We also had a change to explore the city at night through a pub crawl organized by our ultimate frisbee teams. The theme was Heroes vs. Villains, we dressed like the teenage mutant ninja turtles. We hand sewed our outfits! It was a really fun night.
Saturday 26 March 2011
Rainy Weeks
Well I haven't updated my blog in quite some days..Sorry guys! I've been really busy actually doing school work for once, as well as having some adventures. So the past couple weeks have given me a clear view why Townsville is considered to be in the rainy tropics. It pretty much rained for a week straight, I don't even understand how the clouds could hold that much water! We had planned a weekend trip to the Whitsunday Islands but the good 'ol leaky clouds canceled that one for us. We ended up going hiking on Castle Hill which is down in the city close to the strand. We didn't really know what we were up for...first of all it was pretty much a hike in itself just getting to the bottom of the "hill" we were going to hike up. Then we read some signs that said we should be in good physical condition to go any further. Needless to say it was a good work out and all of us had some tired shaky legs on the way down. There were beautiful views of the beach and the city from the top though.
Halfway there!
View from the top! (Thats Maggie Island out there)
We also had a change to explore the city at night through a pub crawl organized by our ultimate frisbee teams. The theme was Heroes vs. Villains, we dressed like the teenage mutant ninja turtles. We hand sewed our outfits! It was a really fun night.
I've also seen a bunch of cool wildlife mostly right on campus. The other night when I was going for a run I saw my first kangaroo! There are also two wallabees that are always hanging out around our townhouse. There are so cute. I've seen a bunch of cool birds, larakeets, and these big pink parrot looking things. We also spotted a snake one day. Two yellow-bellied humming birds just flew up to my window, they're so itty bitty but they have been hanging out around here all day. And of course there are kookaburras everywhere!
Green Tree Frog!
We also had a change to explore the city at night through a pub crawl organized by our ultimate frisbee teams. The theme was Heroes vs. Villains, we dressed like the teenage mutant ninja turtles. We hand sewed our outfits! It was a really fun night.
Sunday 6 March 2011
SCUBA Certification!
After some minor bumps in the road, (doctors not showing up for my appointment, buses breaking down and a lab that ran until 9pm) I finally set out to Maggie Island to meet up with the rest of the folks who were enrolled in the Open water scuba certification course. The ferry landed on Maggie around 11pm and I went straight to bed in the ten bed hostel that smelled like old people and hamsters, or an old person who owned hamsters..but thats fine. Woke up at the crack of dawn, well 7:30, which I consider the crack of dawn, and walked down to the dive shop. We sat through 3 or 4 hours of boring videos and lectures. After lunch we came back to do pool work. This was the first time I was going to be able to breathe underwater! The pool work was much easier than I was expecting. I almost freaked out when people told me I was going to have to take off my mask and then empty the water from it, good thing they didnt tell me I'd have to take out my regulator and throw it behind me while sitting on the bottom of the pool, I would have jumped right back on the ferry. Surprisingly the skills did require quite a bit of concentration but weren't that difficult overall. Around 5:30 we headed back to the hostel grabbed some extremely overpriced food and then literally passed out in bed around 8:30 ( I don't think I have gone to bed that early since 4th grade).
The next morning we did a few pool skills then headed right to the ocean for our first open water dive! I was extremely excited, but very nervous. I still couldn't grasp the concept of being able to breathe under the ocean, to sit on the ocean floor and be totally fine, freaked me right out. But as soon as we made our decent to the bottom of the ocean I was in awe. It was the most amazing and miraculous thing I have ever experienced. Watching the surface of the water and sunlight above me as I sank down to the sand is indescribable. Being able to breathe underwater is the most fascinating sensation. Our fist dive was just for fun and to get us to explore the bay. There were really neat corals and schools of fish, I saw a sting ray and jelly fish as well. The coral was really amazing to look at so close up. I wish I could have brought my camera but the visibility wasnt the best because of good 'ol cyclone Yasi.
The next day we had two open water dives planned, one was supposed to be to the ship wreck. The weather turned out to be really crappy and we decided not to go to the wreck. The waves were taller than me and I thought I was going to be sea sick when we were at the surface, it was a rough swim out to deep water.
We did a total of four open water dives in Alma Bay that were a total of 2 hours and 25 minutes underwater. After taking the written exam I am now a certified open water diver! I can't wait to get to dive again, it is the most amazing experience. :)
Alma Bay, Magnetic Island
The next morning we did a few pool skills then headed right to the ocean for our first open water dive! I was extremely excited, but very nervous. I still couldn't grasp the concept of being able to breathe under the ocean, to sit on the ocean floor and be totally fine, freaked me right out. But as soon as we made our decent to the bottom of the ocean I was in awe. It was the most amazing and miraculous thing I have ever experienced. Watching the surface of the water and sunlight above me as I sank down to the sand is indescribable. Being able to breathe underwater is the most fascinating sensation. Our fist dive was just for fun and to get us to explore the bay. There were really neat corals and schools of fish, I saw a sting ray and jelly fish as well. The coral was really amazing to look at so close up. I wish I could have brought my camera but the visibility wasnt the best because of good 'ol cyclone Yasi.
The next day we had two open water dives planned, one was supposed to be to the ship wreck. The weather turned out to be really crappy and we decided not to go to the wreck. The waves were taller than me and I thought I was going to be sea sick when we were at the surface, it was a rough swim out to deep water.
We did a total of four open water dives in Alma Bay that were a total of 2 hours and 25 minutes underwater. After taking the written exam I am now a certified open water diver! I can't wait to get to dive again, it is the most amazing experience. :)
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