A Group Divided

Hello fellow FANZ followers. Here to report another exciting week is Blogman Brandon, giving you the latest updates on our recent happenings.

Halloween night proved to be an interesting one at that, where our female group members dressed up in whatever exuberant articles of clothing they had while the males choose more simple costumes like cop, cowboy, detective and a duplicate Nick. Sydney was hopping with characters to say the least and it was just as exciting as watching all the city-goers as it was to get dressed up ourselves.

The next morning we woke up early to board our flight to Adelaide where we met our representitive from CVA (Conservation Volunteers of Australia). After a brief safety and information meeting at the CVA office, the moment we had been dreading arrived. For the first time during our trip, the group would be split in half to persue two different projects and not see each other for the rest of the week. We said our goodbyes and parted ways.

My group consisted of Myself, Meghan, James, Katie V, Joseph, Mike, Nick, and Heather. We had a 3 hour car ride to Mt. Remarkable camp site where we would be camping for the week. During this time our campsite was visited by 2 emus, nicknames Tony and Bernice, a family of kangaroo, Cookaburrows, and a giant lizard. During the days we would work in fields getting rid of predominetly 2 invasive species, The Boxthorn and the Iceplant. Both from South Africa, these species of pants are competing with native plants and are causing much harm. We all adorned flynets and giant hats to shield us from the bugs and sun. We were a sight for sore eyes.

The other group (aka Team Hard Core), consisting of Gordie, Wyatt, Conor, Kathleen, Katie B, and Adam had a 7 hour drive to their homestay. There, their project was to survey the number of plants in a given area. This consisted of walking up steep hills and slippery slopes to get the job done. This groups accomodation was much different then the campsite and needless to say we had two different experiences.

We are reuinited and back in Adelaide safe and sound! Now onto the Groovy Grape and our tour through the Outback!

Trivia from the week:
-Flinder's Ranges (mountains in South Australia) have "heaps" of fossils (called ediacaran for those intrigued) from over 550 million years ago. They are the first forms of multi cellular life. Very few other places around the world have these.
-In South Australia, most of the rivers run inland. Therefore, due to the buildup of salt (and iron) on the land, there's a red coloring--picturesque!
-Australia is one of the oldest continents
-South Australia is the driest state in the driest continent in the world.
-And, believe it or not, Australia is the same size as North America
-"Kathleen" is a Greek name, meaning pure, and is also the name of the best trivia master EVER.

Hollaaaaaa!

This is Blogman Brandon signing off, untill next weeks addition of FANZ Carpe Diem.