Keep the eyes on the river

After a year of doing the hedonists route around Australia and the obligatory backpacker trip to Asia I’ve finally semi-settled down, got a job and thought DANG I’d really like to give something back now (this thought had occurred to me lots before, but I was too busy doing things like drinking whiskey out of a shoe to actually be productive).

So I found a project called the River Guardians Dolphin Watch. This project in Perth WA is pretty amazing because it is so inclusive of the community.

Basically what I and the other members do is: whenever you happen to be hanging out by the river, just keep your eyes out for some of the river dolphins that call the Swan river home. If you see a dolphin you track for how long, what their behaviour is, what part of the river etc. then report your findings to Dolphin Watch via the magic of the internet.

By tracking this information the guys who are running this scheme are hoping to better understand the river dolphins, to monitor if they/when they are being affected by certain environmental factors and spread public awareness of maintaining the beautiful Swan Riverpark.

Here’s the link if you want to check it out

http://www.riverguardians.com/projects/dolphin-watch/dolphin-watchers

There are already 600 of us Dolphin Watchers in Perth. How cool is that? On the first training day, I went along thinking that perhaps there may be a group of 10, watching a slide show presentation on dolphins.

Well there was about 200 people at the actual event, with 3 different marine biologist who run the project giving very informative talk. That so many people in the community want to be involved, well I think that’s just great. And it shows that all that talk of ”no one caring about the environment and animals and blah blah blah” – well that’s not true.

If we are going to maintain our natural ecosystems then Dolphin Watch has got it right- make it personal. Remind everyone one of their powers to make the world around them that little bit better or that little bit worse.

And of my first dolphin watching experience? It was a Monday morning and I incorporate my dolphin watching patrol into my walks to and from work, the majority of which is spent beside the banks of the Swan.

As I stumbled bleary eyed to work, I saw two cyclists pull up to the water edge, then- a fin gliding through the water and – A DOLPHIN!!!!

The three of us stood there for minutes, silently watching this lone dolphin swimming about, diving and turning and being all dolphin-y. So my attempt to do some good has started out splendidly. And another benefit which cannot be underestimated- it certainly makes those Monday morning marches to work far more enjoyable.

To Australia- the Other Side of the World..

So, at the grand-old age of twenty six (in Australian backpacker terms) I’ve become a fully fledged backpacker, creeping around snail-like carrying my home on my back… because snails carry their homes on their backs and so do backpackers…  *ahem*

Carrying on-

Over the last nine months I’ve found myself in the middle of the sweaty madness of hostels, surrounded by bags of goon (cheap Aussie wine that comes in convenient and liver damaging 5 litre boxes), to the quiet emptiness of the Australian outback. And I’ve loved it all, sometimes retrospectively, but it has all been a real experience.

This has shown me a few things that I’ll share-

• In the course of your travels if you find yourself unhappy somewhere, with something etc. then CHANGE IT. Don’t stay stuck somewhere you don’t like, doing something you don’t like. It is a waste of the precious time you have taken to go travelling. It may take a little time to change your situation but it can be done.

• Don’t Panic Don’t Panic! Things and plans wont turn out like you had them in your head. Don’t panic, just try to roll with it.

• Money- you need it, I need it, we all need it. Damn money. But, unless you are a very lucky eccentric-millionaire backpacker, chances are money will be tight. I know this sounds stupidly obvious but BUDGET. It took me far too long to do this, and ended up stuck in some places longer than I would have liked. Which leads nicely onto-

• Prioritizing- So you cant really have a rigid plan when your backpacking, but having  a good idea of what you really want to do and see will help you manage your time and money. Think about it rationally- I have X amount of time left and I want to do this this and this- I really do believe with going with the flow and keeping an open mind, but if you really want to do something then have a loose plan of how your going to do it.

• Use contacts- if you are going somewhere, ask around if anyone you know has a contact. It can be great when looking for jobs, or even just to hear of good places to go out, eat, hostels etc. This website www.helpx.net (link supplied here) is fantastic for finding cool little farms, projects to work on around Australia, it’s unpaid but accommodation and food are supplied, and it’s a great chance to have a completely different type of tourist experience.   www.couchsurfing.org  offers free accommodation all over Australia and can be handy for getting to know people too.

• And finally like this brilliant quote goes- “Keep an open mind –
  but not so open that your brain falls out”

So for all you guys out there who love to travel- what other words of wisdom would you have to share?