Fiji is Paradise

Hi everyone! For the next two weeks I'll be doing a marine conservation and diving volunteer program with Vinaka Fiji on the little island of Drawaqa in the Yasawas region of Fiji. I seriously can't believe I am here. I am pinching myself constantly to remind myself that this is real! My lifelong dream of studying the marine biology of coral reefs has finally come true!! Woo!

I arrived yesterday in a little boat and hopped off onto the white sandy beach at Barefoot Resort. My super cool volunteer coordinators (a retired couple from New Zealand) met me and explained a little about what I'm going to be doing. Basically this:

Manta Rays, happy dance!!!

Then they sent me to my hostel dorm room, which turned out to look like this:

The window on the right is where my bed is :)

With this view:

Mind blown.

Today I started learning some of my reef fish species in preparation for starting the official marine biodiversity surveys tomorrow. I have to memorize the 27 species of butterfly fish here in Fiji, so all morning I studied this card, and then went out snorkeling to find some in the wild. I saw 16 of the 27 species on 3 snorkel trips today.

The place I'm staying is also a hotel, so there is a ton of other fun stuff to do as well. Since it was Sunday here, and technically my day off, I tried to fit in as many fun things as possible too! Me and one of my new friends circumnavigated the island in a kayak, which took about 2 hours! Then we went snorkeling and then a bunch of us went rappelling on a cliff at sunset! It was a great day for sure.

Can't wait to see what the next two weeks will bring!

Life Philosophies from Punk Rock and Bill and Ted

So you all probably know by now that I'm a total biology and environment geek. So, it's no surprise that my project for my time at home in Toronto has been to read a lot of environmental books and watch a bunch of nature documentaries. It's been great leading the retirement life with my parents reading on the porch! But unfortunately, in all of these books and movies, the messages are scary. Seriously scary and fucked up, people! The ocean is becoming so warm and acidic from carbon emissions that all the coral reefs will most likely die by the year 2100. Sea ice is melting so fast that within our lifetime there may be no polar bear habitat left. Right now there is more plastic than plankton in some parts of the ocean. Aren't you already depressed?! OMG, me too!!


So what can we do? We ultimately have two choices... we either give up, or fight. I have been seriously considering giving up and just running away, living in a cave by myself to get away from our crazy capitalist society that is ruining everything. But it would probably get pretty damp and lonely in there. Instead, I choose to fight!

But what does fighting mean to me? Well, I'm still figuring that out for the most part. Right now I'm super content exploring this amazing planet we call home and expanding my knowledge and experience of the world, working on conservation projects going on around the planet, and sharing my experiences with you. I feel like at the end of my journey I will be able to put it all together and do something to make a positive impact. I wish I was a super brilliant engineer who could find some amazing technology to solve the world's problems, but sadly my brain just doesn't work that way, dammit!!

Even though I think we are at the point where as a society we do have to fight in order to avoid a large scale catastrophe, I am also aware of the bigger picture. No matter what happens at this point in time, life will go on. After all, don't forget that there have been 5 great extinctions in the history of our planet where 95% of life forms died out. We wouldn't be here if those didn't happen. Many scientists believe that we are on the verge of the sixth great extinction right now. But even if life as we know it is going to hell, we are still here now in this great mysterious experiment we call life, and there's really nothing we can do about that. And in the big picture of the universe, do we really even matter? Probably not. We're really just an interesting fluke of evolution. As The Vandals point out in one of my favourite 90's punk songs, in 5 billion years the sun will explode and no one will know that we were ever here, it's a fact!

So, you know what, we might as well enjoy life and make the most of it! Happiness is the most important thing. Not money, not status, not collecting stuff, just doing something that makes you truly happy. Fuck what other people think and do something that makes YOU happy! No one wants to wake up when they are 80 and think back on your younger years and wish you had done tons of stuff you didn't do!

Right now I've been the happiest ever traveling and volunteering. This has been my dream for so long and I'm living it!! It is the best decision I ever made, to follow my heart and it's been totally amazing. But eventually I'll have to go back to work. We spend so much of our lives at work, that it better be something enjoyable. But why is this so hard in our society?! I'm going to go for it, and try to make a living doing something I love.

