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gemfyreIt’s confirmed. I arrive home on November 2nd at 10:30pm. Sheer luck that I decided to look at their site while they were having a sale and got my flight for $50 less than usual. It’s nice to have a particular date to look forward to. Apparently this Lacapede Islands trip is not a cheapie or a freebie as Ricki implied. It’s $3500. Not money I have laying around, in fact I only have $2000 to my name. I was hoping to have more like $4000 by the time I got home but not so. And even if I did have all that saved I still wouldn’t be spending ¾ of it. The trip would be awesome, but I simply cannot afford things like that at this stage.
Last night Chris, Stu and I went into town to assist with crab races at the Beer & Satay Hut. Helen (the committee chairperson) met us there – she’d done this before. Crab Races go like this;
- Go around the crowd and sell tickets. 1 for $2, 3 for $5. Some regular buyers run a hard bargain and insist on things like 8 for $10, 30 for $30. But it’s all in good fun and they donate as well.
- Meanwhile Rabbit – the guy that runs the races (whilst wearing a very silly hat with a large foam crab on it. lets everyone know the names of the crabs racing. They have really corny names which are plays on seaside relevant words. We had such runners as RuSHOREn Roullette, ConCLAWde and MiSHELL Pfieffer. Shocking I tell ya.
- The tickets are put into a bucket to be drawn by Rabbit. Prize money is determined by how many tickets were sold. Half the money goes to the organization fundraising – in this case the BBO. The other half gets split about 60/30 and is offered as first and second prize.
- A ticket is drawn, the owner comes up and picks a likely looking crab. This goes on until all 8 racers have “owners”. Girls are told they have to kiss the crabs – many do.
- The crabs are then placed in a holding bay in the centre of a large, round bit of board with a red line painted around the edge.
- Rabbit plays a terrible bit of trumpet, tells everyone that they can cheer, but not point or lean over the crabs – this causes them to go back into their shells or change direction. “If you point, you will be shot.” By one of us BBO staff wielding a water gun. J I think some people point because they WANT to be shot.
- The holding pen is drawn up and the crabs are off! Rabbit picks pretty big ones. He paints numbers on the shells and releases the crabs back on the beach after all the tomfoolery. The crabs move surprisingly fast. Some go in the wrong direction. I think they don’t like the red finish line. Many hesitate or start crawling along the line instead of over it. We had one crab that looked like a fizzer – he refused to emerge from his shell before the race and stayed that way once the race started. But the other crabs were all over the place and not crossing the line. This crab finally woke up and got going – and won!
We made $500 for the Observatory which was pretty decent. Also had the Sunday night roast (seeing as I like neither beer or satay). LOADS of meat, a decent amount of pork crackle and stacks of veggies. The condiments were pretty crap though – no horseradish, the apple sauce tasted like it was made of potatoes and the gravy was thin and tasteless as water. It fed me well though, and that’s all that matters.
And when I got home there was still hot water! Miracle! So I got my shower, mmm.
Ah, then there was my day off. I intended to spend it bumming around and birding around the Obs. But then during breakfast Don invited me out in the boat. I jumped at the opportunity. The boys had been the week before and looked like they had a great time.
The tide wasn’t huge this week unlike last week. At first we thought this would make the trip not so good. We wouldn’t have as much time in the boat and probably wouldn’t be able to go as far up Crab Creek. Turns out a lower tide worked in our favour. Don has a flat-bottomed dinghy so it can go in water as shallow as 40cm. Because the tide wasn’t fully in by the time we got to mangroves at the other side of the bay, some of the flats were still exposed – and COVERED in birds. These are the masses that you can always see with a scope from the BBO beach, but they’re so far away and obscured by heat haze that you can only get a vague impression of numbers and have no idea of species. We got within metres of some of the flocks. Curlews, Whiskered Terns, a couple of Frigatebirds soaring overhead, Egrets, Avocets, Stilts, Pelicans, one Ruddy Turnstone and others. Pity the boat moved so much, it was kinda hard to look through binoculars while you’re bobbing up and down.
We then headed up Crab Creek. Again, due to the lower tide a lot of mud was still exposed on the shores – which meant mangrove birds were still around – something the guys missed out on last week. We spotted Mangrove Grey Fantails and Dusky Gerygones and heard whistlers, but didn’t see them – I think I’m destined never to see a Mangrove Golden Whistler. On the flats at the shores we found Common Sandpiper after Common Sandpiper, rushing along and bobbing their rear ends incessantly. A flock of Sharp-Tailed Sandpipers also joined in the party. We were constantly watched by pop-eyed mullet peeking out of the water and sometimes a larger fish would splash about nearby. At one point we got ridiculously close to a little egret, I’m sure it was just about to step into the boat with us.
On the way back across the bay the wind had come up and was causing a bit of chop. Cynthia had offered me freezer bags to put my stuff in because “We might get a bit wet.” I was just expecting a little bit of splash. None of us were expecting chop like this. At first I was squealing and laughing everytime cold water splashed all over me but after a few minutes I got used to it and started to enjoy it. I’ve only managed to swim twice since I got here, which is terrible, but this boat ride was almost as good as a swim. I was soaked through by the time we returned and very grateful for those freezer bags that protected my field guide, camera and binoculars.
And did I tell you how the clutch on our bus all out FAILED while I was in the middle of town on the way to a pickup? The damn thing had to be pushed out of the road, and I was stuck in an ACROD bay for about an hour. And meanwhile we’re having to fabricate a story as to how it got the ding in the side because if the committee knows I caused it they’ll probably make me pay for it – on an old worthless piece of junk that has badly needed replacing since I got here. Wankers. I’ve finally gotten a bad taste in my mouth over this committee. Much later than Ricki or Chris have. When one starts talking about docking food allowances because the phone messages aren’t checked often enough and implying we’re lazy. I kinda wanna take to ‘em with a hammer. Maybe if he came out here and saw what we had to deal with he’d realise we’re run off our feet every freaking day from Easter until the end of August! Wanker.
