End of Semester 2 and the oncoming holidays

All of the exams are now finished and I'm now at a bit of a loose end of what to do. I am on the coast for another week and then I move out of where I am staying. After that, I don't know what I'm going to do. I need to get a job now but I don't know what I should look for or where I should look. I'm going to head out to Alice Springs in January so any work that I get would only be temporary (four weeks worth). At the moment I don't really know what to look for or where I should be looking. I think that I will apply for some temp work, hopefully I'll be able to find some that will give me enough money to return to uni next year. It's amazing how quickly my saving have deteriorated over the year. I don't know where it goes and don't really have anything to show for it. Either way, I need money.

Consistency. Is it too much to ask?

I've got a big question regarding the marking of assignments.  I've just received back an assignment with the comment that I used too many newspaper articles.  The assignment was to pick two topics from a newspaper and write about them.  The only newspaper articles I used were to reference the original article the rest were peer reviewed scientific papers and one website of an environmental organisation where I mentioned the 'environmentalists view'.  Did the tutor even look at my assignment?  I probably lost a point because of that!

That's one thing that I've noticed with the marking of pretty much all my assignments this semester.  It is just so confusing.  I've had teachers write over my graphs with things like 'use 1/3 of a page, bold here, more information, and so on'.  Then for the next assignment I go and fix those things and I get it back with something totally different.  Why can't they just take their time and look at it properly while also being consistent in their marking.  One of the teachers said to be when I questioned the way a question was phrased "you have to look at the question and think about what it mean".  Call me lazy but if I'm in a test I don't want to have to sit and think about what is wanted when the teacher didn't phrase it properly in the first place!  

So far it doesn't look like I'll be doing as well as I did last semester.  It's so frustrating and I'm not the only one who has this happen to.  My classmates tell the same story but only to deaf ears.  I don't know... tut tut tut.

Getting to know the neighbourhood

I’ve just come back from a walk.  I don’t usually go for them but I decided that if I’m going to loose a bit of weight for Laura’s wedding then I will have to start sooner rather than later.  I left at about 9:30 at night after I’d had dinner.  I thought a half an hour walk or so would do me good and help me to burn off a bit of what I’d eaten today.  That was the plan anyway.  An hour and a half later I finally found my way back to my unit.  So much for my plans of a quick walk.  The streets around here are like a rabbit warren.  You follow one trail thinking that you will end up some where and end up totally going in the opposite direction.  I actually though that I was heading north but actually started heading south right to the edge of the housing estate.  I’d say that part of the estate would be at least a kilometer away as the crow flies so I probably walked around 5 km through the streets and for the most part didn’t have a clue where I was going.  I’m pretty sure that I passed one part of the lake twice and only managed to find my way back when I noticed some high voltage power lines that run towards the university.  I picked a direction and finally made my way back.  My legs certainly are tired now.  I think next time I’ll go walking when it is light and I can see where I’m going, either that or there will be more people around to ask!

Gone bush

Last week was the final week of the holidays and Stewart and I decided to pack up the truck and go camping.  We were actually panned to help out with a fauna survey that was being conducted in Barakula State Forest which is about 400 kms from Brisbane near the town of Chinchilla.  We set off at about 5 o'clock Monday morning.  That was the plan anyway but by the time the ute was all loaded the time was nearly 6 and the sun was well up.  Still we had plenty of time and stopped for breakfast in Gatton.  We arrived in Chinchilla and followed the directions to the forestry office to meet up with the survey coordinator, Rod.  The dirt roads out there were suprisingly good and although going sideways a couple of times on the more sandy bits there were really no problems.  The camp site was just a part of the forest that was more thinly wooded than the rest and after finding a shady spot we pitched our tents.

The next morning the hard work started.  We had to set up 10 lines of traps.  He had the help of a Dingo with a drill.  When I say Dingo I actually mean a small digger with a hole boring attachment and not the canine variety.  It made things so much easier, especially in the Brigalow.  In the Heath it was just sandy soil while in the Brigalow area there was about half a foot of soil and then the drill would stop.  The traps, which consisted of large buckets about one and a half feet deep would then have to be dug into the hard, dry clay that was at the base. Putting 6 lines in the heath area took about two hours while putting in 4 in the Brigalow took nearly 6.  That's how hard it was.  And this was with a team of about 12 people.  Still once they were in with the lines set up it was time to relax.  

