During the period of this camp we are doing a series of runs. We have a number of 3.4km runs and 5.5km runs. We also have a 9.2km run and an 11km beach run as well as a number of fitness games.
Day 5 Friday 12th March
Today we went for our first run. We got our of our tents in the morning and went straight to a shed. We found a timetable of the runs and the program for the rest of the Wombana camp. Some of the kids started complaining about how they were gonna have to do the 9.2km run so soon and one started telling people about how hard the power training on the day before it would be. I jogged as fast as i could for the first part of it and found i was soon worn out. I ended up getting a time of around thirty minutes for the 3.4km run.
Day 6 Saturday 13th March
Today we went for the first 5.5 km run. I found myself being really down on myself but despite that i tried to keep going for the whole run. I felt really dehydrated during the run but that had never stopped me before so i kept on trying. I couldent get out of my head that i would end up getting a bad time and i think that it was probably because of this that i did so poorly. I ended up walking but trying to set goals for myself and ended up getting a time of 45:37. This made me feel really disappointed about myself but i feel that it also sparked a will to do better and to try harder on the other runs.
Day 7 Sunday 14th March
Today we had a fitness game instead of a run. When i awoke i found myself dreading what it might be. I thought that it might have been some sort of sprint race around the camp or something. It turned out that it was actually a lot of fun. We played a game which was in this case named "Rats and rabbits". It was one of those games which can be called anything (within reason) and still be the same. When rats was called the rabbits would try to catch them (before they reached a set point) and vice versa for the rabbits. If you took a step without having either rats or rabbits called then you were out. I did pretty well with this and ended up not being caught (even though i didnt manage to catch anyone). A lot of the time the person conducting it would say something random that started with "ra" to try and get us to run. We then were told about which ways a ship was (bow,stern,starboard,and port) and told to run to them when they were called. We were told things which mixed up where certain things were which led to some people scratching their heads the whole time. We then did a game of soccer where the entire team had to be on the balls side of the pitch when a goal was scored or else points were lost. If our whole team was on the correct side when we scored yet five people from the other team were still on the wrong side then we would score the goal plus one for every person on the other team on the wrong side (in this case we would get 6 points). If we were on the wrong side but we scored then the opponents would get the point plus one for each of us on the wrong side. It was fun but it was also tiring and it was easy to forget that amidst the fun of it. We won the game 5-1 against Wardlis 2 and 3 but this was only because we didnt forget about having the team on the correct side.
Day 8 Monday 15th March
Today we woke up for the second 5.5km run. It felt different this time. Even though i was for more tired i was determined to push myself and so i decided that i would jog all the way to the sacred rock. It was hard but i managed to make it and only then did i start to walk but i still set goals like jogging to a signpost. However shortly after the sacred rock i met one of the Wambana staff who told me to turn around and jog the whole way back. I did as he said but because i was feeling so tired i stopped a couple of times. I felt really proud that i did jog the whole way back and forth but also disappointed that i didnt get my proper time. I got around 33 minutes for that run but because i had to turn around i feel really disappointed about it.
Day 9 Tuesday 16th March
I woke up looking really forward to the fitness game. We started by doing a jog to warm ourselves up (its really cold in the mornings here). After that we did the same game as before (rats and rabbits) only this time it was called crusts and crumbs. I found this more enjoyable then before because so many times we would have to stop ourselves from running or all of a sudden go into a sprint when it seemed like he was going on a ramble (when he would say crusts or crumbs halfway through it). Then we played a game called chain dodgeball. In it you have a square which everyone except the chosen people stand outside of. The people who are chosen to be it must always be connected in some way and you can only hit the guy at the back. You are not allowed to form a ring to protect the person at the back but you are allowed to deflect balls from him. The only person who can be out is the person at the back of the chain and as a result he cannot catch or deflect balls from himself. It was fun but i found it annoying that nobody listened to my ideas on how we would be most effective.
Day 10 Wednesday 17th March
This morning i woke up dreading the power training. However it turned out that it wasent actually that bad. We had to do these sprints around some metho bottles and try to get in front of the person who was in front of us. As usual i was underestimated and was put second to last right. During the time it took for the guy in front to get to the guy at the back i had already passed at least five people. I found it ironic that the guy in front of me had said that he was so much better then me yet i kept beating him at this kind of stuff.
Day 11 Thursday 18th March
Today we did the 9.2km run. I was freaking out about it so much worrying about how i would do and if i would do well. I feel that i did pretty poorly but it was really quite hard not to do as well as other times. The whole run track was really sandy which made it really hard to run for long without stumbling. It still felt really disappointing since i ended up getting a time of 65 minutes.
Day 12 Friday 19th March
Fitness game today. This time we played a game ball game where people in red rashies would try to pass the ball to each other without it either hitting the ground or being stolen by someone in a blue rashy. It was fun but i didnt really get into it until the last few minutes of it and our team ended up losing 2-1
Day 13 Saturday 20th March
Today we had the 3.4km run. I was really looking forward to it with my new resolve to do better and i did. I managed to beat my time by around three minutes making my personal best for the run around twenty-seven minutes. I was really happy that i had managed to beat my time but i knew that i could still do better. Today ive decided to set a goal for myself. Next 3.4 run im going to get at 25minutes or less.
Day 14 Sunday 21st March
I went my all on this run due to my disappointment at no being able to finish the other 5.5km run. I felt so tired throught the second half of the run but i kept pushing myself as hard as i could. I manage to do great shaving around almost five minutes of my time off my time. My current time is 40:50 and im going to try to get under forty minutes on my next run.
Day 15 Monday 22nd March
Today we woke up for power training. We jogged down to where we had done the beach run and did a few quick sprints there before jogging back to the camp. It was tiring but it didnt fell that exhausting. It felt more like my muscles didnt want to move more then them feeling like they'd moved to much. Most of us were wandering why we had gone out there if we were just going to be doing runs which we could have done back at camp. The only answer ive been able to come up for with this was that we were told that we only had 15 minutes of actual power training.
Day 16 Tuesday 23rd March
No training today. I was off at a surf camp trying to stand up. I guess surfing might fit into the fitness program but we have a whole section of the blog devoted to surfing.
Day 17 Wednesday 24th March
No training today either. Already told you im doing surfing these two days so why not go read about that cause your not gonna find it here.
Day 18 Thursday 25th March
To ease us back into the morning runs we had the 3.4km run this morning. I went my best and managed to get a pretty good time of 25 minutes. I didnt feel as exhausted as i usually do after the runs which means that im starting to get a fair bit fitter from this. Im looking forward to getting home because then i wont have to get up so early for these runs.
Day 19 Friday 26th March
Today we did some fitness games. We did a slow jog around the oval to warm up and then moved right on into a fitness game. In this fitness game we had to have our group carry one person from the group each time. That person wasent allowed to run so he relied on the others to carry him. We had to repeat this until only one person was left and then he had to run back to finish (he cant carry himself). I tried to tell the people in our group that it (since we would have to reverse the order) we have the hardest to carry person carried first and the other one going last. That we no matter what they wouldnt have much difficulty. But of course my team didnt listen to me and carried the lightest person first and last with the harder people in the middle. The other team did what i had suggested to our team and beat us by one or two people each time. Then we moved on to my highlet of the fitness program. In this game you can tag people but when they are tagged they have to link arms with you. When they do this you cant tag people with the arms that are linked so if you have a group of three people the guy in the middle cant tag anyone. Once they have five or six people they can break off into other groups. I spent the first part of the game just standing in one place telling the guy to go off after someone who had just backed themselves into a corner whenever he got near me. They ran and he chased after them and it wasnt until he had tagged two other people that this stopped working. The guy at the edge of the chain reached forward to tag me and at the last second i shot off towards the other edge of the chain (they never expect you to come at them) and while he was surprised ran right past him. There were almost ten times when they had tried to trap me and i had slipped right out of there fingers either running right at them or getting them confused enough that they broke the chain. (when someone breaks the chain nobody from that chain can tag anyone) During the last moments before i was caught i tried to run through the chain again (through the gaps in it. Not ramming into it) they closed in to stop me from running through them. Then i tried to make it look like i was trying to still find a way through it. Made to dart of to the side and then ran straight away from them. This only stunned them for a second though and they soon caught me cause i had to run around a chain of people. When i was caught it took ages for the game to finish cause nobody listened to what i had to say. It was fun though and i really enjoyed it.
