I love this town.

Today I spent a really nice day in Townsville. They say this place is more of a stop-over for backpackers, but I could definitely stay here for awhile. Unfortunately, I only have two days.


Today I spent the morning organizing my travel to the rainforest. I'm REALLY excited to get back to a research station. Expecially one where I can learn about the rainforest and perhaps visit the Great Barrier Reef. I'm going to try to find some excursion offshore because I would love to go see it and perhaps try snorkling. Luckily, the people from the station will be in town on Friday so I'll be able to avoid at least one bus trip this week!

After making all my phone calls I headed up to vist the Perc Tucker Art Gallery. The Gallery is in the centre of town and has free admission. The exhibit on right now is called 12 Degrees of Latitude. It's a collection of work from the top of Queensland to the bottom, spanning that distance in latitude. There were so many pieces that I really loved. The Gallery is beautiful and the art was quirky.

A painting of the giant strawberry, somewhere in Queensland.


I then headed up to the Musuem of Tropical Queensland. I'd been looking forward to visiting this place for awhile and I was not disappointed. They have recently put about 18 million dollars into an expansion of the museum and a series of archeological dives to one of the "most significant ship wrecks in the southern hemisphere". The museum houses the conservator's laboratory and all of the pieces of the wreck. The displays were incredible, to say the least.

Clay jugs from the ship.


I also really loved the ecosystem floor. They have a huge collection of coral and all of the species are labeled and described. It's very cool.


This afternoon I headed up a strip of shoreline they call the Strand. It's a series of about 5 beaches with swimming areas (they have to exclude the poisonous stingers), built in pools, icecream places, and parkland. I walked all the way from one end to the other and back. I also went for a dip in the biggest pool, but I am not acclimatized to salt water, so I really couldn't stay in for long.



Another big thing! Five huge coconuts under some trees along the strand.


At the pool I ran into a family who had been in the same section of the train as I had the day before. The little boy had found a tiny crab and brought it over to show me. He was very proud of his catch and had named it Shelley and was returning it to one of the tidal pools in the rocks.


After my swim I stopped at Cold Rock for some coconut ice with a bounty bar smashed into it. When people ask we about my favourite place in Aus I'm going to tell them it's any place with Cold Rock because that's the easiest answer ;)

The past few days.

I decided to leave Alice on the ground. Once they have you there, they crank up the flight prices so that when you're desperate to leave the desert they can take all your money. I decided I would pay half price and take two buses and a train to the coast. I would have to make a couple stops, but I don't mind seeing the small towns too.

So, my two new danish friends dropped me off at the bus on Saturday night. They hugged me good-bye and promised to write. Hopefully I'll catch up with Kasper in the south-east. We were the only three left from our tour group and it was sad to leave. The bus dropped me off in a tiny little town called Tennent Creek at 2:00 am. The owner from the hostel was there to pick me and a few other backpackers up. We headed back to the hostel and went directly to bed. The next day was a hot, dry one. I did my laundry and by the time I was finished hanging it on the line the first items were already dry. I spent the afternoon listing to the AFL final on the radio with a guy from the Torres Strait. He was not so interested in the game, but I was. The Geelong Cats won a thriller with a free kick in the last six seconds. I also met four boys who were flying across the country in a little plane. They had just completed pilot school and wanted to get some practice so that they could find employment. One was nice, one was the instructor, and the other two were morons. They were heading out to a small town on the east coast the next day.

That night, we got a lift back to the Greyhound and headed off to Mt. Isa. The Greyhounds here are huge and new and very nice to ride around in, but I wasn't really excited to spend the second night in a row on one. Anyway, I arrived in the Isa at 6:00 am and walked about 400 m to the next hostel. There's a saying around here that "you're not a real Aussie till you've been to the Isa." I think they will say anything for a few tourism dollars because there is absolutely nothing to do or see in the Isa. It is sort of an interesting place however. With a population around 23,000 it is one of the biggest towns in the entire world. It covers are area the size of Switzerland and the main street is 180 km long. Yeah. Unreasonable. I wish you could all see how barren this place is. It takes two hours to drive from one end to the other! At least. And, since I was there on a Sunday, nothing was open. Except for Cold Rock Ice Creamery. This place is fantastic. It's a bit of a chain and they have really delicious ice cream flavours which they will mix up and add things into. I had Aussie vanilla with a Tim Tam chopped in. So tasty.

This is me with my ice cream, a palm tree, and a skinny little magpie that you probably can't see. Magpies are much smaller here than they are on the west coast.


I only spent one day in the Isa, but I had a really fun night. The four pilots turned up at the hostel. Their plane had leaked fuel so they had to make an early landing. They said they should have given me a lift. I told them my mom wouldn't have liked that especially since they had to make an emergency landing (and I would not have flown with the morons anyway). There were a lot of other interesting people at the hostel too, though. The son of the hostel owners was really nice. He is coming to Canada in January to start a two-year work visa so we had a lot to talk about. Also, my roommate was an Estonian guy who has been backpacking across Australia. He was really proud to show me his Canadian hammock he's been sleeping in and he cooked me dinner. We talked about knitting. he said Christmas is never a surprise for him because he knows he's going to get mitts, scarves, and sweaters. We stayed up and chatted with a Swedish couple he had caught a ride with. They were thrilled to meet someone who knew about the Oland Islands (alvars are there) because that was where the girl grew up.

