Are You Crazy Enough?
Going LIVE: 31st October - 4th November 2011 (COMPLETED)
Task: Explore the boundaries and geography of Skullbone Plains (and our perseverance) in the wild Tasmanian Central Plateau.
4 November 2011
The final day for the Jordan River team dawned overcast and still. Skullbone Plains whistled with bird calls and the sound of tent zippers opening and closing. Weary expeditioners emerged in the cleanest clothes they could gather. The first port of call for most were the remote sensing cameras to check on the nocturnal comings and goings. Trent, Kirk and Jayden shared the prize with two brush tailed possums hovering over a wallaby skin and rolled oats bait. The back seat was deservedly theirs. Breakfast for some and a final hot drink in the bush before the real pack up began. Tents down, tarps folded, Trangias disassembled and stray muesli bar wrappers hunted down, the campsite soon looked like the circus was leaving town, and it was. We gathered in a circle to share a few final thoughts. For me, every expedition with students comes packaged with an enormous amount of learning, sharing, fun and a dash of sadness that it all has to end. The Tasmanian bush is the best classroom in the world. The final words are from the team as we drove home down the Lyell Highway (for the expedition the students decided to call Pete the cameraman, Boris). Andrew
'I loved the trip and I'm so glad we were given the opportunity- thanks Andrew, Boris and Nic.' Trent
'Slightly sad to be on the way home but can't wait to have a nice lamb chop and some steak and chips. I'd like to thanks Andrew for arranging the trip, Boris for his time and good humour (still owes 80 push-ups), Nic for all the help with the mockumentary and Dennis for all his time and help. May he now be known as the mountain man from Crete.' Kirk
'I liked the trip. It was cold sometimes. My favourite bit was the mockumentary and when we had to walk through the river.' Nevenka
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I liked the trip because it was something new/ different. It was a great experience. My highlights were the mockumentary, long bushwalks and falling in the swamp. The lowlight was sleeping in the tent.' Laura
'The trip was a great experience. My highligts were putting Dennis in a wombat hole and Kirk swimming in the swamp. My tent was one of the only ones that didn't get wet. My lowlight was having wet feet during the day.' Jayden
'The trip was just amazing and I had fun every second of the way. I would like to thank everyone that came and Andrew, Nic, Boris and Dennis.' Flynn
'I loved the trip. I thought it was a great experience and so much fun. I'm happy that I learnt a few new skills too. Thanks to Andrew, Nic , Boris and Dennis. My highlights were Laura falling in the water, dancing, filming our mockumentary and our bushwalk. My lowlights were having wet clothes and the cold.' Shelbie
3 November 2011
Weather: early snow, cold south west wind with patches of sun and rain.
Wildlife: wallabies (4), leech (50 000), wedge tailed eagle (2), currawongs, cockroach, jack jumpers, yellow tailed black cockatoos (3).
Injuries: Kirk hurt his knee on a rock, Laura had blisters.
Highlights:
Watching Kirk take his 'spa bath' in the mockumentary. Flynn
Taking a nice cool dip and spear tackling Flynn. Kirk
Making the film. Trent
Tasting pineapple grass berries for the first time. Nevenka
This morning everyone went straight from the tents to check the remote sensing cameras. Each pair were totally responsible for locating a site and setting the cameras last night. Each animal captured received a score- brush tailed possums (2), wallaby (4), wombat (8), devil (16) and anything else by negotiation. Trent and Dennis scored 4 with two possums, Flynn and Shelbie notched up 4 with a wallaby, Nevenka and Laura had a dodgy camera and Jayden and Kirk captured an equalling 4 with two possums. The deciding and final cameras have been set tonight with quite a bit of care put into placement. The back seat of the bus is up for grabs for the winner.
