Adventures in Townsville

JCU has been holding orientation week (O Week) for the past week, so I have been busy in Townsville attending various info sessions and welcome events. We went on a bus tour of Townsville, visited the aquarium, and went to the Billabong Sanctuary. The aquarium, Reef HQ, has the largest living coral reef exhibit in the world! They replicated the great barrier reef and built tunnels through it, so you could see the fish and coral.
We got a behind the scenes tour of the aquarium, so we were able to walk around the tops of the tanks and see various research projects that Reef HQ and JCU are working on together. Reef HQ also has a turtle hospital that rehabilitates injured sea turtles.

The Billabong Sanctuary is basically a big zoo where some of the animals are allowed to run wild - I wasn't really clear as to why they were called a sanctuary and what their mission was. We visited and got to hold some Australian wildlife, which was really exciting.

Me with a wombat - cutest animals ever!

Koala!

Crocodile

Python

We had to pay to hold the koala and wombat, but I now have big glossy professional looking photos along with these digital ones, which is kind of cool. At Billabong we also got to see a crocodile show, where one of the staff told us about crocs and fed them in front of us. There were wallabees (one with a baby in its pouch!), tons of birds, and other animals wandering around the sanctuary the whole time, as well as other animals in exhibits.

Crocodile Show

I forget what this guy is called, but they were like small wallabees

Yesterday we went to a horse race in Townsville. Apparently these events are a huge deal around here, so we decided to check it out. Everyone dresses up in cocktail dresses, big hairpieces, and high heels (or suits for men) and goes to socialize and maybe win some money. We dressed up as best as we could but sadly didn't have any big hats... I didn't bet on any of the horses since I had no idea which ones to pick, but some people I knew won some money. We had fun looking at everyone's outfits and checking out the scene.

Hats!

Maren, myself, and Hannah

Today I went to the beach for a Butler event - most of the kids from Butler took the bus down to the strand to meet Lalena, our contact person in Townsville, for an afternoon of sunbathing and food. We got lunch and ice cream (sponsered by Butler!) at a restaurant by the ocean.

O Week is drawing to a close, and most of the Aussies moved back into the dorms today. I start classes tomorrow!