It's been a hectic three weeks, hence the delay in posts, but I'm back, and I have quite a bit to share. On Friday the 8th, Karen and I went to our first rugby game. It was a National Rugby League match between the local North Queensland Cowboys and the Gold Coast Titans. We aren’t familiar with the rules of rugby, but we figured as part of our research into Australian culture, a rugby game was a must-see. And it was. The Cowboys walloped the Titans, at least to our untrained eyes. The final score was 22-10, but the score at halftime was 22-0 as the Cowboys completely outclassed the opponent. Jonathon Thurston, apparently the best player in the league, completely dominated, assisting on or scoring nearly every try (what they call a touchdown, I guess) the Cowboys scored. While watching the game, Karen and I partook in some classic Aussie vittles; her XXXX beer, me a meat pie. It was a fantastic night. Thanks to some kind blokes from Mt. Isa, I now understand sort of what I was watching. Did you know there is a tackle count in rugby? Neither did I. Per possession, a team can only be tackled 6 times. If that happens, they turn the ball over. Now you know.
In addition, to any people looking for a harsh Australian accent, look no further than Dairy Farmers Stadium in Townsville. My goodness, within 5 minutes of entering the gates, I had heard more unintelligible accents then the entire rest of my time in Australia combined. According to my Aussie roommates, rugby is the sport of the lower class and the hicks, or in Australian slang, boguns. This would explain the harsh accents. To our inexperienced ears, it sounded as though the vendor hawking scorecards was yelling, “all along the main sail.” With nary a sailboat in sight, I don’t actually think that’s what she was yelling, but we’ll never know. Luckily we survived without any awkward encounters and had a thoroughly enjoyable time doing so.
Moving on. Two weeks ago was lecture recess, which is a time for study abroad students with money to get out and travel. Unfortunately, neither Karen nor I have much money left, so we spent the bulk of the break at home, ignoring the ever-growing pile of homework. As a sort of respite from the monotony of home life, we decided to go to Magnetic Island, a tropical island off the coast of Townsville, for a night. Unfortunately, the night before we were due to leave, Karen had the audacity to get a stomach bug. Major bummer. Luckily, she got healthy quickly and was able to enjoy the second half of the week. Instead of our second day on Maggie, we went to Crystal Creek, a gem of a water hole, sans crocodiles. The water had smoothed out the rocks, so there are some natural water slides. The water, as suggested by the name, is crystal clear. Gorgeous, gorgeous stuff. After a good long swim, we went with our roommate to Frosty Mango, a little ice cream shop in the middle of nowhere. It was no Tillamook, but it was delicious. If you ever find yourself driving from Townsville to Ingham (you don’t know, it could happen), stop in for a scoop of delicious tropical ice cream. Some flavors included soursop, mulberry, sapodilla, kumquat, and, of course, mango.
On Thursday of our week off, we had an all day field trip to the Townsville Town Common, which is now a conservation reserve. Traditionally towns would set aside a vast area of land for common use. Anyone could cut down a tree or graze cattle or do whatever on the Common. Then, nearly 40 years ago, the Townsville City Council decided to change it back to its original state. The damage had already been done, as several invasive species of grass have flourished. However, it still remains a gorgeous site filled with many animals. The field trip was with our class Australian Vertebrate Fauna. Unsurprisingly, we spent the day looking for fauna. We saw a ton of birds as apparently it’s a world-renowned site for birding. My favorite was a crimson finch. We also saw a bunch of reptiles. Luckily for us, they did not include any snakes with the ability to kill us in about four seconds, or crocodiles. Both are not uncommon in the park. We were told before we got out of the car to not stand by a body of water as a croc might be hungry. Good to know I suppose, though in some cases, ignorance is bliss. However, we saw a 3-meter long python that was more than enough snake for me. Apparently it wasn’t full grown. And apparently it was found in someone’s bathroom in town. That would ruin your day. All in all, it was a long (14 hours) day, but it was cool to see so many beasts in their native habitat. It was also fascinating and somewhat depressing to learn about the conservation efforts made to return the Common back to its original state. I’m interested in conservation, but what an uphill battle it is. Humans have a lot to answer for. Unfortunately, in addition to poor conservation, my professor seems to think it would be a good idea for me to write an intensive research paper about the Common and the animals found there. I think she’s wrong, but she didn’t ask me. Typical professorial behavior.
Fast forward a week and your intrepid explorers are boating off to Magnetic Island. Apparently Australians are quite fond of holidays, because we got Friday, yesterday, and today off of school for Easter/ANZAC day. So instead of studying, we decided to make up for lost time. We were going to take the bus to the ferry terminal, but no buses were running on Good Friday. The nerve. So we pleaded with our roommate to give us a lift, and thankfully he obliged. Luckily for us, that was just about the last glitch of the trip. Magnetic Island, or Maggie, was amazing. A tropical paradise 8km off the coast of Townsville. We arrived in Nelly Bay and decided to hike to Horseshoe Bay on the other side of the island. It was a fabulous hike. We passed through rainforest and eucalypt forest and whole bunch of other ecosystems I couldn’t name. We saw a bunch of fabulously colored butterflies and had some magnificent views of several bays and the mainland. When we finally arrived in Horseshoe Bay, we dropped our stuff off at our hostel and headed to the beach, where we stayed the rest of the day. Some people just have it so rough. It’s definitely a touristy island (though there is a small resident community, including at one point Julian Assange), but it didn’t feel touristy. Everyone was really laid back and very happy. How could you not be?
The next morning we decided to go on another hike. According to the guidebooks, it’s one of the best places in Australia to see a koala in the island. We headed off, hopeful but not overly optimistic that the guidebooks would be correct. The hike itself was relatively short, but had several fantastic views. It’s a 4km roundtrip walk that goes out to the top of a hill where an old fort was located. Apparently in WWII, the threat of Japanese invasion was real enough that the Aussies built a secretive fort on Maggie to protect Townsville. The invasion never happened, but the fort remains, with 360-degree views to boot. AND ON OUR HIKE UP WE SAW 3 KOALAS! Not that I was excited or anything. Eucalyptus leaves, the preferred diet of koalas, are quite toxic. The only way koalas can digest them is through fermentation. This means that much of the day koalas are quite drunk, literally. If they’re not drunk they’re sleeping, which was what all three of the koalas we saw were doing. They truly are the cutest, most squeezable looking things I’ve ever seen. If not for the fact that they’re angry drunks, I would want one as a pet. Their faces are adorable. They look so soft. MMMM, I want one. Needless to say, our days were made. With our hike over, we headed over to Alma Bay and spent much of the rest of the day alternating between frolicking in the water and crashing in the shade. It was an amazing two days. If you’re ever in Townsville, go to Maggie Island instead. It’s way better.
1400 words later, and I’m pretty much caught up. Life in Australia continues to be great. The mosquitoes and ants are beginning to become overwhelming, but other than that, there isn’t much to complain about. I mean come on, I saw three koalas, how bad could life be? I’ll post a bunch of pictures this afternoon to make everyone jealous. Thanks for reading.
jealously achieved! Hawaii is definitlely lacking in koalas..
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