Conservation Volunteers Australia—Final Thoughts

read the first and second posts before this, the third.
Out there the weather changes so quickly and sharply that it would be easy to get stuck, and was evidenced by spectacular downpours we saw on the drive back, opposite bright blue skies. Rainbows appeared every 10 minutes on the road, as we passed through showers and storms. It actually snowed in Melbourne that weekend, something it hadn’t done in a while. While working on the site we could noticeably recognize and impending storm, the temperature dropping considerably as one of the most noticeable signs. Also It should be noted that Australia’s sky is incredibly high, which is even more present when you can see for miles under the great blue thing.
Out there we saw things that we could never have in the city. The wildlife for one, but also the dramatic landscapes that make up Australia. Out here the hills are numerous, and nature abounds. There were cows, this was truly farming country. The ground was hard, filled with rocks where it hadn’t been tilled. Though the hills were green, it was deceiving; this wasn’t grass, rather a weedy substance that meant that livestock could only be kept in small numbers.
I’ve probably made this out to sound like the most miserable place on earth, but the rain is desperately needed in this area (like the rest of Australia). Badger pointed out that for every centimeter of new plant growth was a centimeter of rainfall. The amount of rain we had had in the proceeding weeks had been bizarrely abnormal, and as a consequence there were several inches of new plant growth on the already established trees.
And finally a short note on Badger. This crazy dude has been all over the place. Fighting wildfires, playing baseball in America (he’s serious obsessed with this terrible sport), and meeting random celebrities like WWE’s Rick Flair, the Game and Batista. He was full of stories. And I mean busting at the seams. He was energetic and a generally good person to be around, truly amicable. This guy’s crazy.

Rain, rain go away…

Who said Australia was in a drought? As I write this it is currently pouring outside, and has been all morning (fun for walking to classes!). This is probably the heaviest I’ve ever seen it rain here, but regardless it hasn’t been sunny everyday here. Melbourne is bizarre in that you can see sun in one corner of the sky and it can be raining on you. The random and unpredictable showers have the habit of catching you out…generally when you have two hands full of groceries. Back to the original thought of Australia drought, I can’t conceive that this country could be in a drought with the amount of rain we’ve experience just in the last 4 weeks. The water restrictions (they say 4 minute showers, no washing cars etc.) seem a little extreme. On the bright side though (excuse the pun), the sun-shower mix means that we’ve seen some pretty intense rainbows—in fact quite a few. Pictures!Also props to whoever said that I would get here and it would rain all the time…thanks!