Is that a skink in that crevice?

When Stewart suggested heading up to Lamington National Park I lept at the chance. I'd wanted to go up there and take a few pictures of me feeding the birds and have a go on the tree top walk, it's always good fun. Stewart wanted to tick another one off his list that he'd seen before the end of 2009 and so I said I'd once again come along for the ride. This time we were in search of the eastern crevice skink (Egernia mcpheei) which is not a little brown skink. It is a brown skink and it is quite small, but not as small as Coup.

We set off about 10 o'clock and headed south along the back roads and up into the hinterland. About half an hour into the drive it started to rain. Not just drizzle, but pour. With wipers on full and my nose pressed up against the windscreen we continued along the winding road. Stewart was seemingly oblivious to the rain, was happily singing along to the many David Bowie songs that he has on his iPod. It was at this point that I noticed that the directions Stewart was giving me were a bit off the mark. It turned out that we were not, as I thought, going to O'Reily's but Binna Burra. Binna Burra has no birds to feed, no tree top walk and is distinctly the more remote of the two main sites in Lamington National Park. Not to worry I told myself. At least it will be a relaxing afternoon. Stewart had said that the skink could be found a short walk from the carpark. Next time I will have to clarify with Stewart the definition of "a short walk". As it turned out the short walk was not a short walk. The short walk was a long one. The short walk was in fact a 10 kilometre hike through undulating, muddy, leach-infested terrain. However, as we started our ascent I had no idea of this and so was only worried about driving in the rain.

As we reached the Binna burra visitors centre the rain had slowed to a drizzle. I pulled up and turned off the engine. As if they were waiting for us the clouds came in and rain once again started to fall. We got out of the car and sprinted over to the centre. Inside there were maps on the wall of the various walks, information about the animals that can be seen in the park and information about camping in the area. Each sign had pictures showing an enchanting wilderness with happy families walking to breath-taking vistas high above the canopy. I looked out the window. The canopy was out there somewhere. Unfortunatly in the pouring rain and low cloud, made it impossible to see. We hung around the visitors centre for about half an hour waiting for the rain to clear. Stewart spoke to the friendly lady volunteer about the lizards and snakes that she'd seen in the area when the rain was due to clear (it wasn't due to clear until Christmas day). In the meantime I busied myself finding a map of where we would be heading. I looked down the list of easy walking tracks, no it wasn't there, medium difficulty tracks, no, not there either. I was just begining to think Stewart had got the place wrong when I saw it. It was under the red track for experienced hikers only. My heart jumped a beat. I looked closer. Distance 34km. My legs automatically went limp and I nearly fell over. I grabbed the wall managed to catch myself at the last minute. I stared at it, my mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping on the deck of a fishing boat. WE ONLY HAD AN AFTERNOON! WHAT WAS HE THINKING! Grumple, grumble... As the criticisms of Stewart's plan of a 'short walk' bounced about my head I spotted something on the sign that made my heart leap. The section that we were going to walk would be a 10km return trip. I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed only slightly. It might not be 34km but it would still be 10km. That was not a short walk. I might say at this point that exercise is not my strong point. Since I'd started university two years ago, my level of fitness had declined to nearly non-existant. While I can walk, I much prefer to sit under the shade of a tree and eat chocolate. I shook my head and walked away from the board over to Stewart. The lady he was speaking to was pointing out the window. I looked at Stewart who had a smile from ear to ear. My mind set about imagining what they were talking about. It turned out that the lady had seen a land mullet (Egernia major) sitting outside on a log right at the front of the centre. I peered out the window and saw the large dark lizard sitting on a stump about 3 metres away. As the rain had once again turned to a light drizzle we went outside to photograph the skink and come come up with a plan for the afternoon. As Stewart was just packing away his camera the drizzle stopped and a ray of sunlight shon down through the clouds to where we stood. That settled it. We didn't drive 100km just to turn around and head back down the mountain. We were going to find that little brown skink!

A hairy tramp that was enjoying the view.