Last night Chris, Stu and I went into town to assist with crab races at the Beer & Satay Hut. Helen (the committee chairperson) met us there – she’d done this before. Crab Races go like this;
- Go around the crowd and sell tickets. 1 for $2, 3 for $5. Some regular buyers run a hard bargain and insist on things like 8 for $10, 30 for $30. But it’s all in good fun and they donate as well.
- Meanwhile Rabbit – the guy that runs the races (whilst wearing a very silly hat with a large foam crab on it. lets everyone know the names of the crabs racing. They have really corny names which are plays on seaside relevant words. We had such runners as RuSHOREn Roullette, ConCLAWde and MiSHELL Pfieffer. Shocking I tell ya.
- The tickets are put into a bucket to be drawn by Rabbit. Prize money is determined by how many tickets were sold. Half the money goes to the organization fundraising – in this case the BBO. The other half gets split about 60/30 and is offered as first and second prize.
- A ticket is drawn, the owner comes up and picks a likely looking crab. This goes on until all 8 racers have “owners”. Girls are told they have to kiss the crabs – many do.
- The crabs are then placed in a holding bay in the centre of a large, round bit of board with a red line painted around the edge.
- Rabbit plays a terrible bit of trumpet, tells everyone that they can cheer, but not point or lean over the crabs – this causes them to go back into their shells or change direction. “If you point, you will be shot.” By one of us BBO staff wielding a water gun. J I think some people point because they WANT to be shot.
- The holding pen is drawn up and the crabs are off! Rabbit picks pretty big ones. He paints numbers on the shells and releases the crabs back on the beach after all the tomfoolery. The crabs move surprisingly fast. Some go in the wrong direction. I think they don’t like the red finish line. Many hesitate or start crawling along the line instead of over it. We had one crab that looked like a fizzer – he refused to emerge from his shell before the race and stayed that way once the race started. But the other crabs were all over the place and not crossing the line. This crab finally woke up and got going – and won!
We made $500 for the Observatory which was pretty decent. Also had the Sunday night roast (seeing as I like neither beer or satay). LOADS of meat, a decent amount of pork crackle and stacks of veggies. The condiments were pretty crap though – no horseradish, the apple sauce tasted like it was made of potatoes and the gravy was thin and tasteless as water. It fed me well though, and that’s all that matters.
And when I got home there was still hot water! Miracle! So I got my shower, mmm.
Ah, then there was my day off. I intended to spend it bumming around and birding around the Obs. But then during breakfast Don invited me out in the boat. I jumped at the opportunity. The boys had been the week before and looked like they had a great time.
The tide wasn’t huge this week unlike last week. At first we thought this would make the trip not so good. We wouldn’t have as much time in the boat and probably wouldn’t be able to go as far up Crab Creek. Turns out a lower tide worked in our favour. Don has a flat-bottomed dinghy so it can go in water as shallow as 40cm. Because the tide wasn’t fully in by the time we got to mangroves at the other side of the bay, some of the flats were still exposed – and COVERED in birds. These are the masses that you can always see with a scope from the BBO beach, but they’re so far away and obscured by heat haze that you can only get a vague impression of numbers and have no idea of species. We got within metres of some of the flocks. Curlews, Whiskered Terns, a couple of Frigatebirds soaring overhead, Egrets, Avocets, Stilts, Pelicans, one Ruddy Turnstone and others. Pity the boat moved so much, it was kinda hard to look through binoculars while you’re bobbing up and down.
We then headed up Crab Creek. Again, due to the lower tide a lot of mud was still exposed on the shores – which meant mangrove birds were still around – something the guys missed out on last week. We spotted Mangrove Grey Fantails and Dusky Gerygones and heard whistlers, but didn’t see them – I think I’m destined never to see a Mangrove Golden Whistler. On the flats at the shores we found Common Sandpiper after Common Sandpiper, rushing along and bobbing their rear ends incessantly. A flock of Sharp-Tailed Sandpipers also joined in the party. We were constantly watched by pop-eyed mullet peeking out of the water and sometimes a larger fish would splash about nearby. At one point we got ridiculously close to a little egret, I’m sure it was just about to step into the boat with us.
On the way back across the bay the wind had come up and was causing a bit of chop. Cynthia had offered me freezer bags to put my stuff in because “We might get a bit wet.” I was just expecting a little bit of splash. None of us were expecting chop like this. At first I was squealing and laughing everytime cold water splashed all over me but after a few minutes I got used to it and started to enjoy it. I’ve only managed to swim twice since I got here, which is terrible, but this boat ride was almost as good as a swim. I was soaked through by the time we returned and very grateful for those freezer bags that protected my field guide, camera and binoculars.
And did I tell you how the clutch on our bus all out FAILED while I was in the middle of town on the way to a pickup? The damn thing had to be pushed out of the road, and I was stuck in an ACROD bay for about an hour. And meanwhile we’re having to fabricate a story as to how it got the ding in the side because if the committee knows I caused it they’ll probably make me pay for it – on an old worthless piece of junk that has badly needed replacing since I got here. Wankers. I’ve finally gotten a bad taste in my mouth over this committee. Much later than Ricki or Chris have. When one starts talking about docking food allowances because the phone messages aren’t checked often enough and implying we’re lazy. I kinda wanna take to ‘em with a hammer. Maybe if he came out here and saw what we had to deal with he’d realise we’re run off our feet every freaking day from Easter until the end of August! Wanker.
