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| 5/6/99 | Everyone congregated out in front of the hostel in Cairns where we were staying for the very last goodbyes. People were both happy for the experience and very sad to be saying goodbye to many people forever. There was not a lot of sleep had -- too much last minute fun with the wonderful people they just spent an amazing three months with. |
| 5/5/99 | The last day at Warrawee for the students. It was a crazy day with so much to do finalizing their business at SFS and organising themselves for travel. Staff and students had a great night in Cairns dining, socialising and dancing. |
| 5/3/99 | Today the majority of the group walked up Queensland's highest mountain, Mt. Bartle Frere. We left the Centre at 5.30 a.m. and started the ascent at 6.30a.m.. The fastest people reached the summit in four hours. Unfortunately, the peak was covered with clouds and there were no spectacular views; no one seemed particularly concerned by this, though. We finally got off the mountain at 5.30 p.m.. A long day by any standards. |
| 5/2/99 | We had our open day at the Center. About 40 or so people from the community came to Warrawee and listened to some DR presentations, socialised and had a feed (dinner). The Centre was looking spotless due to three hours of cleaning. It was great to be able to see our many community "helpers" in a social setting. |
| 4/30/99 | All DR projects were presented to the staff and students. Some of the groups were very creative and humorous in their presentations, the tree kangaroo group even doing an interpretive dance! Of the eight groups, the best three were determined by staff and students voting. The farm forestry group, the finch group and the Peterson Creek re-vegetation group were the three lucky contenders that will present their findings to the general public on our open house barbeque day on Sunday. |
| 4/29/99 | Today many students went to a talk on "Evolution of tropical lowland rainforest in Australia." The talk was by a local researcher based at James Cook University at Townsville. He mostly talked about plants in the Myrtaceae family, the same family as gum trees. It was really impressive to listen to someone who knows so much about their research area. |
| 4/27/99 | Today was a late start but much reading and writing associated with DRs was done. The students spent more time than ever picking the brains of the lecturers and everyone seems to be on track. A lucky few fitted in the only available van and went to Lake Eacham for a swim to celebrate the greatest day on The Tablelands in months: dawn to dusk sunshine! |
| 4/26/99 | Everyone got up at about 5.00 a.m. to travel to Mission Beach and go snorkeling with Friendship Cruises. The boat ride was about two hours and it was a great day for snorkeling -- the first good day in weeks. Lee's parents met up with the group. One the way back we had a barbeque dinner on an island and didn't get back to the mainland until around 10:00 p.m.. We arrived back at The Centre after midnight; a long day. |
| 4/24/99 | Fred sets up a feeding station for the cassowary that has been seen here in the last day or two. This juvenile bird is full sized but has not reached adult plumage yet. We often see cassowary scats on the property but rarely see a bird. It has been spotted twice in the last three days and has been heard on another day. Fred set up a string line between two trees and hung bananas from it. By hanging them, hopefully the only thing that can eat them is cassowaries, not rats or marsupials. Fred has a colleague at CSIRO who studies the birds and would like to study this one if it can be enticed to hang around. |
| 4/23/99 | Each directed research group made a 15 - 20 minute presentation to everyone at Warrawee on their project aims and their status. It was very interesting to get a complete picture of the groups' projects and their preliminary findings. There was plenty of time for questions and discussion of each group's work. Some good ideas arose. |
| 4/22/99 | Students from Yungaburra primary school came to the centre for a morning lesson about the rainforest. Eight students took the groups on educational walks. Our students and the younger kids had a great time. Some groups saw a cassowary while another saw a large amethistine python. The four teachers that accompanied the young kids were very impressed and a great day was had by all. The students have since emailed us to thank us for the great time. |
