A Very Manly Day Indeed

Our time here in Australia has been full of hot days and sunburned evenings, but we hadn't been able to get to a beach yet. Of course, the day we head across the harbor to Manly, it's overcast and chilly. That didn't stop most of the group from taking a cool dip in the ocean.

We spent the morning at the Manly Environment Center, which was one of the coolest places I've seen ever. The Center is a resource for Manly community members to learn about the degredation of the environment and the effects of climate change. The walls were covered in bins full of magazine articles, books, movies, posters, etc. all about different factors of pollution. I could have spent the whole day picking through the articles.

We heard from a few members of the staff at the MEC about what they do for the Center. There was one woman who works to preserve the Little Penguin colony in Manly. The colony is the last surviving colony in Australia, but it's being threatened by boats and pollution. There are volunteers who track the numbers of the colony and work to protect them from crazy tourists like us!

One of the staff was an eco diver who works in marine animal rescue. There are nets that are intended to keep sharks out of the beach area, although these are ineffective and also unneccessary, and these nets often catch penguins and fish. He told us a lot about sharks, which I loved seeing as sharks are one of my favorite animals, and he also discussed different kinds of littering and the continuous cycle of trash.

We also heard from a photographer, Dave, who does wildlife photography for the MEC. He discussed the human/nature connection and the idea that each day is a miracle because it is so arbitrary that this planet can support life. My favorite line of Dave's talk was when he told us to go outside and look at the green, because each leaf on this planet is a miracle.


I loved getting to hear about the MEC and having the afternoon free to explore Manly. My morning was filled with talks about the environment and my afternoonw was spent perusing the Manly Salvation Army, so I was a happy happy traveler today. I hope all of you are enjoying the cold cold North American winters! I'm going to go outside in a t-shirt comfortably and think of all of you!