Rainforest Ecosystems Project

Here are some pictures of the project that I worked on this semester. These pictures are samples from stem and roots that have been cut up and placed on slides and then taken a picture of while on the microscope. The white circles are vessels and they were measured with a program in order to get the average diameter.
The stems and roots were stained, which is why they turned out so colourful! :)

Classes end.... the semester is nearly over... :(

Skink that was hanging around in the shower.
Got ya! He is pretty sweet looking.
Let him go outside my room.
Walking back to GR on the last day of class!



My classes ended on Friday of last week. It was a pretty easy day, just had one class --- it was three hours long and we gave presentations on the projects that we developed and did research on. This was for my rainforest ecology class. We went to Paluma for a weekend to do research. My group wanted to see how vessel diameter changed in a species of vine called Pothos longipes when being compared to the number of branches it had. It was pretty interesting because we found that once the vine had branches, the vessel diameter in the vines was a lot greater. Once the vine estabolished branches and added them in number, the diameter didnt change that much. It was just the jump from having no branches to branches that made the difference.
Right now I am working on a paper for one of my classes. It is due tomorrow night. I will be so happy once it is done. It had A LOT of data analysis. It is from my Australia Vertebrate Fauna class from when we had our Undara Fieldtrip. We have to analyze and interpret the data we have about the animals we collected in relation to vegetation and habitat type.
This week is our week to study and then we have 2 weeks for finals. My first final doesnt occur until next Friday, so I have plenty of time to study for that. Then I have my other finals after that. I will be leaving sometime on the weekend of the 19th to begin my journey towards Sydney (by stopping in Brisbane and Byron Bay along the way!!).
Today I found a skink by my shower! I was so excited that I got my camera and caught him and brought him outside. (Attached are some pictures)
Hope that all is going well --- take much care everyone!
Bobbi

Just thought that I would check in and share some stories and photos.
I volunteered at the Billabong Sanctuary on Saturday - It was pretty awesome, as usual. I love the Australian critters! I dont know if it is because they are so new and unique or what.... but they are great! Volunteering there has been one of my favorite experiences since I have been here. Doing things like being able to work with koalas by learning how pick them up and hold them has been very rewarding. The people that I work with are great --- so friendly and always cracking jokes.
Last night I had a cocktail party in my room with some friends. It was really fun to be able to get everyone together before finals start. We got dressed up and made drinks like Pina Coladas, Fire Engines and Vodka Sunrises. One of my roommates and his friend hung out with us towards the end -- which was pretty cool to spend time with him and have him enjoy the event.
This is the last week of classes then there is a week to study and then a week for finals. So about 3 more weeks in Townsville -- I think that it is crazy we will all be leaving soon. So many friends and memories were made here.
I dont know too much about my plans school -- I know for sure I am going to stay with a family friend in Brisbane for a while and visit the Australian Zoo with my friend Annie (she goes to the University of Minnesota with me and we are both studying at JCU) and her brother. Then I may go to Bayron Bay - the most eastern point of Australia and famous for its surfing. Depenidng on money, I may take part in surfing. My plane leaves from Sydney on the 7th of July. I am going to be there for a few days with Annie and her brother and we are going to met up with one of our Aussie friends who leaves in a suburb of Sydney. We plan to go to the Taronga Zoo and sightsee with Opera House and the bridge. I need to finalize my plans soon so I can start to plan out buses and plane tickets.
Hope that things are going well with everyone! Thanks for stopping by - take much care!
p.s. Here are some more Aussie terms:
rock up = arrive
ranga = red head (refering to orangutans)
fringe = bangs of your hair
maths = math (abbr. of mathematics .. just adding and s at the end)
Ay = beg your pardon.
spew = throw up
trolley = shopping cart
tomato sauce = ketchup
gridiron = american football
mobile = cell phone

Dividing up for the State of Origin. Queensland Maroon and New South Wales Blue.
Cane Toads - QLD, Cockroaches - NSW

Hello Everyone!

Not a whole lot going on this week.... just been hanging out and getting some school work done. I have been a bit sick... so that has sucked but oh well. On Saturday I am going to be volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary!
There is only one more week left of classes here! Then I am have a week study break and then a week for finals! It is coming pretty close to an end! I have 2 weeks to travel afterwards... so that will be nice. On Saturday night I am having a cocktail party in my common room. A bunch of friend are invited over and we are going to dress up and have some mixed drinks --- it should be a pretty fun time to get everyone together before the semester gets too crazy!
Last night both the boys and girls lost in rugby. Us girls played Uni Hall, our arch rivals. We did real well and even went into over time, but Uni managed to score first. The boys played against St. Marks and lost. It was sad night for GR, but it was nice to be able to make it that far. Last year the girls only won one game... so it was nice to be able to get as far as we did. State of Origin is starting up soon! Only 3 games.... but three INTENSE games!!! State of Origin is a rugby league game where rugby players represent where they were born (either in New South Wales or Queensland). Queensland has won for the last three years... so lets see if we can win a fourth!!
Queensland is coloured maroon and we are the cane toad. NSW is blue and they are the cockroaches. The first game is on the 3rd of June. I am going to go to a pub in the city with some of my friends to cheer on QLD! I do have a few NSW fans.... so it should be interesting to see the reaction that they get in the pub. It is a pretty big deal, there are shops that are selling merchandise for the big games. The games at held in the bigger cities of Australia - first being in Melbourne, Second in Sydney and third in Brisbane. It should be a pretty good time. :)
Hope that all is going well for your guys! Take much care~
Bobbi
Here is a link of you guys are interesting in learning more about State of Origin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_League_State_of_Origin

Randoms

Taking a picture of the sunset from the bus....