Day 20 Saturday 27th March
This morning i had the 5.5km run. Like before i woke up really eager to prove that i could do better then before. When i got to the shed (where we start our runs) we were told that it might rain today and that if it did we had to keep going (i was never planning on stopping even if it did). A number of people were complaining that they were feeling sick or that they had hurt themselves so they got out of the run. It felt pretty easy running down to the jetty which is the halfway point but as soon as i reached it (it was darker then usual this morning) i ended up hitting my leg against the towbar. I was jogging so fortunately i only hurt my leg and it wasent bleeding but it made it harder for me to keep jogging. Worst part about it was that on the way back i had the wind blowing against me as well as the my leg making it harder. Nontheless i tried my hardest and managed to beat my old time by seventeen seconds. Meaning that i now have a new best time of 40:33. Im happy with this time but i would have liked to beat the forty minute mark.
Day 21 Sunday 28th March
This morning we did the 3.4km run. I tried to really push it and decided to try and set myself a goal to beat someone today. Near the end i overtook a few people and decided that i would try to beat Angus in this run. About a hundred metres away from the end i was able to overtake him but during the last bit of road he started to run and overtake me. I sprinted determined to try and beat him and managed to tie with him during the at the very end of the run.
Day 22 Monday 29th March
Today we had our last fitness game. We had a game which was soccer in which we had to pass the ball over a line in order to be able to score a goal. We were each were partnered up with someone who was supposed to be our running speed. I was able to get the ball over the line so that we could score once and i managed to prevent the person i was partnered up with from hardly ever getting the ball. He only got the ball three times and only one of those times was i unable to get it away from him. It would have helped if they hadnt kept acting like they were better then me but there are just people like that. It made it a bit less enjoyable but it was fun nonetheless.
Day 23 Tuesday 30th March
Today was the day which pretty much everyone was waiting for. The 11km beach run. The day before we had been briefed on where we would be running and the distances of each section of the run. At the start of the run i was pretty much right at the back of the pack. I kept trying to run for a greater distance and i slowly managed to but i found it very difficult. I probably would have been able to do a lot better if i had prepared for it more. I was doing the run in short jeans (we had to wear shorts. I only had jeans for shorts) and boots (my shoes are still wet). This meant that i probably had it harder for the run as i soon found out that boots arent particularly the best thing to be wearing during a beach run. I likewise found out that jeans are not the best thing to be running in as they keep slipping down. This made my running really awkward and i found out that i was the first person ever to have run the 11km beach run with boots on let alone jeans. For the first half of the run i would try to encourage myself in my head to do well. I told myself that the pain was all in my head and tried various other techniques to try to encourage myself to keep going. For the second half when i found that i was having trouble thinking i just kept repeating the end to the muse song (i think its) uprising in my head. Just repeating the last lines (of which i can only rememeber as):
They will not control us
They will stop degrading us
They will not enslave us
We will be victorious
Managed to keep me going. During the last kilometre or so my head started feeling so light that i just gave it my all. My feet seemed to pick up the pace and go faster then they had for the whole of the run. I realized once i saw the end of the run just how much i had achieved and used that to keep myself going for the last few metres. I ended up getting a time of 1:37:00. This means that i was going at an average of about 8km/h and im proud of the fact that even though my body was in so much pain i was able to make myself keep going. Im amazed about this but i found that pretty much everyone was missing the cycle tour now. Overall during this camp we have run the equivalent of a marathon over these days. In fact weve probably gone more.
Im really proud of how well ive done in these runs. When i first heard that we had an 11km beach run i was so worried about it that i was thinking i wouldent stand a chance at it but now i can see just how far ive come. Ive gotten a lot fitter then i was before and i feel that im also mentally more strong as well. Im looking forward to cycling with my dad when i get back from this camp. I hope that i never forget the lessons that i have learnt during this camp and chances are that thanks to this blog i wont.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Welcome to my Wombana Blog
My name is Danyon John White and I am going to be on extended stay for 23 days straight. During the first 4 days of extended stay we will be camping in tents and doing cycling for three of those days. Im looking forward to the camp but it seems like a very daunting prospect and im not sure that im going to go too well in it. For Wombana we will have four teachers: Mr. Baird, Mophit, Dale, and Paul. While we have the bikes a bike instructer called Peter will be helping us. Im going to be camping out with a kid named Cameron (Im always forgetting his name). Im probably going to be missing my mother Stephanie, my father John, and my two brothers Tristan and Ethan. Im going to be staying in a wardli with 4 or 5 other people. Wardli means dwelling or place of residence and comes from the aboriginal language and Wombana translates to "place of phisical and spiritual learning" Im in a Wardli with Phillip Craig, Luke Janowski, Xavier Warne, and Ian Smith.
Phillip Craig
Xavier Warne pretending to be dead (he had a blood nose)
Ian Smith
Luke Janowski
Cycle Tour
Day 1 Monday 8Th March
We have been introduced today to the rules of the camping part of the Wambana trip. I ended up having some mini pizzas with some cheese in them. I had to cut back on the ingredients but they were still quite nice. I was planning on cooking mac and cheese but my partner had to use the Trangia to cook his meal that night and we ended up running out of time for me to cook mine. I ended up having to have them cold. Its stuff like that which makes me miss home already.
Day 2 Tuesday 9Th March
Today we did two bike rides. One was a trip from Wambana to West Cowie Return and the other was the Warooka loop. On the trip for Wambana to West Cowie Return we travelled a distance of 20K's. It started off really nice and it was an easy run with the coast running along our right and the houses with their amazing gardens running along our left. We were introduced to the rock which we would be turning back at on the 3.4 km morning runs. However when we turned off into a dirt road it got really bumpy and the scenery was reduced to mostly just grass with some sparse trees. Soon after going on this road i fell off my bike and badly grazed my right hand and both my elbows.
My hand after 6 days of healing
We stopped around halfway through the ride to check out an abandoned single classroom school. It occurred to me how awkward it would have been and upon asking how it worked i was told that all of the kids were taught by one teacher. I found out that there are still some schools run without teachers. (i wish i had brought my camera there).
The Warooka loop ran for a total of 23K's and was far more "interesting" a ride. The scenery showcased all the beauty of the plants near the sea and the road itself was simply a trail that felt amazing to ride on yet looked as if it should be way more bumpy then it was. It feels amazing having done this much in one day yet i know that Ive still got another 80K's to go.
Tonight yet again my partner was cooking with the trangia so i had to have my vege sausages cold. For those who don't know I'm a vegetarian so any products that would normally be meat will be vege products. I don't eat fish so don't ask me if i do and i said vegetarian; not vegan; so i do eat animal products. The flies here are really bugging me and the march flies here are really fast. For some reason they seem to have picked my ears as a target.
Day 3 Wednesday 10Th
Today we rode around the Innes National Park. During this run we rode for 37K's. The entire ride was through a nice bitumen road with constant trees running along both sides of the road. The ride was from a small information area which had a weird giant rusted hollowed-out wheel-shaped thing to a small stub of a lighthouse. We made it to the lighthouse from where i took a picture of how far we were to go next.
The next stop is to the far right of the picture below
We then stopped at a beach where one of the kids on our camp (Ian) ran out onto the beach. He then started running around the waves before walking as close as he could to them with out getting wet. After coming back he said the he had run out there thinking that everyone was coming and then got disappointed when he found that nobody was there. While i was out there i took a photo of the lighthouse we had stopped by earlier.
Ian walking out to the ocean
The lighthouse which we had rode from
Tonight i used my Trangia to cook some mac and cheese which was probably the best Ive cooked on a Trangia.
Day 4 Thursday 11Th March
Today's bike ride was from the central Southern Yorke Peninsula to Edithburgh. The ride there took a total of 48K's. The scenery was amazing for all but a stretch of dirt road which was so samey that it seemed to go on forever. All of the ride except for the last 2K's was bumpy or dirt road. At one point we went completely off the road and used a trail that was nothing more then an area which had been set aside for road construction but had never had the road been built. During the last part of the road before Edithburgh we came across a wind farm. As we passed the wind farm i rode into a bush and sent myself sprawling across the dirt road. I got up as fast as i could and kept on riding and was able to catch up and get ahead of them just before we rode into Edithburgh. I felt so happy that id finally completed the bike run but it soon occured to me that the morning runs would be the hard part.
We have been introduced today to the rules of the camping part of the Wambana trip. I ended up having some mini pizzas with some cheese in them. I had to cut back on the ingredients but they were still quite nice. I was planning on cooking mac and cheese but my partner had to use the Trangia to cook his meal that night and we ended up running out of time for me to cook mine. I ended up having to have them cold. Its stuff like that which makes me miss home already.