The next day I caught the Overlander Train at 1:30 pm. It brought me into Townsville 22 hours later. The ride was okay, but the landscape hardly changed at all. This was my view. All of the little bumps are termite hills (I'm guessing). I also saw some huge red kangaroos, which was really exciting.


I need to go find some dinner, but you might hear from me in the next few days. The internet here is pretty great, but I have a lot to see and do! :)

The West Macs.

The day after I returned from the Rock tour I decided to hop on a day trip bus to see the West Macdonnal Ranges. Mom and Dad had seen a show about them and Chris had camped there so they were highly recommended. I had a great day out there too. The West Macs are the mountain range that borders Alice Springs. They are full of gorges and waterholes.



And dry sand rivers and rock wallabies!



We also stopped over to see an ochre site. This was used as the currency in the aboriginal trading system. This was actually a poor quality site, but I thought it was pretty spectacular.

The Red Centre.

Last week (actually, I have no idea how long ago or even what day it is right now...I've been on a train for 22 hours and I'm exhausted, but I wanted to post this while I had the chance). So, awhile ago....I went on a tour to see the Red Centre. The trip included a hike at King's Canyon, a visit to Kata Tjuta, a stop at Uluru and two nights camping in the outback. I boarded a bus at 6:00 am with 20 other tourists and a guide, Sarah, who drove us around, cooked our food, and told us all about the place. I had never done this sort of traveling and was really wondering about how all of this would go. I was also completely unprepared because I had booked at the hostel desk and when I asked them if I needed to know anything special they said I didn't. I packed up ALL of my stuff which was WAY too much and didn't pack enough water, but we stopped at a lot of places so I got extra anyway. And, I ended up having a fantastic time and making a bunch of new friends along the way.

The first stop was King's Canyon. This is a huge crack in the earth that is starting to become a very popular hiking destination. We did the rim walk and it took about three hours. We all had to carry three litres of water. I definitely drank every last drop of mine. The wind and air at the top is so dry it's hard to remember how to breathe. This picture was taken in front of the area they climb through in Queen of the Desert :)


A cycad, or dinosaur plant and a ghost gum.


Me beside the canyon. That lighter area is where the most recent chunk of rock fell in 60 years ago.


Sunset over the desert.


Day two. Kata Tjuta. Or many heads. This is a sacred man's place where boys were taken to learn how to hunt.


The Mala walk at Uluru. Mala were giant people from the creation time who formed the earth and the brought the people to these lands. All along the base of Uluru are places where important events occured in their time. These stories are passed down through the generations.



An ancient boy's classroom cave in the bottom of Uluru. These paintings are probably 1000 years old and you can see how they overlap like they would on a chalkboard. There are all sorts of interesting little places like this around the base of Uluru. We did the entire walk which is 9.5 km on flat ground. Several of the areas are sacred so you can't take pictures. Noone in my group climbed the rock. It's very dangerous and the aboriginials ask that you don't climb it because it is so important to their culture. The first day we were there the climb was closed, the second it was open and it was as busy as the 401.


Uluru at sunset, the most spectacular time.


The last night we all went back to the hostel I stayed at and went out for dinner. I had a traditional Aussie burger with friend egg, beetroot, and pineapple. It was delicious.

No post!

Luckily I went down to the bus station earlier today because I actually need to catch a bus out of town tonight.

I don't have time to post any pictures, but I'll be online tomorrow.

Stay tuned for some good ones!

Love, Cass

A lovely day in Alice.

I feel a bit bad for questioning why people would even live here the other day! I had a really good day in Alice. I spent the morning at the fabulous Todd Markets, which were extra fabulous since this was the Desert Festival Edition. Then I spent the afternoon at the Cultural Precinct which contains the Museum of Western Australia, the Art Gallery, the Craft studio and outlet, and the Australian Museun of Flight and Aviation. I've spent the evening at the pool with my roommates, two girls from Japan, who are envious of my pale white skin (I thought I had a tan).

Here are a few quick shots that I've taken over the past few days! (I'm under time constraints here).

Out the window where the landscape starts to transition from Western Australia to Central. The captain said he'd take us past Uluru if the skies were clear so that, "the people on the right side of the plane could see the rock". Unfortunately, skies were not clear and it actually rained a little in Alice when we landed.
The airplane food on Qantas was pretty bad. I did receive the miniest Tolberone of all time. They LOVE this chocolate bar here all year round. I should have used a penny, but there's a bread crumb for scale.


The top of Annie Meyers Hill. Typical scenery around here. Actually, quite beautiful once you stop freaking out because you're in the middle of the desert on the other side of the world.


One of the booths at the market. The, ahem, toque booth (the people here wouldn't even know the word toque. They call them beanies and they are unnecessary).

The knit grafitti installation! Done by machine, of course.

The reptiles and birds at the Museum of Western Australia (I was allowed to take photos). The museum was small, but so well done.

I found a phone here that I can use for free with my calling card. Unfortunately, I didn't find it till now and you're all just waking up and this place closes in five minutes. I leave on my tour tomorrow at 6:00 am, but you may hear from me slightly later in the week!

Arid desert environment.

If you spill a drop of water here it dries in about 30 seconds. I don't know that for sure though because there aren't any clocks and nobody pays attention to the time.

O, I should also add, the sun sucks the water right out of people too. And I think I'm the only person here carrying a refillable waterbottle. Most of the time I don't even realize I'm overly hot because I'm not sweating, but then I'm thirsty.