Tasmania road trip

Perth visit

Cheap flights = trip to Perth to catch up with friends! Always so good to see everyone. Was lucky enough to see my polish friends, staples st morning tea with Tony and Suzie, drinks with Emily and Dan, and party with the crew! 

Blue mountains with Elissa

Every time I go to the blue mountains there is something new and beautiful to see. I had been to Wentworth falls about five times already, but had never even bothered to walk to the bottom of the waterfall. Down there, awaits the National pass track. This is one of the most breath taking hikes I have ever done. Work inth is track to carve out a path along the sheer cliffs began in 1906. It's amazing the effort that went into making this track so long ago. With beautiful waterfalls, steep rocky cliffs and lush rain forest you feel like your in the middle of no where and on the edge of the world. 

100 day gong

My 100 day gong is 100 days of achieving my goals. It is a commitment to myself to improve my life and practise discipline. If I miss a day I must start over. 

1. No alcohol

 Starting January 24 Finishes May 4th

Gili trangawi

Doing advanced diving certificate and nitrox certification at gili t!

Travel Tips

1. Pack light! Especially if your back packing. Back packs are better because you don't have to worry about stairs or rough roads. But remember you have to carry it everywhere. To help you keep the load light, buy a smaller sized back pack to begin with.
2. Check out the weather where your going. Don't just assume it will be nice weather, and always have a warm jacket just in case.
3. When booking accommodation, remember that location is important. You can save yourselves a lot of money on taxis and also hassle by ensuring you are close to attractions.
4. When booking accommodation, always check the reviews. I don't know how many times I have almost booked a place only to see the reviews saying "Bed bugs! Dodgy area!"
5. To help prevent bed bugs, never leave your luggage on the bed. Once they get in there your gona take them everywhere with you!
6. Its always great to be different and try different foods, but I like to think that the locals know best. If your at a market where one stall is particularly busy, it could be because its got really good local food! When in Rome.
7. Don't be a tourist, be a traveler. When you go to an attraction, like the Eiffel tower for example, take the time to soak it in. Have a picnic or enjoy a drink while taking in the scenery of the amazing sights you visit.
8. Cold climate equals dry skin. Take some moisturizer!
9. Avoid Bali belly! Ways to be careful not to get traveler's diarrhea include only eating freshly cooked food that is still hot. Avoid salads or anything that may have been washed in water. Don't have ice in your drinks. Don't eat from street stalls where the food has been sitting for a long time.
10. Eurail passes: The first time you use your eurail pass, you MUST get it authorized. All this means is that you go to the desk and get them to stamp that you have began using it. We saw two girls get caught and they both copped a 500 Euro fine!
11. Know the currency your dealing with and convert it before buying things. Its so easy to be care free leading to a waste of money and getting ripped off.
12. Send postcards! You can't always take gifts home for everyone you love, but its easy to send home a bunch of postcards. People love receiving them as they are personal and more meaningful then a quick face book message. Buy a heap, sit down at a cafe and write them out, and then send them on their way!
13. take a blow up pillow, ear plugs and sleeping mask, its worth it.
14. Sleep when you can!
15. Get up early and go explore. You'll beat the crowds. 
16. 
    

Koo Koo Ka Choo! Making their way back to the big ol' blue!

Sea Turtle Hatchlings!

Today while doing the nest survey we found this nest starting to hatch! About 8 had already made it to the ocean, and there was another one struggling down. We watched him head towards the ocean for about 1 hour but he was not getting very far.  We noticed that the nest had a trail of ants leading to it. This was worrying. Dori called Fisheries and Wild Life they told her to try to disturb the ants trail and if the turtles begin to emerge to let them.

 That's when we found that the whole nest was infested with ants and we found some dead ones near the surface. So as we pulled away the sand and ants we found the clutch where the live turtles were. We started to pull them out as they were covered in ants.  We counted 54 live turtles (Also about 48 dead ones  . But at least we saved what we could. 

it was so funny watching all the little hatchlings scatter to the ocean, they were everywhere! 

 They were about the size of a chook egg and you had to be careful where you stood as they camouflaged in the sand. We stayed for a few hours making sure they got to the ocean safely. When they reached the water they would be washed back and forth a few times until they caught the current and swim off. And lots of people were there to help keep the birds and crabs away and cheer them on!

As tempting as it was, we did not carry them to the ocean. The crawl to the ocean is very important for them, its kind of like physical therapy. They have been curled up in a shell for so long and need to stretch out and get those flippers moving before they hit the ocean.

Now that they are out there they have a 5 mile swim out to the sea beds where they will hang out for a few years while they grow.

Only about 1 in 1000 makes it to adult hood and the odds are stacked against them. With threats like natural predators, pollution and plastic in the ocean, injury from boats and fishing nets, loss of habitat and competition for food, and development of sea shores it is amazing that any can survive. That is why each and every one of them is so precious to give this species every chance it has at remaining on this earth.