This Saturday, I went with a lady named Lila from the Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare Inc. to do conservation work. Lila was nice enough to pick us up from the uni since we did not have transportation to the site. Beth, Karlie, Alysia and I took off about 1:00. I was so excited to give back to the beautiful lands of Australia. At the site, we met up with the other volunteers, Rita, Greg, Greg's dad, Steve, and Bonnie. Rita was exactly what you would imagine as an elderly outback lady. Complete with the bug net hat, she was prepared for a hard day's work. Rita was unfortunately allergic to bugspray. However, she told us that she liked to go outside, let the mossies (mosquitos) swarm here, hit them, and then enjoyed watching the ants eat the dead mosquitos on her.(??) A little different, but if she didn't mind, why should we?? Greg was the director of the conservation work and had been working on the project for 17 years. Being an environmental consultant, he was very knowledgable and gave us information about all of the plants (invasive and natural). Steve and Bonnie were regular volunteers who had been through the process many times.

Before we began, Lila made sure to talk to us about keeping hydrated and bug prevention to make sure we would all stay in good health throughout the day. In the boat house, a large green tree frog was resting in one of the buckets. Surprisingly, I found him quite cute. We carried the row boat down to the small branch of the Ross River seperating Baza Island from the land. The river had risen quite a bit from the rainfall so we had to wade out to the take off point. It was somewhat difficult to get the boat across because the path was cover with river weed. They looked like floating bulbs with large bright green leaves on top. Although they can be considered somewhat pretty (originally brought over for pond decorations), they are not native to the area and have taken over. We spent a small portions of the day just pulling some of the bulbs out of the water as an attempt to kill of a few of them.

Once to the otherside, we unloaded all of the equipment. Lila had brought jugs of water and lemon crodial for us to have throughout the day. We each had a pair of gloves and a matic or a shovel. To conquer the weeds, we brought across what they called 'the slasher.' Basically, it was just a heavy-duty push lawn mower. Rita loved using the slasher and starting clearing the invasive weeds immediately so we could begin the native trees planting process.

As the area was cleared, we staked out where to put the trees so they would be sufficiently spaced. Then the hard work began. Using the matics and shovels we dug holes for the small trees. The area had at one point been used as a dumping ground for the larger rocks left over from sifting sand. Clearly, this was not an ideal place to dig holes. As well, we were all wearing long pants and long sleeve shirts (I used my raincoat, because I had not brought a long sleeve that could get dirty). This combination in the hot Australian sun was definitely something I had never experienced before. After only digging a few holes, I thought that a bucket of water had been dumped on my head because I was sweating so much. Rita let Beth and I take a turn using the slasher to clear some more land as a fire break for the trees.

When the holes were finished, we put a small amount of mixture into each to help the trees grow well and absorb water. Greg carefully placed each type of tree to maximize the success of the area. Low lying shrubs were placed around the outside. Directly in from that, a tree was that keeps shrubs and weeds from growing under it was planted. This was also to prevent the spread of fires. The majority of fires are not natural on the island. Kids from the neighboring town stack up logs to make a bridge to the island. They sneak over at night to have their own private island to drink and smoke on, and their carelessness often creates fires. As well, they sometimes pull up the freshly planted trees. Lila said she is constantly dismantling their bridges, but they are very persistent. Some of the other trees we planted were the sand paper fig, noni, heart leaf, rotten cheese fruit and nut trees (all native to Australia). To finish the job, we gave each freshly planted tree a bucket of water from the river. Throughout the day, Lila was taking many fabulous pictures. She really enjoys photography and was laying on the ground half of the day to get the perfect shot.

After we had completed our goal for the day, we were given a tour of island. Greg and Lila showed us areas that had been revitalized 20 years ago and were now thriving. We also spotted the rare crimson finch. This bright red bird has recently been put on the endangered species list. The group is constantly planting more of their favorite trees to provide them with a safe environment. Greg arch enemy, the leucaena tree, was found on the backside of the island. The instant he saw it, he hustled over and snapped the stem so the pods could not be fertilized. He explained that this had been brought over for cattle to graze on, but quickly overtook the area. Apparently, the seeds can stay dorminant in the ground for up to 20 years so it is incredibly difficult to get rid of the species. He had been diligently working to remove it from the island and views one plant as a contamination.

On our way back, the water had risen about another 1.5 feet, making it more difficult to get the boat all the way up to the land. With misquitos swarming us, we were all ready for a big meal. Lila stopped at a Japanese cuisine on the way home, because we had missed dinner at our colleges. I got pad thai; being my favorite asain dish, it was the perfect reward for the day's work.

I am so proud to have given back to the country that has already given me such a great experience.