Muddy Mangrove Madness

I figured that the mention of “rain jacket“ on our Australian packing list was just a friendly suggestion, but recently the weather gods seem to have decided that the group was in need of a shower. Rain jackets are great in Portland because they keep you both dry and warm, but when it’s 85 degrees and humid they quickly become a personal sauna. Although the bad weather has me feeling meteorologically connected with everyone back at school, I still prefer the sunburnt country we’ve been treated to otherwise.

Despite the rain on Friday everyone showed up to class on time and relatively dry. to learn about the organization of biological communities and inter-species interactions. Our lecturer told us that ecology just takes what everyone already knows about animals and makes it sound complicated, so any non-science blog-readers should be able to follow along just fine. We learned that a biological community is just any group of organisms in a particular place and time that have the potential to interact. See? Not too different from a regular community, just with organisms instead of college students or neighbors. There are a lot of influences on the structure of biological communities, from geographic isolation of the area to disturbances such as fires and floods. After learning the numerous influencing factors we broke off into groups to compare two environments and deduce which would have greater species diversity. I was most surprised to learn that deep ocean mud was much more diverse than intertidal mud, and that 25 of the 36 phyla are exclusively marine. With so many of the phyla being marine based, its no wonder we know more about outer space than our oceans.

We also learned some more about interactions between species, which strongly influence the structure of biological communities. It is a bit complex but basically an organism can harm another by preying on it or competing with it for resources, or it can help by having a mutual relationship, or it can benefit from an organism without harming it. A common example of mutualism is between birds and fruit bearing trees; when the birds eat the fruit they end up transporting and fertilizing the seeds. The birds get a tasty meal while the tree spreads its genetic material far from its branches. I assume you’re familiar with predation by seeing videos of lions chasing down zebras, and if you have seen two dogs fight over a bone then you know about competition too. The lectures went into much greater depth and detail, but reciting them in full wouldn’t leave enough time for the excitement of our next day at North Stradbroke Island.

So now you’re probably wondering, what is this amazing island? Well, 40km off the coast of Brisbane is a chain of sand islands created by the mass movement of sand up the eastern coast of Australia. Five hundred thousand cubic meters of sand pass by a single point each year! The sand builds up around rocky outcroppings and gets pushed around by wind and waves over thousands of years to create islands. To get to “Straddie”, as the locals call it, we took a giant car-carrying ferry. The whole scene of riding in a car on a boat reminded me of the ferries around the San Juan Islands in the Pacific Northwest. As soon as we got out of the bus we ran down to the beach and swam in the warm waters, forced to come back to the hostel only by another rainstorm and impending lecture. A local scientist gave us a lecture about the geology, hydrology, and ecology of Stradbroke. The island has a lens of freshwater underneath it, creating a wide range of environments from harsh dunes along the edge to eucalyptus forests in the interior, with some patches of rainforest and swamps in between. The island is home to 17 ecotypes, 599 native plant species, and even a species of frog that only reproduces in the acidic water of low-flowing wetlands. Unfortunately, the island is a popular tourist destination, and is also home to a large sand mining industry. These anthropogenic forces threaten the island’s beauty and unique flora and fauna.

After learning about the island we walked through a mangrove forest. Mangroves grow along sheltered tidal shores. The lack of wind and waves allows for fine sediments to be deposited, which create a low-oxygen soil. Mangrove trees have adapted to these peculiar conditions in a variety of ways; they have little parts of their roots that stick above the ground for oxygen. They also grow not just seeds but also stalks of new plants from their branches, making it easier for new trees to take root when dropped into the mud. While the ecology of these forests is fascinating and they are extremely productive, they aren’t the most pleasant places to visit. The anaerobic soil is home to bacteria which process sulfur, releasing a smell of rotten eggs into the air.  Also, the fine sediment mixes with tidal water, creating a mud slurry that will take your shoes off faster than a mother with a new white carpet. After we had slogged through the forest to the coastline Nat showed us how we could stomp into the mud and be held securely in place while bending backwards in our best Matrix impressions. This was fantastic fun until we tried to get out; the mud held our legs a little bit too securely, in fact extremely securely because we were stuck. After a little bit of unwarranted freaking out about tides and a lot of furious digging we all managed to free ourselves, but I can say I experienced a full range of emotions in the process. The mud may have washed off our shoes, but it was definitely an experience we’ll look back on with fond memories.

Message to the Homefront

By Marnie Bates

Hey everyone!

You may have read this before (and doubtless will read it again) but it needs to be said: this program has touched a full range of emotions. Sure, our blog entries focus on the exciting, happy times but that doesn’t mean we don’t miss home. Eating apples and peanut butter does not normally make me tear up with nostalgia. But no one here eats that as an after school snack. They have apples. They eat peanut butter on occasion. But put the two together? Doesn’t happen. Which might explain why all of us have gone through an obscene amount of the goopy substance. John even suggested that we buy a huge communal vat to cut down on the expense. But back to my point. I wanted to seize this moment to tell everyone on the home front: you are missed. We look forward to our triumphant return. And in the meantime we are enjoying our home-stay families in Brisbane.