Day 2 Tuesday 9Th March
Today we did two bike rides. One was a trip from Wambana to West Cowie Return and the other was the Warooka loop. On the trip for Wambana to West Cowie Return we travelled a distance of 20K's. It started off really nice and it was an easy run with the coast running along our right and the houses with their amazing gardens running along our left. We were introduced to the rock which we would be turning back at on the 3.4 km morning runs. However when we turned off into a dirt road it got really bumpy and the scenery was reduced to mostly just grass with some sparse trees. Soon after going on this road i fell off my bike and badly grazed my right hand and both my elbows.
My hand after 6 days of healing
We stopped around halfway through the ride to check out an abandoned single classroom school. It occurred to me how awkward it would have been and upon asking how it worked i was told that all of the kids were taught by one teacher. I found out that there are still some schools run without teachers. (i wish i had brought my camera there).
The Warooka loop ran for a total of 23K's and was far more "interesting" a ride. The scenery showcased all the beauty of the plants near the sea and the road itself was simply a trail that felt amazing to ride on yet looked as if it should be way more bumpy then it was. It feels amazing having done this much in one day yet i know that Ive still got another 80K's to go.
Tonight yet again my partner was cooking with the trangia so i had to have my vege sausages cold. For those who don't know I'm a vegetarian so any products that would normally be meat will be vege products. I don't eat fish so don't ask me if i do and i said vegetarian; not vegan; so i do eat animal products. The flies here are really bugging me and the march flies here are really fast. For some reason they seem to have picked my ears as a target.
Day 3 Wednesday 10Th
Today we rode around the Innes National Park. During this run we rode for 37K's. The entire ride was through a nice bitumen road with constant trees running along both sides of the road. The ride was from a small information area which had a weird giant rusted hollowed-out wheel-shaped thing to a small stub of a lighthouse. We made it to the lighthouse from where i took a picture of how far we were to go next.
The next stop is to the far right of the picture below
We then stopped at a beach where one of the kids on our camp (Ian) ran out onto the beach. He then started running around the waves before walking as close as he could to them with out getting wet. After coming back he said the he had run out there thinking that everyone was coming and then got disappointed when he found that nobody was there. While i was out there i took a photo of the lighthouse we had stopped by earlier.
Ian walking out to the ocean
The lighthouse which we had rode from
Tonight i used my Trangia to cook some mac and cheese which was probably the best Ive cooked on a Trangia.
Day 4 Thursday 11Th March
Today's bike ride was from the central Southern Yorke Peninsula to Edithburgh. The ride there took a total of 48K's. The scenery was amazing for all but a stretch of dirt road which was so samey that it seemed to go on forever. All of the ride except for the last 2K's was bumpy or dirt road. At one point we went completely off the road and used a trail that was nothing more then an area which had been set aside for road construction but had never had the road been built. During the last part of the road before Edithburgh we came across a wind farm. As we passed the wind farm i rode into a bush and sent myself sprawling across the dirt road. I got up as fast as i could and kept on riding and was able to catch up and get ahead of them just before we rode into Edithburgh. I felt so happy that id finally completed the bike run but it soon occured to me that the morning runs would be the hard part.
Introduction to Statistics
Day 6 12th March
Today we were shown the statistics of our 3.4 km run. For this we were to round our times to the nearest minute and then to tell them to one of the Wambana staff. We then got a statistic of how many people got which time and found that the most people on a single time was three with us having the same times at 15 and 24 minutes. We then grouped these together to create a graph. We found that we had a right biased positive distribution. This means that we have more people with faster times then slower times. This would remain the same but it shows that we have a fairly steady and good group of poeple for running and that we have a distance of about only four minutes between each of our groups. We conducted a graph of stats which looked like this:
Wardli 2 Wardli 3 Wardli 4 Wardli 5
min 16 14 13 13
max 24 25 24 30
range 8 11 11 17
mode n/a 25 24 n/a
median 23 18 16 18
mean 21 19.40 18.40 21
Q1 16 14.5 14 14
Q3 24 25 24 29.5
IQR 8 10.5 10 15.5
The IQR is the average distance between our times. This shows that Wardli two was the most constant group while Wardli five was the most diverse.
Today we were shown the statistics of our 3.4 km run. For this we were to round our times to the nearest minute and then to tell them to one of the Wambana staff. We then got a statistic of how many people got which time and found that the most people on a single time was three with us having the same times at 15 and 24 minutes. We then grouped these together to create a graph. We found that we had a right biased positive distribution. This means that we have more people with faster times then slower times. This would remain the same but it shows that we have a fairly steady and good group of poeple for running and that we have a distance of about only four minutes between each of our groups. We conducted a graph of stats which looked like this:
Wardli 2 Wardli 3 Wardli 4 Wardli 5
min 16 14 13 13
max 24 25 24 30
range 8 11 11 17
mode n/a 25 24 n/a
median 23 18 16 18
mean 21 19.40 18.40 21
Q1 16 14.5 14 14
Q3 24 25 24 29.5
IQR 8 10.5 10 15.5
The IQR is the average distance between our times. This shows that Wardli two was the most constant group while Wardli five was the most diverse.
Hardwicke Bay Revegetation Project
Day 8 15th March
Today we were told that we would be helping with the revegetation around Hardwicke Bay. We were told about how most of the plants that became weeds were brought from foreign countries for gardens. However there are also some that snuck into Australia. One species of weed stuck to the bottom of a boat going to Australia and when the boat unloaded its cargo and left the weed fell off the boat and ended up floating to shore a spreading seeds from there. After hearing this i was surprised at how many gardens around the place still had these weeds growing in there gardens. Even though we were told that it was going to be a revegetation project we ended up going to a house and pulling out a lot of dead plants and certain less reproductive weeds. We didnt have to worry with these plants but we were told that with a lot of the weeds if you broke part of them off and let it find soil it would grow to become another weed. We were also shown a weed that was covered in seeds. If you broke part of it off then about twenty seeds would come off it as well. I commented after cleaning up on how i should really have taken a before and after photo to show just how much work we had done. Because i forgot this though ill just have to say that by the time we had finished cleaning up the garden it looked half the size it was before because of all of the dead plants no longer cluttering it up.
Today we were told that we would be helping with the revegetation around Hardwicke Bay. We were told about how most of the plants that became weeds were brought from foreign countries for gardens. However there are also some that snuck into Australia. One species of weed stuck to the bottom of a boat going to Australia and when the boat unloaded its cargo and left the weed fell off the boat and ended up floating to shore a spreading seeds from there. After hearing this i was surprised at how many gardens around the place still had these weeds growing in there gardens. Even though we were told that it was going to be a revegetation project we ended up going to a house and pulling out a lot of dead plants and certain less reproductive weeds. We didnt have to worry with these plants but we were told that with a lot of the weeds if you broke part of them off and let it find soil it would grow to become another weed. We were also shown a weed that was covered in seeds. If you broke part of it off then about twenty seeds would come off it as well. I commented after cleaning up on how i should really have taken a before and after photo to show just how much work we had done. Because i forgot this though ill just have to say that by the time we had finished cleaning up the garden it looked half the size it was before because of all of the dead plants no longer cluttering it up.
Moffs History Tour 1
I was surprised at how the history tour was. It wasent so much of a tour as more of a couple of stops and stories about the past of the area. We found out about how the exploration of the whole of Australias coast was only thanks to the norfolk pine which was used as wood when Matthew Flinder's ship had its wood rotting away. We found out about how a lot of the larger animals that had used to live here were killed by the aboriginals burning down trees in order to hunt for food. We found out about how a lot of the people who moved to Australia had used linestone for their building aristocracy buildings but the other classes had used corregated iron to build sheds which were hailed as the perfect housing for pioneers of the lower classes. Back then the main form of travel over the sea was using sails. Most would also use steam engines when the wind stopped blowing to their favour. We learnt about how during the gold rush the Chinese were exploited by being forced to pay a tax to come to Australia to mine for gold. Eventually Australia their became too many people mining for gold so it was then made that nobody was allowed to come to Australia from China. This was ages ago so now the law has been abolished.
