Lazy Daze

So I have been in Exmouth for just over two weeks now, and I love it. We work every other day, which leave plenty of time to relax. We go snorkling every few days, or just hang out on the beach. Friday nights are the big party nights here, they call the bar the Bimbo Bar, it is pretty funny. They have a three dollar disco ball and the local mechanic is the dj. There are some pretty cool people up here volunteering, so it is great to go out and have fun with them. We drink at Club 405, named so after our very prestigious room number at the fabulous Potshot (potty). We drag a bunch of chairs out infront of our room, where we can listen to music provided by Linda or Averil, and we have a good view of the bar so we can judge whats going on there. We drink vodka and goon, and even after a hard night, we remember to keep our chins up. If the goon flows freely, some of the sexy Turtle Girls may provide entertainment, and if you have ever seen Tam at the bar, you'd know she is always pure entertainment.

Other than drinking, we do a fair bit of..I don't know, more drinking.Here is Katie representing 406, as well as her home counrty, the USA. Us North Americans did have some serious competition with the Ozzies though, Naiomi for example has no problems drinking goon straight out of the box if she is falling behind.





Sometimes we venture out into the world that lays beyond the Potty. We go all over the place, Exmouth is surrounded by beauty. The only real problem with leaving the safety of the Potty is that if you don't watch Rachel every single second, she tends to wander off on her own and cause trouble. Here are some pics of her getting into scuffles with the local wildlife. Then I have to get in there and bail her out, but I try to at least get a picture first. You should have seen the ones that I couldn't post on here.

If it is not Friday, and therefore there is no Bimbo Bar, we have to go to the regular bar, which is really no comparison at all. I mean, no Love Generation, no disco ball. But as a bonus there are usually some old fisher men that want to discuss how stupid it is that we are saving the turtles, and how good they taste in soup. This pic was taken before any of our original crew left us, including Averil, and Roni, who although not a turtle volunteer was always a vip member of 405.

Here is a pic of Roni and Linda playing two of some of the many instruments we were lucky enough to hear while staying at the potty. Linda was talented at everything from the glokenshpiel to the banjo, but to hear her on the violin was magic. Roni was pretty decent at the guitar, the real reason that we let him be a vip member.

So, apparently, Exmouth has no wet season, it is dry all year. But we experienced three cyclone warnings, and although nothing too exciting happened (well, there was that one morning we didn't have to go monitoring) but we did get some pretty crazy rain. It usually only lasted minutes, but my favorite was one time I was swimming in the pool and it rainned and it was warm and nice..I never understood why my friend Stacey told me it was nice to hang out in the rain when it is warm out (the two don't really go together in Calgary). The other time was when this pic was taken, on night infront of 405. Some of the girls ran home from dinner at the Sea Urchin, and got a touch wet. And when it started rainning, we would get some new friends, so little frogs would appear in our garden. I do appreciate the guy that caught me one to look at, but I wasn't too impressed when he said he would eat it live..



One Sunday, our social was held at the local pool, and it was closed except for all the vollies. We had a bouncy castel type obstical course that you had to run over, and here is Mistral doing a fantastic job of stradling one of the obsticals.

One night there was a going away party for a few CALM (Conservation and Land Management, who with in conjunction with the turtle program) staff who are leaving. So we had a big barbq, went to the bar and then stayed up all night drinking. Since our sleeping schedule is so messed up some nights I can stay awake until 6am and others I have to be awake by 4:45am. Sometimes we head back to Craig's house for a barbq and to enjoy his amazing deck. Here is me and Mistral enjoying that deck, I also just wanted to throw in a more dignified picture of Mistral, who is actually gorgeous, and not always stradling large blow up plastic things.

Another night the other week there was a free party at the beach, with a group called the Lounge Lizards playing and it was so fun to dance on the beach. At night you can go to the back door of the bakery and order pies so one night me and another volunteer Rachel stumbled over there. She somehow managed to slice her toe open on the flat ground. If you knew how often she ended up on the ground, you wouldn't be too surprised.

After Rachel broke her toe open, we got pulled over by the police, but I think they were just bored and wanted someone to talk to. The only other action I think they've seen since we got here is a domestic dispute we helped break up in the parking lot one night. The cops asked us where we were going, and we didn't want to say, because we thought it might be a black market backdoor bakery operations, but when we stood there for 5 minutes going 'Ummmm..' trying to think up a good story, they said 'Well, we'll let you keep stumbling to the bakery then.' We did, and hung out there waiting for pies, and trying not to let Racel look at her sick toe.

One day we headed up to the lighthouse to watch the sunset, which was really pretty over the ocean. Other than that, we usually saw the sunset from the front of 405, which although over a parking lot, I still found to be nice. You can sit back and hear the birds that sound like they are being strangled, and then the stars start to come out, which are so bright out here.

Yesterday I went fishing, which was a first ever for me. It seems like everyone fishes here. The girls next door used to go all the time. Me and Rachel met a cowboy and he took us out to Learmouth Jetty. I really only went to get away and do something different, not thinking that I would really like it. But it was awesome! He actually did most of the work, setting up our poles and baiting them for us. But then we actually started catching fish. At first we caught little ones that we had to throw back, and the first one freaked me out a bit. I was screaming a bit and saying sorry and I didn't want to look at it cause I felt bad. But I got over that. Then we just hung out on the jetty with Alex and his dog Jez, who reminded me so much of Kuma, and made me miss her.

