the ground and in the correct orientation, but as I opened the bag, her had pulled the handle of the bag into him and had it around his neck. We ended up having to pin him to the tree again in order to get the sack off him. Both he and I were relieved when it was over.

We finally found Frontier in a place where we could get her and did our forth and most entertaining catch of the day. Tarp in place, we were tired, but ready to catch her. It was a heavily leaved tree and as they could not get her off the perimeter of the tree, she ended up going back down the truck. Just as she was pinable, she turned around and launched herself over Karin’s head and was off down the hill. Chris and Antonio went scampering after her with Bill shouting, “Go get her, don’t let her get away”. It had been raining and it was wet, but Chris managed to get his hands on her, but she got away up the tree. Luckily Digby with his pole managed to get her going back down the tree and then Chris, Damien and Antonio pinned and got her into the bag. Antonio took a few more scratches. With her new collar in place, Damien released Frontier, and she also did a right hand turn and selected a larger blue gum tree farther away. That made me feel a lot better about the release of Frontier.

All during the day as I spotted a koala, I was able to say goodbye, thanked then for the tolerance of our interference into their lives and asked Francis and Lilith to look over these special little charges.

When we got back to base, we began to download everyone’s photos to my and Bill’s computers in order to combine them, along with Bill’s data so that we can leave with both reports and everyone’s photos. What a wonderful idea! This way everyone should end up with photos of themselves and other interesting views, as everyone has a different way of looking at things. We will have a fair number of duplicates, but we will be able to pick and choose and keep the very best of them.

We had guests for dinner and Cynch, Karin and I made pasta and three types of sauces, garlic toast, salad and chocolate M&M cake for dessert. Another success, but the cake was still soggy in the middle. Not sure if it is the oven, the recipe or what, but no one turned down chocolate cake. After the wine and the excitement of the day, I was pooped and slept very well.

Monday, May 22 – Last Day at St. Bee’s

Today we would not be going to search for koalas but would be packing up the equipment and getting ready to leave very early on Tuesday. Breakfast was at 7 and we were transcribing the rest of the photos from 8-10. At 10, Karin and I packed the pantry, and from 12-2 there were more computer gyrations as Bill was burning DVD’s. After 2, Karin and I transcribed the pantry inventory on the computer for Bill. We all gathered at the south house for social time, I to my blog and to watch most of the men play beach soccer/rugby/football.

Tashina was queen of the kitchen and made the team lovely meat curry and dal with red lentils. We were eating up the last of the desserts so we had both a plum pudding and a chocolate pudding with cream or custard.

This was our last night on the island and the final presentation from Bill showed us all the data that we had collected. Over 300 observations, 14 catches, and new animals tagged to increase the tracking data in the future. After the presentations, each of us received a DVD with all of the data and everyone’s pictures and even some videos. Along with the DVD, we received individual awards.

Jane – Queen of Organization
Antonio – King of the Catch
Karin – Quiet Achiever – 2nd best at spotting
Damien – Unrealized Potential to Spot Cleanskins
Cynch – Can Spot Unassisteds!
Chris – The Koala Whisperer?
Tashina – Queen of Sleep
Digby – King Spotter May 06

We all hung around and kept talking, not wanting it to end and asking lots more questions of Bill. Finally we did need to get back and pack and clean up our areas as the boat was arriving at 7:00 am the next day.

Tuesday, May 23 – Back to Mackay

Up at 6 to shower, pack and get the laundry down to the pick up site. We were all there at 7:00 waiting to be told that the boat had just called and they were running late. Drizzled rain, but when the boat finally appeared, it had cleared enough to load. Only three trips, as we did not have to take back any of the food, only the recycling and Cameron.

As the second boat shuttle trip left the beach, I had the feeling I had to check our house once more, so off I went. I didn’t think I had been gone that long, but by the time I was heading back, everyone was loaded and waiting for me so I ran across the sand to the boat. I guess I did not want to leave. I will miss the koalas, but must admit that my feet will appreciate some time on level, non-sandy ground. Even with showers, sometimes it is hard to get all the sand and gravel off.