Snorkelling
Day 8 15th March
Today we went snorkelling around Edithburgh. We learnt to use the snorkles and how to get water out if they filled up inside a shallow pool near the ocean. I felt very worried about doing this with thoughts of "What if i dont blow out the water properly?" and "What if i blow it out while underwater" racing through my mind. When i went underwater all of a sudden my breathing started to speed up and i sometimes i felt like i couldent breath. After around ten minutes of practicing snorkelling i began to get better control of myself and spotted some fish swimming around the pool. I followed them for a while until another kid nearly swam straight into me and started to follow the fish but soon lost them. While exploring the area with the snorkels like we were told i found a Port Jackson shark egg which i mistook for some seaweed which had curled up on itself. I realized that it was an egg by the holes that had been cracked into it and the way that the cracks had been made. I showed it to one of the staff and they told me that it was a Port Jackson shark egg and gave me an empty clam shell that one of the other kids had found.
The port Jackson shark egg (right) and clam shell (left)
Today we went snorkelling around Edithburgh. We learnt to use the snorkles and how to get water out if they filled up inside a shallow pool near the ocean. I felt very worried about doing this with thoughts of "What if i dont blow out the water properly?" and "What if i blow it out while underwater" racing through my mind. When i went underwater all of a sudden my breathing started to speed up and i sometimes i felt like i couldent breath. After around ten minutes of practicing snorkelling i began to get better control of myself and spotted some fish swimming around the pool. I followed them for a while until another kid nearly swam straight into me and started to follow the fish but soon lost them. While exploring the area with the snorkels like we were told i found a Port Jackson shark egg which i mistook for some seaweed which had curled up on itself. I realized that it was an egg by the holes that had been cracked into it and the way that the cracks had been made. I showed it to one of the staff and they told me that it was a Port Jackson shark egg and gave me an empty clam shell that one of the other kids had found.
The port Jackson shark egg (right) and clam shell (left)
Instructional Entry
Anzac biscuits
Ingredients:
Brown suger (1 cup)
Coconut (1/2 cup)
Plain flour (1 cup)
Rolled oats (1 cup)
Butter (125 grams)
Golden syrup (2 tablespoons)
Water (1 tablespoon)
Treacle (optional, no set amount)
Bi-carb (1/2 teaspoon)
Method
1.Put brown suger, coconut, plain flour, and rolled oats into a bowl.
2.Put butter, water, and golden syrup into a bowl/saucepan and heat until the butter melts
3.Add bi-carb and the melted butter mix to the dry mix
4.Stir with a large spoon.
5.Take out mix and roll into walnut sized balls and place on a (greased) tray
6.Place trays in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes at 175 Degrees
7.Take out and eat (or as we did cool in the fridge for a while and when you take out they will have aquired a nice moistness to them. You may have to wait for them to warm up a bit before eating them)
Makes around 25 biscuits
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Brown suger (1 cup)
Coconut (1/2 cup)
Plain flour (1 cup)
Rolled oats (1 cup)
Butter (125 grams)
Golden syrup (2 tablespoons)
Water (1 tablespoon)
Treacle (optional, no set amount)
Bi-carb (1/2 teaspoon)
Method
1.Put brown suger, coconut, plain flour, and rolled oats into a bowl.
2.Put butter, water, and golden syrup into a bowl/saucepan and heat until the butter melts
3.Add bi-carb and the melted butter mix to the dry mix
4.Stir with a large spoon.
5.Take out mix and roll into walnut sized balls and place on a (greased) tray
6.Place trays in oven and cook for 15-20 minutes at 175 Degrees
7.Take out and eat (or as we did cool in the fridge for a while and when you take out they will have aquired a nice moistness to them. You may have to wait for them to warm up a bit before eating them)
Makes around 25 biscuits
Enjoy!
Novel
For this camp i have been reading the book Assasins Apprentice. It is a story told by the author Robin Hobb (who has written a number of trilogys) about a royal bastard who is despised by certain people at the keep where he lives and some deign to overthrow it. The boy is helped by the stablemaster threw the early years of his life in the keep and begins to bond with a young pup which is in the stablemasters care. When the stablemaster finds out about this he takes the pup away and tells him to never do that again. The boy learns later on that he has two special powers. One is specific to those of royal blood and is regarded as a noble art to learn. It allows for a person to see into the minds of others as well as mentally contacting or controlling them. The other (the one which he was told not to use) is called the wit. It is a power that allows for him to see into the minds of animals and if he spends time around them it allows him to bond with them allowing for the animal to see things his way. However the wit works both ways and by using it he slowly loses his humanity. It is said that if a person uses the wit too often they degrade into beasts or people with no more minds then beasts. As the boy grows he is given a name by the stablemaster which is then melded into a proper one by one of the Princes called Verity. The skillmaster (who teachs him to use his power inherited through royal blood) hates the boy for (as he sees it) causing Prince Chivalry to abdicate his position from the throne. The skillmaster tries to kill the boy but thanks to a bond which he makes with a dog (unbeknownst to the stablemaster) he is saved. The boy is trained to become an assasin but when he receives an assignment to kill a prince everything goes wrong and a plot is discovered to take over the throne. After falling into a trap the boy uses his skill (the power that was inherited through royal blood) from the body of the pup who he thought died when he was young (but rediscovered when they were both older) to contact Verity and warn him of the plot. With the dogs last breath he saves the boy from near death but at the cost of the dogs life. Though it is not the main part of the story their are these pirates in the story called red ship raiders. Their introduction is probably my favourite part of the whole book.
WARNING SPOILER AHEAD (sorta)
The raiders send out a ransom note to the people and what really throws the people off is what the ransom entails. The note says that if the people pay the ransom then the townsfolk they took hostage would be killed. If they refused to pay then they would be returned. The boy is sent out to try to remedy the problem but by the time he gets there the raiders have already been told that the ransom will not be paid. They find the people in a run down house in the town and find that they are people entirely devoid of emotion. They would kill anyone if for the comfort of a cloak or even simply just for the meat on the person. The boy escapes but the raiders spread this (which comes to be known as forging) to other people and though they are encountered frequently and are considered the main problem they do not play the major role in the story.
Overall it was a very good story with plenty of mystery and though some stuff confused me a bit it was often revealed later on about what happened. Robin Hobb is a brilliant writer and i'd recommend his books to anyone out there reading this blog.
WARNING SPOILER AHEAD (sorta)
The raiders send out a ransom note to the people and what really throws the people off is what the ransom entails. The note says that if the people pay the ransom then the townsfolk they took hostage would be killed. If they refused to pay then they would be returned. The boy is sent out to try to remedy the problem but by the time he gets there the raiders have already been told that the ransom will not be paid. They find the people in a run down house in the town and find that they are people entirely devoid of emotion. They would kill anyone if for the comfort of a cloak or even simply just for the meat on the person. The boy escapes but the raiders spread this (which comes to be known as forging) to other people and though they are encountered frequently and are considered the main problem they do not play the major role in the story.
Overall it was a very good story with plenty of mystery and though some stuff confused me a bit it was often revealed later on about what happened. Robin Hobb is a brilliant writer and i'd recommend his books to anyone out there reading this blog.
Living in a Wardli
Living in a Wardli is really hard. One of the difficulties of the Wambana camp is having to clean up our Wardli to perfection. We are given Wardli points which reset to 20 every day. We lose a certain amount of points for leaving certain things un-completed. If we leave our air conditioner on we lose five points. If we leave a light turned off we lose two points. The easier it is to do something the more points we lose for not having it done. In a way Wardli points represent the condition of your Wardli. If you have 20 then your conditions are perfect. If you have zero or less then you would have everyone notice the poor condition of the Wardli. If you have zero or less Wardli points then you are forced to camp outside for the night.
The highs of a Wardli
sleeping in a bed
Being able to refrigerate food
having a roof over my head
having far less flies
Having shelter when it rains
The lows of a Wardli
Having to clean in free time
losing Wardli points if we clean poorly
Having to spend half our day shopping
living with people i don't know
Being threatened by my wardli members
Ive found out that I'm really quite hopeless when it comes to cleaning and cooking around the Wardli. I just end up cooking a schnitzel that takes about 10 minutes and in the meantime try to make up for my poor cleaning job. I often have to ask about when cleaning something for how to clean it. Then I normally get told something wrong and later get told off for cleaning up my Wardli poorly.
Today we had a discussion about problems that people are having inside the Wardli. I raised the issue about how useless i felt with the cleaning. We talked about what could be done about that and one of the Wambana staff suggested that i only do two jobs and that those jobs be consistent instead of rotating jobs on the roster. I suggested that (in order to avoid having to repeatedly ask about what to do) i could write down what i needed to do to clean the place and then i could go through the list like a checklist or (as i had put it) almost like a cooking recipe.
