No really though, Australians are rather wimpy when it comes to the cold. Last Thursday, for instance, was a mildly blustery day prompting me to wear a light jumper (that’s a hoodie with a zipper, or a jacket) only to later discover an email from my professor with the condolences, eh em, “Hopefully you are all enjoying our wretched winter weather. Brilliant isn't it.” I wanted to reply that my friends back home certainly enjoyed their wretched winter weather as they tromped to class in their parkas through the seasonal blizzard, but I thought better of it. So so spoiled…
"It's almost winter you say? Nahhhhhh I'm not fallling for that, silly human. You just want me to migrate and keep all your delicious cheeseburger crumbs for yourself." - Barty the Dimwitted Brush Turkey
But there are certain perks that come with the onset of winter. Like, for instance…Easter...?. What could be more wintery than decorations of painted eggs, baby chicks in nests, and cute Easter bunnies? GASP, did I say cute? Bunnies in Australia are apparently not cute. They are, according to my Australia’s Terrestrial Environment instructor, a vile, invasive, habitat-destroying, obsessively-multiplying species that shouldn't warrant celebration on any holiday except “National Let’s Eat All the Vegetation Day.” But fortunately for you little Aussie boys and girls who still want to run around the lawn hunting chocolate eggs (they hide the actual chocolate here, not silly plastic eggs with candy inside), certain environmental masterminds have created a new, completely Aussie way of celebrating Easter:
No, he's not a mutant bunny from Mars. This cute little guy is a bilby, and he’s a real animal, a suspiciously rabbit-like native Australian marsupial that is endangered due to competition with rabbits and other introduced species (thanks a lot, Europeans). A friend of mine, shocked that I’d never heard of the Easter Bilby (I mean seriously, was I raised under a rock?) loaned me her clever children’s book that both explains how the bilby took over the Easter Bunny’s job when all the other potential bunny successors were too arrogant or lazy, and successfully instils into little Aussie children’s hearts that bilbys are in every way superior to those other actual bunnies. It was a such delightfully enjoyable read, I read it twice.
The best thing about the Easter Bilby is, like Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy and other vital magical childhood beings, he manages to find you no matter how remote your location. For instance, say, the world’s largest sand island.
Yes, amidst 5 glorious days of dune-jumping...
...frog-hunting...
(he's kinda cute for a toad)
...leaf-analyzing...
Having narrowly escaped dingoes, cars driving 80km on the beach (it’s the highway on the island - watch where you sunbathe), and having to learn about yet another difference between the two predominant types of trees, I returned home from Fraser, only to 6 hours later jump onto an overnight bus on my next field trip. Exhausting? Uh huh. Worth it? Most definitely. Because we were going to the Great Barrier Reef.
(Nemo and friends say "hi")
I have often wondered to myself if there really is some black-hearted person in the sky with a set of knobs an levers who, returning from his Easter vacation, realized he was backlogged on his rain and wind quota and decided to dump it all on the poor vacationers and research students on the “tropical” Heron Island. Yet despite being a perpetual state of wet, and having two boat snorkels, a night snorkel, and a scuba trip cancelled due to 25+ knot winds, we all still had a fantastic time becoming professional plankton-catchers...
(My what big eyes you have!)
...starfish-hunters...
(chillin' with my five-armed homies)
...and, drumroll, BABY SEA TURTLE RESCUERS!
(Insert collective "awwww" here)
Finding Nemo may pull off a pretty cute surfer-dude baby turtle, but nothing compares to watching one of these little guys make his way all the way down the beach to the sea. TOTALLY WICKED DUDE.
(be sure to turn on your sound)
Alas, my epic mid-semester break adventures quickly came to a close, much like the semesters of my friends are back home, and much like this blog entry is about to. But take heart! Our journey together is long from over, intrepid adventurers. If you dare, we will brave the even more certain dangers together, including...a long 14km hike (okay technically this field trip was last Friday, but I didn’t want to rewrite the entry – check out the link at the bottom of the page for some spectacular views of Lamington National Park and a very-Aussie-hat-wearing tutor!) … a fancy formal “ball” (coming this Friday)....an Aussie-Rules football game (nothing beats watching guys beat each other up)...and more! It will be greater than a chocolate fudge ice cream sundae…on a pancake…which I’m having on Tuesday…now you’re jealous.
(Check out my facebook albums for a more detailed report of my mid-semester adventures!
Fraser Island: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1758383361759.2095319.1304250203&l=c2d2404e65
Heron Island: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1758548765894.2095328.1304250203&l=98683dbddf
Lamington National Park: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1770070213923.2096082.1304250203&l=b6e9f55ec2)