The trip back to the mainland was a little rougher than our other crossing, but no one had problems while we were on the boat. Chris and I were up top with the captain and I was sitting right up front with my left foot propped against one of the panels. When the boat hit a particularly nasty swell, my left foot pushed the triangular panel out and it disappeared into the sea. This allowed lots of spray into the top deck and Chris was eventually drenched and retreated down stairs. I moved over to the other side. The Daryl, the skipper, was very nice about and refused to let me pay for the repair. We finally settled that I would buy him breakfast when we landed.

We were running a little late and as most of the team was catching the 11am to Brisbane and out to other locations, they showered quickly and called a cab. Only Tashina, Cynch and I remained and had breakfast with Bill, Delma (who came to meet us at the marina), and Daryl, the skipper. Before breakfast we had to say goodbye to the team and with lots of hugs, off they went.

Breakfast was great and after goodbyes to Bill, Delma dropped the three of us off at my motel. Tashina and Cynch were taking a 5pm flight to Brisbane so they had the afternoon to shop. I dropped my bag in the room and found that my stored luggage and coat were already in my room. As we were approaching the motel, I had this feeling that I had packed my “supposedly forgotten” sandals in my stored luggage. That was indeed the case. Anthony, you are so good to me!

We walked in the drizzle to the local mall, called Caneland for all the sugar cane fields in the area. Typical mall with a Target, Woolworth’s (a grocery chain), a second grocery store and lots of little shops. Tashina and I kept loosing Cynch, so when we finally spotted her, we stayed with her. I walked back to my motel and the ladies went off in a cab to collect Tashina’s other luggage and they met me at my motel. Two more hugs, and my team experience with the koalas officially ended.

What will the team remember about our experience on St. Bees? The Robinson Caruso style living, the curlew alarm every morning, the gyrations to light the gas stove toaster and oven the banging of the trees and the house during the rain storms, Tashina’s naps, Esmerelda, the race down the hill after Frontier, Damien’s mosquito bites, the boys planning coconut patenque, beach rugby/soccer/Aussie rules football, George’s coconut? Hopefully all of it and more because it was truly one of the most unique two-weeks any of us have seen to date.

I spent the afternoon unpacking and planning the next phase of my adventure; sailing the barrier reef and getting back to Rockhampton (Rocky) for my next placement with the wallaby’s. It should be a quiet next few days with dinner with Delma, maybe a hair trim, a little shopping, blogging and hopefully posting it, and post card writing. I do have one half-day trip to the Eunagella forest for platypus sightings and then the bus to Airlee Beach where I catch the boat to the Whitsundays, some islands near the Great Barrier Reef.

I had dinner at my motel and had a chance to get to know Dawn, the owner. She is lovely and is just beginning to think about the next phase of her life, as her daughters are soon to leave home and she and her husband Mark know they don’t want to stay in motels forever.

Next posting, the days between my first two Australian animal volunteer placements.

Australia Diary – May 9 – July 13 – Second Week

Monday, May 15 – St. Bee’s – I AM ON THE MAP!

Karin took a big stand for herself yesterday and declared that today was the day that she would be able to see another koala without help. She inspired me and when I picked my vibes card for the day, it was Call in your Runners – Time for me to find a koala!

Ah, the luxury of being able to sleep in a little as I am not on kitchen duty. Today our team was only three people, as Cynch, who was on kitchen duty today, opted to stay in the kitchen and cook. So my team of Digby, Damien and I, with Sean as the shadow, left the base with 6 koalas on our list and most of them, I have seen before. YAAH! Abby, Tea, Olivia, Stud, Yoshi, Digger.

I am finding that I am very popular with the mosquitoes, especially around the elbows??, but at least the gecko is not peeing on me anymore.

