October Adventures

Busy last month of classes

October 

Things were in full swing this month with a lot of final projects and reports due and not a lot of time for other things, but of course, a few adventures were snuck in there ;) So here are some pictures and stories from throughout the month! ENJOY :) 

Finally got to see our Townsville sign and it was beautifully lit up at night with the colors alternating! This city has treated me well for my 6 brief months here, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. It has gained the affectionate nickname of “Brownsville,” because clouds seem to bend around the city and only for a couple weeks during peak raining season do they get substantial amounts of rain. It is also the smallest city I have lived in. Everything basically closes at sundown, except for a few random shops and of course McDonald's which is open 24/7. And there are two main hubs, The Strand and Flinders Street. The Strand host many resturaunts and the beach front, whereas Flinders Street is the hub for all the bars! 

I have been very blessed with the people I have met here! This photo was taken at a place called The Coffee Club with my friend Sadie who is sitting across from me and Chloe who is sitting next to me! And the food was as delicious as it looks!! Afterward we went down to our local Ross River and just sat on the riverbank for a little while listening to music and relaxing! There was a little rope swing on the tree near us and they both took the plung! I had class in an hour so I couldn’t… nore was I dressed for it haha! As we were driving away we saw a dog run past the car and stopped for a moment and then realized he was wearing a colar. So I hoped out and called him over, which thankfully he came! We called the number on his tag and the owner was like, “ah darn he snuck out again, i’ll be there soon!” In the mean time we were just giving him all the snuggles until the owner arrived and he just hoped into the car! He explained that if he gets out he just goes straight to the river, because he loves to swim! 

Some postcards I collected from my recent trip out to Magnetic Island to send to family! You guys have always been my biggest support system and especially during my time here, it has meant a lot! And yes, I sent that whale postcard to my parents so I could keep it hahaha! 

This was the boat I took out with my marine physics class for our field trip and it will be the boat I take out for my end of year liveaboard trip! It’s a big commitment I have made and a step out of my comfort zone for the sake of building my diving skillset and determining if it would be something i’d want to do for a job! 

This is a picture of an australian artist named Vera Blue! This was such a fun concert!!! She is so talented, was never off key and didn’t miss a single note!! And a beautiful person inside and out, you could tell how genuine she was when she spoke! And the best part was this happened right at our bar on campus, so it was not very crowded and you could actually see her face haha.

 

I would like to thank Kelly H for making this happen! She was an absolute gem for facetiming me in to watch Emily and JDs wedding cermony!! The call was pixilated like this the whole time, but I could still here and see everything in real time! I wished more than anything I could have been there in person, but incredibly thankful I could still experience this beautiful moment!! 2 girls in our group now married, 1 is engaged, another is dating, and 3 amazing single pringles haha! Here’s to so many more!!! 

This beautiful tree drops these all the time in my front yard and if i’m passing my i’ll pick up a couple to hold onto and smell! We call these plumieria, but australians call them french pennies! 

This is Alex! He works for the International Students Team. He is such a nice and outgoing guy and is incredible at remembering names! He is also very very very talented… he plays the drums, piano, sings, dances, and so much more! This was during one of their Cafe International’s the team puts on every week! This week was celebrating African culture and Alex taught us all how to play these drums and our whole group played a song as well!!

I have no shortage of animal photos here!! I probably take a picture of a wallaby 4 times a week because they are so cute and funny! The first one is a favorite of mine, because the moms usually jump away if you stop walking, but sometimes they couldn’t be bothered like this one! I’ve found too that this species of wallaby are generally more relaxed than the ones in the second picture which are always skittish! That guy is one of the jacked ones here, but the majority of them are the size of the mom in the first picture. Granted, they are different wallaby species.

This was an exciting one to see! He was just sitting off the side of the road and I almost didn’t see him because he was sitting so still, blending in perfectly! The first frilly necked lizard I saw here was actually a very sad story because it was also the first time I had ever actively see an animal get hit by a car :( 

This mom and baby possum live in this tree that is on the way to my house! Every single night at dusk she pops her head out of their hole and I always have to say “hi momma!” 

This was a fun night!! The Zoology Society organized a night walk at a place nearby called Hervey’s Range. Probably 20 or so people came out and we all split up into cars and went to different spots to see what kind of critters we could find! This is a velvet gecko that has fully regrown its tail, but now with a different pattern!

The Strand was celebrating its 20th Birthday and put on a big celebration with musical artists, food trucks, small carnival rides, and a firework show! These are also my favorite kind of fireworks and it was fun to see them other than on the 4th of July, which I had opted out to see this past summer. 

I arranged a little Halloween get together with a couple people and it was a lot of fun! I showed some of the australians classic halloween movies while we all relaxed and ate chocolate and chips! I also encouraged everyone to dress up to make it feel more like halloween and i’m so glad they were all good sports about it!! The vest and hat I wore were left in my room when I moved in and I had saved them for the whole semester knowing they would be put to good use as a halloween costume haha! The hat said “chief warden” across the front haha. 

Last, but certainly not least, is a picture of a good number of my fellow marine physics classmates with our professor Scott in the middle! This was a fun class because they all made it fun! Good hearted people and all incredibly intelligent and driven! Now hopefully we all pass the really hard final exam we know Scott‘s made, ahh! 

These next two weeks I have my finals. After all that stress and worry, I will be relaxing and having fun on a week long liveaboard dive trip! After that, i'll be off to see Melbourne for a few days and then Sydney a day early to see the Blue Mountains after which I will officially be leaving Australia on the 6th of December. But I then get to spend a week seeing my uncles in California and my grandma whom I haven't seen since I started college.

Here's to all the adventures that await!! It's been an incredible journey so far! Cheers