Return to Kalgoorlie

It's official - we have successfully completed our field season!  We caught a ton of awesome squamates, had no major issues (besides one slightly bogged vehicle and one horrifying baby faceplant - ironically occurring after the return to civilization, which is way more dangerous with its ill-placed coffee tables than the great outdoors!), and are slowly working our way back home towards the daunting mountain of rust-stained laundry I have to try to salvage that’s been completely permeated by red Australian dirt.  Tomorrow we leave Kalgoorlie, which has been serving as our inland staging ground, and head back to Perth.  We’re spending a few days catching up with friends there, and then we’re off on the epic set of plane flights back to the North Country.  If I can get them to load, here are a few low res photos from some of the time we spent on the second leg of our collecting trip at Shark Bay (a UNESCO World Heritage site!).  Although it was indeed gorgeous, warm, and full of incredible wildlife...the bush flies were also HORRIFIC, so don’t feel too jealous! :)

Excited to post more pics - and some awesome video - upon our return to the land of reliable internet!

P.S. Just in case I’ve worried anyone with my faceplant description, the baby is fine, actually.  I was the one who was totally and completely traumatized, and I’m still haunted 24 hours later by the vision of her falling into the table - way too fast for me to catch her, despite being pretty close when I saw her trip.  Despite how awful it looked (definitely her worst fall ever), she only has two reasonably small cuts in the inside of her lower lip and a small bruise on her chin - all teeth intact and secure.  Still, the whole experience was a bloody horror show that has seriously traumatized me, ugh.  How am I supposed to make it through YEARS of more childhood injuries???
Shark Bay is full of the most fantastic beaches!

And epic sunsets.

Swimming with Mama - no waves, it's perfect for babies!

Maya watching the dolphin feeding - she loved it!

Sometimes you find little presents on your seat :)

And when I said the experience was full of flies, I meant it.
Flies, and more flies, all day, every day.

When we could get her to keep a fly hat on, it was good.

One of our many stops to give her a break from the looooong days in the car

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