Lambshead

Another exciting weekend, I climbed my second mountain! The peak was called Lambshead, the highest peak in the Lambs Range, and it "presents a challenging adventure for the experienced bushwalker" according to guidebooks. It was certainly less steep of a climb than the Pyramid, a similar elevation spread over a 7km hike to peak (instead of Pyramid's 1km). Which meant that I could actually enjoy the view this time, not hyperventilate, and carry on a conversation.

Lunch time!

It was a lot of fun, with five different lookouts. Some were huge boulders with flat tops to sit on and a couple were basically cliffs that you could stand at the edge of. We took the most scenic lunch break ever at the top of the mountain and by the time we got back down it had been seven hours since the start. A few people almost got to do part of the hike again- one of our regular loners had not come back with the group. Search parties had been organized and were starting to be sent out as she turned up, not twenty minutes behind the last group to arrive. We took a dip at Davies Creek before the hour and a half drive back.

View from the top. Just over the mountain range past the lake, you can see Cairns (upper middle) and then the ocean.

As far as what I've been up to, lectures and directed research projects would be the answer. In addition to our second half of classes, we have a 4 credit class where the students divide according to research interest and conduct research. My project supervisor is the environmental socio-econ. professor and my project is about local foods in the Atherton Tablelands. I'm doing a case study instead of a typical scientific experiment which means that I'll be doing several sitdown interviews and putting out a few questionnaires. In fact, I've already done some surveying at the Yungaburra markets this past Saturday. The market travels around the Tablelands and is in Yungaburra once a month, so we used it for the research. The market was a great combination of arts and crafts fair, clothing stalls, and food from wholesalers (who buy farmers' leftovers). Back to research for me!