i was invited to participate in a workshop in adelaide, australia, based on some work i did at the center for ocean solutions a few years ago. after much agonizing over the trip, i decided to go. as expected for a seven day trip, i spent more time on planes and in airports (~55 hours) than i did in the actual workshop (~25 hours). but i got to meet some great people, felt like i contributed to the process, and learned a lot, so in the end i was happy i went.
i did manage to see a few other things than the inside of a conference room...the botanic garden when i arrived (to stave off jet lag), the beach every morning, and a couple of wineries in mclaren vale to round out the trip. and kangaroos. hopping around. marsupials are crazy cool. and definitely not on my radar of commonly thought of things. for example, one night at dinner we were talking about roos and their populations and such. one guy told a story about accidentally hitting one with his car (they essentially take the place of deer in the ecosystem so run-ins with cars happen pretty frequently). he got out of the car to check on the roo, which unfortunately was dead. the next part totally caught me off guard - he checked her pouch to make sure there were no babies in there. right. marsupial. babies on board. crazy.
i did manage to see a few other things than the inside of a conference room...the botanic garden when i arrived (to stave off jet lag), the beach every morning, and a couple of wineries in mclaren vale to round out the trip. and kangaroos. hopping around. marsupials are crazy cool. and definitely not on my radar of commonly thought of things. for example, one night at dinner we were talking about roos and their populations and such. one guy told a story about accidentally hitting one with his car (they essentially take the place of deer in the ecosystem so run-ins with cars happen pretty frequently). he got out of the car to check on the roo, which unfortunately was dead. the next part totally caught me off guard - he checked her pouch to make sure there were no babies in there. right. marsupial. babies on board. crazy.
adelaide botanic garden
rainbow lorikeets playing in the fountain
random field surrounded by scarecrows at the gardens
giant water lily with some serious spikes!
ferris wheel in glenelg, the seaside suburb we stayed in
the pier in glenelg...and the start of my run every morning
chapel hill winery in mclaren vale - yum!
eucalyptus trees where they are meant to be...