Each morning and afternoon we checked the traps and we found quite a bit.  We found a goanna, legless lizards, skinks, geckos, house mice (and one of the little buggers bit me!) and a couple of hairy looking centipedes.  I took my camera out there and took a few photos of what was out there.

Me holding a Golden-Tailed gecko when spotlighting at night.

A Yellow Faced Whip Snake (Demansia psammophis) that Stewart found under a log while spotlighting.

A Stone Gecko (Diplodactylus vittatus) that I found on a stick.  They usually sit on sticks that are close to the ground and when you come close they hear you and can slip off into the darkness.

This Golden-Tailed Gecko (Strophurus taenicauda) was found on the first night.  After spotlighting we came back and Stewart found this one on his tent.  Here he is being released onto a nearby tree.

This Delma plebeia was found in one of the pit traps that were out on the heath that we checked in the morning.

Katie and Aaron's Wedding

I've just come back from Sydney where I attended the wedding of Katie and Aaron. They got married.  It was a nice wedding held on Katie's parents property in Western Sydney.  It was a really nice wedding and the meal served was totally vegan and very nice.

Aaron and Katie posing for photos after the wedding

Spring has sprung

All of a sudden, winter has gone and spring is here.  When I got off the plane yesterday it was 19 degrees, today it is around 25 and beautiful and sunny.

Mid Semester Tests

I’ve just had an exam today and I don’t feel good about it. It was for a subject called Environment and Health. The course is basically about public health, Ecological biodiversity, climate change and sustainable food production. The test included everything we’ve learnt, or at least gone over in the past 5 weeks of uni. It is a strange subject where you don’t have to learn information, only really concepts and models. These are then applied throughout the different genres. I’m finding it hard to get my head around the complex reasoning required but hopefully I’ll be able to do it within the next 5 weeks. Until then, back to the readings.

A Cold for Winter

I’m just getting over a cold at the moment and I hope that I’m soon feeling back to normal.  I got it last Saturday and started to sneeze and snort.  In fact I had so much to blow out I was beginning to think that someone had shoved a wet cabbage up my nose while I was sleeping.  Even though a week has now gone by and I’m feeling pretty much back to normal I’m still sounding like Donald Duck with his head in a bath.  It’s odd that you get like that when you have a cold.  Everything around you seems to be dulled down, the volume turned down oh so slightly, like you are walking around with ear plugs in your ears.  With out the background noise it seems to remove you from life.  Everything goes on around you but you are not a part of it.  The little background noises, traffic, feet stamping on wooden steps, birds chirping in the trees, background conversations.  Even when someone is speaking to you it still is hard to hear them when they don’t speak up.  I know what it’s like for people who are loosing their hearing how, though, hopefully it will be back soon.

There's no where else like Fridays!

I went out to a going away party last night.  Kathrin (One of my ex-housemates) is heading back over to Germany (where she calls home).  We had a few drinks over at her new place and then went out to one of the clubs in Mooloolaba.  There it was a quiet night with only 3 fights breaking out.  Usually it's a lot rougher.  Last time I went I was on the dance floor when a fight broke out right next to me.  It's kind of freaky watching a fight in strobe lighting.  In general though, I've noticed that it is really funny watching drunk people in action.  When drunk, people start making inane, pointless conversation to absolute dickheads (others met at the club that is, not the guys I went with).  During these conversations emotions seem to go from undying love to outright hatred and back again in the blink of an eye.   Maybe I'm getting over the going out and partying stage in my life now, of course, maybe I'm just getting too disillusioned by the caliber people out there today. Who knows?

Trying to Bee a photographer

Today I've spent taking photos.  This is a photo of a bee that I took this afternoon in the plant that is outside the front.  Not bad for my first day taking pictures.  I am certainly glad that I bought the camera when I get shots like this.  Now I've just got to try and make them clearer.

Honey Bee (Apis mellifera)