As I write this, a small tropical storm lingers outside my house and between lightning flashes I can’t help thinking how bizarre it is that I’m even here. Let’s ignore the fact that I’m currently on a freaking island in a completely different hemisphere and zoom in on the detail of my city: Brisbane. A city I saw for the first time on a television screen a little over two months ago. But back then it was utter chaos as stupid people tried to drive their cars through muddy brown depths of liquid. At the time this begged the question, why do people wait until the water is waist high before trying to drive to safety? Seriously! And now as I ride the crowded 333 bus each morning (Public transit! This small-town girl is learning how to handle life in the city!) I keep trying to spot the damage. Except I have a hard time locating it. There’s some construction but it’s pretty minimal—the type of roadwork you might see anywhere. Nothing that indicates 9 weeks ago the city was underwater.

As I said: bizarre.

But all of us are having a pretty great time and the past two lectures have been particularly interesting. The first was on the demographics of Australia, which may sound dull but . . . okay, it was better than I anticipated. I learned some interesting factoids. Like did you know that in 2010 the estimated population of Australia was 22,342,000 people? Or that that long string o’ numbers is roughly the population in New York alone?

I’m betting that you didn’t.

Here’s another pearl: Australia is the 51^st most populated nation. And they have a large number of migrants in relation to the overall population (second only to Israel!). I could continue spewing statistics but I think that those mean far more in the context of a lecture than individually. I will say that we learned a lot about multiculturalism and the White Australian Policy of 1901, which is exactly what it sounds like.

It’s stupid of me to be disappointed that this country has a history of racism every bit as long and intense as my own but . . . I expected better. I was particularly miffed when I heard in our next lecture that Australia wasn’t keen on accepting Jews who had just gone through the Holocaust.

Not cool.

But I think it was the second lecture that really connected with me. We discussed Australia’s war history, which frankly I knew absolutely nothing about. I had heard of ANZAC but it was pretty much limited to its association with the brand name of a biscuit. However, for everyone back home, ANZAC stands for Australian New Zealand Army Corps, which has a far more interesting history than even the most delicious biscuit.

Turns out that Australia was brutalized in World War I. 417,000 Australians served. 58,132 died. 156,000 were wounded. My problem with statistics is that they tend to feel impersonal. What relationship can you form with these strings of numbers? What got to me were some of the chilling headstones that fill the battlefield graveyards of Europe. You see, only two bodies from WWI were returned to Australia—a general’s body and that of an unknown soldier. The families who had lost husbands, fathers and brothers were left creating last words for a distant headstone with fewer characters than a tweet on twitter. Here are a few of my personal favorites:

       Far from those who loved him in a hero’s grave he lies, our son.

       Another life lost. Hearts broken for what?

       Where’s our daddy?

The pictures of memorials with name after name inscribed upon them left us feeling awed and humbled. Especially when it was pointed out that most of those men who died were our age. The great potential that was lost . . . tragic.

Yet out of this horror has come a sense of nationhood. This war shaped Australia. There is a sense that this island nation was put to the test and it pulled through. But at the end of the day war is about killing. It’s a justification for the most horrific acts imaginable. And the lecture made it impossible to ignore the fact that the U.S. has been mired in military strife for the past 8 years. I’m not proud of myself for ignoring the troops. For willingly pushing that out of my mind because I don’t want to consider the great sacrifice our men and women in uniform are making. It’s too discomforting to consider. That’s my weak justification at any rate.

But we keep running across memorials that phrase it concisely: lest we forget.

We owe it to the dead to personalize the lists and statistics. Something I hope I’ll do when I open the newspaper instead of skipping straight to the comics.

Garfield can wait.

The following photos were taken at the World War I Memorial in Canberra.

Out of the Bush and into the Classroom

By Kathryn Hart Wlodarczyk

Sunday, the day of rest, proved to be just what we all needed. We all settled into our new homes with our temporary parents, siblings and pets. Some of us are lucky enough to have temporary pools (Allison), trampolines (John & Drew) and tennis courts (Emily &Katy). We are being fed according to our specific dietary requirements and some of us are even praying before meals. Let it be known: we do not lead very tough lives.

Anna-Brooke and I are staying with a lovely newlywed couple that just purchased a new house with four extra bedrooms for all of the babies that they can’t wait to have.  They have graciously set us up with our own rooms, a private bathroom, living room and kitchen area. We are very content to act as their temporary children.

On Monday morning our temporary Mom had our lunches packed for us complete with our initials on our sandwiches; this could only mean one thing: it was time to go back to school. I, for one, was excited about the prospect of getting back into a semi-regular routine.  The first thing that we learned is that the Brisbane bus system is not very reliable, especially if punctuality is important to you. However, I took comfort in the fact I saw about half of our group walking to class about fifteen minutes after we should have arrived.

