Lake Barrine

My classroom-I took the picture sitting in a windowsill.



Cubbies- for 30 students, it gets a little messy. That is my new friend/cabinmate Christy.



Dining room/porch. This is my favorite place to do homework. In the background of the picture is the food serving area and the reach in fridge (yum).

Not much is new here at the Centre- I'm still working through the paper. Yesterday we spent most of the day with Doug and Sid- aboriginal brother and sister- who taught us about aboriginal history in Australia and some traditions. We passed around some several hundred year old artifacts- axeheads and milling stones- that would be worth upwards of four million dollars on the private collectors market. The group of us were so tired that over the lunch break, we just laid in their front yard and napped. It was quite a sight.

Last night there was a 'cookout' with burgers from the kitchen and s'mores up at the fire ring- all student organized. It was fun- and the Australian s'mores with dense marshmallows and dark chocolate were delicious.

Today, my free day, we had been planning to do a huge hike. However, it is very steep so the staff advised us that with the forcasted thunderstorms that we should make alternative plans. A smaller group of us ended up going to a volcanic crater lake, Lake Barrine, that had a walking track and a very cute teahouse. I ate some tasty scones and laid around on a towel (with serious sunscreen) and finally cracked open the Lonely Planet Australia Guide. It was pretty fantastic, considering that it was the backup plan! Tomorrow we start another Field Excercise for a different professor, so I'm sure I will be starting another paper as soon as this one is finished.