We caught about 5 Gar (no idea how to spell that) fish, and took them back. Rachel ended up going out to dinner with some of the volunteers that were leaving, and Alex ate something else, so he cooked up this massive plate of fish for me. I was really glad that he cut them all up and I didn't have to see any of that. I bought some french fries to eat with them, and it was the best dinner I've eaten in ages. It was fresh, free, and cooked for me, so really I don't know how it could have been better. And it was great to do something that I had a preconcieved notion that I would hate, and end up having a great day.

Another great day was Australia Day, on January 26th. We got up bright and early and headed down to the local pool for free breakfast. They even had hashbrowns, which no one really eats here, so I was in heaven. Then we headed home to get down to some serious business, mainly listening to Triple J's (the nationwide radio station) Top 100 and a bit of drinking. Me and Jess decided the last person to wake up had to skull (chug) their first drink, but then she went for a nap, and that person ended up being her. After that we all got on the bus to head down to the local yatch club, which was really just an open space out on the grass looking out onto the ocean, it was great. Then we heard our favorite local band, the Lounge Lizards play, and we danced for ages. I can see why Naiomi says that it is her favorite holiday all year, I just hope one day I can share mine, Halloween, cause they don't really celebrate it in Oz.








And here is another reason that being up here is remarkable - a gorgeous turtle, I believe her name is Murial. I took it apon myself to name every turtle I saw, so pretty much all my female friends now have turtles named after them. Aww, just look at her eyes!

The Shire of Exmouth and Turtle Mainia

I arrived in Exmouth on Sunday January 8th with my tour group. The group checked into a hostel, and I checked into the dorm I will share for the next four weeks with 9 other volunteers. None of them were in the room when I got there, so I just threw my stuff in and went out with my tour group to Turquoise Bay. We went snorkling there, and it was great. There was a really strong current, so you walk up the beach and then just ride the current back. We saw reef sharks and a turtle in the first few minutes. I can't explain how blessed I feel. I have never seen a sea turtle in my life, and now I am in this incredible country where I can just walk out ten feet into the ocean and swim with them. It is beyong amazing.

After we went snorkling, the tour group dropped me off and went back to their own hostel, with plans to meet later at Gracie's pub. I got to meet a few girls that I would be volunteering with, and they said they were going to the Sunday social. I guess every week the volunteers get together and do something, and that week it was a pool competition, which happen to be at the same pub I was meeting my group, so we walked over together. I went and picked up my friend Lucy and a few others, and we had dinner at the pub. I didn't talk too much to the volunteers, but I could see that they looked like a good group of people. After we ate and chatted a I said goodbye to Lucy. When you are travelling, you know that sooner or later you know you will have to say goodbye to everyone, but it is still hard. It is great to know that there are such amazing souls all over the world, and I am grateful for the chance to meet and learn from as many as I can.

There was a cyclone warning here when we got here, and I was a little nervous. Some people were really excited because they have cyclone parties, where you just find a secure building and drink until it passes. Even so, I am glad that it passed over us with only a tiny sprinkle of rain, which in itself is apparently really rare here; they have no wet season. And thankfully it didn't affect the turtle nests.

The next morning the volunteers went to the CALM office, which is Conservation and Land Management. They work with the Ningaloo Turtle Program, and the Jurabi Turtle Centre and the volunteer. We got a bit of an introduction, to learn what we would be doing. The first week is pretty busy. In the morning we meet at 5:30am to go out to the beach to look at turtle tracks and see what they were up to in the night, and if they laid any nests. We get back around 9am, and then have time off during the day.

At night from 6 to 11pm we work with the Jurabi Turtle Centre as a Turtle Scout, which we are trainning for now. They offer guided tours on the beach to see turtles laying their eggs. They have really strict rules, to have the least chance of disturbing them. Once we are trainned, we will look for turtles that the groups can come and see, and also talk to people that are on the beach looking themselves about the Turtle Code of Conduct. It is about how and when to approach a turtle, how far back you should stay, when and if you can use a small flashlight.

So that is what I will be doing for the next few weeks, although after this week I will have every other day off, so it is not very busy. There are two remote camps, and I might go stay at one for 5 days and help out there.

I have only gone out on two mornings and one evening so far, and it has been amazing. I know that I am saying amazing all the time, but how else can I explain what I am doing here. Everyday blows my mind, and I see and do things I couldn't have even imagined. I got to help walk a turtle back to the ocean who was stuck behind some rocks. I got to see more than a dozen turtles on the beach or in the ocean in the moonlight. I got to see a turtle actually dig her bodypit, then come up behind here and actually see her lay her eggs. And I get to do this everyday, while helping them collect important information about turtles, and help people have their own amazing experiences with them. Some one told me that I would loose my enthusiasm after seeing them everyday, but some how I doubt it.

