May 23

The day started at Ken and Carolyns' beautiful home, which was our second farm stay. They made us a big and delicious breakfast that consisted of bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit, yogurt, and cereal. When we were finished we all hopped in the back of Ken's red utility truck. He took us on a long and bumpy, but very fun, ride around his property. We saw part of their 7000 acre property that was mostly made up of forest. It was cool to watch him move his cattle to a new pasture. He had them running towards him with just a holler.
We returned to the home, said our goodbyes and headed for our next visit. On our drive we went passed a few sugar cane fields. It was the first time we'd seen them while in Australia. Our next stop was for lunch and a visit to a crayfish farm. Cherax Aquaculture park holds a species of crayfish called Red Claw Crayfish. The farm consists of 57 ponds, filled with anywhere between 180 kilos of male crayfish, or 200 kilos of female crayfish. Each pond is monosex, meaning the males are kept from the females. The ponds are covered with barrier nets to keep snakes and turtles out of the ponds. After four months in a pond, the owner has a 1\2 tonne expection rate that he will get from the crayfish. Its was very interesting to hear how the owner keeps his habitat and farming at its best.
Then for lunch we had, of course, crayfish. It was a first for many, and one refused, but mostly everyone thought it was a good feed! After our meal we made our way to the crawfish ponds. Many of us didn't know very much about aquaculture but we learned a lot on an animal away from what we know, and aside from all the sheep and cattle we have been around the whole trip.
Next, we headed for our last stop, the Sunshine Coast! You could feel the excitement in the bus from all of us as we got closer and closer. We were all very ready to see the ocean. We arrived and checked into our resort. Many of us spent the night going for walk along the beach. Those who went to the beach during the night noticed tiny luminescent blue lights in the sand everytime we took a step. We have yet to figure out what they are though!