For me that means less desk (don't I look overjoyed?)...

...and more of this! (that's a baby tern!)

Awesome hobbies are also super important. I don't want to watch life happen on TV, I want to make a super interesting life happen in reality! For me it's mostly about adventure, nature and outdoors. Put me near the ocean or a snowy mountain and I'll be good. But of course my life needs a healthy dose of partying, dancing and rock concerts too!  

But probably the very best thing in life is surrounding yourself with people you love and who love you. Positive people who boost your soul are where it's at. For me, I am infinitely blessed to have my mom and dad and so many friends that I love.

My bff's since Grade 9!

For me it's really that simple. I don't want to make tons of money or have tons of stuff. I'd be way happier sharing a cool little eco-friendly house (Treehouse maybe? Solar powered definitely!) with cool people, my own veggie garden and a mountain or ocean in the backyard where I can go hiking or rock climbing or scuba diving or wildlife watching or whatever other adventure I dream up!

My dream house!

So that's it, I'm putting this out to the universe, now all there is left to do is continue living it and loving it, and making it happen. We can all create the uncaged life we dream of. Let go of conventions and expectations and go for it!

I watched this movie with my Dad when I was probably about 7 years old. The message has stuck with me for life, and Bill and Ted sum up my life philosophy quite nicely... 

Be excellent to each other, and party on dudes!

Flower Pots and Diving with Shipwrecks

Toronto is great, and I love it. It's my home! But it can feel a bit suffocating for me at times, with all the skyscrapers and highways and traffic and other such signs of civilization. I am a nature girl, and I need to get out of this concrete jungle whenever I can! Thankfully, here in my province, there is A LOT of beauty. In fact, just a few hours north of the city is a totally spectacular spot, the Bruce Peninsula National Park. The park is an amazing collection of limestone cliffs, caves and white rocky beaches contrasting with the stunning crystal clear turquoise waters of Georgian Bay. I had never been there before, so when I heard that my good friend Barb was going camping there, I totally invited myself on her trip, haha!

I don't think she is too mad I crashed her Bruce Peninsula party!

As soon as I arrived, Barb and I immediately set off on our first adventure on a glass bottomed boat to Flower Pot Island to see the famed giant "flower pots". These are are huge limestone towers formed by thousands of years of erosion. They were really dramatic along the shoreline of the island. We hiked around some of the trails and saw some really cool scenery.

It's a flower pot!

These things are huge!

The limestone formed some really interesting patterns along the shore

Adding to the inukshuk... mere minutes before accidentally knocking over the top half... oops!

Barb at a super cool section of trail

Inter-species snake cuddle time

Cave exploring

The glass bottom boat also took us over a few of the shipwrecks in a little cove (http://www.blueheronco.com/shipwrecks-of-tobermory.html).  There are a ton of shipwrecks in Georgian Bay from the 1800's and early 1900's mostly due to severe winter storms. Can you imagine trying to navigate a giant boat through tons of little rocky islands in a white-out? Nope me neither.

View of the wreck through the glass-bottom window

The wreck of the schooner The Sweepstakes from 1885

The wreck of the steamer The City of Grand Rapids from 1907,
so shallow it is literally popping right out of the water!

Back at our campsite later that evening, we hiked out to the Grotto, an incredibly beautiful spot. We watched the sunset and it was really romantic. We cuddled and it was a beautiful moment hehehe ;)

By the time we hiked back to camp, it was dark out. But it turned out to be a totally awesome night hike, full of wildlife! We spotted a Red-bellied snake, a salamander (the first one I've ever seen in the wild!) and a Northern leopard frog!

Red-bellied snake

Salamander.. which kind, I'm not sure... any ideas anyone?

