Queensland ? - Yes, please !

Hey ihr, ich bin es wieder,  Kathi :)

Townsville

Last Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Josh, Matt, Georg and I hoped the school would finish quickly because on Thursday we wanted to go to Townsville. Townsville is a beautiful city in the far north of Queensland. Townsville is located next to the Great Barrier Reef. In Townsville live 150.000 people. In the city there is an army base. In this area the weather is very humid and hot, that's very different to the weather here in Bright.

Southern Cross station in Melbourne

On Thursday
morning at 6.10 we took the bus to the next train station, to Wangaratta, that's 80 km away, so we drove for 1 hour. There we took the train at 7.30 first to Southern Cross station, then to South Morang station in Melbourne. From there we drove by car to Tullamarine Airport. At 2.30 pm our flight departed from Melbourne and arrived at 5.30 pm in Townsville.

"The Strand" in Townsville

Wendy, Matt's aunt was our host for the whole stay. She picked us up at the airport and took us to "The Strand" . There we ate Fish and Chips for dinner. After we had finished we walked up the pier and along the beach.

On the ferry on the way to Magnetic Island

Fridaymorning. After breakfast we went to the port where we took the ferry to Magnetic Island. Magnetic Island is a small island with beautiful beaches and mountains. On Magnetic Island it's very hot and humid but with a little brise. That is different to the main (Festland). We had a quick lunch and immediately we went in the pool for a swim.

Arthur Bay

 In the afternoon we drove to the Arthur Bay and to the Picnic Bay.

Picnic Bay

At the end of the day we went to Geoffrey Bay where the Rock Wollamas live. Rock Wollamas are a type of kangoroos, but they are smaller and their fur is darker.








On Saturday we spent the whole day in the pool or sat on the veranda of our appartment.

View from our appartment

 

 

 

On Sunday we went to the Horseshoe Bay for a swim. A big problem in northern Australia are the jellyfish (Quallen). They like the humid and hot weather as in Townsville and Megnatic Island. You can go in the water if there is a net which creates a safe swimming pool.

The savingnet in the sea

One day before we arrived in Townsville one jellyfish had come through the net and hurt a 6 year old girl  at "The Strand" where we were the day when we arrived. But the girl is still alive.















Before we left Magnetic Island on Monday we went down the street into some shops. At 1.30 pm we drove back by ferry to Townsville. In the afternoon we went to a huge Shopping centre in Townsville where there are over 100 shops. In the evening we went again to "The Strand" , walked along the beach and ate an icecream.

On the way back from Magnetic Island

 

 

The huge Great Barrier Reef Aquarium

Tuesday, our last day in Townsville. After we had finished breakfast we went to the big Great Barrier Reef Aquarium. First we had an interesting presentation about all sorts of corals.

The differently colored softie and hard corals

We learnt a lot about the hard and the softie corals and the differences and the colours. After that we went independently along the huge aquariums and saw a lot of different fish.

Huge Aquariums

Mount Stuart

 In the afternoon we drove up Mount Stuart, that's not far away from Townsville. Mount Stuart is 584 m high and the training area of the army.










View from Mount Stuart

 

Goodbye Magnetic Island

At 5.10 pm we flew back to Melbourne and arrived at 9.10 pm. That night we stayed in Josh's aunt's house. On Wednesday we went back to Wangaratta by train and back to Bright by bus. That was the end of another adventure.

Kathi