NorthWest Island Marine Camp

I was able to join 9 teachers and parents and 34 marine students on a marine camp at NorthWest Island. We left on a Monday morning at 4 am on a bus and drove for 4 hours then got off the bus and loaded a barge with all of our supplies for the week. The barge was about an 8 hour trip and we got to the island in just enough time to unload the barge and set up camp. Once camp was set up everyone was pretty tired and we just went to bed. Looking forward to the next several days of exploring an island and learning about all the marine life in the Great Barrier Reef. On the following Sunday at 8 pm we loaded up the barge and then made our way back to school and arrived a bit dirty and smelly but full of stories and smiles about the adventures we all had.

What camp looked like

The island had only one building and that was the compositing toilet. With no power on the island and no one else but teachers and students we were truely isolated. We had to bring all of our tents, food, water, bbqs, and camp stoves for the week. The teachers and parents had their own area and the students had theirs close by. We as teachers and parents took turns preparing dinner each evening while at camp (we each cooked it in advance and brought it frozen). We took turns with the kitchen duties and throughout the day we all had jobs to do while the students were learning. Some were part of the scuba dive team, some were apart of the different marine activities, some did the nature walks, and some did the reef walking. I had my own morning activity I was in charge of, but after that I went from different activities daily to see what the students did. The marine teacher has been doing this camp for over 15 years and had mastered it completely. Everything went off smoothly. :-)

Some free time

I did have some free time on the island and I used it to walk around on my own and also did some sea Kayaking. The boat I took out had a glass bottom so when I was kayaking I could see what was underneath. Very cool. Some of the students even had time to do some fishing and here is a picture of one that was caught!

The second day

The second day we went for a walk around the island which is about 3-4 km around. The marine teacher was explaining how the island was formed and how is it constantly changing. I also went on a walk through the island and learned about the trees and other vegetation. In the above pictures there are some bird nests in some of the trees. In the 1950's the island was used to make and process turtle soup. The crockery that you see in one of the photos is an old canning pot that was used for processing. You can still see the lines on the ocean floor where the carts took the cans of turtle soup to the mainland ready for the North American and Asian markets.

Walking the Reef at Low Tide

Just a few pictures of the reef at low tide.

Reef Walking

Here is just a few things we found on our several afternoons reef walking. You could come out here every day and never see the same thing twice. The students were great every time they found something interesting they called me over and I ran over to see what they had discovered and took lots of photos.

More Reef Walking

More reef walking pictures. In these pictures you can see a type of reef shark, a seacucumber, a star fish and a sea scallop (yum yum).

More Reef Walking

Just some of the marine life we found walking around during low tide.

More Reef Pictures

We flipped rocks to see what was under them and the small creatures such as crabs and small fish would scatter. The colors under the rocks were brillant. There was all kinds of algae, and clams, and soft and spongee life. I could have spent many more days just flipping over the rocks to see what was underneath.

Whale Sightings

On the last morning of activities we were in a small boat and the driver of our boat spotted whales in the distance. We drove up as close as we could and and saw 2 large humpback whales and 1 smaller one. It was so incredible to see them. The waves were quite high and I was taking a lot of pictures but often by the time the camera adjusted I had missed the shot. It was so amazing to see them so close, they were just doing their thing and did not care that we were all mesmerized by their actions. It is really something I will never forget.

Shark sightings

On the last afternoon, after all the water activities were done we all went in several small boats past the reef and took some bait to see if we could lure sharks close to our boats. We did!! It was pretty amazing. Our group saw two sharks. They never broke the surface of the water but I did manage to get a couple of pictures. Our boat took a fish as bait and tied it to a rope. They came to smell the fish but never ate it while it was on the rope.

Last day on NorthWest Island

The eight days on the island were full of new and wonderful experiences. It was actually a bit hard leaving. The students (as well as myself) learned a lot about marine life. It was truely a trip that I won't forget.

Bunya Mountain National Park

The weekend of July 25th we joined the Queensland Teacher Exchange Group for a weekend in the Bunya Mountains. Steph is holding a pine cone from one of the Bunya pine trees. Between December and March pine cones fall from the trees(about 150 ft up) and they say you need to be very careful during that time not to stand too close to the base of the trees as the cones weigh about 10 lbs and could seriously injure a person. In the 1800's aboriginals used to travel from all around Queensland to the Bunya Mountains once every year to feast on the pine cones. (mmm...yummy)

Teachers and Friends

On a walk through the rainforest

Steph swinging on a vine