In which we go on a field trip and have a jolly good time - Tuesday 17th May

fieldtrip. eurgh.
rocks. EURGH.

Today we had a day trip out to an estury and a quarry. We were both happy to be there and also very enthusiastic.

They marched us up to the top of a hill, and then they marched us down again.
Then they realised the tide was in too far  ...

So they marched us back UP the hill again.

Along a path.
Then along a 'path' through some trees, down to the water edge.
The tide had just about gone out, so the beach was basically clay.

People were slipping and sliding and clinging onto each other and falling in and pulling each other in and getting muddy.

This picture is courtesy of the beautiful Mimi Beckett :)

We finally got to where we wanted to go ... and our tutor said 'we'd probably have been better off just waiting half an hour for the tide to go out!'

Miriam - who had fallen in mud, cut her thumb, and been told to wash it lots because there was sewage in the water (altho they had no first aid kit to offer ? ...)  - was impressed.

However, the rocks were pretty cool. Checking out ripple marks and fish teeth and stuff.

We were walking along the beach, and I saw the stone I wanted in the outcrop.

It was ... (wait for it ...) HALF RED AND HALF BLUE !

Awesome.

Rich got it out for me.

But then, disaster struck.

I accidentally crushed it. :(

Curse you, fine grained, sabkha deposited sediment!

Now I just have lots of blue rocks.

And lots of red rocks.

I also have helmet hair.
What a world, what a world.

At the next stop, at this quarry, we should have been looking at the oolites and pisoids and pelites ...
But, instead, we just clawing at the quarry with our bare hands to find fossils.

I found a belemnite!
And a crinoid ossicle, which looks like a baby star fish. It's so cute.
I shall call him squishy, and he shall be mine.

Then we went back for dinner, and showed everyone our fossils, and talked about the solar system.

ALSO. They've turned off the heating EVERYWHERE at St. Anne's.
But we don't have radiators, we have heaters. So Hugo on the first floor came round and (for a small fee...) put the fuses back in!
We now have heat !
Also, they fixed the flush on our toilet.

A flushing toilet and a warm room ...
I'm a very lucky girl.