After we had our Wardli meeting and were told that we had only lost two wardli points today all of a sudden the entire wardlis attitude changed. All of a sudden everyone was slacking off and i was the only one trying to get anything clean. They kept telling me that they didn't need to clean up until tomorrow morning and i kept telling them that if they don't then we would all be out of our wardlis for tomorrow night. Then someone told me that he had liked sleeping out in the tent. I had told him he could if he wanted but not to bring everyone else there with him and he said that he had liked it but not wanted to. Id said that in that case he should get around to cleaning up and he wandered off.
Yesterday we had one of the kids from the other Wardlis playing around with the kids in my Wardli. I dont know what was going on but the kids were trying to keep him out of the Wardli (something which he was not allowed to do or else he is out.) This would have been fine if they hadnt locked the door (which we are not allowed to do or else were out of the Wardli). I unlocked it, they locked it, I unlocked it and while we kept repeating this i told them that we werent allowed to lock the door. Once i was finished saying this i began to walk away when one of them locked the door again. I unlocked it and kept unlocking it and eventually the kid came around to the door, poked his head in and said "hi guys". Then one of the kids (i know who these kids are but im not allowed to accuse them on here) grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and when i knocked his arm away and went to punch him in the face he said "dude, i was joking". I walked away angry and i was even angrier (is that a word?) afterwards when he had asked me if i was "O.K" I replied that i was fine but whenever i get angry at them (and this is always with a reason that comes from not wanting to be kicked out of our Wardlis) im always asked later if im "O.K" Its annoying the heck out of me.
It occured to me while here about how hard it must be for my parents to clean up at home. I probably dont help out much but ive found that what i do hasent been contirbuting to a poor state of house. If i clean my bowls and plates then theoretically i should have no negative impact on the state of the house.
The highs of a Wardli
sleeping in a bed
Being able to refrigerate food
having a roof over my head
having far less flies
Having shelter when it rains
The lows of a Wardli
Having to clean in free time
losing Wardli points if we clean poorly
Having to spend half our day shopping
living with people i don't know
Being threatened by my wardli members
Ive found out that I'm really quite hopeless when it comes to cleaning and cooking around the Wardli. I just end up cooking a schnitzel that takes about 10 minutes and in the meantime try to make up for my poor cleaning job. I often have to ask about when cleaning something for how to clean it. Then I normally get told something wrong and later get told off for cleaning up my Wardli poorly.
Today we had a discussion about problems that people are having inside the Wardli. I raised the issue about how useless i felt with the cleaning. We talked about what could be done about that and one of the Wambana staff suggested that i only do two jobs and that those jobs be consistent instead of rotating jobs on the roster. I suggested that (in order to avoid having to repeatedly ask about what to do) i could write down what i needed to do to clean the place and then i could go through the list like a checklist or (as i had put it) almost like a cooking recipe.
After we had our Wardli meeting and were told that we had only lost two wardli points today all of a sudden the entire wardlis attitude changed. All of a sudden everyone was slacking off and i was the only one trying to get anything clean. They kept telling me that they didn't need to clean up until tomorrow morning and i kept telling them that if they don't then we would all be out of our wardlis for tomorrow night. Then someone told me that he had liked sleeping out in the tent. I had told him he could if he wanted but not to bring everyone else there with him and he said that he had liked it but not wanted to. Id said that in that case he should get around to cleaning up and he wandered off.
Yesterday we had one of the kids from the other Wardlis playing around with the kids in my Wardli. I dont know what was going on but the kids were trying to keep him out of the Wardli (something which he was not allowed to do or else he is out.) This would have been fine if they hadnt locked the door (which we are not allowed to do or else were out of the Wardli). I unlocked it, they locked it, I unlocked it and while we kept repeating this i told them that we werent allowed to lock the door. Once i was finished saying this i began to walk away when one of them locked the door again. I unlocked it and kept unlocking it and eventually the kid came around to the door, poked his head in and said "hi guys". Then one of the kids (i know who these kids are but im not allowed to accuse them on here) grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and when i knocked his arm away and went to punch him in the face he said "dude, i was joking". I walked away angry and i was even angrier (is that a word?) afterwards when he had asked me if i was "O.K" I replied that i was fine but whenever i get angry at them (and this is always with a reason that comes from not wanting to be kicked out of our Wardlis) im always asked later if im "O.K" Its annoying the heck out of me.
It occured to me while here about how hard it must be for my parents to clean up at home. I probably dont help out much but ive found that what i do hasent been contirbuting to a poor state of house. If i clean my bowls and plates then theoretically i should have no negative impact on the state of the house.
Poetry (Song) -
I was born going strong but i soon got cold feet
On the right side of the house but on the wrong side of the street
I thought i was perfect that i didn't have to eat
But i knew in my heart it would end in defeat
When i had lost myself there was nothing but heat
I was burning and churning but it all felt so sweet
I was thinking to myself that there was no retreat
But then came the day for my darkness to deplete
And I'm crying I'm dying
Cant you see I'm not lying
While I'm falling
I'm slipping away, today
I keep trying and failing
My heartbeat is fading
And my life here
Is going away, today
I was lying in the gutter getting drunk on champagne
And as the sun was setting it started to rain
I got up that night with my heart filled with pain
And wishing that my life would bring me some kind of refrain
That night i saw her waiting for tickets on a train
My life was devoid it was going down the drain
But she helped me and taught me that i wasnt insane
It was all in my mind my sorrow did not remain
Now im crying and flying
In joy im perspiring
And my life
It has come back to me, today
Though its pouring im soaring
Above the thunders roaring
But im safe
And I can not complain, today
Its the ending of this story but now it can start again
Cause now im on the right track im right in the brain
Ive fine'ly learnt my lesson im no longer inane
And though this was just luck it will not be in vain, today, today, today
I tend to use a lot of my experiences in real life or my outlook on real life for my poetry. This was one of the few times in which i didnt do that but i always try to be very emotional in my poetry. This time i was inspired a song made by one of the kids in my class to make a song of my own. Of course my song had my own emotional touch to it but it was pretty much entirely inspired by luke janowski. Though not nescecerily the words of it or the type of music it is but the rythem and tune of it.
On the right side of the house but on the wrong side of the street
I thought i was perfect that i didn't have to eat
But i knew in my heart it would end in defeat
When i had lost myself there was nothing but heat
I was burning and churning but it all felt so sweet
I was thinking to myself that there was no retreat
But then came the day for my darkness to deplete
And I'm crying I'm dying
Cant you see I'm not lying
While I'm falling
I'm slipping away, today
I keep trying and failing
My heartbeat is fading
And my life here
Is going away, today
I was lying in the gutter getting drunk on champagne
And as the sun was setting it started to rain
I got up that night with my heart filled with pain
And wishing that my life would bring me some kind of refrain
That night i saw her waiting for tickets on a train
My life was devoid it was going down the drain
But she helped me and taught me that i wasnt insane
It was all in my mind my sorrow did not remain
Now im crying and flying
In joy im perspiring
And my life
It has come back to me, today
Though its pouring im soaring
Above the thunders roaring
But im safe
And I can not complain, today
Its the ending of this story but now it can start again
Cause now im on the right track im right in the brain
Ive fine'ly learnt my lesson im no longer inane
And though this was just luck it will not be in vain, today, today, today
I tend to use a lot of my experiences in real life or my outlook on real life for my poetry. This was one of the few times in which i didnt do that but i always try to be very emotional in my poetry. This time i was inspired a song made by one of the kids in my class to make a song of my own. Of course my song had my own emotional touch to it but it was pretty much entirely inspired by luke janowski. Though not nescecerily the words of it or the type of music it is but the rythem and tune of it.
Community Service - Leisure Options
Day 9 16th March
During the leisure options we went to a place that reminded me almost of a kindergarten. When we walked into the building standing at the front of it we saw about a dozen women who appeared of various ages over thirty. It was decorated with a number of paintings and for seating there were a number of chairs and wooden benchs. I found myself very shy at the start but as soon as i tried to help out with them making cards and i soon lost my shyness to them and was soon talking to them freely. With some of them there was no way of telling that they were in any way intellectually disabled. Some people i couldent help but feel pity for. The reason why i felt pitiful for them however was because they were all such nice people. It was pity i felt for the condition which there disability put them in but i feel that if it had been otherwise they might have been completely different people. It was strange talking to them though. They seemed so frail and yet they also seemed like if it werent for this they would be far more energetic then anyone my age. Other then having to repeat some things every now and then they bore almost no difference to other people.
