This morning I was on Gini's team checking traps. Out at about 7 am with the car warning us of low fuel. There was not too much bush bashing this morning and I survived the whole morning without using my stick!
We found a total of 4 quolls and 1 devil. The devil and two of the quolls were new to the study so had to be microchipped and hair and tissue samples taken.
We took a detour to Marrawah for fuel and had finished our final site when Gini received a phone call from the habitat group that they could not find the camera trap. Joy and I waited at the car while Gini and David walked the 2 km to find them and lead them to the camera.
While we were waiting (just over an hour as apparently they had walked well beyond the trap) Joy and I did a bit of botanising then she sat on a log. I found another log, checked for critters, then sat down. Within minutes my back was covered in bull ants ("inchmen") and they started to bite. Joy saw them and I had to strip off vest, shirt and pants so we could shake them off. Luckily no-one came back as I was down to underwear. Joy got one bite trying to help and I got about 10 bites - ouch!
Eventually the others returned and we went home for a late lunch, removing leeches from some of the others (one about 2 inches long and 1/2 inch thick).
The afternoon for Joy and I was spent on data entry and washing while the others all went out on various work or sightseeing teams.
Our pre-dinner talk was by Gini this evening and Leslie from the boat yesterday came to listen too.
Dinner was followed by a bit of star gazing and admiring Jupiter at its closest point to earth, rising as the sun set beautifully yet again over the mouth of the Arthur River with huge waves blown upright by the offshore wind.
One of the best parts of these expeditions is hearing about the experiences others have had during the day. It is also interesting to see that even the younger ones get exhausted and need their "nanna naps" or even more comatose catch-up sleeps during the day.
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