My arrival in Australia began with a bang, as category five cyclone Yasi smashed into Queensland and devestated the coast. We spent 36 hours locked down in a central stronghold as the storm passed, awakening the next morning to shattered trees, flooded forest and a loss of power that would last nearly a week. Fortunately for us, the eye wall made landfall further south and we avoided the most damaging winds that so severely impacted Mission Beach and Tully.
Aside from the worst cyclone to hit Australia in recent memory, my week has been somewhat quiet. The drive to the Center from Cairns was breathtaking. We wound through the 2,500 ft escarpment of the Atherton Tablelands, passing through lush green pastures, dry sclerophyll forest and finally ascending into the lush green of the tropical rainforest. Possums (very different from the North American species), pademelons (miniature kangaroos), and bandicoots are plentiful on site as is the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo. My snake adventures have been limited due to the weather (and not just Yasi) as I literally haven't seen the sun since my arrival. It has been unusually moist here on the Atherton Tablelands and we've had heavy rain daily. Yet I have managed to see two species, the Slaty-grey Snake (a harmless visitor of waterways that I collected while attempting to find a platypus) and the Small-eyed Snake (an elapid relative in size and morphology to the North American Coral Snake).
I am hopeful that the weather makes a turn for the better, although it is the wet season and rain is likely until March. Classes start full-time tomorrow (we were forced off of schedule - or "shhedule" as the Aussies would say - by cyclone Yasi) and I need to go work on an essay. Until next time..
