Conservation Volunteer Trip
We had an option to sign up to do a volunteer trip involving conservation in Australia through our program, so both Amy and I took advantage of it (seeing as how we are both into zoology/biology/conservation it was a good opportunity). We got to go up to Tully/Mission Beach area for 3 days w/ 5 other American students. We propagated around 500 little seedlings (separated in trays, put in own containers) and planted around 250 young food trees along cassowary corridors. Cassowaries are huge birds that are very endangered in the area, with only 40 adults left there. We also wandered around in fairly dense rainforest with one of the conservation guys which was interesting. It was a fun weekend in beautiful Mission Beach area and we learned quite a bit about the different food trees and rainforest stuff as well as helping out the cassowary! We also got to see a cassowary in a field on the last day so that was cool to see the animal we were doing work for. (I got to see another cassowary up close the next time we were in Mission Beach and it was right across the street from where we did our work, so its nice to know that area will actually be useful to them. The picture of that cassowary - possibly the young male the conservation guy was talking about - will be on my Mission Beach page.)
sign at bus station |
golden gumboot sign |
the Tully gumboot, the height of their highest rainfall |
view from top of gumboot |
view of behind Tully station |
out working on planting trees |
out planting trees |
cassowary sign |
conservation guy Damon |
us watching Chris climb one of the trees in the rainforest |
chris climbing again |
looking into part of rainforest |
licuala tree in Licuala Forest (highest concentration of them anywhere in the world) |
info sign on palms in the forest |
looking up at licuala trees (i like them and want to grow some at home now) |
again |
again, black and white, amy's camera |
footbridge in rainforest |
info on ferns in forest |
underside of fern, with spores on it |
staghorn ferns in tree (epiphytes) |
strangler fig on host tree |
picking up cassowary droppings (for the seeds) |
again |
patch of plants that grew from seeds in cassowary dropping |
cassowary footprint |
again |
there is a lace monitor like 4 ft long, but you can't see it due to the sun |
again |
bandicoot hole |
bird in tree |
a prehistoric type plant...this is one branch, the rest of the tree grows underground) |
pandanus and other plants |
1 year old regrowth from other conservation ppl (bleeding heart trees) |
where we stayed |
again |
our two cabins |
the one i stayed in |
huge cassowary thing next door to where we stayed |
view from where we ate our picnic lunch |
view mission beach |
again |
again |
tractor putting in a boat (who needs a boat launch?) |
our group leader Kim drinking coconut milk |
mission beach |
again |
again |
again |
got up for sunrise one morning |
sunrise and moon |
sunrise mission beach |
again |
again |
again |
looking up beach, dawn |
dunk island right offshore |
beach |
beach |
again |
coconuts washed up |
the crabs like to roll little balls (must be very bored) |
coconuts on beach w/ dunk island background |
same coconuts other way |
me on swing thing we found on beach |
few of us in morning |
me and amy's shadows on beach (i have crazy wind blown hair!) |
mission beach |
trees behind mission beach |
we got a lot of coconuts to break open |
a cassowary is in the field (its like 4 ft tall but looks like a speck here) |
a little closer |
again |
banana tree field |
coconut once husked |
coconut inside (mmmm, yummy) |
This is a pic of the perfect blue sky. (made it easier to read stuff than a picture with stuff in it!)
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