Monday’s discussion was all about comparing Australia to the United States with a focus on Oregon. There are many differences but there are more similarities. Much of the discussion focused on comparing Native Americans to Australian Aboriginals. What really shocked me is that we seem to know much more about Australia’s native people than our own country’s native people. It also seems like we know more about Aboriginal culture than most Australians and even some Aboriginals.  It is clear that in both countries when the native people are out of sight they are also out of mind, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t still suffering. We noted that the Native Americans had a few small advantages over the Aboriginals at the time of colonization. Many Native American tribes were able to make treaties and trade with the Europeans. It is unlikely that any of the Native Americas tribes lived in total harmony with their new European neighbors but they still had it better than their Australia counterparts. Australia was declared to be uninhabited and there was never any effort to strike up a deal with the Aboriginals that did inhabit the country; instead they were routinely killed, raped, ignored and stolen. However, in the end, treaty or no treaty, alcoholism, unemployment and incarceration rates are through the roof for both of the native populations. At least the Native Americans have their casinos.

Many of our other comparisons had to do with the land and ways in which humans have changed it to fit their needs. In Australia coal is the natural resource. There is a lot of it here and they plan on mining all of it like it’s going out of style tomorrow. Oregon is all about the timber and yes, timber is a renewable resource but no, it is not going to renew itself as fast as it is being cut down. What is clear is that everything becomes secondary when an economy depends on a particular resource.

Water, perhaps the world’s most important resource, is constantly being manipulated and mismanaged. The Columbia River, the largest in the Pacific Northwest, is less of a river and more of a series of lakes that can be filled and drained by a person sitting at a computer. Salmon is the important issue on the Columbia while the Australians are just hoping for enough water due to the frequent and severe droughts that plague the country. The Murray-Darling River system flows through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, except sometimes there isn’t enough water for the towns closer to the bottom of the river. This seems wrong, and it is wrong, just about as wrong as growing cotton in Australia. Cotton isn’t native to Australia because there isn’t enough water in Australia to grow cotton; the climate is all wrong. That fact hasn’t stopped many people from using huge amounts of the water to make the dream of Australian cotton a reality despite the devastating toll it’s taking on the eco-systems in the lower part of the river system.

The introduction of non-native animals by European settlers has, in both locations, dramatically altered the landscapes. Once again, the Australian landscape and the animals that were brought to it had it worse than their American counterparts. Most of the United States in temperate and, in contrast, Australia is extreme. Sheep, which are used for growing thick wool, should not be raised in Australia; it is simply too hot for them. Settlers saw all of the open space and decided to plant many varieties of non-native grasses for their non-native sheep and cattle to feast on. In Oregon many forests were clear-cut to make room for animals to graze.

When we finished comparing we walked about three blocks to the library, a wonderful place where we can escape the heat, surf the Internet for free and, of course, study. Then it was time to explore the city. I chose to walk around the Queen Street mall before retreating to a nearby park, which provided a shady place to read. From there it was back to my temporary residence to enjoy yet another home cooked meal and a good night’s sleep in my queen-sized bed.

Despite catching the wrong bus to school on Tuesday morning and getting dropped off on the other side of the river we still managed to make it to class with a few minutes to spare. I was quite pleased to discover that we were about to learn about Australia’s political system from Dr. Ian Ward of the University of Queensland. He didn’t waste a single minute of our time and by the end of the first session I felt fully prepared to suggest a new system of government for the United States that incorporates a few elements of the Australian system. I will refrain from outlining my personal suggestions; instead I will highlight the most important parts of the Australian political system.

The lecture started off in a very familiar fashion when we learned that the parliament building in Canberra is, in fact, the biggest building in the southern hemisphere. This does not say much about the size of the building but it does illustrate the fact that the federal government is more important than the state governments. The flag, like many things here, demonstrates how Australia is a blend of Great Britain and The United Sates. They have retained the Union Jack in the upper left corner and have added a star for each of their six states (they do not have a star for the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory just as we do not have a star for Washington D.C.).

Australia has a prime minster instead of a president and they are not just different names for the same thing. The prime minister is Julia Gillard and she leads a minority labor party government. She was not directly elected and she does not have a fixed term in office. She is not the head of state but she is the focus of executive power even though there is no mention of her position in the constitution. Are you confused yet? By this point we were all fairly confused too, so don’t worry.

The key feature of the American constitution is the separation between the three branches of government but here the executive and legislative branches are fused. Julia Gillard, like all prime ministers, can only hold the position as long as she has majority support of the Parliament. Without the support of the majority the prime minister wouldn’t be able to get legislation passed, and if you fail to get legislation passed you resign. I will digress for a moment to allow everyone that is reading this to think about how things might have been different at home if presidents felt compelled to resign if they no longer had the majority support of congress.

During the lecture we heard phrases like ‘party discipline,’ ‘responsible government’ and ‘chain of accountability,’ and it is because of these things that the Australians system of government seems to work for them.

The parliament, like our congress, has a house of representatives and a senate. However, the house is much more important. The house is made up of the government that is in power and the opposition, which is basically an alternative government. The leader of the opposition would most likely become the prime minister if the current government were voted out of power.

Oh, and since Australia is still a constitutional monarchy, the Queen is represented by the Governor-General. The Governor-General has many of the same powers as our president but can only use those powers when advised to do so by the Prime Minister. As for the issue of who really holds the power in this situation, well, your guess is as good as mine.