We picked up our bags and started down leaf covered track squelching in the mud as we went. The canopy closed in around us and soon we were wandering through the rainforest with only the sounds of squelching footsteps, calling birds and raindrops on leaves to be heard. We walked on. In places the path wound its way through eucalypt forest before heading back into the denser jungle. It was in one of these sections that we came upon a land mullet sitting by the side of the path in a bit of sunlight. We stopped. It was another good sign. We quitely passed and kept on walking. We crossed rocky outcrops and flowing creeks still the path went on. We passed signs telling of places both far, near and non-existant. Stewart strode ahead taking long strides and jumping nimbly over logs. I followed, stumbling and slipping along. "Mind that log" I heard Stewart call out. "What log?" I thought and with that went face first into the ground. I pulled myself up, brushed myself off and continued along the path as I followed Stewart disappearing into the mist singing quietly to himself. We started to climb, higher and higher. The drizzle started again and we became damper and damper. As I trudged along I saw a shape appear on the track ahead of me. I slowed. This was bunyip country, I had to be careful. The shape had big hair that seemed to come out of all directions. It stood there, bolt upright with its hands on its hips. I moved slowly closer looking for my glasses to get a better view. Luckily it was just Stewart. He'd found the spot where the skink should be. I sat down on the nearest rock I could find (albit still in a puddle) and took a big gulp of water between gasps for air. I felt mentally and physically drained after walking up and down ravines, squelching through mud and flicking off blood-sucking leaches that seemed to be sitting on the path waiting for you to step near. Stewart also sat down and didn't look it the least bit tired. This made me feel worse. Of course, Stewart soon was able to lift my mood. From his bag he handed me a fruit bar. As the sweet sugar melted in my mouth I could feel my energy returning and my spirits soaring.

After resting for a few minutes and waiting for the rain to ease we both got up and started searching the area. I'd been told that it was a little brown skink that liked to hide in rocky crevices. We searched for about 10 minutes but only managed to find a couple of marsh snakes (Hemiaspis signata) and quite a few leaches. "Crikey" Stewart yelled (or words to that affect). "There's the little fella". I looked over and saw the skink sitting on a rock not 2 metres from where we stood. It was a lot bigger than I thought. Still small but larger that Coup that we had found the day before.

Eastern crevice skink (Egernia mcpheei)

It was a great find and I'm glad that we gave it the chance. After about 15 minutes photographing it we turned around and head back to the car. Another 5 tiring kilometers and I looked like I'd spent the afternoon doing a military assault course. Mud covered my shoes, I had cuts over my legs and arm and leaches who were not just content to assult my shoes and socks but a few plucky members of the leach airborne squadron seemed to have parachuted onto my hat and were making their way into my hair. I'd like to say that the leaches and sore legs were well worth the afternoon of pain but really, would you go through all that just to find a little brown skink? I think not.

In search of a skink called 'Coup'

"You're mad!" I can still hear my words echoing through the damp rainforest somewhere on the top of Mt Nebo. I'd gone up there with my friend Stewart, as he was on a quest to see and tick off 250 reptile species that he has seen in Australia by the end of the year. And so on this morning we found ourselves walking through a combination of eucalypt and rainforest searching for the plain-backed sunskink (Lampropholis couperi) which we came to know as 'Coup'. You might be asking how does the plain-backed sunskink differ from your garden variety little brown skink that are found across Brisbane. The short answer is that for the general observer they are both little brown skinks. It was for this reason that I was informing of my thoughts. We'd driven 50km to look for a little brown skink in the middle of a dark, damp rainforest. The expression regarding a needle and a haystack automatically sprang to mind. Still I didn't mind tagging along. You get to see animals that the majority of people just don't see when you are out with Stewart. He seems to have an uncanny nack of finding what he sets out to find from obscure little brown skinks to amazingly coloured and dangerous snakes. Not only that, but Stewart also promised to treat me to a honeycomb Maxi-bon ice Cream if we found it. With that, I was in.

It was a nice walk through the rainforest. It had rained quite a bit throughout the week and so everything was lush and green (as opposed to the rainforests that are all brown and twiggy?) As we walked along we kept out eyes to the ground. We were looking for the slightest bit of movement in the leaf litter that would betray the presence of Coup. Stewart walked ahead of me using his binoculars to scan the ground. I can only imagine what anyone coming up upon him would think. Suddenly he stopped, "I've got one" he screamed. I quickly came over. Looking at where he was peering with the binoculars at the ground. It just looked like ground to me. There was no movement. "Where?" I asked. "I saw one" he said, "but its gone into the leaf litter". His shoulders sagged. We waited there for a couple of minutes but the little Coup did not come out again. Although Stewart was pleased that he'd seen one, I knew he wouldn't be happy until he'd actually seen if for long enough to photograph. With that in mine and me once again in tow, we moved off deeper into the forest. There were a couple of close calls along the path. I saw a little brown skin by the opening of a log. I called out to Stewart who came running over. In there I pointed to the spider web covered log. He stuck his head in and we both had a good look around the outside but the little skink had gone.

