Franny and Sadie here reporting from Adelaide, having just returned from an amazing week of working with CVA (Conservation Volunteers Australia). For the first time in the trip we were separated into smaller groups in order to conquer more tasks in the duration of the week. Group 1: was Justin, Ozzy, Dylan, Frances, Hayden, Liz, and Rita. And group 2: Allison, Mike, Connie, Blair, Sadie, and Annie. We said our goodbyes and loaded into vans to head to the Yorke Pennisula.
Group 1 made their way to the Innes National Park arriving at about 10:00 at night. Guess what that ment… WE GOT TO SET UP CAMP IN THE DARK!!! We all pitched our tents (some more succesfully than other, hemmhemm Liz) then had a midnight meal of spaghetti with meat sauce. We woke up the next morning to the sound of waves hitting the shore and realized we were only about 100 meters away from the beach. We spent our first day at the park pulling weeds, which was hard but fun. We finished the day with a meast (meat-feast) where everyone but Liz came to the realization that kangaroo is delicous, and one of the leanest meats available. The next day in Innes we broke into two groups and walked on the beach looking for rare birds. the first group of Justin, Fran (instructor), Rita, Dylan, and Hayden saw a shark on one of their beaches. the second group of park ranger Tim, Ozzy, Liz, and Frances (student) got to watch as Liz swam with a shark (oops). Good thing Liz was oblivious. the next two days in Innes consisted of more weeds and more bird walks. The beaches were unbelievable, crystal clear water and soft white sand. The late night we had meast #2 and invited Tim over for dinner with us so that all the girls could flirt with him one more time. then we met up with the rest of the Walkabout group and went to search for wallabees in an old mostly abandoned fishing town on the park. Mark (another volunteer who had many interesting things to say and seemingly unlimited knowledge) tought us the difference between wallabees and kangaroos. the very last day on the park (yesterday) we packed up out campsite and said our goodbyes. We did one final beach walk where we saw several hooded pluvers (endangered birds) and came up with animal names for several members of the group. Frances was was the rabbit Thumper from Bambi, Rita was the Hyenna Eddie from the Lion King, Dylan was the golden retriever Air Bud, and Liz was a raccoon. Then we headed into Adelaide to meet up with the rest of the group.
The second group survived the four hour drive and arrived to our house in Stenhouse Cove. After a great first night of spaghetti and bonding by the camp fire with our new leaders Geoffrey and Grant, we rose in the morning to do some hard core weeding of Acacious Cyclopses, a plant non native to the southern region. We shared some good laughs, and met awesome locals who guided us in the right direction. We were all star struck by the breath taking views, crystal clear water, and KANGAROO sightings! The following days consisted of more wrestling with Cyclopses and beach clean up. Sean, the man that ownes the house we were staying at took our group on an incredible walk down the beach where we all took the plunge into the Australian water for a dip. even Annie went in! Overall the week was a great sucess full of fun and hard work. We even ened up getting hit by a Kangaroo while driving in the national park. but no worries, no lives or limbs were lost. After a nice breather we were all ready to reunite as a family and continue our final weeks of our time together down under.
Looking forward to a fun week on the Groovy Grape Bus Tour to the Outback. Loving and missing you all everyday.
