Friday August 22, 2014
I got up early to pack and get everything ready to go for the Fishcare Conference. I was heading up to Ballarat with Mitch, Cal, Tim, and Liam. It was a fun trip up. The guys are really funny! By the time we got close to Ballarat to stop for lunch my face hurt from smiling so much. We stopped at Subway to grab a quick bite to eat. The people at subway got bug eyes when I started talking. They must not get to see many Americans. After two tries we got to the correct address for the conference. We were just in time for all the meetings. It was interesting to see how the meetings were run. We got to unpack before dinner. Dinner was great! I got to meet other Fishcare members from the other side of the state. Us uni kids, were kids in this meeting. There was a large age group gap, but it was still fun. After dinner was our first presenter.
Taylor Hunt was a fisheries scientist. He had a very interesting talk about slot limits on fish and how to sustain a population particularly the murray cod.
After the presentation, we all sat around and had social drinks and talked. It was fun to hear the stories of the older guys. A lot of them were very cheeky too. We finally made it to bed at midnight. I was in a cabin with all the uni kids, I was the only girl. There was no heating in the building we were sleeping in. I was very happy Lauren lent me her sleeping bag because when we all got up in the morning we could see our breath.
Saturday August 23, 2014
On the way to breakfast we were greeted by a Kookaburra.
After breakfast we went on a walk around the camp. It was a cool but very beautiful morning.
Golden Wottle tree 
Sundew (Drosera whittakeri)?
Another Kookaburra 
There were three or four different kinds of birds flying around us. Many of them were nesting and fighting over territory. At one point four birds started attacking each other mid flight and it began to snow feathers. They were all alright. This rainbow lorikeet was not happy we were under its nest even though it was 4 meters up.
Near the old gold mines.
It was a boy scout camp so there were different stations as part of the "confidence course". We had to try a bunch of them.
We got back just in time for the first presentation of the day. It was about fly fishing.
It is a grown man's version of arts and crafts.
Our next presentation was done by a taxidermist. He had some really big fish stories!
Shark jaws!
After lunch, the uni kids stopped at the tackle story before we headed over to the Ballarat hatchery. This hatchery is the oldest hatchery in mainland Australia. They have been growing up fish since 1870 and it is all volunteer based. The anglers from around the Ballarat community are the primary care takers of the hatchery.
Rainbow Trout hatchlings
Brown trout 
Brown Trout eggs
For sale
We took a quick break and went to Dan Murphy's before heading back to camp. We got back for a another presentation done by Dianne Bray. She was from the Melbourne Museum. This was by far my favourite presentation so far! We had dinner afterwards and one more presentation by the VRfish representer. It was very interesting to see the different perspectives of fishermen and scientists on how the waterways should be managed. I can see the issues that will arise if I get into a field of work like this. We were all tired by the end of the presentation. We all sat around again and had a few social drinks before people began to head for bed. We ended up heading our into Ballarat to experience the night life there. It was so much fun! We went to the Bluestone night club and just danced! The boys didn't want to take a taxi home, so we walked home. Luckily the storm had passed and it was little warmer. We all were super tired when we got back. We all got into bed and talked for 5 minutes, but then as soon as the last person said a word, the snores began to fill the room.
Sunday August 24, 2014
We managed to all get up and get breakfast. I was tired but ready for a half a day of presentations. The first presentation was on antique firearms.
The presenter was pretty excited to hear I was from America. The gun in my right hand was made in New York in the 1830s.
Between the presentations we had some furry visitors. You know your in Australia when... kangaroos literally live your back yard.
https://plus.google.com/107577374683880825997/posts/DxJxKVa8qUJ hopping down the road.
Our next presentation was by a fisheries officer. It was a very good presentation!
Then we had to pack up and start to say our goodbyes before lunch.
We had lunch and with Dave giving the final presentation of goal for the upcoming year the conference officially ended. We helped clean up and pack up. Then we crammed in the car and headed back to Warrnambool. I got a cat nap in! Then we stopped at Mortlake to try the shire famous potato cakes. It was pretty good.
When I got back this is what I saw...
Chris had broken into my room and moved my bed out into the living room. I just started laughing. Everyone in the house was jealous of my mattress. I guess it is the comfiest one in the house. Jackie and Chris ended up making me dinner while I cleaned up. We had a relaxing night as a house. I went to bed as soon as the boys moved my bed back in my room.
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