Team Destiny's Child report:
Today we went exploring to the north of camp. It was pretty hard because we walked through the tall tea tree bushes that were taller than us, over slippery logs and rocks. This was the Valley of Doom. Andrew made us walk through a little river and our shoes were filled up with water. When we stopped to read the map we got leeches all over us, this was the Valley of Leeches. Then Andrew challenged us to navigate all the way back. It was hard in the thick bush. We finally made it back pretty much right on camp, but just missed it by a few hundred meters. Nevenka
Team 6 Kings report:
Today we started our mockumentary. The scenes included Julia Gillard having an accident, Kirk freezing in a 'spa', Kirk getting chased by a cannibal (Trent), an arm getting cut off, a pretty distasteful toilet scene and many others. Our theme was 'Where the bl&^%$y hell are ya?' tourist commercial. Everyone had a pretty amazing day. Kirk
2 November 2011
Weather: Snow between 6-7am, 0 degrees or colder, sun in the afternoon and everything else in between.
Activities: Mr G's warm ups of Greek push-ups, exploration by the 6 Kings team, mockumentary by Destiny's Child team, and remote camera set-up.
Animals: Snake (1 alive and 1 skin), wombat (2), wallabies (400!), currawongs (lots), brush tailed possum (in daylight), cow (noise but unconfirmed), grasshoppers (3) and wolf spiders (2).
Highlights:
Falling on face in water. Laura
Dancing the day away. Shelbie
Going for half a bath crossing Pineapple Grass swamp. Jayden
Reaching the highest point on the map. Trent
Leaving no trace- eating the apple cores. Kirk
Eating Tasmanian Mountain Pepper and then watching others eat it after telling them in was peppermint. Flynn
Lowlights:
Seeing a snake and possum and it freaking me out. Nevenka
Report by the '6 Kings' team (Flynn, Trent, Kirk, Jayden, Dennis and Andrew):
We left camp at 9.30am to set out for the highest point on the plains which we later called 6 Kings Peak. To get there we followed the 4WD track to Kenneth Lagoon, then went through some heavy scrub. In the scrub we found some wallaby bones that a devil had chomped on. The climb began and the going got tough. Flynn took hold of the camera and became our photographer for the day (see the photo of sphagnum moss in this report). Ascending the ridge south east we reached the peak in time for lunch. The team descended on a westerly bearing to reach Banana Tarn, which was named a few weeks ago by Scottsdale High. We had to dodge a seriously large patch of sphagnum moss and cushion plant which is fragile to the boot of walkers. A second lunch was required at Banana Tarn and a few blisters taped up. Off track navigation is tiring and everyone was feeling it. We ran into the mockumentary makers at Pineapple Grass swamp and continued along to camp. We were stoked to reach home after a challenging day. Jayden, Trent and Andrew
Report by Destiny's Child team (Nevenka, Laura, Shelbie, Nic and Pete (AKA Boris)).
First off this morning around 9.30am we started the planning. We all chose a topic and had to pick from them. We picked Nic's idea which was Destiny's Child. After we got our characters worked out we sorted out the scenes. We ended up with 6 scenes and picked out where the locations were going to be. Then we wrote scripts for each scene. Scene one was where the bus is parked. Then we went over to record scene two which was setting tents up. Then we had a hot drink and lunch. Afterwards we did another scene which was the 'cooking one' and then headed out to the pineapple grass swamp to record a scene, where we passed the boys coming the other way. Once we got there Shelbie and I had a bit of a trip (into the water). Then we made our way back to the campsite for the final two scenes. The second last scene was based around the plopper- Nevenka wasn't too keen on that scene but made herself continue. Lastly we did the final scene which was great, we used raspberry jam for blood. Overall it was a fantastic day and we all enjoyed it. Laura
1st November 2011
Weather: Raining overnight, some sunshine and cold wind all day.
Wildlife: Rabbit (1), wombat (1), frogs x 2 species (unidentified), lizard (unidentified- see photo and help us if you can- 150-200mm long, slender blue tongue, light brown with pale red belly, looked like a big mountain skink!), wedge-tailed eagle (2), wattle bird.
