Do you ever wonder if time travel is actually possible? Cause that's how I feel about this semester - it is literally FLYING by. I feel like just yesterday I was stepping off the plane in Cairns, surrounded by 7 just newly acquainted students, scared, jet-lagged and nervous for what was to come. Almost immediately though, the whole group felt like a family and Cairns felt like home. Now we're all splitting up and heading our separate ways for a whole month, as we all follow our individual passions and interests on our ISPs (Independent Study Projects). Our last night in Cairns as a whole group was filled with a bittersweet combination of sadness and anxiety/excitement. We all said our goodbyes (reluctantly) but know we're all heading off on great new adventures! Sydney watch out! ;)
As I've mentioned before, I am going to be working with a PhD student named Sandra Vogel as she conducts her thesis study on the population demographics of the penguin colonies off the coast of New South Wales. These penguins are commonly called, "Fairy Penguins" (or Little Blue Penguins) due to their small size - they are the smallest of the penguin species in the world. We are going to be travelling out to Bowen and Lion Islands on the weekends (friday-monday) to conduct studies that will help us estimate the population numbers at each of the sites and whether the populations are stable or declining. For my ISP paper I will probably do an assessment of each of the two methods and compare/contrast them. I will also compare the population data we collect with population data from other colonies around Australia. (This is the first time that anyone has done surveys with this particular population, so I will have to compare it to data from other communities). I'm super pumped since this is exactly the type of research I have wanted to do ever since I realized that I wanted to devote myself to conservation. Hopefully the project is everything I hoped, and more. :)
When I'm not out on the island with Sandra, I am going to be staying in a house with my friend Chelsea (who is also doing a project in NSW, although her's is in a suburb close to our house, called Warriewood.) The house is owned by a very nice woman named Grace, who is originally from Peru. Her husband (who is abroad at the moment) is from Chile, and together they have three grown-up sons (who are not here right now, hence why the couple is renting out extra rooms). Chelsea and I each have our own bedrooms and share a bathroom together. The house is beautiful and very modern, has internet access and even has a pool as well! It also comes complete with a very adorable old pitbull named Chico, who is thrilled to have company in the house and has not stopped following Chelsea and I around since we arrived. (I'll post pictures later once we've settled in a bit).
Since we returned from Lizard Island, it's been a crazy week full of academic assignments and finalizing ISP details, including this housing arrangement and our flight details. My friends Chelsea and Greg and I all flew out on a 7:20AM flight from Cairns, after waking up at 5:00 to catch our 5:30 taxi, (and after I stayed up till 2AM packing due to my excellent procrastination skills). The night before we had our Final Exam which was a culmination of all the ecological concepts we've learned over the semester. It was already stressful enough just on basis of being a final exam, but on top of that we had to take it in the common area of the hostel (since only a few of us were taking it early on account of our early departure - people were leaving at different points throughout the weekend), which meant that it was full of noise and music. Right in the middle of the exam a couple of guys started playing pool right behind us, adding to the chaotic scene. :P But i guess that'll make it more memorable and now i can probably take an exam just about anywhere.
I'm going to sign off for now, since i'm throughly exhausted. But i'll check in soon with updates about my project and photos about our first few days of ISP!
Peace, love and Tim-Tams (some of the most delicious cookies I've ever had in my life! Look them up! The double chocolate ones are to die for)
Katie
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