Northern leopard frog

The next day, we set off on our snorkeling and diving trip in the Fathom Five National Marine Park in Tobermory, which is one of the top 10 diving spots in the WORLD!!! http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/amnc-nmca/on/fathomfive/activ/activ2.aspx. The water here is really clear and the wrecks are really well preserved. It was actually a pretty cool and windy day when we went, and the water was even colder! We donned two wetsuits each, and hoped for the best as we plunged into the water! The first dive was pretty shallow, and the wreck was preserved really well, even though it was from the 1800's. There were lots of round gobies (even though they're invasive... but that's a whole other blog post) and crayfish swimming around, and at one point I was swimming along at eye level with a few bass! The second dive was deeper, and man was it cold down there. Pretty much the only part of my body not covered by a wetsuit was my upper lip, and it felt like freezing cold icicles were forming on my lip at first! Thankfully the shipwreck was angled upwards along the sloping shore so we just got shallower as we went along checking out the old structures.

That's me with the stylish blue tank and yellow flippers

What a great getaway. It's a good reminder to remember to appreciate the beauty you can find in your own backyard. Thanks Barb for including me on the trip, and taking most of the amazing photos in this post, including all of the underwater shots!!

Caught on Film

So it turns out that many of my friends are great at making videos! Check out these super cool videos by some of my fellow travelers and new amazing friends from around the world...

Some highlights from Galapagos! Check out the swimming marine iguana and some little baby giant tortoises!



http://vimeo.com/72586827

This one shows some incredible scenes from Africa, watch out for the hippo right on the very edge of Victoria Falls!!!


http://vimeo.com/62321818

Here is a little clip of some leaf cutter ants in Costa Rica. We saw them one day, came back the next day and they were still at it 24 hours later. Ants are cool.

Stop Ruining Canada, Stephen Harper!

Dear Stephen Harper (Prime Minister of Canada),

The other day I was driving in my car, listening to my favourite radio station, and was surprised to hear an ad come on proclaiming to the Canadian masses all the good things your government has done for the environment. First of all I don't know why a government should have to have ads to promote itself, but that's a whole other issue. The ad said that the government is introducing tough new laws to strengthen the environment. My immediate reaction: WHAAAAT?! as I almost crashed while wanting to scream at the radio.

I couldn't believe my freaking ears. I was totally outraged at the blatant lies in the ad! I've spent 8 years working for your Environment department, I have seen first hand the changes you have made. And by 'changes' I mean total destruction!

I worked for many years under the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act as an EA coordinator, reviewing projects and helping them minimize their impacts to wildlife, birds and species at risk. When you 'strengthened' this Act last year, you made sure it only applied to mega-projects which appear on the 'list', with only certain factors to be assessed, and limited participation from the public. But sometimes even the small projects can have a big impact! For example, I remember one project which involved building a boardwalk on a beach where there were endangered Piping Plover nesting. With the changes you made to the Act last year, that type of small scale project and thousands more like it will be able to proceed with no assessment of effects at all.

Please don't build boardwalks over our nest!!

You also pushed through changes to the Fisheries Act, which used to be one of our strongest laws protecting the environment. It was so strong because it protected not only all fish, but also fish habitat. This forced anyone wanting to impact fish habitat to compensate for those intended changes, resulting in a no net loss of fish habitat. Doesn't that sound great, Canada should have maintained a healthy level of fish habitat in perpetuity. Not any more. Under the new Act, all mention of habitat has been removed, and the protection of actual fish species is limited to those of recreational and commercial importance. Thus totally ignoring the intrinsic ecological value of all other species and allowing habitats to be disturbed with no consequences. What a major step backwards in our environmental legislation in Canada, not to mention a huge blow for fish and rivers.

As if that wasn't disturbing enough, you also severly weakened the protection offered to rivers in the Navigable Waters Protection Act. This Act used to protect tens of thousands of waterbodies throughout our country. In typical Canadian fashion, any waterbody big enough to float a canoe in was protected. However, there is now a list of only 97 lakes, 62 rivers and the three oceans that the Act applies to. Thank you for making it that much easier to bulldoze, build bridges, pipelines and roads in our formerly clean waterways.

