To DS or Not

A peaceful car journey was completed yesterday from Port Macquarie all the way home. I’d like to say its cause my kids are awesome at travelling but that’s just lying. The truth! It’s the DS, DSi, IPod and IPhones that bought the peace. When they first came out we thought they were just another unnecessary electric gadget. Now I accept they are an essential part of the next generation. We had a gadget break and the whole car turned into an imaginary game involving a toy bat, a plastic red back spider and five super hero figurines. There was larva and various weapons but no hurling insults at the drivers for making a boring car journey. The DS inspired the kids imagination, there was no brain dead robots from playing these vivid computer games.

The DS gave us the freedom to take the boys away on a geology field trip looking at rocks. We swam at the beach, hunted for sea creatures, climbed rocks, explored National Parks, watched a movie and spent time together. Rather than being the Mum stuck at home awaiting for my hubby to return from his uni field work we went along. Overall the DS made our adventure peaceful and possible with minimal

“are we there yet” 

Snakes and field work

Meet Mr Red Belly Black Snake. How this little mate made me jump in the field. Drinking tinnies during bushfires does not save lives. Actually evidence implies that this poor snake was drinking post-fire as he was not burnt but the tin is. His head got stuck and he never escaped. The second snake photo is much less scary.

I went to the same sites at Mount Bold, South Australia to measure erosion pins over two and a half years. The first year was fine as the vegetation was so burnt the snakes could easily be seen. By the last trip I was walking through vegetation up to my head just hoping no wriggling reptile felt like biting me. I carried a snake bandage just in case. It’s one of those tricky situations as a PhD student. Ideally you do field work in pairs so someone can call for help if you get bitten. This either requires a large budget to pay for field assistance or some dedicated friends. I actually didn’t want company as an additional person would only cause more erosion to my field sites. There were less than 5 snakes I saw during my fieldwork. It was still 5 too many.