Our Wardli helping out the women at leisure options (by the way ive changed Wardlis to Wardli 4. im now with Luke,James,Ian,Phillip, and Xavier)
We then moved on to helping out some of the men with building a chicken coup. Most of the men there showed no signs of having disabilities either mental or physical and most of their time was spent from keeping us injuring ourselves when we thought it would be the other way around.
Our Wardli helping the men there
Trust me when i say that under the surface these people are hardly any different from any others. Though they may seem strange all you need to do is talk with them for a minute and youll see that they are only strange if you are afraid to talk to them.
During the leisure options we went to a place that reminded me almost of a kindergarten. When we walked into the building standing at the front of it we saw about a dozen women who appeared of various ages over thirty. It was decorated with a number of paintings and for seating there were a number of chairs and wooden benchs. I found myself very shy at the start but as soon as i tried to help out with them making cards and i soon lost my shyness to them and was soon talking to them freely. With some of them there was no way of telling that they were in any way intellectually disabled. Some people i couldent help but feel pity for. The reason why i felt pitiful for them however was because they were all such nice people. It was pity i felt for the condition which there disability put them in but i feel that if it had been otherwise they might have been completely different people. It was strange talking to them though. They seemed so frail and yet they also seemed like if it werent for this they would be far more energetic then anyone my age. Other then having to repeat some things every now and then they bore almost no difference to other people.
Our Wardli helping out the women at leisure options (by the way ive changed Wardlis to Wardli 4. im now with Luke,James,Ian,Phillip, and Xavier)
We then moved on to helping out some of the men with building a chicken coup. Most of the men there showed no signs of having disabilities either mental or physical and most of their time was spent from keeping us injuring ourselves when we thought it would be the other way around.
Our Wardli helping the men there
Trust me when i say that under the surface these people are hardly any different from any others. Though they may seem strange all you need to do is talk with them for a minute and youll see that they are only strange if you are afraid to talk to them.
Scientific Research - Hooded Plover
Assessment of Hooded Plover (Thinornis rubricollis) populations and their threats on Yorke Peninsula
The synopsis
The Hooded Plovers are a species that live on beaches. They lay there eggs and when these are disturbed the chances of their survival decrease dramatically. Hooded Plovers try to lure predators away from their nests but because they mistake us for predators and it doesn't work the Hooded Plover ends up staying away from its nest to long and the eggs or young die. If we were to reduce the amount of people and prevent cars from going on the beach then the Hooded Plovers would have a far easier way of life then they do now and this would greatly increase there chances of survival.
Aim and introduction
The Hooded Plover is a now very rare species of bird which can only be found in Australia. It is listed as vulnerable which means that it is very close to being endangered. However it also means that there is a good chance of us helping them to survive when if we help them now. What our class has done is made an observation of the Hooded Plover and what may be contributing to their gradual slide to extinction.
Method
Our class went to West Bay at 10:45 AM and started at S35degrees 14.109 E136degrees 49.914. The temperature was about twenty eight degrees and the day was the 20th of March. Half of the sky was covered in clouds and through the whole search not a spot of rain was seen. We assigned each person in the group something different to do. We had a scribe (who recorded information), a GPS operator (who marked the points) a threat observer (who would search for predators) and a photographer (who took photos of animals and tracks). When searching for Hooded Plovers and there potential predators we walked slowly and carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible and looking for any sign of movement. We walked very close to the ocean and searched for signs of a Plover nest or animal tracks as we went. Upon finding a Plover we would stand still and try to confirm that it was a Hooded Plover. If we found animal tracks then I would follow them to see if they would lead to a nesting area. We finished up at 12:00 PM at co-ordinates S35degrees 14.496 E136degrees 49.986.
Results
Despite our best attempts we were not able to spot any signs that a Hooded Plover was in the area. We found different kinds of Plovers and some Plover tracks but those tracks could have belonged to any kind of Plover so it is hard to say if there were any Hooded Plovers at West Bay. We found that there were no human footprints other then our own there. We saw a couple of people during the last few minutes of our survey but there were no signs that people had been in the area before us. However there were signs that other animals had been in the area. I discovered a number of Plover footprints as well as a set of dog tracks and fox tracks. Upon following the dog tracks I found that they intersected with some Plover tracks and ended in a mess of sand. However due to a lack of any feathers, fur and blood the bird probably spotted the animal and flew away in a panic. There were a few seagulls hanging around but other then that and a few other Plovers there were no sign of life on that beach. Surprisingly we were only able to find one piece of rubbish on the whole beach.
Discussion
The results were very strange. According to the threat observations the beach was near perfect for Hooded Plover habitation. The Plovers in the area had either died out or were very well hidden. Judging by the lack of any proof of Hooded Plovers they were probably both waiting at there nest or away from the beach. They had probably not laid any eggs due to a lack of any signs of communication between any of the plovers we saw.
Conclusion
It is hard to draw conclusions about these facts. If there are Hooded Plovers there then they are very well hidden and if there aren't then there is very good opportunity for them. If we moved a couple of Hooded Plovers to the area then they should be able to survive incredibly well in the conditions which are found on the beach. What happened to them on the beach is beyond me but all that seems to be needed is for some Hooded Plovers to move there and it should be fine.
These were the statistics that we recorded (and yes the last one is actually true (and slightly disturbing))
Site location name:West bay
Group name:Wardli 4 (We didn't have a choice in this. I would have called it group Alpha if i could)
Start:S35degrees14.109E136degrees49.914
End:S35degrees14.496E136degrees49.986
Date:19/3/10
Time start:10:45AM
Time finish:12:00PM
Estimated temperature:28degreesC
Wind:light
Rain:none
Cloud cover:50%
Threat Assessment
Human Footprints:medium
Walker/Joggers:sparse
Sun baking/Sitting:none
Tourist/Viewing only:sparse
Surfers/Swimmers:none
Fishers:none
Games:none
Dune-boards/races down dune:none
Dog walkers:none
Dogs on leash:none
Dogs off leash:none
Dog prints:sparse
Trail bike (or tracks):none
Quad bike or 4WD (or tracks):none
Ravens:none
Silver gulls(seagulls):sparse
Kelp or Pacific Gulls:sparse
Foxes (or prints):sparse
Horses (or prints):none
Litter:sparse
Other:sparse (nudes...as i said disturbing)
The synopsis
The Hooded Plovers are a species that live on beaches. They lay there eggs and when these are disturbed the chances of their survival decrease dramatically. Hooded Plovers try to lure predators away from their nests but because they mistake us for predators and it doesn't work the Hooded Plover ends up staying away from its nest to long and the eggs or young die. If we were to reduce the amount of people and prevent cars from going on the beach then the Hooded Plovers would have a far easier way of life then they do now and this would greatly increase there chances of survival.
Aim and introduction
The Hooded Plover is a now very rare species of bird which can only be found in Australia. It is listed as vulnerable which means that it is very close to being endangered. However it also means that there is a good chance of us helping them to survive when if we help them now. What our class has done is made an observation of the Hooded Plover and what may be contributing to their gradual slide to extinction.
Method
Our class went to West Bay at 10:45 AM and started at S35degrees 14.109 E136degrees 49.914. The temperature was about twenty eight degrees and the day was the 20th of March. Half of the sky was covered in clouds and through the whole search not a spot of rain was seen. We assigned each person in the group something different to do. We had a scribe (who recorded information), a GPS operator (who marked the points) a threat observer (who would search for predators) and a photographer (who took photos of animals and tracks). When searching for Hooded Plovers and there potential predators we walked slowly and carefully, trying to be as quiet as possible and looking for any sign of movement. We walked very close to the ocean and searched for signs of a Plover nest or animal tracks as we went. Upon finding a Plover we would stand still and try to confirm that it was a Hooded Plover. If we found animal tracks then I would follow them to see if they would lead to a nesting area. We finished up at 12:00 PM at co-ordinates S35degrees 14.496 E136degrees 49.986.
Results
Despite our best attempts we were not able to spot any signs that a Hooded Plover was in the area. We found different kinds of Plovers and some Plover tracks but those tracks could have belonged to any kind of Plover so it is hard to say if there were any Hooded Plovers at West Bay. We found that there were no human footprints other then our own there. We saw a couple of people during the last few minutes of our survey but there were no signs that people had been in the area before us. However there were signs that other animals had been in the area. I discovered a number of Plover footprints as well as a set of dog tracks and fox tracks. Upon following the dog tracks I found that they intersected with some Plover tracks and ended in a mess of sand. However due to a lack of any feathers, fur and blood the bird probably spotted the animal and flew away in a panic. There were a few seagulls hanging around but other then that and a few other Plovers there were no sign of life on that beach. Surprisingly we were only able to find one piece of rubbish on the whole beach.
