about time i got started writing on my slapton field trip (i realised i didn't actually write abt my trip to spain or my last 2 days in italy/venice yet.. haha)

Day 1 - 27 Mar 06
I think i was a little apprehensive about this second field trip. Kind of realised that coming for another field trip may not have been such a good idea after all. But i guess it was mostly just pre-field-trip jitters... ;p although upon arriving at the field centre, i kinda realised that there was no escape afterall! Quite literally though. Unlike Arran where we were right beside the ferry terminal, Slapton is kinda in the middle of nowhere! Didn't help that the briefing in the evening seemed to confirm that. I think the only thing i got out of the briefing was that there are "buzzers" signalling the different activities each day, like waking up, breakfast, packing our lunches, etc. It felt so military! (or mehbe it's just me...)

Day 2 - Gorah Rocks - 28 Mar 06
We set up the lab in the classroom. It feels more like a lab now. Makes us feel superior to the class next door who were doing their GCSE (ie. O levels). :)

Thereafter, we set off for this beach called Gorah rocks. After a steep descent (wet grass can be slippery! -according to the Geology health & safety guide), we arrive at Gorah rocks. Anyway, this is where I explain what we do for the trip. Our job simply was go out to the fields, look for interesting specimens, or seemingly interesting stuff, and bring them back to the lab, observe them under the microscope, and try to classify/name them.

So this being our first day out in the fields, we're all greenhorns and were like sheep being shepherded along. We were also drowned in latin names, what with Laminaria digitata(it's a type of seaweed), Calliostoma zizyphinum(it's a painted topshell, a gastropod, imagine a snail...), and more.. i think i've never seen more latin words in my life... :S But i must say it was quite fun. Especially back in the lab. A sand sediment from the rocks reveals lots of life under the microscope. A nematode (a worm) burrowing through the sediments, microscopic gastropods, brittle stars (kinda like a starfish), etc etc.

A petri dish of sand sediments. There's a polychaete (the black worm) at the top, which is pretty obvious.

My lab partner, Jon, hard at work, or pretending to be..

Our lab. With the tiny red chairs, i kinda feel like i'm back to kindergarten or primary school. =)

Day 3 & 4 - 29-30 Mar 06
Nothing much worth mentioning. We went to a couple more places (including going back to Gorah rocks on day 4) and collected more specimens and looked at them. Only exciting thing was that I found a sea hare, which was a prized-find (we had a list of prized-finds that if we could find them before the demonstrators did, they'd buy us a pint of beer. ;p) The species i found was an Aplysia-something.. Let's just called it Aplysia kennyfounditus for now. haha

Day 5 - Eden Project - 31 May 06
Exciting day. We were going to the Eden Project in Cornwall. More background info. The Eden Project has 2 huge domes (called Biomes) which recreate two different environments - the humid tropics, and the warm mediterranean.

The two HUGE domes are the biomes I was talking about.

it was really warm in the humid tropics, the moment i walked in, i was like, omg, i'm home! haha. they did a pretty good job of mimicing the tropics, you'll prob believe me if i said this photo was taken at the bukit timah nature reserve... oh, how i miss bukit timah nature reserve & the botanic gardens.... how i bringing kids for trails...

only annoying thing was we had this really irritating guide. he first tried to show how "superior" he was to us, by "proving" to us "What is not Chemistry?" because one of us said we were studying Chemistry. Then he went on to talk about really boring stuff, like what surrounds us? (the correct answer was "air" btw), and the fact that he annoyed all of us at the start, we were really just letting our thoughts wander.

But still the Eden project in Cornwall is definitely worth a visit. Oh, and we crossed the Tamar bridge too.

Day 6 - Snape Point - 1 Apr 06
Refer to day 3&4. Ok we went out to the woods behind Slapton also. It was nice to head to the woods instead of the coast for once. Lots of wood louses (they're terrestrial isopods btw) though. We also came across the poisonous Hemlock plant. Familiar name eh? That's cos Socrates died drinking the Hemlock poison.

A handsome Cormorant bird posing for us at Snape point.

Day 7 - Slapton Woods - 2 Apr 06
We headed to the woods again, but in the other direction. This time we came across the wild garlic plant. It's quite cool. If you break off a leaf, and rub it in your palm, you get a very nice garlic fragrance! garlic bread anyone? ;p

THE Boat Race
In the afternoon, we also had a break to watch THE Boat Race - Cambridge vs Oxford. It is so cool I tell you that it is even broadcasted on national TV! I think we were all more enthusiastic about the boat race than the whole week in the lab though. Pity Cambridge lost to the dark side (hey, i'm not being discriminatory here! Cambridge is the light blues, and Oxford is the dark blues team...haha) Not to mention that the newspapers the next day had centrespreads of the boatrace as well! How I wish i had been on the Thames to witness it. Next year, next year..

If anyone had watched the telecast on TV, you would have noticed that half of the rowers from Cambridge & Oxford are all Olympians or national champions. What i hear is that Oxbridge offers them a one-year diploma in some obscure subject, like tree-management or something, cos their main job is to row and not study! gee. something you never knew eh? :)

After the boat race, at night, we had a "quiz". Supposed to quiz us on the stuff we've learnt through the week. It was quite fun though. One of the questions was "Why did the bee have to die?". This question was cos while we were at Snape point, there was a bee on a rock near the water, and the tide was rising. But according to our demonstrator, there was no way we could have saved it. Why? Because 1. its wing was broken and 2. it's was stuck to the rock. Hmm.

Day 8 - Kenny's Birthday - 3 Apr 06
i'm 22. i'm OLD!

Ok. that's basically my field trip to Slapton Ley. Very fun and enjoyable trip and got to know more people around!