It was then that we had a short break so that everyone could get a cup of tea. I can’t seem to understand why Australians are so eager to ingest hot liquids at each and every opportunity; Australian summers do tend to be quite hot. People here have told me that the hot liquid can actually cool them down. To everyone that is back home in America and getting bombarded with snowstorms biweekly (Hi Mom and Dad) please try to take comfort in the fact that we are in a country that actually drinks boiling water to cool down.

During the second half of the morning we became familiar with Australia’s two major political parties and the way in which they are elected. Since 1944 either the Labor Party or the Liberal Party has been in power. The Labor Party was founded by trade unions in the 1890’s and still retains formal ties to unions. The Labor Party is similar to our Democratic Party. The liberal party is the conservative, pro-business party and can be compared to the Republican Party.

When Australians head to the polls (and they all do because voting is compulsory) they vote for candidates that the parties have preselected because individual candidates are not as important here because parties decide together how they are going to vote on each issue. Instead of voting for one person they rank every candidate from their first choice all the way down to their last choice; this eliminates the need for runoff elections. With that we were ready to make our way to the Queensland Parliament Building while still trying to process all of our new knowledge.

The parliament building is very nice; it has been fully restored to look like it did in 1868 when it was opened. We were let up a beautiful staircase and upon reaching the top we admired the giant stained glass window that features Queen Victoria. We then took seats in the legislative assembly chamber and we found out how a typical morning at state parliament works. At 9:30 there is a prayer and then the traditional owners of the land are acknowledged simply by saying, “I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which parliament meets.” Like many things having to do with parliament’s ritualistic nature, it is symbolic but not significant. Then comes the fun part: at 10:30 the opposition is given the opportunity to ask the government questions. In other words, the people in power must routinely defend themselves and their policies to the opposition. Seriously, imagine if the same thing happened at home, it might be a good idea. We talked more and took some photos and on the way out we were lucky enough to meet the speaker of the house, Hon. John Mickel. In Australia the speaker must impartially observe all debates and only casts a vote in the event of a tie. His duties can be categorized as ceremonial, procedural and administrative but he seems like a really nice guy.

We finished around three; this was good because I think my brain wasn’t capable of learning any more for the day. We were out of the bush and back in the classroom and I was happy about it. The only thing left to do was go for a dip in Allison’s temporary swimming pool, so that is exactly what I did. We reflected on the day, we talked about home but mostly we just relaxed and it was good.

Until next time,

Xoxo Kathryn.

Group leader Andy Bernstein returns to
the classroom on monday morning.

Anna-Brooke out and about in brisbane.

The beautiful stained glass window
featuring Queen Victoria. 

The Speaker's chair inside of the legislative assembly chamber.

One of the two crystal chandeliers in the
 legislative assembly chamber.

Brisbane, from Allison's pool.

Port Elliot and Brisbane

By John Sweeney

Hello to all family and friends! I am pleased to say that everyone in our group is still alive and well! There is no need to worry about cyclones or floods, for we have been extremely lucky with the natural forces of weather.

Today is our first day in Brisbane! As you may have noticed from previous posts, we have been moving around like crazy during the past week or so, never staying in one place for more than two nights. Now, we are in Brisbane with our new home stay families that we will live with for a month. Needless to say, we will all experience a full range of emotions from excitement to extreme nervousness in these first few days with our new (temporary) families.  

Before I say more about meeting our host families in Brisbane, I would like to tell you about our day in Port Elliot, South Australia. As you may know from Rebecca’s previous post, the small and quite coastal town of Port Elliot is a huge change of pace from our hectic schedule since our independent travel/research week. The main street stretches no more than fifty yards, and is home to a few restaurants, hotels, and galleries. I know for a fact that my father would see this town and immediately start making plans to quit his job and move there.

I digress. After an afternoon of swimming on the beach directly across from our hostel and an evening of exploring the rocky coast just down the street, we were all looking forward to an extra hour of sleep and the day ahead of us. We had been told that we would be taking a boat tour of the Coorong River and the Murray Mouth. As we woke up the next day and got ready to go, we were all in good spirits, looking forward to our nice and leisurely – I mean informative and educational – day out on the river.

We got on to the boat and met our captain, Matt, and first mate, Brandon, who would be taking care of us and providing us with information about the river and mouth system we were about to see. Most of us clambered past all the convenient seating in the cabin towards the stern of the boat, where there was access to the roof seating up top. It wasn’t the sunniest day we’ve had here, but we still enjoyed feeling the cool, river air whip past our heads.

As you may know, Australia has just left a drought of about eight or nine years. Hence the main focus of information on our tour was about how different the area is compared to what it was during the drought. The captain Matt told us that the water level is almost two meters higher than in the last few years. That is just over six feet! The river system near its mouth has 5 barrages that regulate flow through the Murray Mouth and into the Southern Ocean. For those who are unclear, a barrage is a series of concrete gates across a river that can be opened or closed depending on how much water is deemed necessary to pass.

