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I'm going away for a week, so I don't expect to be able to post. In the meantime, enjoy a colored version of my drawing (note: I have several requests for drawing tattoos for people) and some photos.
The whole group in costume.
My costume close up.
Pulling vines, kind of.
The whole group in costume.
My costume close up.
Pulling vines, kind of.
For Halloween, I dressed up like a superhero, but I didn't come up with a superpower, which everyone decided was lame of me. But at least my facepaint was cool.
Today was our first day off after 6 rough days on (read: working non-stop on paper, 10 minute oral presentation, and working in the field for 3 days). I relaxed and drew all day, producing birthday present/T-shirt design (see next post).
Today was our first day off after 6 rough days on (read: working non-stop on paper, 10 minute oral presentation, and working in the field for 3 days). I relaxed and drew all day, producing birthday present/T-shirt design (see next post).
Coooooookies! We're baking. Technically, I should be preparing my oral presentation on kiwis I have to give tomorrow, but I'm not feeling particularly pressured.
Today, I went and scrambled along a "trail" and laid out 3 transects. The only thing that qualified it as a track was that flagging tape was marking it. General craziness. We were in the bush from 9 to 6--that's plenty of bush for me, thank you very much. On the way back, we walked in the creek because it was easier, but now my boots are soaked.
It's interesting because I have this conception of "science" and what people are able to test and monitor, and the means they have to do that are a lot simpler than I might have thought. For example, we are monitoring forest floor invertebrates and how microhabitats affect them--to do that, we half-buried plastic containers filled with poison and our results will just be whatever insects fall into the container.
Today, I went and scrambled along a "trail" and laid out 3 transects. The only thing that qualified it as a track was that flagging tape was marking it. General craziness. We were in the bush from 9 to 6--that's plenty of bush for me, thank you very much. On the way back, we walked in the creek because it was easier, but now my boots are soaked.
It's interesting because I have this conception of "science" and what people are able to test and monitor, and the means they have to do that are a lot simpler than I might have thought. For example, we are monitoring forest floor invertebrates and how microhabitats affect them--to do that, we half-buried plastic containers filled with poison and our results will just be whatever insects fall into the container.
How's this for a catch-22: my Norton Anti-Virus free trial has expired, so I can't change any settings on it. I wanted to install a different anti-virus thang but I can't because having two fucks up computers, so I tried to uninstall Norton. However, I do not have the privelages to uninstall Norton because I don't have a subscription, and the article on how to circumvent that problem is not online anymore. Bastards!
Today we drove 2 hours to the place where I'll be spending most of November, Maungatautiri, a mainland island in the making where 50 km impenetrable fencing will be installed and pests inside killed to allow the native flora and fauna to flourish. We split up into groups and collected data from transects all over the mountain--meaning we crawled through vines and forest vegetation to gather dead bugs from salsa containers halfway buried in the ground. It was a blast!
I just returned from the most ridiculous weekend I've ever had.
Friday, my birthday, I had a 3 1/2 hour midterm that I could've spent another few hours writing, then the labor day weekend began, ie we had to leave campus. We got a ride to Thames where we had rental cars reserved. When we got there, however, there was only one car available for three groups of people. At one point they tried to rent us our driver's van. Finally they came up with another car and directed my group to another rental place in town.
That set, we drove back to Kaiaua and met up with people who had walked from EQ at the pub. By the time we left, they had been there 6 hours. We shuttled everyone over to a campsite by the shore (read: pulloff for R.V.s), where we set up tents and discovered that Bryan didn't have his sleeping bag. Out of everyone, only my and Jan's bags zipped together, so all three of us squeezed into 2 bags. Everyone had to sleep on their side and we were all miserably uncomfortable but thankfully out of the miserable weather and fairly warm from all the body heat. It turned out to be a good thing because Jen and Gem went into Leo's tent and the tent they had been sleeping in flooded (with all their gear inside).
The next morning, we all woke up at 6:30 to go bird banding. Jen and I, who hadn't wanted to go anyway, passed due to the rain and slept for a couple more hours. Around 10, we started to wonder where our buddies had taken the car with all our food and clothing, so we walked 2 miles down the road until we found our car, walked through a cow pasture (with cows), crawled under a (turned on) electric fence, and waded through a patch of mangroves with crabs crawling over our feet to find Jan, Mike A, and Dhyana happily birding. Unfortunately, it was high tide, so we couldn't get across the final waist-to-chest-deep channel, so we tried yelling their names, but they were utterly engrossed.
Continued below...
Friday, my birthday, I had a 3 1/2 hour midterm that I could've spent another few hours writing, then the labor day weekend began, ie we had to leave campus. We got a ride to Thames where we had rental cars reserved. When we got there, however, there was only one car available for three groups of people. At one point they tried to rent us our driver's van. Finally they came up with another car and directed my group to another rental place in town.
