So it's probably about time for a posting. After a weekend spent checking out the town and a couple days of work, I have a pretty good idea of what life will be like for the next 6 months. And I've realized that it's gonna be awesome. If you like sports and being around the water, this place is paradise. There is a yacht club that has organized sailing on the harbor every fortnight and beginning at daylight savings there are Thursday twilight races on the ocean for yachts where anyone offering beer is welcome to be crew. There's a fishing club where for a $15 fee you get great discounts at the restaurant and it's easy to meet fisherman who can take you out deep sea fishing.

Everybody is really friendly and will invite you to things without hesitation. Sometimes they don't really mean it , like the case where I met a guy at the yacht club. After talking for a bit, he invited me out for a sail with him next weekend, then said I should come out for a barbie at his place that night, and finally suggested that I room with his brother after mentioning that I am looking for a roomate. He left and we never finalized any of it. But I met a waitress at a cafe near the hostel and she invited me to a dive tomorrow evening with a research group she is part of. Another guy I met, Henry, is really cool. I was up early in the morning for a few days after arrivng because of the time difference so I hiked to the top of an island that forms part of the breakwater for the harbor to watch the sunrise (~6:30am). I saw him down at the rocks fishing and I went to talk to him. He knows everything about the area and about fishing that there is to know and can talk your ear off. I watched him fish for a couple hours and saw him reel in 3 tailor, about 3/4 kilo each. He showed me how to gut them and take care of them before taking them home. I met him the following morning at the same place and he let me fish with his other rod and on my second cast, I reeled in a 1 kilo tailor. You wouldn't believe how many fish there are in the waters. Others who were using live bait were catching their limit (20 per person) but Henry prefers to fish fairly with artificial bait. After fishing with Henry, I go watch the big fishing vessels unload their catch from the night before. They catch loads of prawns, squid, sharks, other fish, and beautiful yellowfin tuna. They all tell you everything you want to know.

Living at the hostel has been really fun so far. I've been fortunate to have great roommates. There are tons of Germans and Japanese tourists here. I get along with the Germans really well and a couple of them I have gotten pretty close to and would consider friends. They both joined me to watch the sunrise this morning. Unfortunately they are both leaving today and continuing their journey. Coffs Harbour seems to be a town that people often just pass through on their way north to the better surfing beaches or Brisbane or the Great Barrier Reef. They were both here for 2-3 days and we've agreed to keep in touch.

It's easy to forget that I am here for work. After my second day at work, I think I will be involved in many interesting things. I'm still doing orientations and inductions and paperwork but I will be doing labwork tomorrow. Today I went with the leader of the Schools Program during one of his sessions with 8th grade kids to a local beach where we tried to identify some marine organisms that we filtered from the sand. The Science Center is a beautiful building right on a resort but it's undergoing quite a lot of construction. We are installing new tanks and trying to convert a bathroom into a hatchery. So there might be a lot of manual labor in addition to research. The people are very friendly and really laid-back. Many are hardcore surfers (they do it on their lunch breaks) and said they'll get me into it. The center has a dive boat and it's used about a couple times a week by students doing research projects and I am welcome to join anytime. It's supposed to be amazing.

There are many things I am leaving out...played tennis with a bunch of old fogeys on astroturf with sand (the only surface around here), walked into town which is very pretty, and learned all about didgeridoos from a local at the Sunday market, among many other things.

So basically, come visit me! Also, I want to see some pictures of Duck Dodge! Until next time.