As we continued from our starting point towards the Murray Mouth and passed through a lock in one of the barrages, we learned that Europeans have used this area since the 1850’s for cargo transportation and trade. We also learned that the small peninsulas between the river system and the ocean are the home to the Ngarrindjeri tribe. David Unaipon, who you may remember from Drew’s post, was a member of the Ngarrindjeri. Unfortunately for the Ngarrindjeri people though, the first aboriginal mission created by the British was located on Lake Alexandrina at Point Mcleay just up the river.

One thing we noticed immediately is the large amount of birds on and around the river. Matt spent a good deal of time pointing out to us all the different species of birds that use the area for feeding and as breeding grounds. Although all the river birds looked to be the same to me, Matt could distinguish between all of them with ease. We saw various kinds of ducks, pipers, and pelicans, many of which are returning to the Murray Mouth area for the first time in years because of the drought. Matt told us that 1/3 of all migratory birds in the world come to use the Murray Darling river system, with some birds coming all the way from Alaska!

After we passed through the lock in the first barrage, we stopped on the Sir Richard Peninsula. Brandon took us on a sandy boardwalk and explained to us all the berries and plants that are edible and let us try them. I found them sour, but I know a few of us couldn’t stop picking them. The indigenous people that lived there weren’t nomads because they had all they needed to live on these peninsulas. When we got to the ocean side, a few of us went for a swim, while the rest of us walked along the beach looking at all the seashells that have washed up onto the beach. When we got back to the boat, we found that Matt had been cooking some fresh-caught cockles, shellfish similar to mussels, for a snack before continuing our tour.

Back on the water again, Matt continued to tell us how the Murray Mouth area has changed since the drought. He showed us pictures of the area from during the drought, and we could see how dried up the rivers were. The government had to bring in dredging machinery to facilitate tidal flow between the ocean and the river, which kept the area from silting over and losing its ability to support any life. Even with the dredging, sometimes the river wouldn’t even reach the ocean at all!

We continued on the river and passed the Murray Mouth, where Matt told us that the early maps of Australia missed the small opening into the ocean. Our next stop was on Younghusband Peninsula, which is sacred land to the Ngarrindjeri people. The tour company has special permission to take their tours onto this land, as long as they follow certain guidelines. After the Aboriginal immersion camp, we understood the need to respect aboriginal land. There on the peninsula, we saw very old accumulations of seashells in the sand dunes on the peninsula that were left by the Ngarrindjeri. On our way back to the boat, we had a very good time running, jumping, and rolling down the sand dunes.

While we were on the peninsula, Matt showed us how the Ngarrindjeri people would get fresh water out of the sand. In a low area of the dunes created by wind patterns, Matt dug about a foot down into the sand, and fresh water filtered into the hole. He pulled out a glass and filled it up for us to try the water, and despite it being somewhat cloudy, it was the best tasting water we’ve had in a while.

We returned to the boat to head back up the river to return to our hostel. After the tour, Andy gave us the rest of the day to enjoy our stay in the beautiful Port Elliot before flying to Brisbane the next day. Our flight was uneventful, and after landing and getting our bags, we went directly to the GED office to wait for our host families to come pick us up.

One by one, the home-stay hosts trickled into the office and left with their new American students. I can’t speak for the rest of the group, but I can say that I am very happy to be staying with the Deerys. Rich and Kathryn are the parents, and Thomas (14), Isaac (12), and Bianca (9) are their children. They are a lovely family, and I am looking forward to getting to know them in the next four weeks! That’s it for now…

Cheers,

John 

This is our tour boat!

A large pilot of Pelicans taking off!

Drenching machinery left over from the drought…

Captain Matt explaining to us how the Ngarrindjerri
lived on Younghusband Peninsula…

Running, jumping, and tumbling down a sand dune.
 Would you have guessed that the ocean is less than 100 yards away?

And a sunrise view from our hostel in Port Elliot to finish with!

The Push to Find the Mysterious Missing Sheep

By Rebecca Snow

Hello family and friends,

After several days without internet out in the bush, we’ve finally returned to civilization. At the moment we’re in an adorable little beach town called Port Elliot, but first you must hear about our last day out bush at Chowilla sheep station. We awoke in the morning to a delicious breakfast and the day’s studies began with learning with how to toast bread – bush style. They don’t have toasters at Chowilla; instead they have these neat little devices which are basically two separated mesh grids on which you place your bread to toast it directly over a burner. I think the amount of group toast consumption increased due to the fun factor that morning. It’s amazing how different things are in a place as isolated as the shearers’ quarters are. Their running water comes straight from the river (don’t worry – they have separate potable water to drink), they have a generator for all of their electricity, and the water is heated by a fire in a stove. Those things in and of themselves were just as educational as what Jock, the station owner, showed us later in the day.