The future of our rivers

Last week I also read a news story that uncovered evidence that the changes you made to the Fisheries Act were directly linked to the wishes of industry. Not surprisingly, Harper's Natural Resources Minister made these comments: "Our natural resource industries — energy, mining and minerals processing and forest — account for more than 10 percent of our gross domestic product and provide close to 800,000 jobs in Canada. That’s why it’s so important to ensure that Canada has the right conditions in place to attract global investment in our provinces and territories. The time is now for Canada’s immense resources. Canada must compete with other resource-rich countries around the world for these job-creating investment dollars." Clearly when he speaks about the "right conditions" for investors, he means not worrying about the fish in that river you need to build a bridge across, and doing the minimum analysis of other potential effects to the environment. Because the environment doesn't matter when you have money!!?? Right?!

This sums up my thoughts on the issue quite nicely.

Another part of the radio ad said that you have increased environmental monitoring in the Alberta oil sands. While that is true, it has been at the expense of other environmental programs across the country! For example, the environmental emergencies staff you cut last year, who are the ones who would respond when an inevitable oil spill does happen!

The final straw for me happened when you enacted the Bridge to Strengthen Trade Act, exempting a major bridge project from Canada to the US from  requiring certain permits, approvals or authorizations under a number of federal laws. Basically giving the project an automatic green light in the name of economic development. I had worked on the species at risk and migratory bird issues of this project for 2 years, along with many others at my work. How demoralizing is it to be told at the last minute that all your work was pretty much worthless since the bridge would go ahead regardless. At least in this case the EA and species at risk work had largely already been done, but I fear for a future where this type of exemption from environmental legal requirements is normal. You have set a dangerous precedent!

To make the whole situation even worse, I've read reports that your ad campaign has cost tax payers over $100 million. Think about what good things we could do with that much money!!! What a total waste! At a minimum it should be used for salary or research dollars for the department of fisheries or environment that you have deeply cut, instead of brainwashing the masses into thinking you are environmentally friendly.

The bottom line is, globally we have reached the point where we can no longer go on exploiting the natural environment for the sake of economic gain. It's time to start working with nature instead of exploiting it.

Sincerely,
Someone who cares

Tree hugger and proud of it.

Come on Canada, we can't stand for this! Now is your chance to tell the government you want your tax dollars to support programs that protect nature. Sign the petition at this link:

http://action2.davidsuzuki.org/nature_and_democracy 

It takes literally 30 seconds. Do it!

My Alternate Realities

Right now I'm at the 6 month mark of my year off. I've already visited 9 new countries, made so many wonderful, inspirational new friends and had some incredible, mind blowing experiences (who knew that sea lions and sea turtles cuddle???!!!). It has really been more than I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams so far. And it's only half way done!

But sometimes I can't help but think to the past and where I was a year ago. Last year in July and August I was on a totally different adventure for work - monitoring hundreds of thousands of shorebirds on migration. My team and I were living in the wilderness of Northern Ontario in a shack on the coast of James Bay, a 100 km helicopter ride north of even the smallest First Nation community that could still be considered a town, with no possible means of contact with the outside world. 

It was great, except for the fact that my life had just been shattered. A few days before I left, the love of my life had just informed me that he didn't really feel the same way, and then sent me off to the wilderness to stew on that new info for over a month. Needless to say that was pretty much the worst thing that ever happened. So even though we did get back together for several months, things were obviously never the same. When we finally ended things in March, I was devastated to lose my true love and best friend and partner in all things fun.  My once certain path into the future dissolved away into an imaginary alternate universe, and I began on a pathway into my new reality... with a sense that maybe, just maybe, there was something else out there meant for me.

Obviously going on an epic trip around the world is the best way to get over someone. I hope I can work that into my schedule for any future breakups haha! There is really no time to think about your ex when you are spotting elephants, lions and cheetahs in Kruger National Park, trying desperately to get a sick penguin to please eat just one more fish, or drinking caña on the Galapagos beach with your new friends from all over the world while the sea lions howl in the background. But whenever times have been quiet, I do think about what happened and what I've learned.

The main thing I have learned is to be honest. Be who you are, and be it proudly. The right person will love you for exactly who you are without all the bullshit and lies. And if you feel you have to lie and bullshit to someone to make them like you, or to live up to their expectations, then it isn't going to work. I'd like to think I'm pretty good at this part- being me is my specialty ;).