Finally we came to a large strangler fig with a board walk going around it. The tree was enormous and must have been about 10 metres in diameter. Around it the roots criss-crossed the ground under the boardwalk. I stared up into the canopy, lost in the leaves above. "Ryan, I've got one" came an excited scream from the other side of the tree. When I got there Stewart once again had his binoculars pointed at the ground and a big smile on his face. I looked down and saw the little skink wandering amongst the leaf litter, not paying us any attention as if it was an everyday occurrence. Stewart lept over the handrail and landed a distance away with a thud. Now my job began, this was my time to shine. While Stewart inched closer I kept my eyes of the prize and guided him in. I handed over his camera and flashes while he whispered to the skink. The skink looked up and stuck out his tongue then went back to wandering. As Stewart snapped away the skink did not seem to worry. I stood there on the boardwalk watching. I can understand about the thrill of the chase. Finding something new, that you've never seen before. I think it's exciting having another one to tick off. Another one to add to the ever diminishing list. It is good fun although my enthusiasm doesn't quite match that of Stewart. I take it back. He's not mad, just wildly eccentric.

Me and Advertising

Now at an age when I start shouting at television programs. I am able to answer any advertising claim that I see on the television with a response of ‘oh, rubbish’ or words to that affect. It doesn’t matter what they are advertising, how good the deal is or the style of advert that was used; it still gets the same response. None of them really seem to make me think, “I’d like to buy that”. The distrustful, pessimistic, cynical or vulgar responses comes out. I’m not worried. For some of them, it’s the best response that they deserve. I don’t know what it is about adverts that I see today, maybe I’m just getting old. They just seem to be trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator. One that I watched tonight involved a man urinating against a tree. That’s all he did. The 30 second advert involved him urinating against a tree while he explained how the beer he drank only contained natural ingredients. That was it. After watching that, please don’t tell me that that advert was trying to be classy!

Turn that music off!

Once again I have housemates that no respect for other people.  It's ten to one in the morning and the music is still blaring outside my door.  Corrina and Sandra are outside again with their friends talking shit as usual and being extremely noisy.  They don't seem to think that there might be people trying to get some sleep.  No that would be too much.  I'm just so frustrated at the moment.  I have to be up early tomorrow morning an they won't turn the music off.  I can't wait until I leave this place.  I'm sick of having to put up with other inconsiderate people.

Car Troubles

I've just got my car back from the garage. Last week it started playing up. When I say playing up, it just wouldn't start. I got it going once but after that couldn't. By the sound that it would make when trying to start it I worked out that it might be the starter motor. After calling out the RACQ guy to get it started I drove it to my local garage and told them to fix it. Nearly $800 and two days later I picked up my car and drove it away.

This little event got me thinking. Is my car on its way to getting everthing major replaced? I really hope not. Being a full time student I already have limited funds and with the major expenses such as registration and insurance taking up nearly all of my scholarship money that I am given ($2000 p.a.) it makes it hard enough to find the hundreds of dollars that are needed to pay for a service and replacement parts. If you have a car then you have to have a job. They are just so expensive!

Working in the Laboratory

This week was the last week of the holidays in the mid-semester break.  However, I was not on holiday but working hard at uni.  We had lab classes for Medical Microbiology and so for the first time we got to play with pathogenic bacteria.  It actually wasn’t too bad although at the end of the week I could see clearer than ever before the gaps in my knowledge when it comes to microbiology.  We had to identify some unknown organisms that were given to us at the start of the week.  We had to plate them on to selective agar and run several tests on them to determine what type they were.  By the end of the week however, I was no closer to saying for sure what they were.  I could plate the bacteria up and run the required tests such as coagulation, oxidisation and staining that were required.  I could say whether the tests were positive or negative, whether it was gram positive or negative and whether it was cocci or rod shaped.  However, this knowledge needed to compared to our knowledge of certain bacteria.  That is where my knowledge fell short.  I was only able to identify the bacteria when I used the computer identification tests and software.  Despite my poor performance at least it has given me an idea of what I need to know before the final exams.  Now I’ve just got to learn!

University, where free thought is discouraged.

One thing I've noticed about this university is that students are not encouraged to think freely about issues. As one teacher put it "everything you are going to think, has already been thought by someone else therefore everything must be referenced". It is an odd thought, but one that has been reinforced throughout my time at uni and not just in regards to referencing. The rebellious side of university life has gone. It is discouraged to be different. Change is now brought about by someone else, the student body only looks on. There are no campus groups promoting activism or even extra cirricular activities. You only come to uni to study, nothing more. How things change.

How do you see it?

I had a call from a one of my old work colleagues the other day. It was quite out of the blue but I was asked if I'd speak to someone from the Anti-discrimination commission about how he was treated at his last job. I said yes naively wondering what they were investigating. I was quite amazed to find out as you can imagine, that they were actually investigating a clam from this colleague regarding different treatment due to race. It was even more shocking as I thought he understood the real reason.