| 4/21/99 | The farm forestry group, encouraging beef farmers to plant trees as a money-making exercise on farms, had five interviews with local beef farmers. They asked for their opinions towards the concept and various government incentives to encouraging tree farming. They want to assess local interest in such projects and assess the economic viability of such enterprises. |
| 4/20/99 | Today the farm forestry DR group and the Peterson Creek Revegetation Assessment group conducted four interviews with locals involved in tree planting for various purposes. They learned a lot and met some local characters, all while seeing some new areas of the tablelands. |
| 4/19/99 | Today the DR group investigating the possibility of farm forestry as a side line for beef farms conducted a lot of interviews with local farmers. They want to survey farmers' opinions, fears, and any impediments they see to diversifying their farms' produce and incorporating trees for profit on their farm. The students gave the farmers many sources of information. |
| 4/18/99 | A casual Sunday, the last casual day for the semester. Some people went for walks, some to a local coffee shop, some played ultimate frisbee, some stayed home at the Centre to sleep, watch videos, or even work on semester projects and DR. Tonight many of us will go to watch a couple of movies at the Malanda Majestic Theatre. A great day! |
| 4/17/99 | This morning the fish DR group caught a lot of small fish in Peterson Creek below the main building. They caught a lot of gudgeons and rainbow fish. It took about 2 hours to empty all their traps. They recorded the sex and length of the fish and marked them individually so they can tell if they recapture individuals. |
| 4/16/99 | Today the blue-faced finch DR group did some mistnetting with an ex-SFS lecturer, John Grant. We caught many birds, approximately 100, including seven blue-faced finches. We measured them, sexed them, assessed their moult stage, put a number ring (ID tag) on them, and released them. It was quite difficult untangling the birds at times. We caught ten different species of birds. There will be another five mornings of mistnetting. |
| 4/15/99 | The blue-faced finch group left the centre at 5:15 a.m. to go to another part of the Tablelands where this rare finch has been sighted. We arrived just as it was becoming light. There was a thick mist and light rain. We walked along two kilometers of dirt road and heard five of the birds along the narrow grassy roadside. Unfortunately we only saw one bird very briefly. Not enough to investigate the bird's feeding behaviour. Not to worry, a good early start to the day! |
| 4/14/99 | The tree kangaroo group have a big day in the field. They spend many hours marking out transects in the Curtain Fig State Forest with eight of the ten SFS people falling victim to stinging tree. They will go out tonight and do some spotlighting in the same forest. |
| 4/13/99 | Three groups of students go into Atherton to meet representatives from various environmental and primary industry departments to get information, ideas and support for their directed research projects. |
| 4/12/99 | The first full day of Directed Research was busy. Lots of meetings and discussions with advisors and group members. Everyone is very keen to begin field data collection. People are also very busy trying to finish their semester projects on the Tolga Scrub, due Wednesday. |
| 4/11/99 | This morning the group went to Kuranda, a village set in rainforest, north of here to gift shop for souvenirs. Afterwards we went to Cairns to see a music festival with 14 local bands playing. A day away from Warrawee is always welcome. |
| 4/10/99 | We participated in our third tree planting exercise of the semester. We planted about 400 trees along a section of Peterson Creek in Yungaburra. SFS has previously planted areas along this creek line. Six students organised and executed the day's work with all the trees coming from our shadehouse. It was a bit of hard work, but it was enjoyed by all. |
| 4/9/99 | The exam this morning brought some temporary, uncharacteristic peace and quiet to the centre. This evening we ventured down the Gillies highway to go to the Mountain View Pub pub where a few bands are playing. |
