Townsville

So Townsville was awesome. We got in around noon and ate at the dining hall (against the rules, might I add. Man, we are rebels). After dropping our stuff off in Stephanie’s (the girl whose room we were crashing in) room, we changed and took a bus into the actual city of Townsville, to take in some sun at the beach. Voted cleanliest beach in 2004 and 2008, whoo! It was absolutely lovely.

It was practically empty, which was amazing. Townsville seemed pretty small, especially in comparison to Brisbane which is the third most populous Australian city. There were some cute shops (all closed, and on a Saturday! What’s up with that?) but in all it isn’t the near a city campus that UQ is, it is more for people who want to hit the beach regularly and revel in wildlife I think. Blech, wildlife. Who does that?

After a nice nap in the sun (goobered up with sunscreen, don’t worry) we went back to Stephanie’s room to change again, and to head out on the town. Townsville may not be Brisbane, but it certainly isn’t lacking in the nightlife.

I should mention that on the way there we met up with a rather large group of girls who were also going into town. We proceeded to belt Disney tunes and 80’s rock ballads on the bus there. Don’t stop believing, folks. Just hold onto that feeling.

We first hit a place called the Mad Cow. Selections included Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy, a Grease medley, and Sweet Home Alabama. You get the picture. There was a bachelorette party who were also there, so several people were in costumes and there were a few stray balloons that had made a break for the sky, only to hit the ceiling.

The bar tenders were attractive women wearing midriff bearing shirts who had mobs of people shouting drink orders at them. I felt a little bad when I was ordering my water because two guys were being pretty big douche bags right before me.

We stayed and danced at the Mad Cow and generally had a good time for a while, then decided to give another place a try. Some of the people we rode the bus with had mentioned going to a place called The Bank. Now, bear in mind with the story I am about to tell that most of these places are not clearly labeled. There is no giant flashing neon sign displaying for all to see the name of the establishment. It is spread by word of mouth and the music blaring from the doors.

The first place which we assumed to be The Bank due to the vague gesture earlier in the evening was….not. To get in the door we had to show ID then head up the stairs to a front desk-esc place to pay a cover. Erin peaked around the corner to see if this place was worth the cover charge or if we should find somewhere else. Apparently there were poles and stages involved in whatever was going on around that corner, which explains why we got strange looks from the hulking bodyguard at the door.

Needless to say we went back down the stairs and tried another place.

Our second try actually was The Bank. Seven bucks to get in and they were blaring the Vengaboys. We only stayed for around 45 minutes and in that time they played Barbie Girl and two songs by the Vengaboys. While waiting for Steph’s drink I helped a random guy convince his friend that the song “Boom Boom Boom Boom” was a quality song. Mission successful, random guy 2 admitted it. I like to think I change lives.

We headed home to zonk out on Steph’s floor. We borrowed cushions from another dorm room, and Kylie and I slept on the floor with a bed of cushions (3 each) while Stephanie and Erin shared the bed. The cushion bed was surprisingly comfortable for the first two nights; three was pushing it for my back.

Sunday we took a trip to Maggie Island. We took a bus to the ferry, and then took a 45 minute ferry ride to the Island. The ride over was absolutely beautiful. We got a great view of Townsville and the Island itself.

When we got there we took a cab (after missing the bus by literally a minute and a half) across the island to where we heard the best beaches were. We had some beachy fun, including some playing in the sand. The sunset was absolutely spectacular, right behind part of the Island down the beach.

Erin and I got milkshakes that were disappointment in liquid form. Emphasis on the liquid. It was like a glass of milk with a squirt of chocolate and a scoop of ice cream in the bottom, not even mixed up. I’m still a little peeved about this. Trying to let it go, but milkshakes are sacred.

After catching the ferry back we went to bed early, getting up at an ungodly hour of 6 to go snorkeling. Too early for the bus, so we called a cab which played classical music on the radio. We waited at the snorkeling place for them to pick us up in a van to take us to the wharf.

Once we got there we had to sign a form saying we knew we could die and then tried on our wetsuits and flippers, then onto the boat! The boat was a two level boat, seats on the bottom and an open top on the top. We got a talk about safety and boat etiquette filled with a few little jokes (including “If you don’t know how to use the bucket, just put your head in and read the directions at the bottom” when referring to the barf buckets) and set sail. About a half hour into it I went to ask for some seasickness medicine, about ten minutes too late. By the time the crew member got back I was already hunched over the bucket, tasting the toast they served for breakfast again.

The next hour or so was pretty fun. I couldn’t keep down water to take the seasickness medicine, so I just had to grin and bear it. I wasn’t the only one clutching a bucket though. There was a guy who sat across from me who was also feeling the motion of the ocean. Everyone was really nice; I got quite a few pats on the head with a sympathetic smile or two.

Once we got to the reef, one of the crew members stole my bucket telling me to get into the water, that it would make me feel better. He was trying to help, but his timing was terrible. I had to go to the bathroom before I could get myself into my wet suit and into the water. He was right though, I did feel a lot better once I was in the water.

The reef was, to put it simply, amazing. There were droves of fish and sharks and interesting shapes and colors. The water was a little murky apparently, but I was too mesmerized to notice. I saw reef sharks cruising about the coral, red fish and blue fish, one fish and two fish.

The coral was breathtaking. No joke, a few times I had to come up because I forgot to breathe and the snorkel didn’t help things. Also, when you smile water gets into the goggles. Just a fun fact for you.

Some people saw a turtle, but I don’t think I went out far enough. I stayed moderately close to the boat because I was still feeling a little weak and didn’t really want to go too far. There was plenty to see around the boat anyway, even if I did miss out on the turtle. I want to go back so maybe I will see one then. I would like to try out diving to actually go down to see even more. Next time I will take some seasickness medicine BEFORE we leave so as to actually be able to enjoy the entire boat ride.

The ride back was smoother so I didn’t get sick once! Trust me, that is impressive in comparison to the ride there. Towards the end I even managed to keep down some water and crackers. One of the crew members sat and talked to me a bit about his travels, Thailand and New Zealand and all of these crazy awesome places. Apparently pay on one of those boats isn’t that great, the lifestyle is what they really work for. Just traveling around, going where you want. If I didn’t get seasick I would probably have been jealous.

Back to Stephanie’s room, sleep, then to the airport in the morning. One of the guys who was on our snorkel boat was actually on the same flight to Brisbane as us, and as we were preparing for takeoff he passed over one of those white barf bags with the message “Just in case” which was very amusing.

In all, the trip was a pretty great success.