I told the team that today was the day that I would see the koala’s unassisted. I asked if they found one, to let me try and find it before they pointed it out to me. Embolden by my new stand and commitment to have fun and let my runners help me, as we were going for Abby, I thought I had spotted one, but it was only a branch. We were to approach her very quietly and let Delma know as Abby is one that she is following and she wanted to make sure she stayed put.

Next the team went up the gully for Tea and again, I finally spotted the animal after it had been sited. At this point, Sean determined that our PDA was not talking to our GPS, but with some radio assistance and Sean’s determination, it was finally working.

Our third koala was Olivia who you may remember was Miss Elusive and originally was very high in the tree and almost obscured by branches. As the tracking device indicated that we were close, I looked up and way in the top branches was a little grey face looking down at me. When I got my bino’s in place, the eyes were closed and she was taking a nap. I was very happy that I had finally found one by myself! THANK YOU OLIVIA AND THANK YOU RUNNERS! I felt wonderful.

Olivia was not in a tagged tree so we went into action. Delma wanted to see Abby, Tea and Olivia in order to place a monitor near them and she was with us for the nearest neighbor’s data collection. Sean left us to go do some other work and inadvertently walked off with our PDA and GPS device.

Our next two were in a totally different area so off we went to find Stud and Yoshi.

I was on tracking as we went after Stud. My team was very patient with me as I had them up and down the mountain and both left and right. We found Stud and this time, he was not as hidden as before. Bill sent Sean back with our PDA so that we could continue to get full records.

Yoshi was problematic so we opted for lunch and then we would try again. About this time, we were asked to look for Winston instead of Yoshi and then do Digger.

We found Winston and on the way to going after Digger, I spotted my first unassisted koala (Albie), which means we were not using the tracking device when I spotted him. He was very small and looked very sleepy. (We found out later that he was about 18 months old, had already been collected by the other team and was determined to be too small to collar at this time. No wonder he looked so beat!)

It was lovely to see Digger, the koala that I had seen caught the previous day. I fancied that I could recognize his face, although I am not sure that I can. He was very curious about us and a little concerned we might be after him again. I kept assuring him that he was all right. Digger was in an untagged tree, so we were running around underneath him for a good 15 minutes. As I had seen before, as soon as we started nailing the tree tag in place, he climbed higher.

Just as we were finishing Digger, Bill, Delma, Sean marched past on the way to a catch of a clean skin. We went along to see if they needed help and we got to watch Bingo being caught and collared. He was only about 6 feet up in the tree and he put up quite a struggle but finally made it into the bag. He received two yellow ear tags in his left ear and a maroon one in his right. Two tags in the left means male, two tags in the right is for females. (According to the crew, the females are always right).

I got to hold him, but he refused to pose for photos and kept his eyes closed. When Antonio set him free, he sat at the bottom of the tree for a minute. Then decided he liked the larger tree behind him and moved over and scampered up.

We returned to the base camp for a Mexican meal made by Cynch, assisted by Karin, with me as the consultant. We have added Alistair to the team, who is the other primary investigator for St. Bee’s Island. He will only be with us for 2 days and when he leaves, he takes Sean with him.

Tuesday, May 16 – St. Bee’s – Rain Rain Go Away!

Woke to overcast skies but started out at our normal time. With more koalas tagged, our lists increase every day. Luckily, we have people who are very adept at tracking so we don’t take too much time between finds. The competition for clean skins and unassisted is fierce and at times, it appears that people are more interested in adding to their total then enjoying the animals.

I still find is amusing that as soon as we find the koala, the team generally ignores it and scurries around the base of the tree collecting data and then heading off to the next find. I long to just sit and admire them for a time.

My team today was Antonio as tracker (known for his ability to get you there quickly and almost always pinpoints the tree exactly), Damien (the man who tends to lead us in the wrong direction as we begin), Cynch and I. Sean joined us after our first find today. Bill stayed in on the radio to directed us from afar and Delma accompanied the other team.