| 4/6/99 | This afternoon we went to visit a stand of trees found only in a very restricted area. They were only discovered about twenty years ago or so. They are related to gum trees and are only found within a couple of kilometres of each other. The Stockwelias, as they are known, are a true relic species. Tony Irvine, a local expert botanist talked about the trees and about the contraction of the rainforest over geological time. He is an incredibly knowledgeable man. A fascinating afternoon. |
| 4/5/99 | Josh starts a great group discussion session on the deficiencies of neo-classical economics, emphasizing that future generations are not considered in the current economic thinking. |
| 4/4/99 | Today most of the group walked Walsh's Pyramid. We ascended about 900 meters (3000 feet) in about two hours. The view at the top was spectacular with 360-degree views of the coast, mountains, and tablelands. We had a leisurely stay at the top and walked back down to come back to an Easter feast. About half the students were involved in the cooking and, with lots of leftovers, it should be a wonderful day of eating tomorrow. |
| 4/3/99 | Ten students and four staff walked the Goldfield Track. We left the centre at 6:30 a.m. and started walking at around 8:00 a.m. It proceeded to rain for most of the next seven hours while we completed the walk. We encountered moisture, feral pigs, creek crossings, and a million-and-one leeches. Everyone was drenched to the bone and loved every minute of their experience. |
| 4/2/99 | There was a rainstorm coming up from the south with dark clouds. To the southwest, a slight hint of rainbow appeared around 6:00 p.m. It grew and grew and got brighter and brighter. Soon a second one, in an arc just above the other one, became visible and it, too, grew. It was the brightest and widest rainbow anyone here had ever seen. It was an incredible way to start dinner. |
| 4/1/99 | We plan to go to Babinda on the lowlands. We will be visiting Errol Wiles and hear about his plans for farm forestry and high value rainforest timber in the future. We will also visit the Australian Insect Farm and learn a unique way of making a living from a block of rainforest. The Farm studies, breeds, exhibits, and sells insects from its rainforest land. |
| 3/31/99 | Last night, we collected insects from various habitats around the center using artificial lights. We will categorize our collections into orders. |
| 3/30/99 | We will be going to Wongabel State Forest, south of Atherton. This forest is of mixed tree species and has been logged at various times in the past. We will also visit a local beef farm and look at a farm forestry planting planned for timber harvest in 40-50 years. |
| 3/29/99 | Due to the fine, sunny day, we will be able to get lots of laundry washed and dried. The lawn around the center is finally drying after three to four weeks. We will be going on a bird walk to specifically identify the calls of the blue-faced finch. A guest lecture by Daryl Killen will be one of the day's highlights; the topic will be 'Farm Forestry.' |
| 3/28/99 | George Davis, a local aboriginal elder, will be giving us a tour of the land he grew up in. We will be going down the Gillies Highway to the Goldsborough Valley. We will be going on a field exercise in some lowland rainforest to assess the potential for rattan (what cane furniture is made out of) harvesting for economic gains from the rainforest. |
| 3/27/99 | We get today off! We will be going to the Yungaburra markets in the morning, having a game of cricket for a few hours after lunch ( led by Lee ) and another bushdance in Atherton at night. |
| 3/26/99 | Today we will be going to Gadgarra State Forest to look at plantation timber of several different species; we will also learn about the management required for commercial timber production, and how to balance environmental values. |
| 3/25/99 | Tony, the Centre Director, is organizing a wonderful field exercise for this afternoon. We are going to do some field work; we will be mapping the existing vegetation and then comparing the maps to aerial photographs from the past. We will be learning to use mapping tools and techniques. |
| 3/24/99 | We are going to be tackling the semester project on the Tolga Scrub. Everyone will be busy looking up references, identifying samples, and entering data into the computer. |
| 3/23/99 | After dinner, many of us are going to a farm forestry presentation in Atherton. |
