Time for Spit

We are still out here on Straddie surrounded by ocean and enjoying every moment. Yesterday began our couple days of Terrestrial Ecology lectures and field work. This has meant studying the plants and how they manage to grow on an island made completely of sand. The short end of it is lots of mychorizae and other symbiotic relationships with nutrient grabbing and nitrogen fixing fungi. The number of species which manage to thrive is impressive.

I have learned a new card game, Spit. Sounds gross, but is really fun. Steve and I played multiple rounds this evening and it got a bit competitive. Steve ended up winning in the end but I think it is for the best. It really tears him up when his weaknesses are exposed to me.

On the island there is the absolute best Gelati shop. The past few days we have hurried over during our lunch breaks to get double scoops in hopes of trying all of the flavours. Stradbroke Island is a quite place with a little tourist area of cute shops and restaurants. If the weather clears up, a bunch of us are planning on staying on for the weekend. The group is slotted to leave Friday evening but if this rain would stop, we are going to stay an extra night and spend Saturday surfing! Learning to surf has been on my to-do list for a while so it will be good to be able to check that off.

No worries, we still do work every once and a while. Today we had to turn in our Terrestrial Ecology work books to get ‘marked’. 15% of our grade for that class will be determined before we leave the island. So far it has been easy to stay on top of the workload, but it looks like the future holds many more late nights at the library.

Currently we are all trying to figure out how to best use our free time. Much time is spent on the internet looking up places and events that are fun, cheap and accommodate college kids. So far Steve and I have plans in the works for visiting Sydney, the Gold Coast, Tasmania and maybe even some win tasting. Budgeting is tough since most places require a plane flight or vehicle rental. No worries though, hostels are cheap and at worst, Steve brought a tent!

Still loving it in Oz.
Amanda