Discussion
The results were very strange. According to the threat observations the beach was near perfect for Hooded Plover habitation. The Plovers in the area had either died out or were very well hidden. Judging by the lack of any proof of Hooded Plovers they were probably both waiting at there nest or away from the beach. They had probably not laid any eggs due to a lack of any signs of communication between any of the plovers we saw.
Conclusion
It is hard to draw conclusions about these facts. If there are Hooded Plovers there then they are very well hidden and if there aren't then there is very good opportunity for them. If we moved a couple of Hooded Plovers to the area then they should be able to survive incredibly well in the conditions which are found on the beach. What happened to them on the beach is beyond me but all that seems to be needed is for some Hooded Plovers to move there and it should be fine.
These were the statistics that we recorded (and yes the last one is actually true (and slightly disturbing))
Site location name:West bay
Group name:Wardli 4 (We didn't have a choice in this. I would have called it group Alpha if i could)
Start:S35degrees14.109E136degrees49.914
End:S35degrees14.496E136degrees49.986
Date:19/3/10
Time start:10:45AM
Time finish:12:00PM
Estimated temperature:28degreesC
Wind:light
Rain:none
Cloud cover:50%
Threat Assessment
Human Footprints:medium
Walker/Joggers:sparse
Sun baking/Sitting:none
Tourist/Viewing only:sparse
Surfers/Swimmers:none
Fishers:none
Games:none
Dune-boards/races down dune:none
Dog walkers:none
Dogs on leash:none
Dogs off leash:none
Dog prints:sparse
Trail bike (or tracks):none
Quad bike or 4WD (or tracks):none
Ravens:none
Silver gulls(seagulls):sparse
Kelp or Pacific Gulls:sparse
Foxes (or prints):sparse
Horses (or prints):none
Litter:sparse
Other:sparse (nudes...as i said disturbing)
Community Service - Aleppo Pine Removal
Day 10 17Th March
Today we went around to the Minlaton park lands to help with the removal of Aleppo pines. Aleppo pines are a introduced species which has become a pest making it a weed. Aleppo pines spread very easily and if they are not cut off close to the roots then they will grow again. Aleppo pines mature in five years and then they can spread seeds to make more. However the real problem that the Aleppo pines present is that they drain the nutrients from other plants around them. I used the wood lopper for most of the time to cut down the younger Aleppo's. Saws were used for the larger ones and we were told to use our hands to pull the smallest ones out. the adults in the area helped by cutting down the fully fledged trees with chainsaws. In total we ended up removing over three-hundred Aleppo pines among the eleven of us. That means that we were removing at least two Aleppo pines every minute. Around halfway through the first half of the pine removal i had to use my hands to move the fallen trees to piles. This was when i learnt an interesting defense mechanism the pines have to prevent themselves being destroyed. The small green straw-leaves they have covering them conceal small splinters of wood which embed themselves inside the skin of any animal that gets too close. Unfortunately i found this out the hard way and by the time that we had finished the Aleppo pine removal my hands had as many holes in them as the ground did. Looking back on our work there the loss of green makes it almost seem like a bad thing but when i think about how its going to look in five or so years it reminds me about how much good were doing for the environment. I'd like to say to anyone out there reading this blog to help out with the removal of the Aleppo pines and to be very careful when walking around them to avoid getting scraped by them.
Today we went around to the Minlaton park lands to help with the removal of Aleppo pines. Aleppo pines are a introduced species which has become a pest making it a weed. Aleppo pines spread very easily and if they are not cut off close to the roots then they will grow again. Aleppo pines mature in five years and then they can spread seeds to make more. However the real problem that the Aleppo pines present is that they drain the nutrients from other plants around them. I used the wood lopper for most of the time to cut down the younger Aleppo's. Saws were used for the larger ones and we were told to use our hands to pull the smallest ones out. the adults in the area helped by cutting down the fully fledged trees with chainsaws. In total we ended up removing over three-hundred Aleppo pines among the eleven of us. That means that we were removing at least two Aleppo pines every minute. Around halfway through the first half of the pine removal i had to use my hands to move the fallen trees to piles. This was when i learnt an interesting defense mechanism the pines have to prevent themselves being destroyed. The small green straw-leaves they have covering them conceal small splinters of wood which embed themselves inside the skin of any animal that gets too close. Unfortunately i found this out the hard way and by the time that we had finished the Aleppo pine removal my hands had as many holes in them as the ground did. Looking back on our work there the loss of green makes it almost seem like a bad thing but when i think about how its going to look in five or so years it reminds me about how much good were doing for the environment. I'd like to say to anyone out there reading this blog to help out with the removal of the Aleppo pines and to be very careful when walking around them to avoid getting scraped by them.
History Tour 2
Day 22 Monday 29Th March
Today we went on our second history tour. First we visited a museum which was really a small house. It had a collection of things from around fifty years ago and together they showed how people had used to live in those days. I found out that they would all use the same bath and that they would all shower on the same day with the same water. Later we went to a cemetery and learnt about what beliefs that people had and that if there was a kid born out of wedlock he would be buried at right angles to all the other graves to show that he would never go to heaven. We then went to an abandoned farmers house were we suspected ferals were living at the time and learnt about how the farmers would live. The owner of the house would have privacy and wealth while the others were little better off then slaves to him.
Today we went on our second history tour. First we visited a museum which was really a small house. It had a collection of things from around fifty years ago and together they showed how people had used to live in those days. I found out that they would all use the same bath and that they would all shower on the same day with the same water. Later we went to a cemetery and learnt about what beliefs that people had and that if there was a kid born out of wedlock he would be buried at right angles to all the other graves to show that he would never go to heaven. We then went to an abandoned farmers house were we suspected ferals were living at the time and learnt about how the farmers would live. The owner of the house would have privacy and wealth while the others were little better off then slaves to him.
Sea Kayaking
Day 11 Thursday 18th March
Today we did the sea kayaking. We had to carry out the kayaks to the edge of the shore (which in my opinion was the most physically exhausting part) and then push off. This was probably the thing i was worrying about the most. Now im not that good a swimmer but i have practiced it a fair bit so i wasent particularly worried about drowning. I just really hate getting wet. I was really worried that when getting in the kayak it would tip over and i would get soaked. However i ended up getting in fine and managed to get right off to join one of four groups which we were told to split into. We then had to go around four points twice until we returned to out starting point. I had done a lap around the four points when one of the faster kayakers (is that a word?) stopped all of a sudden and i crashed into them. I tried to go around them but then other people from that group starting crashing into me trying to raft up. Because of that i had to paddle as hard and fast as i could yet i still almost got back last. Ive never done sea kayaking before but i did once do a two day kayak down a river. We kept taking turns to be the back marker and front marker. Nobody could go in frony of the front marker and the back marker had to make sure that everyone was in front of him. Both marker were supposed to be able to hear each other at all times. If this was not the case then people at the front had to wait for those at the back to catch up. Because of this we had the slow people in the front and the fast people at the back. One of the back markers hardly did their job at all and kept getting in peoples ways (when he wasent the back marker) or tried to encourage people by ramming into their kayaks. We stopped for lunch on a small piece of sand but by the time that lunch was ending the water had risen high enough that the sand was completely submerged. I ended up getting my shoes all wet and since i didnt know how to dry them theyve remained wet for the rest of the camp (fortunately i have some other shoes) We ploughed through the last few kilometres with a gust of headwind making it harder for us to paddle to the end. We made it and i ended up stranding myself amidst a clump of weeds. Carrying the kayaks back was really awkward and annoying (since i had to carry james's who had capsized in the shallows) especially when i had to go back and half the time i was trying (and failing) to get the kayak back on my own. Overall it was hard and exhausting (we had the 9.2km run the same day) but it felt really rewarding at the same time. It was my birthday today and through the kayaking i had lots of people reminding me of it.
