Road trip to Mackay

My first road trip was to Mackay, Queensland! Mackay is four hours south of Townsville, but still on the coast. We traveled down through Ayr, Bowen, Proserpine and finally Mackay.






















Mackay hosts horse races throughout the year... and I could use a couple hundred bucks in my pocket!




And all I had to do was serve champagne, and occasionally help myself to a glass :)





The people that attended the horse race got all dress up in their stelletos, bonnets and button-up shirts on this 90 degree day. I was hot in a tank top and shorts never mind walking in stelletos on the grass!





The nightlife was similar to Townsville - wild, crazy outfits. I ever saw a girl wearing a Minnie Mouse costume! What's up with that Australia? .. weird.





We were only there for one day and one night, so it was a quick road trip for some quick money...well worth it!

Yes, I go to school smack dab in the middle of the rain forest!

These pictures are the central locations of my beautiful campus :

James Cook University - Townsville

James Cook Drive - Sunbus route and all major traffic on campus

Student Mall

My residence hall - I live on the third floor, with a balcony just above the trees so I can see the beautiful mountain range.
Biology Building

The Library

Sitting areas between buildings keep you out of the sun, but still in the rainforest

Walking into the center of campus
Uni Club!
Because of the rainfall these sidewalk/bridges are everywhere on campus - If you look at the black color toward the base of the trees you can estimate the most common water level during this rainfall season.

Culture Shock & Some Rather Interesting Things

I have now been in Australia for three weeks!! (if you haven't been counting ... I know mom is). My first week here went by too fast to even think. But my second week, hit hard! AustraLearn students were of the first to move in, which was great because we got to explore campus while it was still calm, but all the people we had just lived with for a week were widely dispersed around campus. My first shock, and biggest concern, was the food! Our dining hall is specific to our residence hall, but open for two hours, three times a day (each meal) and serves the most bizarre, tasteless, often disgusting combinations of food that even the Australians cringe about. "Tomato sauce", ketchup, is very acidic here; nothing like Heinz. Barbeque sauce is missing that hickory smoked authentic taste and chocolate is NOT sweet ... it's strange. We have a small selection for breakfast, "brekky", which I never make it in time for (7am-9am), always have make-your-own sandwiches for lunch (it is already getting old) with a small selection of fresh fruit (usually the go-to) and dinner ... well dinner is special (not!). Every night they serve us a nice heaping pile of under cooked white rice, a choice between two meats (which usually contain 40% fat:60% meat), roasted potatoes and steamed frozen vegetables. The only food to look forward to is on Friday nights when they have fish and chips (french fries are always called "chips" here, but so are potato chips!), baked fish and ice cream for dessert!

Second to the food shock, is definitely the lack of urgency in this country. In America, our lifestyles are so fast paced that we can get pretty much anything we needed at almost anytime of the day. Here, not so much. As an anxious individual, their "no worries" response to any problem drives me INSANE! Stores are only open from 9am-5/530pm on weekdays, except late night Thursdays that are open until 9pm (shocker) and are only open for a short time on Saturdays and only select stores open shortly on Sundays. The campus staff is virtually no help because most of them are only part time, so our RA's get tortured with our questions :) Speaking of, my RA's name is Brendan and he is great! He has been at Uni for six years (very typical here) and is a stereotypical Aussie; very sarcastic and loves to bust people up, so we get along well.

Shopping in Townsville has been a very interesting task. The cost of living is very high in Townsville, so some of the items we could buy cheap at Target at home are not so cheap here, even at Target. For some reason, clothes are more affordable than food, but with our currency being at such a good rate I have been pretty okay with carefully spending Mom's money :) on school supplies of course! While shopping I have come across some interesting items not found in the States. Take a look ...


P.S. - I found the setting that only allowed Google account members to comment, so now EVERYONE can comment if they wish! Sorry I didn't find it sooner :/


< Why use an escalator, when you can use a moving sidewalk that takes you up to the "car park"






< "Mallow Bunnies" - anyone in the mood for a giant Peep?











< I hear these are a revelation, but yet to try any











< I don't trust it! Umm, yeah I will pass thank you.













< These are the most delicious cookies, EVER!













< Australian Coins


















< Finding out that you have tons of coins isn't so bad when they are worth $1 & $2












< These are not so fun to find: 5 cents & 10 cents












< 20 cents & 50 cents, but these get heavy!





Pictures of campus soon! I am waiting for another sunny day to finish them off!

Miss you xoxoxo

Day 6 - Townsville

This was a day of travel. We woke up early and left Cairns at 9:00am heading 4 hours south to Townsville. As we all know I get motion sickness very easily, so I was quite drugged on Dramamine and slept for most of the ride. We stopped for lunch at a little mom & pop Greek deli. The food portions were huge, but of course I polished it off, no problem haha! We arrived at James Cook University around 4pm ... finally! It was raining, hot, humid and the Dramamine was still kicking in. Thank god the RA's carried my 50lb bags up to the 3rd floor :) After unpacking and experiencing the first of many terrible, unflavored dinners, I was beat and went to bed. I have some pictures of my room, balcony and view from my balcony, but it has been raining a LOT, so no great pictures of the gorgeous rain forest campus just yet...hopefully soon.

Of course Steven did not forget Valentine's Day ...

My first week at University Hall was ... interesting. Because of the seasonal difference this semester is first semester for them and there are a LOT of freshman, aka "freshers" and with this being our first (and only) semester here we are also considered freshers. James Cook is composed of five different residence halls, all who have very strong rivalries. University Hall is the oldest of the residence halls, so we have quite the reputation to uphold. As freshers we are required to wear paper chef hats with our name on it, as a way for "everyone to learn our name"/a great way to embarrass us at all times. One night we were woken up to walk up and down all three floors screaming our "Uni Chant", which are very vulgar, so I will not be posting them haha. I lost my voice that night :/ The next night we went a tavern not to far from campus for a casual, social, meet and greet, which was really great! Toga night was Tuesday, when all the bars and pubs have specials on their drinks ($2 draft and mixed drinks). My bed sheet came in very handy and came out pretty cute. (it was also very comfy to fall asleep in after the bar
haha).

Wednesday we took a bus with the other freshers and non-freshers to an outdoor venue. Uni Hall event organizers paid for open bar, so we could all mingle as equals for the first time of orientation week. We were so lovingly woken up at 4am to walk around campus chanting and "proving" our Uni Hall spirit to other dorms. The 90+ students in my dorm disturbed many that night. On our long walk we encounter another dorm, waiting for our arrival with hoses. The had no problem soaking us with them as we chanted on their grounds, but we did it with unity! Our night finished off with a picture... sounds so innocent. The non-freshers were above us on the balcony, waiting seconds before the photo to dump buckets of water and flour on us. Luckily, I saw it coming and was able to shield most of my body. It was sucky getting flour/water paste out of my hair, but it was all in good fun. Tomorrow is kegs on the lawn! We are finally rewarded for the torture.

Class starts next week. I have Mondays off which is great if I want to travel and am very excited for my classes. I found out that between my two Marine Biology classes, we take many field trips to gorgeous islands, such as Magnetic Island (a paradise location nearby)! I will let you know how my first week of classes goes! Miss you all!

Keep checking for campus photos to be posted.