Tasmania Pt 2

Brush-tailed possum raiding camp

 Pademelon wallaby, also raiding camp. it ate some of my food.

 Near campsite in Fortescue Bay.

 Hiking near Fortescue Bay

 Penal settlement, Port Arthur.

Outskirts of Hobart from the Museum of Old and New Art.

 Roadside echidna (alive)

 Hiking in the rainforest near Mole Creek.

 Back side of Mt Roland, from Mole Creek campsite.  Climbed to the top the next day.

Waiting for the platypus that never showed up.

 Hiking Mt Roland

 Mt Roland

 Mt Roland

 View from the top round trip was 18 kilometers and 1300 meters elevation

 Headed back down

 Very pronounced vegetation changes with altitude.  Rainforest only in the lowermost levels. 

Another echidna.

Tasmania Part 1

 Coastline on the Great Ocean Road from Adelaide to Melbourne

Melbourne at night from our friend's porch

 Melbourne in the daytime

 On the boat, leaving the mainland!

 Downtown Melbourne in the background-it is a pretty big city.

The boat was not crowded at all.

 "Spirit of Tasmania 2" in Port Phillip bay, about to enter the Bass Strait.

Day 1- Hiking Mt Farrell

Approx Route

Driving to Strahan

Campsite, Macquarie Heads Camp Ground

Macquarie Harbor

The "Gates of Hell"

Went on a half-day cruise through the harbor- got out and walked around at several places.  Maybe the highlight of the trip.  This is Tasmanian Rainforest on the Gordon River.

 The boat

Sarah Island- Former convict colony.  raining,

 Ruins of the convict settlement.

 On the Road to Port Arthur- beautiful landscape.  

More later!

G-Hawker Magazine

John - The Fall 2013 issue of G-Hawker Magazine arrived today.  We found several items regarding you...

Cover of the G-Hawker...

 This is the University of Kansas -  Department of Geology's informational magazine resource for Alumni and Friends

Your major professor's (Stephen T. Hasiotis) column - mentioning your come-back...

This is the section on recently awarded degrees from the Department of Geology.

Apprently, an Honors Banquet was held in May - and YOU were recognized with the Erasmus Haworth Honor Award for Outstanding Master's Student.  Of course, yall were in Australia by that time.  They listed you as Johnathon W. Counts.



Well - congratulations from your family on all of these recognitions and honors.  It really was a great come-back to complete the thesis and successfully defend it after going to work with Encana.  I know of many students who just never finish that last - important step, after starting their career.  You certainly are to be commended for that!  

Thanks to everyone who encouraged you in this time - I am sure that Shelagh deserves a lot of credit here. 

Hope all is well in Adelaide!

more trip photos

About to head out on a day trip to lead some engineering students, but just wanted to post a few more photos first.  In chronologioc order but leaving out a lot, when I was using the other camera.  Will post more later. 


Kangaroos

 The kitchen in Yankaninna Stiation, where we stayed one night.  The oldest continually occupied log cabin in Australia, or so I was told.

Camp #2

Field site on U. Station

More field area at site 2

 Driving to Arkaroola.  Pretty good road here.

nooldoonooldoona?

The old Bolla Bollana Copper Mine- lots of tourists here.

For the group trip we met up and went to Bunyeroo Gorge, a populer geological trail.  Much greener and cooler down there than the stations in the north.

Wilpena Pound from Merna Mora.

Yellow-tailed rock wallabies in the Nat. Park.   They are a threatened species I think...

Saw another echinda this trip.

Creek roo.

OK, more later.