Not much riding, but a whole lotta busy

Working out of Bendigo for a week was all I'd hoped for, and some.  Great people, great location, and lots of work accomplished.  

Staying with Erica and Paul was a treat - great conversation and 3 loving staffords to come home to each night for hugs and laughs.  Erica was showing Toohey and Dizzy at the end of the week, and commented that Toohey had lost a bit of weight and needed to put a bit more on.  However I don't think she meant 2 rows of chocolate, an entire tube of bees wax lip balm, and a tube of hand cream !!!  Toohey got into my room and pulled everything out of my bag - books, registration papers, Road Worthy Certificate, wallet...everything.  He didn't damage any of it, but consumed all the tasty bits.  The only tasty treat that remains is some hand cream, however I don't need to pop the top off now, I just squeeze tube and it squirts out in 4 directions !!

Erica showing Toohey at Bendigo Dog Show

Erica showing 7 mth old Dizzy at Bendigo Dog Show

Always the laugh at work, Terry didn't fail to entertain.  Spilt the sugar, got caught, and the photo goes viral around the state to CFA and DSE within minutes - you can't get away with anything when so many people know you.  

Terry being resourceful, but he could have chosen a better spot to be resourceful...

Back to uni at the School of Forestry, Creswick.  Shauna and I had decided on taking the mtb for cruisey post-lecture rides.  Lots of exploring, talking and laughing.  

MTB at Creswick in the oak forest with Shauna

Uni field trip was to the Central Highlands of Vic - Healesville, Marysville, Toolangi, Kinglake - looking at different forests and their responses to fire.  Fairly basic stuff in general, but the real gems are in talking to the lecturers and picking up snippets of information that don't form part of the curriculum.  

Good laughs with the lecturers over an evening bbq - Chris, Lubov and Rohan.  Again, lots learnt and stories shared.  The following day didn't exactly go as planned, and resulted in Lubov, Shauna and myself getting a $300 cab ride from Kinglake West to Creswick !!  One of the buses ended up with a 3" branch through the radiator in the middle of a logging coupe, so some quick thinking by the lecturers had us still on track for the remainder of our field trip, with 3 of us getting a comfy trip in the cab instead of the buses.  

Alpine Ash burnt in 2009 Black Saturday regenerating - the 4WD gives some perspective to the height of the trees

Regeneration density of the Ash is incredible - can you believe that there are 6 people in the photo within 3m of me  

How do they grow so quick?...look at those leaves - huge photosynthetic potential (nice leaves, Shauna!!)

4 year old Ash regen with 1939 regrowth now dead - in scale with human height 

Standing among the giants - not really a safe place to be