It was a cold, grey day here at the Pelican Lagoon Research Centre. After breakfast but before the rain started falling, we had an interesting but gory session: Peggy was dissecting (cutting up) 3 dead echidnas that were killed on a road around here. As part of her research, she takes measurements of various body parts before burying the bodies. So it was a good chance to get a close look at an echidna, to practice picking one up without getting spiked, and to see what some of the body parts look like in real life. I’ve got plenty of photos which I’ll show when I get back, but be warned: they’re pretty gross!

Then it started raining, so we spent a couple of hours inside, talking, reading and having lunch. I’m getting further with my ‘Ismael’ book – but I know I won’t be able to finish it before I leave here, so I might need to borrow it.

Phil (the teacher from Broome) and I were really interested to find out more about the solar power that this place runs on and also the decomposing toilet, so Mike took us out into the rain to have a good look at all the parts, and he explained how it all works to us. It’s really interesting – I saw how to set up a place so that the power and water don’t upset the environment. Again, I got plenty of photos – probably the only way I’ll be able to talk to a school class about toilets and have it be interesting!

Before sunset, Peggy, Mick (Jigalong), Lee (Tom Price) and I went for a walk to try to find one of the echidnas, called Scout, but when we got near where the radio signal was coming from, we saw that she was deep in some dense bushland so we couldn’t follow her.

Spaghetti bolognaise for dinner, and pikelets (small pancakes) for dessert. When we went to bed, Phil, Mick and I (who are together in one cabin) stayed up for quite a while talking and laughing in the dark – we were just like naughty school-kids!

Tomorrow’s out last full day here, because on Friday morning we fly off the island.