Our list included Natasha, Honey, Yoshi, Winston, Yellow, Elizabeth, Gizmo, Frontier and Jackaroo.

Closest to us was Natasha in an untagged tree, but when we found her, we only tied a tag on a pink ribbon on the tree so as not to disturb her. Delma wants to monitor her later on, so we will have to return later to do nearest neighbors. Delma’s group was after Abby, but she was not were she had been found for the last few days, so we had a listen for her and she was somewhere close to the point of the hill. Once we got through out list, we would try for her if they had not already found her. We went straight up the hill to find Honey, who was considerably higher then we have seen her before. A gentle rain began, but we continued. Sean caught up with us and we found we had Stud not far away, so we told the other team we would take him, if they would take Gizmo. They agreed. (Gizmo has not been seen yet this trip and we are having a devil of a time getting a signal on the receiver for him.). By the time we found Stud, it was raining in earnest and we ducked under the cover of an umbrella tree to wait it out. After 15 minutes and we were all pretty wet, the rain lightened and as we were already wet, we decided to continue to try and locate Yoshi. Sean told Bill that I would like a thermos of hot, milky tea sent up with biscuits and after we decided on both types of biscuits, Bill signed off. We continued across the top of the hill and the rain increased. Under another tree we stood and got wetter, but we had also located a koala that we were not tracking but was marked. Luckily, it was in a tagged tree but it was not on our small list, so we had to consult the expanded list and go off the ear tags. We determined that is was Vertigo and the rain continued.

Bill said the other team was heading back and we began to descend as the rain increased. It was slick going down hill so we were even slower than usual but we finally made it to the goat highway close to the bottom of the hill. As we got closer to the gully, we came across a dead, collared koala right on the path. We tried to quickly determine who it was, but our short list was beginning to disintegrate with all the water. Sean carried the male koala by the hind legs and we continued towards home. By this time, every part of me was wet, I had removed my glasses as there was nothing to dry them on and I could not see with all the water drops. If I inadvertently raised my arms, I got a cold shower of rain into that armpit. We were soaked.

At the North house, we determined that the koala was Cameron, the one that we had tracked for the last several days and I had seen the day before. Upon closer inspection, there were no apparently signs of reasons for his death, other then he was elderly, (8 years) and not in good body condition. His hipbones were very prominent under his soaked skin. Very sad for the team. It was 11:40 am when we arrived back at camp. As I arrived back, I realized that I had lost one or my leather gloves that I had taken out the previous day.

Alistair had been on the mountain with us and was also soaked. Nonetheless, he went back out as he needed to do some research and only had two days on the island. He headed back out. THEN IT REALLY BEGAN TO RAIN – BUCKETS OF WATER FOR THE NEXT TWO HOURS. I kept expected to see Alistair shooting past on a torrent of water from the hill. (It was determined that we got around 68 mls or around 2.5 inches of rain)

I ended up reading for most of the day and tried to nap. By 3:30, the rain had pretty much stopped. The sun did not come out, but it was clearing, so the teams were back on the hill by 4pm. There had been a chance that we would begin night tracking tonight, but Bill said we would just try to sight everyone on the list and leave the night tracking for another day.

With only had about 2 hours of good light left, so we started off to find Yellow on the farthest tip of the point. The ground was wet and slick in places and there were little rivers coming off the hill that we normally did not see, but we were amazed how comparatively dry the foliage was around us. Found Yellow and then went after Elizabeth. Sean was again going to join us. At this point, the other team kept spotting animals that we needed to get, so after Elizabeth and a few unassisted (Nell, Winston and Marina) and one very complicated nearest neighbors data collection, we were asked to go back and finish nearest neighbors on Natasha.

