Blogs from Townsville, Queensland, Australia, Oceania - page 9

Australian Geography Australia is a big continent! It looks small on most maps because of the effect of transposing a circular surface onto a flat surface. The area of the continental U.S. and that of Australia is roughly the same, yet Australia is only divided into six States and two Territories. The State I spent the majority of my time, Queensland, stretches from N.C. to Canada, and inwards to Kansas City! However, Australia only has 20 million people (compared to 300 million in the U.S.), and only about 40 Universities (http://www.australian-universities.com/list/). North Carolina alone has about as many Universities (http://www.ibiblio.org/nc/nccollege.html) and that is excluding community colleges. Primary Education Education in the States and Australia is similar with a few key differences. One is language. "Kindergarten" in the States is the e... read more

After a few dramas we eventually were able to leave Cairns due to major flooding! We gave up and booked a flight and headed over to Magnetic Island! We took the ferry across which was so bumpy, it was throwing down with rain and generally very miserable! And it didnt change!! Arrived at our hostel to be told most of it wasnt working due to the cyclone and there was no tv room to waste the day from the rain - oh joy!! Luckily, on our second day we decided between 4 of us to hire and car and drive round the island! Which took all of ten minutes because you cant drive round all of it and there is pretty much only one road that you can!! However, the sun came out for some photos ... read more

Well, it’s been a mental few months, full of highs, lows and planes. I know I am going to do my trip to the UK a dis-service by writing about it months after it happened but if you were there you already know how brilliant and if you were not you probably heard me go on about it. I left Townsville in a blaze of glory/ despair and made my flight by a cats whisker. I then had every day filled by friends, family and drama in the UK. Thanks to my family for their beaming faces when I walked out of arrivals, everyone who made the effort to come to the party, or took the day off just to hang out. 3 weeks was not long enough but I managed to pack in visiting half ... read more

I was expecting some big celebrations for Australia day, but saw nothing. Everyone just went to the 'Strand' which was a stretch by the beach with a few swimming and water features to play in. Didn't really do anything in Townsville it was just boring. My hostel was to far out of town, so didn't even bother to chillout by the beach.... read more

I spend a lot of time blogging about those awesome adventures I get to go on, but I wanted to dedicate a little time to the everyday. If mostly because some people seem to be under the impression that I dive every weekend, run into common brown snakes every Tuesday, and generally live a life full of adventure. It's true, I am adventurous. But there's a lot of well needed and much appreciated down time between it all. Pets! I live with four pets; two dogs, Azgaurd and Komizar, a cat named tiger and a beta fish. Whose name and gender I don't actually know. Both dogs are puppies, although Komizar is about as tall as he is going to get. Each time I go outside to wash my laundry, or say hi to the dogs, ... read more