The West Coast

On January 3rd I was picked up by Easyrider tours from my hostel to set off up the coast towards Exmouth, where I will be volunteering starting January 9th. It is a 1200km drive, so I did the tour to take my time.

The first night we drove to Kalbarri, stopping at the Pinnicals. They reminded me of the hoodoos, in that they were free standing rock formations, but the pictures about them are a little deceiving, as you can find when travelling. We stopped at a nice beach called hangover bay for lunch, but the first day was almost all driving. We ate dinner at a really great little seafood restaurant, it was all outdoors, and there was a firepit and picnic tables and good food.

The next day we drove to Denham, stopping at Kalbarri Gorge, which we hiked down. On the way up a guy dislocated his shoulder, so that was a crazy afternoon waiting for paramedics to come out to the middle of nowhere. The guys had to all help carry him out on a stretcher and we didn't see him again, I think he had to stay in the hospital a while. After that we went to Nature's Window which is the rock formation I'm sitting in in the photo. Then we went to look at stramatolies, the oldest living life form on earth. They look like rocks though, so not too thrilling. on to our hostel in Denham. We had a barbq there and went to bed early, everyone was pretty tired after all the.

The next morning we went to Monkey Mia, where although there are no monkeys there is a bay where they feed the dolphins so they come in 'like clockwork' every morning and you can wade in and pet them. Unfortunately for us they didn't show up, a volunteer said she had worked there for 16 years and that was only the second time they didn't come.

Then we did the most fabulous, wonderful, uber amazing thing I have ever done in my entire life. We went to a small ocean park, which looked like nothing when we drove up, it is run by a man and his wife who are passionate about marine life, and it is tiny. They have a lagoon with a few cod and sharks, and other fish, but they also had baby loggerhead turtles. They had ones that were a year old swimming in a tank, and I got to hold one a little bigger than a dinner plate. Then they had ones that had just hatched, and I can't even describe how I felt. I was in paradise. I was picking up these tiny little babys, and I was grinning ear to ear. It was the best thing, and out of this small, out of the way place that we almost didn't stop at. They were so cute, and I could feel his little shell moving in and out as he breathed. It was the best. They had to drag me away after I held all of them, about 5 and took a million pictures and short videos.

We drove a little further and ate at a beautiful beach called Shell Bay where the shore is made up entirely of small white shells, making the beach a stunning white against the bluest water. Apparently there are 7000 beached in Australia and I'm slowly making my way through them.

We stopped that night in Coral Bay, a tiny town of only 150 people which is where I am now. Me and really cool English girl named Lucy decided to jump off here, so we didn't leave with the tour the next morning. The Ningaloo Reef starts here and goes up past Exmouth. We went snorkling on the reef, you can just walk out into the water to it, so no boat, which made me happy. The two of us spend a really perfect lazy day, lying on the beach and going to bed early.

This morning we got up and went on a glass bottom boat tour for two hours. We stopped twice to snorkle, the first time in a place loaded with fish, and the tour guide threw food for the fish so they were swarming. He threw some right where I was and then there were hundreds of fish all around me, I was reaching out and touching tons of them, so that was a great experience. The next place we stopped there was a green sea turtle that I swam with for about 10 minutes, which was just as amazing at the first time I saw one. It was a great day, and I am really excited to leave tomorrow and get to the hostel I will be staying with the other volunteers.

To 2006 and Beyond

Well, the week after Christmas was amazing, just like every day here. It mostly consisted of lying on the beach, swimming, drinking, and more lying on the beach. If we were really ambitious and it could get quite busy, which could mean a trip to the pub or interent cafe. The weather was gorgeous everyday. One day my friend Steve drove us up to Palm Beach, which was incredible. So I did get to see more than Manly beach, although Manly is now one of my favorite places on earth. I also got to meet some of my cousins, the Sigmunds. I visited their house in Cherrybrook, which is a suburb of Sydney. They were really nice, I got to stay in their gorgeous house, eat great food and stay in a real bed. I also went out with my cousin Nicole and her friends, it was really nice. Thanks guys!

The night before New Years Eve I cooked dinner at Alister Ross's house, and we sat out on his amazing blacony that can see the ocean in two directions. On New Years Eve we hung out at the beach, then caught the ferry into Sydney later in the afternoon. The plan was to catch another ferry to a place called Meilson's Point, but the day had just been too hectic, so we missed the last one. We were standing in Circular Quay, which is right between the opera house and the bridge, so we decided just to stay there. We found a spot on the ground, and proceeded to drink among thousands of other people who had found a place in the harbour to watch the two fireworks shows, at 9pm and midnight. The first show was really good, but it is the midnight one that is unreal, we ran down so we were standing right under the bridge, with fireworks going off in all directions. They went off over the harbour, from the water, from the bridge and behind it. It was a really great New Years.

The next day I had to leave to fly to Perth, and although flying on New Years Day is not ideal, I was happy to be where it was air conditioned, because it was 43 degrees in Sydney that day. When I got off the plane I met a girl named Monia from Switzerland who was staying at the same hostel as me, so we hung out for two days going to the beach and walking around. Everthing was closed for the holidays, so I really didn't get to see much of Perth.