I was going to get the team back to the original tree with the GPS coordinates we had taken earlier that day. I found the coordinated and off we went. I found that the arrow on the device kept pointing in the wrong direction but the distance kept going down. At this point, we found Natasha in another tree and had to collect that data, so I went back to assist with the PDA on her and Sean and Damien went off with the GPS. By the time Cynch and I got there, the light was really fading and they were well into nearest neighbors.

We went very slowly down the hill to the bay, as it was very steep and slick and walked across the bay to home. Luckily, we were not too wet this time, as most of us are on our last set of dry clothes.

At dinner tonight Bill discussed night tracking and a possible change in our schedule for tomorrow. We were supposed to have tomorrow afternoon off, but if the weather improved, we might do am tracking, partial afternoon off, early dinner and night tracking. Night tracking is done with considerably smaller groups and involves finding every koala we tracked during the day and just seeing if they are in different trees or with different koalas around them. I indicated that for me, on the day I would do night tracking, I would definitely want my afternoon of down time, as it could be a very late night, followed by another full day of tracking. Bill said that would be fine and that night tracking would be optional. We will come up with a roster so that the teams are small and everyone gets a chance to do it if they want to.

Off to bed, but not much sleep as the rain and wind returned and it was a very loud night.

Wednesday, May 17 – St. Bee’s – Here comes the rain again!

I went to breakfast a little earlier today, Karin was already was at the South House because she was on kitchen duty today and the other two ladies were also up and moving much earlier than usual. It is just as well because literally one minute after we arrived for breakfast, the sky opened and down came the rain. Bill indicated we would not be going out any time soon, so I spent the morning down loading photos and blogging. The rain may also mean that Alistair and Sean will stay another day, as the plane will not be able to arrive at Keswick Island.

The weather finally cleared, so we were going to head out at about noon. The fine weather meant that Sean and Alistair would also be able to leave. Hugs and pictures at the boat, we waved them off, ate lunch and then put on our boots.

I was finally on a team with Bill, the PI, along with Karin, Chris and Antonio. Both teams made short work of our lists and with Digby tracking for the other team, other people were able to score a few clean skins and unassisteds. Karin also found my leather glove that I had lost during the big rain the other day. YAAAH! It spitted rain on and off, but we only were half soaked by the time we made it back in just under 2 hours having found every koala on our list plus 4 extra one. Our list today included Natasha, Jackaroo, Yellow, Winston, Elizabeth, Frontier and Digger.

Natasha was our first and easy to find the same as yesterday. Just up the way, we came across Jackaroo, and since we did not have him on the radar, he was an unassisted sighting. Next we found Yellow and Bill helped us see that she had a large pouch and a little guy hiding in there. As she is one of the ones to be caught so that they can change the battery in her collar, we may get to see little guy.

Elizabeth was no problem and on the way over to Winston we also found Nell and Frontier.
Digger was out last to find and as I stood on a rock and surveyed all I could see, Karin spotted him directly above me. I had already checked to see if this was a day I would find one, and the vibes said no. I caught him in mid chew and he had a eucalyptus leaf out both sides of his mouth with a worried look on his face. When I looked back again a few minutes later, he still had it in the same position. I spoke to him and told him he was all right, we weren’t going to disturb him today and that he could go back to eating, he began to chew again. He really does have the most wonderful face. I hope to see him again soon.

Our teams are knocking off the lists within 2 hours now, especially when we have our super trackers in the lead - Digby and Antonio. Damien is also very good as is Chris. Chris, bless his heart, has had major shoe difficulties on this trip. The old boots he brought from home had the soles come off within 2 days. The sneakers he wore the next day, was the day it poured, so they are wet and the borrowed boots from Bill are rubbing sores in new places. Add to the complication he has big feet and there just aren’t any second hand left over shoes that fit him. Even so, he continues on with a can-do attitude.

Both Karin and I have tracked some, but we don’t feel as comfortable with it. We can do it; it just takes the teams a little longer between animals. Cynch and Tashina have not tracked yet, but will be given an opportunity soon.

