Rosellas and leaving

So going and working on the rosella project was really fun, I wish I could have stayed longer. I'll post pictures later but for now I'll just give a short run down. We went around checking nest boxed (some of which had chicks in them... I had to take two dead chicks out of one box), that took up the first few days. After that we set up traps on the boxed to catch the parents inside, then a few of us stationed ourselves outside one nest box each (hidden) with walkie-talkies and waited until a parent flew in. It's takes a while! My box was the first to get a parent, so that was neat. The guys would come and collect the bird and we drove back to the testing station (we set up stuff at this old building... we were on someone's farm). That was the first catching day (they hoped to catch 2 birds a day) and Leonie (the other girl... girlfriend to the guy who's project this was) caught one as we were processing the other, but it got away when they arrived to collect it. For processing they just took measurements, tagged it (if it wasn't already), took a blood sample, then did a spectrometry test on different parts of it's body to measure the UV of the colors (these are parrots for anyone who doesn't know what a rosella is). After that bird we went into town to get some food and for the guys, coffee, when it started to rain (it's not good to handle the birds in rain cause it's gets their feathers wet and they're hard to handle) so we went and say the new 007 movie. The next day we went catching again, my tree didn't get the other parent, but Leonie's got one, so they brought me over (cause nothing was happening at my tree) and we processed that one. After that we needed to book it to the train station for me to go home, sadly. :) I really loved it out there (it was in Northeastern Victoria, right on the border with NSW) at Wodonga/Albury. It was so pretty and I really felt more at home! It's funny, just a few days out there made me feel more like I was going to miss Australia more than I had ever the entire year! That's a sign that I am just not made for living in a city all of the time! Luckily I'll have a car in Perth, so will be able to leave when I want! Up until now I have just been working and trying to catch up with people before I leave in 4 days! I have been drawing pictures for my housemates and workmates. For my coworkers I did caricatures of them, and I will give them at Cassie's going away party on Sunday night. :) I still have almost all of my housemates I need to do a picture for, so I really need to get on things!! Wow, so much to do in so little time! Christine is coming down tomorrow (Friday) after work to visit/ pick up a box of stuff that I will keep at her house until I come back. Last night I did a lot of packing so I knew what I needed to put in the box. Anyway, so my last few days are going to be very filled up. My last day of work is on Saturday and I leave Monday (flight's at 12:10 AM).

Perth 5

On Tuesday I went back to Murdoch and met up with the Dean of the Vet Science school, since I didn't get to meet him on Friday. He showed me a bit more of the university, and while on the tour he introduced me to a student (Emily) and some of her friends, who are all vet students. Emily was a 3rd year student, they were trying to raise money for their half way through party (which is really big) by selling chocolates. :P Anyway, after my tour the dean dropped me back off with Emily and went to two of their classes with them, the first one was on how to handle/approach cattle, and the second was genetics. :) It was fun. After that I went into the library for a bit and found the Prince and the Pauper again and continued reading it for a while. I wandered around a bit more then went back to my hostel where I caught the 8:30 bus to the airport along with the couple I met at the hostel (the guy was from New Zealand and the girl from Ireland) and we hung out at the airport talking for a bit. They left first, then me... I sat watching an Aussie soap oprah before the plane left. When I got back to Melbourne I was wearing shorts and flip flops because it had been really warm in Perth (and I didn't bring a coat cause it was really warm in Melbourne when I left). I stepped out of the plane (outside) and I was FREEZING! It was so cold (and wet) that you could see your breath! The worst part was because Tiger Airways is small, they have their own part of the airport that's separated from the rest of the airport and the luggage area is even in this weird outside building. I didn't have to collect luggage but I had to go to the bathroom and so that was cold. Then I had to walk up to the "real" airport. :P When I got there I took out some socks, and even though I looked goofy, I put them on with my flip flops cause my feet were about to fall off. :P Then I got on the Gull shuttle bus back to Geelong. This was at about 6 AM on Wednesday morning btw. I was going to go with Foly (one of our bakers at Muffin Break) to the Geelong Cup (horse racing cups are HUGE in Victoria) but then I found out to go to the party they were going to it was $150 (you get open bar and food) so decided that was too much, plus I didn't have a very suitable dress. So, I napped and then did random stuff at home (can't really remember all I did). And that was my Perth trip! Sorry it's taken so long to tell about all of this, but now I'm finally finished. :P