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This past weekend some of the AustraLearn people and I volunteered with Conservation Volunteers Australia. We went to Werri Lagoon in Kangaroo Valley. It is a little over an hour south of Wollongong. There were 9 AustraLearners, including myself and a leader. Our leader was Jess. She was awesome! All ten of us rode in a Land Cruiser the whole weekend. There were two seats up front and then two benches along each side in the back. It was a tight squeeze, but it was fun.Our job for the weekend was to plant trees along a creek. We planted 300 trees in two days. It was supposed to take us three days, but we got it done in two; therefore, we got to take a hike around our lodging today instead. We each took a certain job and then planted the trees assembly line style. There was a raker, who raked a spot clean to plant the tree. Then it was the hole diggers. This is what Katie Jo and I did! We used a tool that you had to jump on like a pogo stick to get it in the ground. It became quite difficult when we ran into sections that had large rocks in the soil, but we just keep trying until we found a spot. Then someone came along with sludge. This was water crystals that helped keep the roots moist. Next, someone laid out all of the supplies. Each spot needed a plant, a weed blanket, and a plastic guard. Then it was the tree planters, who actually planted the tress. They were followed by the hammerer. This was also my job, by this time I was done digging holes and came back trough. It was my job to hammer the wood stakes that held the tree guards into the ground.Last was mulch and water. The assembly line method was by far the most productive. Where we were working was beautiful. There were rolling hills. We were in the country side. Our supplies were kept on a dairy farm, just up the road from where we were working. We were also quite close to the beach. On Friday we had a picnic lunch looking out at the beach. We stayed about 30 mins from the field in cabins (with no heating) at a place called Chakola. There was a main building with bathrooms, a games room, and a kitchen. Each night we cooked dinner together. Friday night we had burrito/tacos. Saturday night we had spaghetti noodles with a red meat sauce or a white chicken sauce. It was some of the best food I have had so far. Haha. Chakola was a protected wildlife place, so we saw wild kangaroos, wallabies, wallaroos, and possums at our camp! Possums are much cuter here than in the States. I saw a wombat carcass, but no live wombats. We made a fire Saturday and had somores, which was fun. It gave me the camping bug. Haha. On Sunday we took a hike around Chakola. This is what most of my pictures are from. It was really pretty and peaceful. It was very unique. Once again I was able to see another, different part of Australia, which is always awesome.
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