You can see the stinger nets in the background...

Had to share and Aussie drinking song with you guys: (true blue means a real aussie, piss-pot is a drunk, and bastard can be said in a friendly manner in Australia)

Here's to (insert name), s/he's true blue
S/he's a piss-pot through and through
S/he's a bastard, so they say
Tried to go to heaven, but s/he went the other way
Drink it down, down, down (this is the part where you scull (chug))

The following link is a clip about togs (swim suits) vs. underwear and how to tell the difference because lets face it.... some togs do seem like they are nothing more but underwear.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-Lx2ihpGbc

Flinders Market and The Strand

The beach!!! :) Finally made it!
Never really seen a beach report....
Maggie Island in the distance
Least we forgot. This was one of the many surrounding the memorial.
The memorial that I saw near the strand....


Today I went to Flinder's Market and The Strand with 3 of my friends. It was pretty fun. I bought some more tropical fruit and looked around again. Afterwards, we walked down to The Strand. It was such a nice walk... there is a lot to see there. We walked past a war memorial and I had to stop to take some pictures. There are play grounds along the beach and a cool little water area. There are also random things that you can work out on -- its really weird to see. For example, right along the path they had this little rock wall like thing. It was very short, just enough so you can walk up it a few steps with a rope. It is just funny to see those things.
The beach was really nice but wow was the water salty! The only other time that I had been in the ocean here was in Cairns and the water didn't seem to be that salty there. The waves were not that big. My friend from Sydney was even making fun of them saying that they were wimpy compared to the ones he is used to. The area that we swam in had a stinger net --- which is to help keep out the jelly fish. Jelly fish season is just ending (as it is over in May) so there was not much to worry about. We hung to swimming and just hanging out for a while then we went to get some gelato! They have so many great and unique flavours. Everything from snickers to watermelon to mango. We were able to get home just in time for dinner.
Here is some more Aussie slang....
Bogan = hick
pissed = drunk (piss pot)
togs = swim suit
slip, slop, slap = motto for going into the sun..... slip on a shirt, slop on sun screen, slap on a
hat...there has also been a term at the end of slide pertaining to sliding on sun glasses

Picture of Mount. Stuart. At the top is an army base.
The buildings with the Green roof is George Roberts hall!
George Roberts hall again.
I love those hills.... they are so pretty.
Picture of waves and rocks at Maggie Island.

Just thought that I would add a few more pictures to the blog. There is one of Maggie Island and the rest of pictures of the top of a hill I walked up this afternoon. It has a pretty awesome view! I love the hills off in the distance!!

Maggie Island and More! ...

Rocky Wallaby! What a cute tail! They were so close to us.

The ocean! Gotta love ocean pictures...
Some of the friends that I went with.
possoms in a tree! mom and baby.


Hello Everyone!
Last weekend I went to Maggie Island with some friends to go to the Full Moon Party. Every time there is a full moon, there is a party on the friday closest to that day. One of the hostels has a party and it is right next to the ocean .... it was very pretty getting the breeze and seeing the ocean at night! We walked around the island the next day and we come to a spot with some rock wallabies! :) I was able to get really close to one of them! They must be pretty used to people or something.
Last night I went to see X men Origins: Wolverine. It was a pretty good movie. There parts in the movies where the events that happened got me pretty upset --- but in a good way, as a movie should move you. There was hardly anyone in the movie theater, which was great because we pretty much got there right before the movie started!
Tomorrow night I am going to Uni Club with some friends and then on Saturday I am volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary.
Last night at dinner I learned some interesting things about Aussie words.....
Jello for us is Jelly to Aussies and what we consider jelly they call jam.
They have pumpkin squash here and they just call it pumpkin, so for a while i was confused if it was like the pumpkin we have at home.
Instead of opossom Aussies have possoms, which are very cute! (picture attached)
The movie theater did not have ICEEs! It was a little bit strange.

Line Outs, Scrums and Tackles, OH MY!

Boys playing against Uni Hall
Picture of a line out. I think that would be so uncomfortable....
Scrum.
Posing like a scrum.
Jess 'tackling' me.


G'Day Everyone!
Sorry that is has been a while since I have last written. Papers have been taking over my life lately. I volunteered at the Billabong Sanctuary on Saturday. The way that we go through the sanctuary to take care of the animals in the morning was changed a little -- so it was nice to get something a little different. I usually work with the nocturnal animals, mainly dealing with various birds, but they addded the dingos to the track as well! So I got to go into their cage. :) It is weird cause they are so tame, it seems like they are your own pets. I found out that it is illegal to breed them in Queensland though. I also got to hold a black headed python. I love holding snakes, they are so awesome!
Last night was our last rugby game before we go into the finals. The boys won 4 of their 5 games and the girls have won 5 of the 6. We got to play an extra game for some reason.... We dont have any games next week but then our finals start up. I am really hoping that our residence hall can get the Fisher Shield! It is the recognition that you get when you win in the finals against the other residence halls. Last night we played against my friends in Uni hall. It was a fun game and I enjoyed hanging out with my Uni hall friends afterwards.
On friday I am going to Magnetic Island to the Full Moon Party. Everytime there is a full moon the island has a party on the Friday that is closest to that night. There is a band or a DJ there and you just dance and party. On Saturday we are going to hike around the island and hopefully spot some wild koalas!! :)
Hope that all is well with everyone! Take much care and I will try to update this more often.