Week 2. In which I become a redhead.

Man, it feels like I have been in Townsville forever! I guess I’ve been here for a week and a half, but for simplicity sake, lets just call it “Week 2.” What a week and a half it’s been! Trish, Savannah, Rachel, Emily (friends of ours from the Australearn orientation), Kathy and I have spent a lot of time hanging out, meeting other international students, and exploring Townsville.

Kathy, Emily, and I are living in the same dorm, but in different blocks. There are 7 dorm rooms (all singles, apparently outside of the US its rare to have a roommate in college), a common room, bathroom, kitchen, and balcony on each floor. We are pretty far out on one end of the campus, which means a bit more of a walk, but also means more wildlife. There is a kookaburra that lives near Kathy’s building, big cane toads hiding, shy wallabies, and lots of geckos and tree frogs. I’ve also heard about kangaroo, possum (fun fact that Kathy taught me: there are possums in Australia, and opossums in America—the term “possum” for the animal living in the states is technically incorrect), and curlew sightings.

I haven’t been homesick too much, just about two days soon after arriving. Now I’m getting use to the bus system (not quite ready to brave it on my own yet though), and making all my meals, so the first wave of culture shock is past. We’ve been pretty busy too, which helps!

On Saturday the 17th the 6 of us went to the Strand, which is the Townsville beach. It was absolutely gorgeous, be sure to check out my pictures on facebook (ask me for a link if you’re not on facebook). There were no waves, just little swells, because the reef protects it. The water was nice and warm, there were lots of palm trees, and a great view of Magnetic Island. Oh, and delicious Gelato nearby. We spent most of the afternoon taking pictures, relaxing, swimming, etc, and had dinner there. It was dusk when we were waiting at the bus stop, so we were treated to a large flock of parrots flying around, roosting on nearby trees, and squawking their heads off. All the birds here seem to squawk or scream, not chirp, like they’re all determined to be loud and obnoxious as can be. That’s what I wake up to every morning!

Orientation week started on Monday, with a small barbeque. It was probably the most useless orientation I’ve ever been too. Most of the sessions were geared towards freshman, obviously, but were more informative if you’ve never been to university before. We attended all the sessions we needed to on Tuesday and Wednesday, so Wednesday night we treated ourselves to some Australian’s Next Top Model, and henna hair dye! Trish, Savannah, and I all became redheads, making Kathy the only non-redhead left out of the 6 of us. I officially really love being a redhead.

On Thursday we went to Reef HQ, the nearby aquarium. They had a giant tank with a large reef ecosystem that was open at top to the natural sunlight and temperature. It is essentially a natural ecosystem except for some food they throw in, and some protein skimming. We went on a behind the scenes tour, the highlight of which was the Turtle Hospital! There were a handful of turtles, some healthier and thus more active then others. There was one really big one that had been kept as a pet and fed unnatural food. He was about twice the size a turtle in the wild would be at the same age.

This weekend we went to Magnetic Island, known to the locals as Maggie Island. On Saturday we caught the ferry, it was about a 20 minute ride from Townsville to the Island. We stayed at a hostel right off the beach, so we spent most of Saturday morning exploring that beach and climbing big rocks and looking for critters. That afternoon we went on a walk near Horseshoe Bay that had lots of gun encampments from WW11 (edit: Steven, the grammar police, has informed me that I actually mean WWII. Thanks dear :) Edit 2: COMMA COMMA, STOP BEING SUCH AN ADORABLE PAIN IN THE BUTT!). We spotted several wild koala bears, two of which were pretty much right off the path. It was so amazing to see them up so close and in their natural habitat. They weren’t concerned by us at all, just continued their sleeping and sitting there. The walk ended in a lookout tower, and provided some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. Magnetic Island has some gorgeous bays. We’d reach a clear spot, maybe climb up on a rock a bit, and I’d just stand there, completely speechless. Today we went to one of the bays, Alma bay, and had a relaxing last day of summer break!

Well, its time for bed, so I’ll be rested for the first day of classes tomorrow! Keep in touch guys, leave me a comment letting me know what you’re all up to.