Highlights:
Not going for a swim. Jayden
Walking across the pineapple grass swamp and falling over a button grass. Nevenka
Playing 'puddles' with Kirk (a simple game of choosing a puddle and walking through it). Trent
Navigating through the bush. Flynn
Renaming the cameraman, Boris. Kirk
Accidentally pushing Shelbie into a puddle. Laura
Helping navigate and working out the compass. Shelbie
Students following minimal impact bushwalking principles and everyone staying positive despite a difficult walk. Seeing Trent do more than his fair share carrying the pack for most of the day. Mr G (Dennis)
Medical Report: Sore throat (Nevenka), twisted knee (Shelbie), headache (Laura) and aching back (Jayden).
Laura and Kirk awoke to wet sleeping bags thanks to steady overnight rain leaking into the tents, and Nevenka awoke to Shelbie booting her in the head (accidentally). The whole team was up and eating breakfast before 7am- a Skullbone record. Crouched under the tarpaulin everyone had a hot drink as Trent and myself checked the overnight cameras. Four cameras but only one brush tailed possum. The task today was to find a new route for landowners, the Tasmanian Land Conservancy, from Kenneth Lagoon to Lake Ina. We followed the old 4WD track to the hut ruin at Kenneth Lagoon but then it was all off track navigation. Everyone had a crack at leading the group with map and compass and no-one needed the GPS for electronic help. Jayden spotted some interesting burrows on the plains so we have sent a photo to Alastair Richardson to see if they are burrowing crayfish. Flynn did a great job leading the team through a patch of thick eucalypt forest after we left the plains. There were a lot of tired feet on return to camp, but after a refreshing hot cuppa we returned to the bush to place the remote cameras. 
Closing quote: "Dennis makes a good boiled egg." Jayden
31st October 2011
Weather: Fine tending to misty rain in the afternoon.
Animals observed: Bennetts wallaby (3), currawong (50+), leech (on Shelbie), mosquitoes (plenty).
Science stuff: deployed bat detector x1 (1 more to set up tomorrow), remote sensing cameras x4.
Highlights: Exploring for campsite and running water (Flynn), getting own tent (Jayden and Trent), setting up the timber plopper AKA toilet (Nevenka), just being out here (Shelbie).
Lowlights: Bus trip (Kirk), cold fingers, toes and nose (Nevenka), falling over 8 logs (Laura).
The bus ride here could have been better, apparently we were too fat for the backseat (Editor: the students were asked to move a seat forward to take a bit of weight off the back tyres because the trailer was weighing it down- NOT because they were too fat!) Shelbie and Flynn
I really enjoyed the trip up, especially the wild countryside as we left the Lyell Highway. Mr Georgakis (teacher)
The best part about the whole day was finding the campsite, the first area of open plain near the bush is where we set up camp. Trent
After we set up camp we had a fair bit of mist and rain. Tea went well for me and Trent as we cooked pasta with salami and fried mushroom. Kirk
I did not have anything to eat tonight, but I did try some zabaglioni- a raw egg yolk and sugar sweet made by Mr G, yum. Jayden
The fastest pack up yet for a Skullbone expedition, and we were on the road from Bridgewater to Bronte Park in time for lunch. Trent found an enormous mushroom near the toilet block so we decided it was probably well fed and safe to eat. It was cut up for dinner. Following the dirt road west of Bronte Park, Mr G was given the job of opening the numerous locked gates to get into the Tasmanian Land Conservancy's Skullbone Plains property. The road ends at a gate with no key and our first job was to explore further west by foot for a suitable campsite. Clear ground, running water and some protection form the wind were our priorities. After a short walk through light forest we found the perfect site and set up tents and tarps (that's Jayden tying the centre rope for the tarps). Trent and Kirk helped place a bat detector and then the four motion sensing cameras were quickly deployed in a 100m radius around camp. Hopefully we'll get a few critters tonight and with more time we can place them carefully tomorrow. A few hands of cards after dinner and everyone slipped off to bed- our first night in the spectacular central highlands. Andrew
Funded by an Innovative Flexible Education Grant