We hopped on a bus and headed off across the 325,000 acre sheep station, of which we had seen only a small portion by the end of the day. Not only that, but we didn’t actually see any sheep! They’re so spread out across the gigantic property that the only sighting we had was from a great distance, and some of us doubted whether they were really there (not really, but that was our joke to Jock). Although I suppose it’s not all that surprising that we didn’t see any sheep; the property is rated to have up to 12,800 sheep, though at the moment it only has 10,000, which is still an average of 1 sheep per 32.5 acres. What’s more, despite the fact that we drove around the property for around 5 hours, we only drove through a tiny fraction of it. It also turns out that most of the sheep were in the north paddocks while we were on the south side of the station.

As we drove, Jock told us about the native plants as well as government management of their property. Chowilla is on a floodplain of the Murray River as well as Chowilla Creek, which at the moment is highly inundated. There were quite a few places Jock was planning on showing us but couldn’t because of the floodwaters. Indeed, a few days before we arrived he still wasn’t sure if the tour would be by bus or by boat.

The government is very interested in the floodplain for myriad reasons. Water distribution is a huge issue in Australia, and most of the rivers are very tightly managed by dams, weirs, and locks in an attempt to get water to the towns and cities as well as to the farmers who need it for their crops or animals. The government wanted to put a dam into Chowilla Creek to utilize its water supply but couldn’t because of building issues, so instead it is trying to build a weir. Chowilla station has also lost some of its original property because the government has decided the wetland is too valuable to be grazed. The station has used the compensation provided by the government to buy more property along the edges. This is how Chowilla has come to straddle South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria, when originally it was entirely in South Australia.

The government also has some control over the lease of the station’s property. The conditions of the lease state that the grazing of the land must be sustainable (which is also in the best interests of the station owners so that their business can continue for a long time). To ensure that the practices are sustainable, there are 50 monitoring points spread out across the station. Someone from the government comes once a year and takes photos from the same places at the same angles to see how the landscape is changing and makes sure everything is progressing acceptably. One of the points that Jock really stressed with us was how the landscape is changing but not dying. Many of the eucalypt species, such as the Black Box, which is a very prominent flood species, are becoming more rare, while salt tolerant species such as (you guessed it) the saltbush, are flourishing. Because tree species in particular are disappearing, some say that the floodplains are dying. However, Jock made it clear to us that it is simply a natural process; as the soil changes, so do the plants which grow on it. Similarly, the Australian cycle of drought, flood, and burning is natural and normal. This is not to say that humans haven’t exacerbated the environmental changes occurring in the country. It is certainly true that humanity has caused a great deal of destruction on this continent just as it has across the globe. However, Jock showed us how the land is resilient and can recover in its own way from the changes human land management has caused.

Speaking of the cycle, I need to stress how incredible it is to be in the outback during a flood season. First of all, this current flood is massive. The last notable flood occurred in 2000, and it was not even very large; many do not consider it to be a break in the drought that began after the last major flood in 1997. The inundation is very widespread and has regenerated the vegetation to a great extent, making the vistas spectacular. What is normally a vast expanse of red sand has become completely covered in vegetation. It has also caused a spike in the reproduction of the local fauna; we must have seen over 50 kangaroos and nearly 100 emus as we traveled around the station. We even had a few of each species run across the road while we were driving, providing us with truly picturesque moments.

We stopped at quite a few places along the way, though we were riding in the coach for the majority of our tour. At one point when the road more or less disappeared on us, we got out and went for a short walk. We headed out to a midden site, a place where different Aboriginal groups would congregate over time to eat. It was interesting because there were pieces of stone all across the ground that had been brought by the groups over the years. While we examined the midden site, Jock gave us a whole different perspective on the history of the Indigenous people. We have so far been largely educated by the Aboriginal elders, and to hear how the history is interpreted by the other side was very eye opening. To say that it is different is an understatement, but hearing about Jock’s perspective was educational. His family has been on the land for 5 generations over 100 years, so the history is there, but after learning from people who have generational knowledge that goes back thousands of years, just 100 seems so tiny.

We left the midden site and headed to the bus, ready to head off to our lunch site, but the bus was not going to move all on its own. It had sunk into the sand just enough that it needed to be pushed. So about half of us jumped behind the bus and pushed it out of the sand. In fact, by the time the bus had turned around and reached the road again, we had pushed it at least 6 times. It was incredibly satisfying. All of us who contributed to pushing the bus agreed that doing so touched a full range of emotions. After we had freed the bus, we headed off to one of the lakes on the South Australia-New South Wales border to have our lunch. After lunch we went to Todd’s Obelisk, which marks the official border between the states. A few of us jumped across the border a few times and then decided to stand with one leg on each side of the border. The best part of that was that half of our bodies were a half an hour ahead of the other half (because of the time zone differences between the states)! Then we headed back to the quarters.