That set, we drove back to Kaiaua and met up with people who had walked from EQ at the pub. By the time we left, they had been there 6 hours. We shuttled everyone over to a campsite by the shore (read: pulloff for R.V.s), where we set up tents and discovered that Bryan didn't have his sleeping bag. Out of everyone, only my and Jan's bags zipped together, so all three of us squeezed into 2 bags. Everyone had to sleep on their side and we were all miserably uncomfortable but thankfully out of the miserable weather and fairly warm from all the body heat. It turned out to be a good thing because Jen and Gem went into Leo's tent and the tent they had been sleeping in flooded (with all their gear inside).
The next morning, we all woke up at 6:30 to go bird banding. Jen and I, who hadn't wanted to go anyway, passed due to the rain and slept for a couple more hours. Around 10, we started to wonder where our buddies had taken the car with all our food and clothing, so we walked 2 miles down the road until we found our car, walked through a cow pasture (with cows), crawled under a (turned on) electric fence, and waded through a patch of mangroves with crabs crawling over our feet to find Jan, Mike A, and Dhyana happily birding. Unfortunately, it was high tide, so we couldn't get across the final waist-to-chest-deep channel, so we tried yelling their names, but they were utterly engrossed.
Continued below...
Continued!
We took the car and drove back to where the others (Aaron, Laura, Leo, Bryan, Jen W, Gemini) were waiting. We packed up the gear and crammed into the 5-seater car with all our gear, then drove back to the bird banders. By this time it was about noon or noon-thirty. The tide had gone down and we found a shallow enough (thigh-deep) spot to cross and talk: the news--they couldn't leave yet. Some old man from Boston attempted to wade across behind us in his skivvies carrying a monstrously expensive camera, then fell and almost dropped his camera in the saltwater.
Again, all eight of us squashed into the car in a highly illegal move, then drove half an hour to Thames, narrowly missing a (I'm sure very expensive) ticket when a cop happened to glance away just as we drove by. Remember that we are not even used to driving on the wrong side of the road. Jen and I deposited everyone and their stuff on the sidewalk in Thames, then whipped a u-ee and drove back to the birders. After another half hour waiting, they were finally finished, and we started back towards the Coromandel.
Something smelled decidedly foul, so we pulled over and discovered that our rear left tire was smoking. Shit. We asked a friendly couple for the use of their phone, and learned that the little red warning light that had been on the whole trip meant the parking brake was on (NOTE: I was not driving and did not even look at the light, so this was definately not my fault). Brake off, we made our way to Thames, where Jen and I, exhausted from the past day and a half's ordeals, bailed out of our car and spent the rest of the weekend in boring, boring Thames simply relaxing.
We took the car and drove back to where the others (Aaron, Laura, Leo, Bryan, Jen W, Gemini) were waiting. We packed up the gear and crammed into the 5-seater car with all our gear, then drove back to the bird banders. By this time it was about noon or noon-thirty. The tide had gone down and we found a shallow enough (thigh-deep) spot to cross and talk: the news--they couldn't leave yet. Some old man from Boston attempted to wade across behind us in his skivvies carrying a monstrously expensive camera, then fell and almost dropped his camera in the saltwater.
Again, all eight of us squashed into the car in a highly illegal move, then drove half an hour to Thames, narrowly missing a (I'm sure very expensive) ticket when a cop happened to glance away just as we drove by. Remember that we are not even used to driving on the wrong side of the road. Jen and I deposited everyone and their stuff on the sidewalk in Thames, then whipped a u-ee and drove back to the birders. After another half hour waiting, they were finally finished, and we started back towards the Coromandel.
Something smelled decidedly foul, so we pulled over and discovered that our rear left tire was smoking. Shit. We asked a friendly couple for the use of their phone, and learned that the little red warning light that had been on the whole trip meant the parking brake was on (NOTE: I was not driving and did not even look at the light, so this was definately not my fault). Brake off, we made our way to Thames, where Jen and I, exhausted from the past day and a half's ordeals, bailed out of our car and spent the rest of the weekend in boring, boring Thames simply relaxing.
To the nitty gritty: mining in Reefton and trapping in Nelson
Oh sweet lord! Wireless internet! This is not a good sign for my productivity of the evening, which is not good since I have a three hour midterm tomorrow and a ten-page paper to work on...
On a separate note, today is my last day of being a teenager! Except in the U.S., and then I'll be a teenager tomorrow too.
I am just back from the South Island, which was incredible! We helped dig nests for native endangered birds and watched dolphins in Kaikoura, had some good times in Christchurch, pulled pines and explored alpine vegetation in Craigieburn, were horrified by coal mining in Reefton, investigated pest control at Nelson Lakes, then had a four day break, during which I backpacked with some fellow students at the second-biggest national park in NZ, Kahurangi, which was also gorgeous.
Pictures later, as soon as I get them loaded and edited!!!!
Pictures later, as soon as I get them loaded and edited!!!!
