from the field

Today I was driving through Western Australia, listening to Radio Netherlands interviewing a British man who had been a spy in the USSR during the cold war and a ex-KGB agent who had been a spy in the US. It was a very international experience! I had a good day in the field today. I only have 5 field days left so I am trying to wrap up my experiments. I have almost 100 austinensis flowers pollinated and collected. I am hoping that the pollinations were successful in most of those and I want to double that number before Thursday.

I am trying to organize the collection of material for a group doing RNA work as well. I have to freeze the plants in Liquid N and keep it on dry ice and the ship it to Hong Kong! This means I have to drive up to Bunbury, half way to Perth, to get the liquid N and dry ice from an industrial wholesaler (coming up with my own containers and I have no idea where I'm going to get a styrofoam box before Thursday). Shipping dry ice has its own problems, I need a declaration for the Australian government and 2 to 5 different documents for the Hong Kong gov't . I am going to do my best, but I have my doubts that this package will even make it. To top it off, people not from Australia keep telling me to use Fed-ex, as if Fed-ex exists in the middle of nowhere in WA!! When I asked, the DEC folks looked at me like I was nuts. No one is very appreciative of the effort this is taking.

I saw a Western Brush Wallaby on the road today and at my field site there were trumpeting swans! Leanna, the woman from The Netherlands was chased by a snake yesterday. It just kept coming at her and she had to retreat from it. Sometimes they can be very aggressive! I'm glad I haven't seen any at my fieldsites.

Stirling Range

We took a drive through Stirling Range National Park this afternoon, which is about 2 hour from Manjimup, through Rocky Gully and Mount Barker. The mountains rise suddenly out of the plains, which are mostly hay field and forest. Here are some images of the mountains, and an echnida we spied by the side of the road. I've also included a pic of a Western Brush Wallaby and a Kangaroo we saw on the drive home!

From the Albany Coast

On our recent trip to Albany, on the coast of the Southern Ocean, we walked down to the water and found this stingray swimming along the rocks. There was a couple fishing and it was attracted by the bait. They told us that they've seen rays as wide as their fishing boat out in the harbor. If you look closely, you can see this one's barb.

housemate

This eight legged beauty lives in our kitchen and bathroom (and possibly elsewhere!). We think he is a huntsman, but none of us our arachnologists. He does give me quite a turn when I go to the bathroom at night because he likes to hang out on the wall right next to the toilet. He looks bigger at 4 am than on film in the daylight.

Images from Rottnest Island

Quokkas

These adorable guys are Quokkas, a marsupial native to the southwest. Up to 12000 may live on Rottnest and they are very tame! They would come hopping up to investigate you. They live around Manjimup, as well, but they are much more difficult to see because they are not used to people.

Freo

Fremantle is a great place to spend the weekend. We are staying at the Australian backpackers right next to the train station and the harbor. Today we spent the day at Rottnest Island. Stay tune for some great pics! It is about a 2o minute ferry ride to 'Rotty', which was named for the large mammals (think raccoon size) that the dutch sailors thought were rats. Thus 'Rat's nest Island'. They are actually quakkas, a marsupial. They are quite tame and we got very close to the curious guys! We also saw some parrots and lots of water fowl. The island is only 11 km around, but we got very lost and spent a lot of time walking through the dunes. We finally found a beach and got some swimming and sun. I did some snorkeling and saw some incredible kelp and other algae. When I went in the store to buy the snorkle (I had taken my goggles) the clerk asked me where I was from. It turned out that he was from Memphis and had studied for a semester at UT. He listens to all the football games over the internet! It it such a small world.

Tomorrow we are heading off to see some of the historical sites, hopefully Old Fremantle Prison and the History Museum.