On the way to the quarters, Jock told us a story about a man named Possum. He was a recluse who lived along the Murray River for most of his life, so he spent considerable time on the Chowilla property. His story is that he came from New Zealand to Australia to make money so that he could get married to a woman back home. However, he sent her the money in her parents’ care, and the woman’s father ended up stealing the money. When he returned to marry her, she had gotten tired of waiting for him and had married another man. So he returned to Australia, down on his luck, planning to shear sheep in this country because it is more profitable here. On his way to a station, he accidentally left his wallet on a train, becoming penniless. He tried to get jobs shearing, but wasn’t able to because he wasn’t in the union. Because he had lost his wallet, he couldn’t buy a membership, so he just decided to leave traditional society behind. He went out bush and never returned. He was reported to have a wonderful relationship with the animals in the area and was known to walk up and down the Murray for entertainment, living wherever he stopped for the night. Jock only ever saw him once, but heard that others had seen him on occasion in hollow trees and tall grass. In desperate times he would ask for food or shelter from the stations, but he would never accept charity and would always work on the stations for a few days to repay his debt.

Back at the quarters, Jock’s son, James, came to talk to us. He is currently the manager of the property, and he answered our questions about the inner workings of the station. He informed us about rounding up the sheep, how they’re sheared, and many other details. Most interesting was the crutching of the sheep, which involves shearing just the faces and rear ends of the sheep 6 months after the main shearing that occurs each year. Crutching the sheep keeps fecal matter and urine from collecting on the wool, improving the quality of the wool the station eventually collects for sale. It also prevents a disease called “fly bum.” Flies collect and lay their eggs in wool matted with substantial fecal matter and urine and when the eggs hatch, the maggots that emerge will not only eat the wool of the sheep but also will consume the sheep itself, killing it. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the manager to make sure that crutching happens and is successful. James told us fly bum can be one of the biggest killers of the sheep if not taken care of.

After dinner and an evening hanging out in the kitchen avoiding the voracious and numerous mosquitoes, we headed to bed. In the morning we packed up into a bus much smaller than the one we’ve been accustomed to and headed towards Port Elliot. The drive was about 6 hours including our stops and we were mighty cramped, so it was great to get into town. Along the way we stopped at a lock. There are 14 along the Murray and we stopped at the first one. A lock is used to control the water level above it and the flow below it. At the moment it’s not having much of an effect because the river is at full capacity, but the locks are a vital part of the water management system in this country. The government also has huge fish nets strung across the whole river to manage where the fish are able to travel in the river.

We finally arrived in the quaint town of Port Elliot mid afternoon and checked into what we’ve all agreed is the nicest hostel we’ve ever seen. It’s right on the beach and not too far from the center of town. We had the rest of the day free to explore as we chose. Some of us headed to the beach while others headed directly to the laundry machines. There was internet to be bought for $10 a day and good restaurants to be found. Tomorrow we have a river tour where the river meets the ocean, but I’ll leave it to one of my compatriots to tell you all about it, for I have gone on long enough. So that’s me signing off.

--Rebecca

Our fearless leader Jock and his companion Spot 

showing us around on the coach.

(Photo by Kathryn Wlodarczyk)

 Straddling the New South Wales - South Australia border!

(Photo by Allison Perry)

The most satisfying experience of the day -- bus pushing.

(Photo by Nat Hardeman)

Road Warriors

By Delaney Skordal

G’day from the Australian outback! Although we are gearing up for our home stays in Brisbane next week, we have spent the last few days experiencing the more rural side of Australia. On Monday we wrapped up our field studies about specific flora and fauna at Kinchega National Park. Still divided into the same four investigative groups as the previous day, we split off that morning to observe fauna instead of flora. Three of the four groups chose to study ants while the fourth observed the intimidating Orb Weaver spider. By half past eight that morning, most groups were found crouched around ant hills, intently observing the ant’s complex social interactions, or deep in the Kinchega woolshed, taking notes on spiders. Unfortunately for our projects, but fortunately for those of us who needed a break from the heat, Monday morning was unusually cool. Due to the cold, the ants and spiders we observed were much less active than usual. We carried out our field studies nonetheless. By three o’clock that afternoon we reconvened to share the fifteen minute presentations we had prepared just after lunch. First we presented our results from the previous day’s observation of plants, which Sara already discussed, followed by presentations of today’s projects.

Hanah and John were the first to give a presentation cleverly entitled “Ant Antics.” Hanah and John’s group had observed whether or not the need for food or water trumped the need for shelter from the harsh environment. They also looked at how the frequency of communication between ants changed depending on the distance of an ant to its ant hill. Next Emily and Katy presented “Anteractions.”  Their group studied how the time of day affected the frequency of communications between ants within a colony. These “communications” were characterized by ants gathering away from the ant trail and touching feelers. Although Dick and Marni’s group had a similar premise and yet another ant pun for a title (“Getting Antsy”), both groups had different predictions. Emily and Katy’s group hypothesized that ants would interact more frequently in the morning while Dick and Marni’s group took what Dick called the “remix” approach and predicted that ant interactions would increase as the day progressed. Although both groups had generally inconclusive data, they both observed odd little ant gatherings. Emily and Katy termed these gatherings ant “conventions” while Dick and Marni called them “fire drills.” When these gatherings occurred, mass amounts of ants would either evacuate their ant hill in an orderly fashion similar to a fire drill, or smaller groups of ants would mysteriously gather together away from the ant trail and touch feelers for up to five minutes.

