Final Field Day and Fun!

March 1, 2014

Yesterday was our final day out in the field. The temperature was 48 degrees so it was "fresh" outside. Evan got a little cold while we were waiting for the bus so he decided to put on his wetsuit to stay warm. It was so funny I had to take a picture of it. 

When we got to the Lady Bay we had to wait around while our lecturers got the equipment ready for us. We got to see the some of the local race horses do their training in the ocean. It made for a very beautiful view.

After all the equipment was sorted out we headed down to the beach. We had one large siene net to catch fish just beyond the breaking waves. Not everyone had wetsuits on so we volunteered if we wanted to help with the whole class samples. I didn't get in on the first round so everything that wasn't in my wetsuit got cold. Sean was nice enough to let me warm up my hands. 

I got in on the second try. It was much warmer in the water than in the air. It was a lot of hard to get the net set and pull it in. The lead line (bottom of the net) didn't have enough wait so we were afraid we weren't going to catch a lot but we got some cool fish.

 Juvenile yellow jacket fish

A small toad fish

 A Goby

Afterwards we broke off into our groups and used smaller nets to do the same thing. Our group caught a total of 6 fish. The second time we went out we caught in a huge wave so our net got pretty tangled. We did end up getting two fish though.  One of our lecturers found a tooth shaped swim bladder washed up in the wrack. 

So it was a successful day out in the field. Then it was time to head back to uni. We complied our data and then set free for the weekend. A group of us headed to the dive shop after class. I bought a hood and a thicker wetsuit. The man who owns the shop gave us incredible deals, again. I told him that I got very cold when I was snorkeling in Port Fairy so he looked around and found one in my size. It has wool weaved in so he said if I got cold he would give me my money back. I tried it one and I couldn't bring my arms down to my side so I am thinking it should be warm enough. I am very excited to try it out!

The rest of the afternoon, I relaxed and took a nap. Around dinner time there was free food at the footie game. We headed over and hung out with the Aussies and ate some food from the barbie. One of the families also brought pavlova. It is like a custard. It was very sweet and very good.

The rest of the night we all got together at one of the houses on uni and hung out. It was a lot of fun and I got to meet more people who go to school here and other exchange students. 

Today, I got to sleep in! I was very excited but I think it is mating season for some of these birds because they woke me up. I got up and got to skype with Amber! So that made up for the birds. Afterwards, I went and worked out in the gym on uni. Went I got back I relaxed for awhile and then got ready to go to the beach with Lianna and some of the girls in her unit. Aiden and his friend picked us up and took us to the beach. The boys went out and body boarded, while us girls relaxed in the sun. I eventually went out swimming. The water was cold but having a wetsuit on made it very comfortable. It was such a beautiful afternoon! The day doesn't seem complete without going in the ocean. Here are some pictures. 

The View

The waves

 The blokes 

Cuties

The girls

After the beach, the rest of the day consisted of talking with Eric and relaxing with my house mates watching our recently fixed TV. Then heading over to another unit to hang out with some more people. Great Saturday!