Before I go on though I should explain. This story is all about bush travel. My former colleague wanted to go out bush more than he did. It's true that among all the people in the office he got to go out the least, but did occasionally (very occasionally) get to go out. The reason that he wasn't allowed to go out as much as he would have liked was more to do with his attitude than race. The guy in question is quite black and white when it comes to doing his job. This is an asset is some ways but not in others. When someone goes out into the bush it is all about building a strong working relationship with the people out there. When he went out to a community I heard that he was very forceful and unmoving when it came to his job. Nothing happens quickly in the bush and you can't go out and treat them the same way as you would for the people in town, you have to work with them.

That's why when I spoke to the person from the anti-discrimination commission I told them exactly that. By old boss never in the 3 years I was out there showed any racism to him or anyone in the office. It was the bosses job to make that call whether it is a popular one or not. It was her job to make the call that was right and for the good of the whole program. I think she made the right call. That's why I could in no way shape or form support a claim of racism against my former boss. It just didn't happen.

I'm also amazed that my former colleague automatically jumped to the conclusion that it was because of his origins and not because of his conduct. Maybe he knew, maybe he didn't, maybe he knew the reason but didn't believe it could be true. I just don't know. Either way the claim of racism, in my opinion was not even remotely true.

Thanks Ipek!

I've just spoken to Ipek and I am now the proud owner of a Distinction in Microbiology. My grade was upgraded after I spoke to the teacher and pleaded my case. Apparently I was only 3 points short of a Distinction when my original mark of a Credit came out. Ipek (the micro teacher) had another look over my lab report and gave me an additional 3 points to scrape me in to a Distincion. Not bad! Of course, I only got 58 out of 100 for the final exam so that was a bit of a shocker, but up until then I was doing well.

Environmental Health Weekend

As part of my Environment and Health degree I have to take part in a weekend course observing various businesses and looking for environmental health issues. This weekend the course was run for the first time. Basically it involved heading around to certain manufacturing businesses and having a tour of the facility. We were based out at Imbil which is a little town about 75km from Mooloolaba and drove out there Friday afternoon. I had to skip my final lecture of the day, Health Promotion Foundations, but I wasn't too annoyed. I drove out to Imbil with a friend, and stopped at the Railway Hotel for a few drinks while we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. They were at the campsite setting up. There wasn't much to set up as everyone had cabins so we were surprised when they arrived about an hour later but not surprised that they too had stopped for a few drinks. Imbil is a nice little town on the Yabba Creek. Its your typical rural town. Nice and friendly. We had dinner at the pub (roast night!) before returning to the campsite. We had a capin that was quite spacious. After a few more drinks with some of the others in the group I climbed up into the top bunk and was fast asleep in no time.

The next day was a busy one. We first drove back down to Yandina to visit the Buderim Ginger Factory. We took a factory tour by one of the food safety engineers who showed us around the site and told us how their products were made and what went into them. After that we went back up through Malleny to Mary Cairncross Park were we went for a walk in the remnant rainforest. After that we had a tour of the Malleny Dairy. That was pretty interesting. We were given a talk on how their milk was produced and what they do with all the calves that are born. We were allowed to go into the dairy and see them milking the cows and goats and then shown how they process the milk (homogonisation and pasturisation) before loading it on trucks to be sent off to the shops. The best part was the taste testing. We tasted their milks, flavoured milks and yoghurts that they make on the farm.

When we arrived back at camp that night we all sat around the fire having a few beers while we listened one of the local animal management officers talk about the tracking, capture and problems of the feral vertabrate animals in the area.

The next day was probably the highlight of the weekend. We were given a talk by a man called Steve about the proposed Traveston Crossing Dam that the current Bligh government was trying so hard to push. After speaking to him and looking at the site myself it seems like a ridicculous proposal to build a dam there. Not only would they be destroying kilometres of endangered native riparian ecosystems, the site is all wrong for building a dam. The rock under the proposed dam is fractured. This would have to be filled drilled and filled with concreted. First however they would have to dig down 46 metres through sand to get to that rock. If it is build it the dam resivour would have an average depth of 5 metres and cover several small towns in the area. What's more is that the water source would not even be able to provide enough water and act as the back up to Brisbanes three main dams. The Wivenhoe system has a water suppy of about 4 years while if a dam was built in the Mary Valley it would be empty in a year and a half. Not much of a back up. I could of course go one about many other reasons why building a dam there is just stupid but I won't. All I can say though is that it was a facinating talk. I did some further research on some of the figures presented and found that even the governments own initial papers regarding the dam say that it is a poor choice. It now looks like it was just a political promise to the people of Brisbane to win an election. The government just needed to look like they were doing something about the water issues in South-East Queensland.