Hello friends, family, and random readers!
Well, we’re back in Adelaide! We just recently finished doing conservation work with the Conservation Volunteers of Australia. I think I speak for all of us when I say it was a lot of fun and a great learning experience.
The week started out with us being divided into two groups. Me, Liz, Conor, Hannah, and Matt with Gwen as our leader in one group, and then Page, Cameron, John, and Olivia with Mac in the other group. The two places we went were very different. My group was doing conservation work in a park called Deep Creek. There were lots of steep hiking trails and rugged roads. We spent a lot of time weeding on the beach, and we also got a chance to do some trail work.
Brookfield was where the other group was located. Obviously, I wasn’t there, but from what they told me they spent most of their time doing wombat surveys and trimming trees. Reuniting the whole group at the end of the week was really exciting. After living with people in tight quarters for two months a week apart feels like ages. So after many hugs, we were excited to receive our certificates of participation.
Though it was strange not being together, it also gave us a lot to talk about after it was over. We got to tell them about living in a house with the creepiest dining room ever. It freaked Liz and Hannah to the point of having to cover the glass doors with a sheet. We also shared stories of Harold, the field mouse that lived in our pantry. My favorite thing from the other group was the song they all learned called Bar-tat! They surprised us with a performance of it in the hostel TV room when we got back to Adelaide. We also go the news that Rage made it across the slackline!
Both groups had a couple of experiences that we shared, despite being apart. First, kangaroos. We all got to see so many kangaroos! That’s something that we get really excited about, but Aussies look at us like we’re crazy. Being excited over a kangaroo in Australia is like being excited over a squirrel in the United States. Second, we all learned how to Tim Tam Slam. This Aussie tradition might be the most delicious thing I’ve ever tasted. You take a cookie called a Tim Tam, bite off both ends, then use it like a straw to drink Milo, and stuff the whole thing in your mouth. It tastes like eating warm brownie batter.
Overall, we all had a great week. We all feel very accomplished knowing that we’ve finished our last service project of the trip and we look forward to an adventurous week in the Outback!
Your Bilbo Bloggins of the week,
Annie