| 3/22/99 | This morning we are all going to gather around and share tales of our break. Most students didn't travel too far during the break; everyone spent at least one night in Cairns and many spent the whole break based from Cairns. Many went out on the reef. Some headed north to Port Douglas and to Cape Tribulation. A few headed south to Townsville and Magnetic Island. They had to go around the long way via Charters Towers, through dry country since the road was flooded on the coast. This afternoon we will be visiting the Tolga Scrub (infested with trees that have stinging leaves) to collect more field data. |
| 3/16/99 | We are on break!; many will be going to Cairns. |
| 3/15/99 | We are going to the Tolga Scrub for data collection and will view the Tinaro Dam falls. |
| 3/14/99 | We are planning to go to Cairns for some movies, food and shopping. |
| 3/13/99 | We are going to drive to Massey Creek and participate in tree planting; we hope to plant about 3,000 trees! Afterwards, a trip is planned to the waterfalls in the local area. |
| 3/12/99 | We will be taking three and a half hours of exams. The staff is going to cook a special breakfast for us. |
| 3/11/99 | This morning we will be having a review session for a couple of hours and the rest of the day will be a private study time in preparation for tomorrow's exam. |
| 3/10/99 | Today we are going to visit the Tolga Scrub to begin the field data collection of our semester projects. |
| 3/9/99 | We will be learning about experimental design, methodology and statistics relevant to our upcoming directed research projects. |
| 3/8/99 | We are going to spend the morning at the beach, but will be unable to swim due to stinging jellyfish. We are going to learn about the Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation. The afternoon will be spent exploring the forest and swimming at a waterfall. |
| 3/7/99 | Departure for Mission Beach! We will be making a number of stops at national parks. We look forward to a fine afternoon at the beach and at adjoining restaurants. |
| 3/6/99 | At some stage everyone is going to collect seedlings from the forest and
pot them up in the shadehouse. We are going to Mission Beach for the next two days. |
| 3/5/99 | Bird quiz this morning and, by the way, the birds sound so busy already! George Davis is going to talk to us about aboriginal weapons and art. |
| 3/4/99 | This morning we emptied our mammal traps and caught five different species of small mammals. This evening most of the group is going to a seminar on flying foxes on the Atherton Tablelands. |
| 3/3/99 | Today we are going to have a lecture on mammal trapping; we will then set the traps, wait for the results and check the traps tomorrow morning. |
| 3/2/99 | Robert, an employee from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, will be giving us a guided tour of one of the cave systems; we're going to explore the geology of the caves as well as the flora and fauna using the caves. |
| 3/1/99 | "Outback" bound! We are on our way to Chillagoe, a couple of hours west of Warrawee. The day will include a walk in a eucalypt forest. |
| 2/28/99 | This morning about half the group is going to a permaculture field day; here, permaculture will be shown as a model for use in any community. |
| 2/27/99 | We're off to the Yungaburra markets this morning; people are going to shop for food and souvenirs. We are looking forward to a time of free reading this afternoon - perfect for the slow, rainy feel the day has! |
| 2/26/99 | We enjoyed a great early morning bird walk and a fantastic game of frisbee in the afternoon. |
| 2/25/99 | David Westcott, an employee for a government scientific research organization, will give two lectures on the evolution of Australian birds and habitat use by birds in the wet tropics. |
| 2/24/99 | Today Bruce will lead a field exercise looking at recruitment (seedling dynamics) in recent regrowth and advanced regrowth rainforest. A lot of crawling on hands and knees is expected! |
| 2/23/99 | Today includes a visit to Donaghys Corridor; the planting at the corridor was done in conjunction with SFS to link two vegetation fragments. This afternoon we will be identifying trees as part of a quiz. |
| 2/22/99 | Today we are going to Ross Chapman's place to check on our tree planting and do some work investigating tree kangaroo habitat. The trees need a little attention due to some flood damage near the stream. After collecting the vegetation data we are going to have dinner delivered to Lake Eacham. We returned to Ross Chapman's for some spotlighting and saw many possums but no tree kangaroos. |