Today we did the sea kayaking. We had to carry out the kayaks to the edge of the shore (which in my opinion was the most physically exhausting part) and then push off. This was probably the thing i was worrying about the most. Now im not that good a swimmer but i have practiced it a fair bit so i wasent particularly worried about drowning. I just really hate getting wet. I was really worried that when getting in the kayak it would tip over and i would get soaked. However i ended up getting in fine and managed to get right off to join one of four groups which we were told to split into. We then had to go around four points twice until we returned to out starting point. I had done a lap around the four points when one of the faster kayakers (is that a word?) stopped all of a sudden and i crashed into them. I tried to go around them but then other people from that group starting crashing into me trying to raft up. Because of that i had to paddle as hard and fast as i could yet i still almost got back last. Ive never done sea kayaking before but i did once do a two day kayak down a river. We kept taking turns to be the back marker and front marker. Nobody could go in frony of the front marker and the back marker had to make sure that everyone was in front of him. Both marker were supposed to be able to hear each other at all times. If this was not the case then people at the front had to wait for those at the back to catch up. Because of this we had the slow people in the front and the fast people at the back. One of the back markers hardly did their job at all and kept getting in peoples ways (when he wasent the back marker) or tried to encourage people by ramming into their kayaks. We stopped for lunch on a small piece of sand but by the time that lunch was ending the water had risen high enough that the sand was completely submerged. I ended up getting my shoes all wet and since i didnt know how to dry them theyve remained wet for the rest of the camp (fortunately i have some other shoes) We ploughed through the last few kilometres with a gust of headwind making it harder for us to paddle to the end. We made it and i ended up stranding myself amidst a clump of weeds. Carrying the kayaks back was really awkward and annoying (since i had to carry james's who had capsized in the shallows) especially when i had to go back and half the time i was trying (and failing) to get the kayak back on my own. Overall it was hard and exhausting (we had the 9.2km run the same day) but it felt really rewarding at the same time. It was my birthday today and through the kayaking i had lots of people reminding me of it.
Surfing
During two days of the Wambana camp we went on a surf camp (a day and two half days) and as the name would suggest we surfed on them. I wasent particularly looking forward to this (i dont like water and i was never good at surfing) but i was going to give it my all and try my best regardless of what difficulties i encountered. I started trying to stand up right from the start but i kept falling off the board. I managed to catch on of the highest waves we had that day (i was the only one as well) but i wiped out as soon as i got caught by the wave. I did end up managing to stand but this was purely by accident. One of my legs had slipped off the board while i had managed to stand up with the other one so i ended up standing up on the board with one leg (only lasted a couple of seconds though). The next day we had a whole day of surfing. It was fun despite not being able to stand up despite my persistance. Nothing particularly interesting (that i can recall) happened that day. On the last day we had incredibly strong waves. It seemed almost impossible to get pushed along by one without getting wiped out by it. For some reason i did incredibly well with this and managed to actually stand (twice!). Overall the surfing trip was incredibly fun and though pretty much everyone either wiped out or nose-dived once or twice as long as we kept perservering it was really good.
Photography
Seascape
I took this picture while we were on the first history tour. We took at a place where people had dumped various kinds of trash before and as the land eroded away the trash began to fall into the water and the area became dangerous.
I took this picture on the first history tour. During the time we were at the first history tour we learnt about how a tribe of pygmy aboriginals lived there. These Aboriginals worshipped a bird (I cant quite remember what it was called. I think its extinct now). One time a huge warrior from another tribe came and wiped out all of the pygmys. However a giant version of the pygmys tribal bird came and fought and killed the giant in the ocean. After realizing its tribe was dead it rested in the ocean until it was called again. Of course this never happened and so it eventually had stones cover it and it died. The place in the background of the Jetty is supposedly this giant birds head.
I took this picture while on the bike ride. I decided to take this of the lighthouse when i found out that i had accidentaly taken a picture of where we were going next.
This was also taken on the bike ride. I took this picture and found out that we were actually riding to the beach which i had just taken a photo of. I decided to take a picture of the lighthouse we had come from only from the view of the beach we were going to. Thats what the picture above and below this description. Really shows just how far we travelled.
Not much to really explain about this one. I took a photo of what appeared to be two identical islands while i was at the lighthouse on our bike ride.
Landscape
I took all three of the photos below on the morning of one of the runs. I cant remember if it was the 3.4km or the 5.5km or if it was a fitness game. I dont really have that much to say about this but i guess these represents what i try to do with my photography. I try to have both the background and the foreground of the picture work together to express the picture. Personally when i was taking these photos my thoughts on them was that they represented the quote of "every night must end" As expressed by the darkness of the trees in the foreground (representing night to me) and the light behind them being cast by the sun.
I took this picture while we were on the first history tour. We took at a place where people had dumped various kinds of trash before and as the land eroded away the trash began to fall into the water and the area became dangerous.
I took this picture on the first history tour. During the time we were at the first history tour we learnt about how a tribe of pygmy aboriginals lived there. These Aboriginals worshipped a bird (I cant quite remember what it was called. I think its extinct now). One time a huge warrior from another tribe came and wiped out all of the pygmys. However a giant version of the pygmys tribal bird came and fought and killed the giant in the ocean. After realizing its tribe was dead it rested in the ocean until it was called again. Of course this never happened and so it eventually had stones cover it and it died. The place in the background of the Jetty is supposedly this giant birds head.
I took this picture while on the bike ride. I decided to take this of the lighthouse when i found out that i had accidentaly taken a picture of where we were going next.
This was also taken on the bike ride. I took this picture and found out that we were actually riding to the beach which i had just taken a photo of. I decided to take a picture of the lighthouse we had come from only from the view of the beach we were going to. Thats what the picture above and below this description. Really shows just how far we travelled.
Not much to really explain about this one. I took a photo of what appeared to be two identical islands while i was at the lighthouse on our bike ride.
Landscape
I took all three of the photos below on the morning of one of the runs. I cant remember if it was the 3.4km or the 5.5km or if it was a fitness game. I dont really have that much to say about this but i guess these represents what i try to do with my photography. I try to have both the background and the foreground of the picture work together to express the picture. Personally when i was taking these photos my thoughts on them was that they represented the quote of "every night must end" As expressed by the darkness of the trees in the foreground (representing night to me) and the light behind them being cast by the sun.
The qualities of good men.
While at Wambana we learnt about what qualities are shown by leaders and what makes a good leader...well a good leader.
Determination-Being able to keep going help in being able to lead by example. If a leader can keep going then he can motivate others to do the same.
Encouraging-If a leader leaves others behind and dosent try to help them then he can hardly be called a leader at all. A good leader encourages those around him to help themselves and others. If a leader encourages others then those encouraged can in turn encourage others making them leaders as well.
Leads by example-If you were bike riding and were told to keep it up by someone who had just stopped for the past ten minutes would you feel motivated? most people wouldent. A good leader leads by showing that they themselves can do it and this allows them to encourage you to do it as well. eg."If i can do it then so can you" Though this can work both motivationally and demotivationally if used correctly it is by far one of the most effective leadership qualities
Motivational-Anyone can just encourage someone but if you know the right things to say then you can really encourage people to do their best. Being motivational is quite a hard quality to attain but it can make a real difference in the long run. Its not so much about being motivational as it is about making sure that your not demotivational eg. If you wanted people to work hard on a farm it would be best not to say "ok guys were going to need to give it our all this month. Because were broke i cant pay any of you guys, we also wont be able to have any days off and all of the machinery is falling apart but im sure you can do it." Not the best example i could give i know but its the only one i could think of at the moment. Anyway the point is that as long as you can make people want to try harder then they will (most of the time.)
Determination-Being able to keep going help in being able to lead by example. If a leader can keep going then he can motivate others to do the same.
Encouraging-If a leader leaves others behind and dosent try to help them then he can hardly be called a leader at all. A good leader encourages those around him to help themselves and others. If a leader encourages others then those encouraged can in turn encourage others making them leaders as well.
Leads by example-If you were bike riding and were told to keep it up by someone who had just stopped for the past ten minutes would you feel motivated? most people wouldent. A good leader leads by showing that they themselves can do it and this allows them to encourage you to do it as well. eg."If i can do it then so can you" Though this can work both motivationally and demotivationally if used correctly it is by far one of the most effective leadership qualities
Motivational-Anyone can just encourage someone but if you know the right things to say then you can really encourage people to do their best. Being motivational is quite a hard quality to attain but it can make a real difference in the long run. Its not so much about being motivational as it is about making sure that your not demotivational eg. If you wanted people to work hard on a farm it would be best not to say "ok guys were going to need to give it our all this month. Because were broke i cant pay any of you guys, we also wont be able to have any days off and all of the machinery is falling apart but im sure you can do it." Not the best example i could give i know but its the only one i could think of at the moment. Anyway the point is that as long as you can make people want to try harder then they will (most of the time.)
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