I blogged for most of the afternoon. We had an early dinner because some of the team would be going out for night tracking. I opted to stay back and make a birthday cake for Karin, and Cynch and Tashina also stayed. During the night, the teams try and find the same animals we saw earlier during the day. As koalas are usually nocturnal, there is usually more active and moving around even between trees. Bill likes to do day, night and then day tracking on the same animals to see what patterns can be found in their movement and home range, followed by an afternoon off. Those who did not partake the first time will have two more opportunities, but it is optional, but apparently, addictive.

They all marched off at 7pm with large torches (flashlights) and headlamps if they had them, two teams to find 9 koalas. Bill estimated they would be back around 10pm. I began in the kitchen at 7:30 and thank heavens I did, because they made it through the list within 90 minutes and were heading back. The cake was baked and the hot chocolate ready, but the cake was still too warm to ice. I finally had to ice the cake as the waving lights approached the kitchen, but the icing pooled in the middle of the cake and made it very soggy. It still tasted nice to them. It was a different taste than I was accustomed to and I left it sort of tasted like dish soap. No one else had that problem, so I guess it was a success. Karin would not allow us to sing her the song, because it was not her actual birthday. We will have to wait until tomorrow.

We ended the evening eating cake on the beach, drinking hot chocolate (or beer for some) and watching the stars. It was fun.

Thursday, May 18 – St. Bee’s – No rain and the afternoon off!

I woke up and met Karin on the porch between our rooms on the way to the bathroom and sang her birthday congratulations.

We determined that during the eating cake episode on the beach from last night, that Damien attracted every sand flea within 20 miles and has red spots over 30 % of his lower body. Not only awful to look at, very itchy and painful especially when brushed against.

The morning started the same with the exception that today some volunteers would be doing two-hour observations on individual koalas. I had volunteered and so I was put on Delma’s team this am. Damien, Cynch, Tashina, Karen and I struck off to find Abby.

I was to be put on the watch with Abby, and then the team would leave Delma and I and proceed to the next koala. Cynch was trying her hand at tracking and got us to Abby without too much difficulty. Luckily Abby was in a tagged tree so the data collection was minimal and then they moved on. Before we began the observations, Delma set a weather monitor in the tree near Abby. Delma showed me the data collection sheets that were in 5-minute increments. Every five minutes you would indicate the koala’s position in the tree, posture, exposure to the sun and activity. She changed positions just before we started and then sat in one part of the tree for 2 hours. There was heavy cloud cover so exposure stayed the same for most of the time. She essential slept for most of the time so her posture did not change much. Pretty much the only thing I was monitoring was her activity was mainly, sleeping, scratching, slightly changing her position and swaying in the breezes that came by. Delma left me after about 30 minutes and went to set Cynch up to observe Tea farther up the rain forest gully. The time went pretty quickly as soon as I had a fresh spray of mosquito juice and ate my apricot bar.

The pattern that I found was that she usually stayed in one position for over 4 minutes and then in the last 30 seconds of the 5-minute blocks, she would do something. It was a gift to have the time to just sit and watch one animal. Even though she wasn’t jumping around very much, I had the luxury of time to really examine her through the bino’s and see her coat pattern, ears and watch her work with her pouch. I think she has a little someone in there. They really do look cuddly and their fur is very dense. I am glad I did it and had the chance to sit with one koala and admire her for a long time.

Friday, May 19 – St. Bee’s

Tracking all day – I had been feeling like a team lightweight recently with not much ability to spot the Koala’s and not tracking. Today, I asked to track and my team was Cynch, Damien and myself. We had a short list – Yellow, Elizabeth, Yoshi, Winston, Digger, Frontier and Natasha.

Bill asked us to go after Yellow first as she was a female that needed her collar changed and we had seen that she had a large pouch and probably had a little guy inside. On the way to Yellow, Cynch (our primary spotter for the entire day), found Natasha as an unassisted, so we had one off the list. I took my team for an hours’ walk as we went up the hill, down the hill, across the hill and to the right and the left. Once I settled myself down from my frustration of not being perfect at this and with coaching from Damien, I became more confident. I still find that I loose track of where I have been on the hill and am not quick to determine other locations to try to verify my position.

