Rugby, Paluma, Undara, Shakespeare, and Sailing

A lot has happened since my last post, and here is a quick overview-

A few weeks back, we went to a rugby game. Rugby, or "footy", as one type of rubgy is called (there are two types, rugby union and rugby league, but I can't keep them straight) is HUGE in Australia. The North Queensland Cowboys are based in Townsville. They lost, but it was still fun to see the whole scene.Group of Butler kids at the rugby game

the Cowboys- notice their lack of padding or helmets, making American football players look like wimps

Next, as part of my program, we took a trip up to Paluma, a section of rainforest near Townsville. We took a rainforest hike and then went to a swimming hole at crystal creek, where we could jump off high rocks and slide down natural water slides.

Natural water slides at crystal creek

In the rainforest at Paluma - this root grew into a knot

Last weekend, my parents came to visit! They rented a campervan where the three of us lived for a few days:

It was pretty cramped! I took a bus down to Mission Beach, a town north of Townsville where there are a lot of wild Cassowaries - HUGE flightless birds similar to emus but more colorful. At Mission Beach we took a rainforest hike and saw 2 cassowaries! Since it was rainy and we couldn't go to the beach, we decided to use our remaining time to go to Undara, a series of lava tubes west of Mission Beach, more in the dry outback area of Australia. We drove west and crossed the mountain range on a beautiful drive. As we progressed west the landscape became drier and drier. We saw wild kangaroos and wallabees along the road, as well as huge termite mounds:

We camped at Undara that night and observed the wildlife at the campsite - wallabees, cute rat kangaroos, and lorikeets (colorful birds in the parrot family):wallabee at our campground

The next day we took a hike to a lookout:

mom and dad

me at the lookout

and then went on a guided tour of the lava tubes. A long time ago, there was a huge volcanic event and rivers of lava poured over the land. The outside cooled first, and hardened into these tubes that insulated the lava within and allowed them to travel further. Eventually, the inside lava flowed out, and the shells were left over. They go for miles and miles, but some have collapsed. It was really cool!

I had to go back to school to go to class, so after giving mom and dad a tour of campus, they headed south to continue their adventure. They leave tomorrow, and so far they have gone diving at the Whitsunday islands and saw a wild koala! They are currently in Brisbane.

I had a busy weekend this weekend. On Friday, five friends and I went to see a Shakespeare play - Richard III- in a botanical gardens in the city. It was really fun! It was a great atmosphere, and even though I'm not the biggest Shakespeare fan I enjoyed it. The play was really well done, and it was kind of creepy (a bunch of ghosts come and haunt him)

Set of Richard III

The next day, we woke up early to go on another Butler event - sailing around Magnetic Island, which is off the coast of Townsville. I have never been sailing before, and I loved it! The seas were pretty choppy, so it was a rough ride - which made it more fun! A few people in our group got seasick, and most people felt a little queasy, but not me! I guess I have sea legs... The more adventurous of us stood in the front to ride the waves:

It was hard to balance! After an hour or so of sailing, we pulled over to a beach for morning tea and eventually lunch. We went swimming and had fun on the beach:

In front of our pirate ship

A few of us went out to dinner in town afterwards. This week I have to buckle down and do a lot of work, but next week we have a week off of classes. I am going north to Cairns and going on a dive trip - a liveaboard boat for three days and two nights. I am so excited!