The second thing I've learned is that communication is everything. So cliche, but so true. You have to actually tell the other person what you're thinking and feeling in order to work through any issues and find compromise and balance. It seems easy, but actually can be really hard. I know I kinda suck at this, because I like to have fun always and not deal with problems. But sometimes you have to suck it up and deal with shit.

So I guess this is my way of letting it all go, getting closure and moving on. I see myself staying single for a while, although I know one or two guys who might be able to change my mind on that... but I want to make sure I remember these lessons for the future. Hopefully my real true love is still out there somewhere, also dreaming of an amazing adventure filled life where we travel the world, try to make a positive impact on this planet, and have lots of sex and babies! Haha :)

But until I find him, just wait until you see what I have planned for the next 6 months....

I'm just a lonely sea turtle waiting for my sea lion bff in this life

Workin hard or hardly workin

I know I always post a lot of pictures of fun stuff, but I SWEAR I am actually here to volunteer my time working on the farm at Hacienda Tranquila. It is hard to believe that I have already been here for 4 weeks, and my time is almost up! The work we have been doing has been tough at times, almost always dirty, mostly fun, and always rewarding. Almost every day we do something different, so it is always exciting, and the daily activities are always written on the board in Spanish, so its usually a total surprise to me haha.

Our main activity is chopping down the invasive Guava trees with machetes. It is actually really fun to machete chop stuff and its one of my favourite jobs. It is so satisfying to chop down a big evil invasive tree with just muscle power and a giant super sharp knife!

Machete weilding! This day we were chopping down the baby Guava trees. Die invasive trees, die!!

Today we cleared a field of old half burned wood (from a lightning strike!), in the rain, and got pretty dirty in the process!

The farm is also really involved with helping out the local community in so many ways. One day, we were tasked with the interesting job of cleaning out the community water source, which was a big algae filled pool in the forest.

Shoveling the sludge out of the community water supply, this is done every 6 months.

We also run a hippotherapy program for local kids with special needs. Studies have shown that these kids benefit immensley from riding horses because it relaxes their muscles and helps them connect with animals that they wouldnt normally see. Twice a week the local kids come to the farm and we help them ride the horses. Their huge smiles make it clear that they really love it!!

Our horses, Ferrari and Suco, ready for duty

One of our favourite kids, Christopher. He is likely to try for a boob grab and/or swear constantly, but he makes it interesting!

We let the kids ride in different positions for fun

Another big part of our project is growing native plants and planting them in areas that have been cleared of the invasive species. But this also involves the worst job we do, digging holes! We all dread hole digging day with a passion. But this week we finally filled in our holes with a native grass that the Giant Tortoises love to eat, so we really felt that we were making some progress on the conservation front. In other good news, there have been 2 tortoise sightings in the area near the farm, so it seems to be working!

I dug this hole!

Our new field of native grasses

The greenhouse and garden where the seedlings grow up

We do tons of other stuff as well, like making fruit juice, milking cows, making coffee, making cheese, having pizza day and movie night, napping in the hammocks, and cleaning the house. Everything we do at the Hacienda is done by hand with no machinery to reduce our CO2 emissions, which is pretty cool if you ask me. We have about 14 volunteers at the Hacienda now, from all over the world. So we also spend a lot of time chatting about our lives at home and what life is like in different countries. It is pretty cool!

Pepe, taking time to smell the flowers... and that big white one is supposedly a drug kinda like shrooms, that Pepe has obviously been smelling a little too often haha!

Pizza day! We have a brick oven that makes yummy yummy pizzas!

Grinding the freshly roasted coffee beans!

Everyone enjoying the coffee!

We beat our previous record of 11 people (and a surfboard) in a taxi today... we had 14 people, plus 4 banana trees!

We "picked" these papayas by shaking the really tall trees they grow on until they fall down, and we try to catch them out of the air football style. Sometimes they fall directly on your head and smash though!! (Scott hehe)

Tomatoes in the garden almost ready for picking

Chillin out after a hard days work.