Moreton Bay

Today has been a GREAT day!! 

The morning itself was quite uneventful, however the afternoon and evening have been very fun.

The day started off bloody early with tossing and turning from 1am and finally getting up at 2:30.  I woke Dave at 3 and he was kind enough to drive me to the airport before heading back  home for (I hope) another hour or two of sleep. (Thanks honey!!!).

My fellow biology 529 (Tropical Marine Conservation Practice through Victoria University of Wellington) peers trickled into the airport slowly, all of us bleary eyed from the early morning.  We were given our course notebooks by the professor, checked in, sat around, went through passport security, sat around, and then finally boarded a plane for Brisbane.  

The flight was uneventful and was operated by Virgin Australia.  Fortunately, our flights were booked through Air New Zealand; so our hot (gross) breakfasts were free as were the in-flight wireless tablets that they use for entertainment.  While I slept through the distribution of the tablet entertainments, you can be sure that I didn’t pass up the free food before returning back to crazy airplane dream time.

Edible berry

We arrived in Brisbane in low clouds and mist, so there was no Great Barrier Reef feel to the place.  The water was dark though brown patches of shore could be seen.  The initial view of what seemed like endless mangroves was quickly marred by the appearance of two large pits and cleared flats of holding ponds.  Mining I assume.  The airport also occupied a large area of previous mangrove forest.  However, there certainly did seem to be plenty of green mangroves tops to be seen.

Pelicans

There was a lot of standing around while we waited for our professor and his assistant to collect our rental vans.  This worked to our advantage, as most everyone was able to make it through the long coffee line to get a much needed caffeine fix.  A short van ride later and we had made our way through the Australian suburbia of houses, shopping malls, and gum trees to the ferry departure point of Cleveland.  

The warm, moist Australian air was lovely after the cold New Zealand winter and the colder air conditioning of the van.  We were treated to a good view of mangroves, pelicans, and shags as we wandered the top deck of the ferry.  We found shelter below, however, as we caught up to the rain. 

Biol 529 crew on ferry

We departed the ferry at Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island and drove to the base that will be our home for the next 5 nights: Moreton Bay Research Station.  It’s a station maintained by the University of Queensland that is made available for researchers and school groups both nationally and internationally.  We well have catered breakfast, lunch, and dinners and share small dorm rooms containing 2 bunk beds.  Between every 2 rooms is a shared shower/toilet. 

Cultural midden (ancient rubbish site)

Ibis in the lawn before it wanders down the center of the street

There are several lab/lecture rooms available at the station.  While we’ll be busy getting our hands and feet wet in the field, we will also be spending several hours a day in lectures learning about the ecosystems we will be studying. 

The highlight of the day comes from two things.

First: the people on this trip are great.  I knew they would be; I mean we’re all here for the purpose of higher education and marine conservation.  But I was really worried that not knowing anybody would be super awkward.  However, it’s been so easy.  There are 5 girls and 8 guys among the students.  I was fortunate that my dive partner from my Wellington dive last weekend knew a girl coming on this trip.  We clicked immediately over our mutual acquaintance.  However, the whole group was bonded over our shared early morning pain.  Separating into smaller groups of two vans from Brisbane helped everyone get to know each other even better.  It’s been a TON of laughs.

Throwing boomerangs

A boomerang waiting to be made (the natural shape is
in the crotch of the tree)

The second highlight of the day, and the point where I felt truly happy and blessed to be here, was walking the foreshore with a cultural guide.  North Stradbroke is home to an aboriginal tribe and we spent several hours with a very knowledgeable and personable descendant.    He told us the tribe’s history, showed us many edible/medicinal/useable plants, and talked to us about how they tracked the running of the fish.  It was just so peaceful and relaxing walking along the park and beach as rosellas flocked in the gum trees (eucalyptus).  Ibis wandered into the middle of the street and galahs perched on phone lines.  Gigantic black crows the size of Alaskan ravens stalked the trees.

Our guide took out a collection of boomerangs and we had a right good laugh having a couple of goes at throwing them (I did POORLY!).  Our guide then took us to his house where he showed us a collection of various boomerang and hunting spear types as well as a myriad of many other tools of everyday tribal life.  He gave us an amazing didgeridoo performance (mimicking the laugh of the kookaburra splendidly), taught us how to make (and transport) fire, and then painted the faces of two students with the traditional stingray pattern used by him and his daughters when they perform dances.   

Rosellas in a tree

Rosellas in the sky

We ended our day back in the lecture theatre learning about the multitude of organisms that could kill, maim, poison, or just plain hurt us while we’re in the water.  While it is a bit of a scary list (cone shells, blue ring octopus, stonefish, blue bottle jellies, sharks, festering cuts from coral scrapes, etc, etc), most of the organisms are rare or can be avoided by shuffling your feet in the water and paying attention....and not harassing the animals!  The guideline is, if you don’t know what it is, don’t touch it.  But really – why would you need to touch it even if you know what it is?

I’m off to bed now.  It’s now 11pm and it certainly feels like it’s been a long day.  We’re up for breakfast at 7:30 tomorrow, followed by a lecture at 8 on sea grass.  We should be out exploring actual sea grass beds by 9!  While it’s highly unlikely, it’s thoroughly possible we might see dungongs!!! (think manatee relative).