It has been a little over three weeks now and I consider myself one of the luckiest people in the world. The area offers everything I could ask for and the internship is awesome as well. It is no surprise everybody here also considers themselves very lucky to be living in this part of the world. I have yet to run into somebody in a bad mood.

Work keeps getting more and more interesting. I really enjoy coming to work and think I have finally found something I love doing. The environment is laid-back but the people are really passionate about their work. Morning "smokes" include having a "fag" (a cigarette) for those who want to and tea and biscuits for all. This is followed shortly by lunchbreak (during which I walk to the beach and eat with a co-worker). I have been spending much time on construction of the hatchery and setting up outdoor tanks. This week we will be raising sea urchins in the tank. We will also be buying 6 clownfish and trying to get them to breed. I have also been doing a lot of work with middle school students during their field trips here. We led them on excursions to rocky headlands, sandy shores, mangroves, and estuaries to study the different species they encounter.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to go diving with the post-graduates, but since I hadn't completed a dive medical, I could only go snorkeling. We went to an island in the Solitary Island Marine Park an hours ride north of Coffs. It was spectacular. On the boat ride up, we saw humpback whales migrating south for the summer and dolphins. The island has the highest concentration of clownfish in the world. I saw countless reef fish, including a huge bright blue one called a blue groper. Unfortunately the underwater housing for my digital camera hadn't come in yet so I couldn't take any underwater pictures. The visibility underwater was "horrendous" anyway (or so they said) so the pictures wouldn't have been that great anyway, relatively speaking. Apparently all the rain from last week carried tons of sediment out to sea. The people that came along were really fun and interesting.

Last weekend I stopped by the Yacht Club and a guy (or "bloke") took me sailing. We went out into the harbor on a 14' Hobie Maricat. The swell from the sea (about 4 feet) was coming directly into the harbor so we sailed out to the edge and surfed the waves back into shore. It was the most stressful sailing I've done. A wave is measured from its crest to the back of the wave, so when you're in the trough, it looks about twice as high. I thought the waves would break over us every time. They never did and we went really fast.

I'm still living in the hostel and though it has been relatively empty (I had the 6 person room to myself for 3 days), I am still meeting very interesting people. Recently, most backpackers have been from France though there have been several Swedes. I went out with 3 French people (strangers to each other) on Friday night to a couple hotels (pubs/clubs) in town. Popular music here is very similar to that in America. They do love the Scissor Sisters and I've never heard so much REM. A popular Australian band, Silverchair, is quite good and they are coming to Coffs this weekend.

I still start every day watching sunrise on top of Muttonbird Island and talking with Henry, the fisherman I have gotten to know. He is one of the most knowledgeable people I have ever met. Interestingly, he has a Mr. Universe title in his age group (over 60). His training and dieting regime is really intense, as he still competes overseas and is preparing for nationals in Melbourne in a week. I watch the fishing boats unload their catch and make conversation with the fishermen. As part of a work project, I am going out on a prawn trawler for a couple of days in order to write up a lesson for students on seafood handling and processing. I will also be interviewing the manager of the fishing co-op on the pier.

I have finally gotten around to buying some essentials: a digital camera with underwater housing, a wetsuit for surfing (which I will start doing with co-workers after work or during lunch), and a cell phone ("mobile").

There are countless of other things I could go on about, like the lunar eclipse, the crying of hundreds of shearwater chicks after sunset on Muttonbird Island, the great markets, etc. I'll let some of my pictures do the talking.

Until next time!