The last group to go was my own, which observed the male and female interactions of Orb Weaver spiders, one of the more sinister looking crawlers found around our accommodations at Kinchega. Although this spider doesn’t run and hop like Sydney’s Huntsman spiders, the Orb Weaver gives the Huntsman a run for its money due to its size, white clown-like coloring, and sheer numbers. It seemed like everywhere we looked there was an Orb Weaver looming above in a giant community of golden webs. Luckily for me, my group spent all morning in the dark corners of the wool shed staring up at these eight-legged menaces. Believe me when I say spending three hours observing spiders as large as my palm touched a full range of emotions. Before heading out to observe the spiders, our guest biologist Derek informed us that the largest of the Orb Weaver spiders are females who have eaten their male counterparts after mating. This is why our test subjects were given identifying names such as “Man Eater” and “Hungry Hippo.” Similar to the way the three ant groups devised puns for their presentation titles, we took creative license in naming our spiders. The names included Merriweather Lewis, Shake n’ Bake, Queen Latifa, Mad Max, Houdini, and Ice T. After sharing our presentations we all hurried to pack up our bags to head back to Broken Hill. The drive out of Kinchega was as beautiful as the drive in – as left we stared out at a landscape speckled with kangaroos and emus as well as a flock of the elusive “Budgie,” a rare and stunningly bright green bird. Tex, our trusty bus driver, revealed that this was the first flock he had seen in about a decade and that their appearance foretells good seasons to come.

Tuesday was spent visiting historically important sites around Broken Hill. Our first stop that morning was to Broken Hill’s School of the Air (SOTA), a “distance school” designed to provide education for primary students in remote areas of Australia who would otherwise not have access to education. The SOTA teachers use a two-way satellite system to broadcast lessons to students three times a week for half an hour lessons. SOTA, which is funded by the state government, is not only free of cost to students but also provides them with a computer, printer, scanner, and camera. At home, where they are supervised by a parent or governess, students see a live video of their teachers in Broken Hill and are able to go on air to respond and participate in the lesson. You can think of the SOTA satellite system like a fancier and more interactive version of Skype, which I know all you parents are familiar with. At the end of our information session we listened in on a half hour lesson of SOTA’s kindergarten students. The two kindergarten teachers addressed their kindergarteners with enthusiasm and patience, even when the connection was unclear. Although it came from humble beginnings in 1956, Broken Hill’s SOTA currently caters to 85 students spread across the Australian outback, and at its peak in the 1980s it spanned a distance of 1.3 million square kilometers and reached 200 primary school kids. As the school’s motto appropriately states, “The sky is the roof of our school.”

The rest of our excursions for the day were focused on the history of mining around Broken Hill. Although we stopped at several historical landmarks, the most intriguing stop of the day was at the Day Dream Mine, a famous silver and lead mining operation. We were lucky enough to take a surface tour of the area as well as an underground tour. Not only were we outfitted with our own helmets and battery powered head lamps, but we descended three levels of the underground system, finding ourselves nearly 300 feet underground. Although it felt like we saw an extensive section of the mine, we still only explored 10% of the total mining system. As we hunched and crouched our way through the underground labyrinth we learned about the grueling working conditions in the mine. Most workers labored 12 hours a day for six days a week and spent so much time in the mines that flecks of mica became lodged in their throats, causing them to cough up blood. To ease of the pain of their coughing, many workers forced themselves to sleep upright at night and many even died from breathing related complications.

After touring the mine we settled into our seats on the tour bus and mentally prepared ourselves for a five and a half hour bus ride back to Southern Australia. To pass the time we watched not one, but two Mad Max movies (the original and Road Warrior, the latter being one of my personal favorites). Although I know some people were confused by the eccentric characters and bizarre plotline, it still felt special to be driving through the same land that the movies were filmed in. Even though we were traveling in a tour bus instead of Mad Max’s Interceptor and weren’t wearing leather uniforms or wielding mirrored boomerangs, given the fact that we traversed three Australian states in one day as well as braved flooded roadways in a huge tour bus, I think we all qualify as Road Warriors in our own way. At eight o’clock that evening we ended the day in Southern Australia at Chowilla, a sheep shearing station outside of Renmark. We plan to spend the next few days learning about sheep shearing as we enjoy more of the beautiful, rural landscape of Australia.  

The "Ant Anteractions" group diligently observing their
ant hill in front of the Kinchega wool shed
with help from Derek, our guest biologist.

Sara and Drew observing "King Richard III" and "Man Eater," two

 of the Golden Orb Spiders inside the wool shed. 

A few lyrics from the School of the Air's school song:
"Parted but united is our school motto, And pride of our heart,
And we sing as we listen to many tape recordings, All
joining in though we're many miles apart"   

Looking up at the impressive Browne Shaft which
plunges a staggering 1520 feet below ground. This was
 one of our many quick stops around Broken Hill
before visiting the Day Dream Mine. 

Part of the group getting geared up for the underground 

portion of our Day Dream Mine tour. 

A sign from the historic Day Dream Mine depicting young

 and old miners hard at work deep in the mine. 

Sara and Melanie drifting off at the Day Dream Mine.