| 2/21/99 | A day of rest, recreation and relaxation. We look forward to driving north of here to Kuranda to spend a few hours at an historic tourist town. Tonight we will go to the Malanda Majestic Theatre; there will be two movies playing in an old timber cinema. |
| 2/20/99 | Exam time! Today we have the first exam for the semester. Everyone seems happy and is looking forward to their dinner out in Atherton after the exams. |
| 2/19/99 | Today we all go to TREAT (Trees for Evelyn and Atherton Tablelands), a community rainforest nursery producing trees for revegetation projects. It is going to be a volunteer morning; this will give us the opportunity to meet many locals. This afternoon we will play a game of Jeopardy with questions related to lecture material. |
| 2/18 /99 | We survey last November's planting on Peterson Creek, resurrecting some flood damaged plants. |
| 2/17 /99 | This afternoon everyone goes to Green Piece Permaculture Farm near Malanda. Rene and Lorraine Van Raders show us around their plot of land and introduce us to permaculture concepts and philosophy. Permaculture is basically sustainable living and can permeate every facet of human existence. We sample some garden delights. |
| 2/16/99 | This morning we sample stream macro-invertebrates to gauge water quality and habitat types. Some fish traps are set out and will be checked in the afternoon. This is Catherine Burns' (intern) birthday; we eat a wonderful avocado pasta salad for lunch. |
| 2/15/99 | We leave the centre to watch the mass departure of bats, flying out of their roosting colony to feed for the night. |
| 2/14/99 | In the afternoon we go on a tour of some large local fig trees and a teahouse. |
| 2/13/99 | Approximately 100 mm of rain falls overnight. Everyone arrives back at the centre and a small clean up occurs. A great game of ultimate Frisbee and a swim at Lake Eacham gets everyone cooled down. |
| 2/12/99 | There is a torrential rain of approximately 450mm. Lectures continue at our cyclone shelter. There is a lecture on introductory ecological economics and a great discussion develops. We go to see Millstream Falls in its cyclone glory. |
| 2/11/99 | A heavy rain fell overnight and all day. We evacuate due to cyclone Rona (a category three cyclone). It hits the coast about 60-70km north of the centre. The main reason we evacuate is not so much to escape the winds but so that we are not isolated. |
| 2/10 99 | We travel to the Tolga Scrub, a remnant patch of rainforest. |
| 2/9/99 | We go on a 6:00 a.m. bird walk. Barry Thurling shows students his revegetation efforts. Canoeing is also included for a bit of relaxation. |
| 2/8/99 | Today the we mulch some plantings about two years old with straw and paper to compare economic viability and effectiveness in controlling weeds. This afternoon a field trip to Bromfield Swamp is planned; revegetation efforts and theory will be studied. |
| 2/7/99 | Most of the group visits Emerald Falls for lunch, a swim and some essential time to become sunburnt. A compulsory ice cream stop is organized. |
| 2/6/99 | We are introduced to rainforest structure and tree identification. A great dinner barbecue is served up by interns and students. |
| 2/5/99 | Students plant about 600 trees at Ross Chapman's farm, a local dairy farmer. We got rained on well and everyone was soaked and muddy. Everyone had a great time and we washed down in Lake Eacham afterwards. Daily highlights and weather |
| 2/4/99 | We are attacked by leeches at the centre! We heard a lecture on the very interesting red-backed fairy wrens. |
| 2/3/99 | This is quite a pleasant day. This morning we drove into Atherton and Fred gave a lecture on the geology of the Atherton Tablelands. Josh talked about the economic reasons for the settlement of the Tablelands. At present, we are getting some plants together from the shadehouse for a replanting project on a farm tomorrow. |
| 2/2/99 | Despite it being the wet season, there has still been no rain. Today, we get details on site orientation and Dana does a lot of fun team building exercises with the group in the afternoon. |
| 2/1/99 | This morning the group goes to Lake Barrine and undertakes a six kilometer circumnavigating walk in the rainforest around the lake. We are introduced to rainforest flora and fauna. Afterwards, we have lunch at nearby Lake Eacham and everyone has a swim. |
| 1/31/99 | We have a swim in the Mulgrave River on the way back from the airport. After a quick snack, we are shown our cabins. |