The past week has been split into so many different emotions! In this blog i will talk about the work aspects. Read down if you want to know about me bumping into a SNAKE!!!

So as you would probably guess doing volunteer work in australia would be quite tough! That is a HUGE understatement! leaving at 7 30 in the morning and not returning back to the lodge until about 6pm! Working in the heat is one thing, just getting out the truck you start sweating, added by the fact there is very little shade for most of the work, having to wear trousers and long sleeve tops to protect yourself from sun and pretty much everything else. Its become a very simple fact that alot of the things around where we were are poinsonous, 'dont touch that, make sure not that, that with burn, that will itch...' the list is endless! so having the whole body cover is tough!
We are actually working on what in maybe 5-10 years will be deeper darker rainforest, although atm its going through reforestation. We are doing various different jobs to help trees which have been planted grow to help re-build the rainforest. The main job we have been doing in 'Mulching' this involves putting loads of hay around every single tree (trees are planted every 2m in HUGE padocks of land) to try and help keep the moisture so that they can feed out of wet season!
However weeds have taken over loads so as you can guess this because a huge job as well de-weeding it! this involves cutting vines off them, stripping them of the vines and then painting the vine routes with poison, very physical work!
This is where i became a master with a machetie! im known as 'machetie master or man now'! you must understand however although the weeds and vines around the small trees are small. Some of the routes in the bigger forests are the size of small trees in england, so takes a fair little while to hack through the basses to get to the routes! similarly there is no room for tabacoe trees and about 30 other types of weeds/ foreign tress/ plants so i spend large chunks of day hacking away with a machetie which is sooo much fun but so tiring!

I was very lucky or unlucky depending on your view on wednesday however. I had gone on a mission on my own to get rid of a bunch of vines and weeds while everyone else was mulching, with just the guide lady keeping an eye on me from the bank above. I climbed under a bannana tree branch, and when scanning the area my eyes landed on something with scales and a quick glance would have it at about 3m long, hands wouldnt fit around it. A Carpet Python! I kind of let out a squeeke and she tried to reasure me that it wouldnt bite or atleast, the bites not venemous so not dangerous, however i was definatly in range if it decided i was lunch! Everyone else were very kind and let me take pictures of it for them, passing down their cameras 1 by 1 while i stood maybe 2m, away from this snake who by this time was definately aware of my precense! It finally decided to slither off... my heart was pumping soo hard through all of that! By the time it came to my camera i was so shaky took 3 attempts to take a good picture!

AMAZING!