Finally, we narrowed in on Yellow and Cynch found her in a medium tree under cover. The other team and Bill were another 40 minutes coming to us as Karin was finishing a 2 hour observation. During our time, we snacked and Damien had a wee nap in the weeds.

Once everyone had assembled, we started with just a pole catch, but that did not get her out of the tree. Out next attempt was with a tarp where four of us were underneath the tree and the poles were used to back her into the outer branches and then she dropped into the tarp. Once in the tarp, all of us on the corners came quickly into the middle and held the tarp high. She was then moved into a white canvas bag. Standard procedures ensued with changing her collar, measuring her head, looking at her teeth and checking her body score. There was a little bit of blood and Bill assumed she might have torn a claw when she was fighting with the pole.

After all that, Bill gently extracted the little baby from the pouch. It was a little girl, who kept bleating for her mum, and she was about the size of 4-week-old kitten. She was very sweet and Karin, whose birthday was yesterday, had the honor of naming her. Her name had to begin with an E and we considered Erica, but the final name was Esmeralda. Once Bill had measured Esmeralda, took a small ear sample and put in the small metal ear tags, we tried to put her back in Mum’s pouch. No luck, so we left them in the bag together for 10 minutes. After 5, baby was still holding on to Mum’s belly. But when we looked in again, the baby put her head in the pouch and climbed in. It was a very easy release and Yellow immediately climbed high in the tree and found an even taller one to go to. She did some acrobatics as she transferred trees, but as she was quite a good gymnast, no problems. It has been very reassuring to me to see the animals the next day doing normal activities and not very bothered by us. I know that the catching is stressful for them, so to see them apparently recovered so quickly is very positive.

After doing the nearest neighbors and a quick lunch, I lead the team on. We were slow going and the other team contacted us when we came across one of our animals and did the necessary work. We ended up with about 5 animals, and I did manage to spot Winston in the tree when were tracking him. All in all, a good day in the field, but I did buy each of my able-bodied crew a beer at dinner as a thank you for their patience.

Just as we were finished with our list, Bill asked us to join the group on the way back to base to assist with the catch of clean skin. The koala seemed to be in a low enough tree, but there were two trees nearby that we had to guard so that once on the ground, the animal could not escape up the tree. Once it began, the koala ended up on Delma’s pole. She began to collapse the pole and brought the animal within catching distance to the team members on my right. However, we had been told not to try and pluck a koala off the tree, they need to get a foot on the ground. Well, he did, and then he managed to get up a tree just past two team members and up the tree before we could do anything. The after-the-fact coaching that we received was that if that happens again, is to press the koala against the tree at the shoulder and rump area until the expert arrives. Bill was a little disappointed, but recovered well.

Night tracking – After dinner, the entire group donned our boots, grabbed our large torches and headlamps and headed back up into the hills to find the koalas and what they were up to at night. Usually, you can find them in a gum tree eating. During the day they are in other trees, usually the ones with heavier cover and are just hanging out and napping. So by focusing on the gum trees only, once the koala in range, you had a better chance of finding them. I found it very surprising that the hiking in the dark appeared easier then in the day, no ants to be seen and fewer spiders to walk through. I must say, however, that the koalas were as hard to see in the night as in the day. The earlier group had said all you had to do was shine your torch into the tree and see the glistening eyes. All the koala’s had their eye shades on or knew enough to not look at the lights, because I saw not one set of glistening eyes.

The other wonderful thing about the night tracking was the great view of the night sky. With only the bright glow of Mackay in the distance, you really had a good chance to spot and identify the constellations. The most famous constellation in the Southern Hemisphere, the Southern Cross, was bright and highly identifiable not only this night, but most of the others as well.