Thursday February 28, 2013
Rugby tryouts
Today I tried out for the girls’ Fisher Shield Rugby team
for George Roberts. Since there are only a few girls that showed up, everyone
made it and we got right to training. We learned how to tackle by running and
jumping on a big yellow cylinder pad and then practiced tackling each other. It
was a lot more intense than I was expecting, but it was a lot of fun.
The guys train at the same time we do, they know what
they’re doing and were working on some more advanced drills. The coach said
we’ll get there, but so far no one has even explained the rules to me… so we’ll
see how it goes, I think we only have a week or two before our first game.
After tryouts I went to Uni Club
Me, Shannon, Nathan, Meredith, and Jorge
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Friday March 1, 2013
Palmetum Adventure
Today after class I went on an adventure to the Palmetum
Gardens, which is a huge garden about a 35 minute walk from campus with some
American friends I’ve made, Nathan and Jenny.
More info on the garden from: http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/facilities/gardens/Pages/palm.aspx
The Palmetum is a
17 hectare botanic garden displaying one of the largest and most diverse public
collections of palms in the world. A 1998 Bicentennial Project, this internationally
recognised attraction was supported and planned by the Townsville community and
organised through the Townsville City Council Parks Services.
It has a range of
habitats to suit flora originating from the dry topics through to the wet
tropical lowlands. In addition to the recreated habitat types, there are
expansive lawns and water features frequented by numerous bird species.
The palm collection
contains over 360 species in 130 genera; several rare and threatened in their
natural habitat. The palm family Arecaceae comprises about 2400 species in 190
genera. Approximately 60 species of palms are native to Australia; most are
represented. The palm collection is among the top ten public collections in the
world. Significant collections of Pandanaceae and cacti and succulents are also
displayed in the gardens.
Feature areas
Entry precinct
Townsville's
Japanese sister city Tokuyama funded the initial development of the Licuala
Walk and Tokuyama Garden, completed in 1996. The Blackhawk Memorial, completed
in 1997, is dedicated to the soldiers who lost their lives in a training
exercise accident at High Range Training Area.
Tumbetin Lodge
Tumbetin Lodge was
built in 1934 in Railway Estate for the Roman Catholic Church. Constructed
predominately of Australian silky oak, it was until 1975, used as the St
Francis Xavier School. In 1993 it was relocated to its current site. Facilities
include public conveniences, information and the Palmetum café.
Rainforest
A tropical
rainforest contains more palm species than any other environment. Around 2000
species are confined to this habitat and the largest palm genera are
predominantly rainforest plants. Many of the palms planted are either
understorey or climbers; approximately half of the collection is contained in this
habitat.
Cacti and Succulent Garden
Located in the
Xerophytic habitat is a dramatic display of arid land plants from the Americas,
Africa and Madagascar. Surrounded by local granite boulders and rock the plants
are grouped in association with drought-tolerant palms and trees.
Saturday March 2, 2013
AFL Game: Gold Coast Suns vs. North Melbourne Kangaroos at
Tony Ireland Stadium
Today I went to the pre-season AFL game in Townsville at
Tony Ireland Stadium. The stadium is in walking distance from campus and tickets
were cheap for students, so a ton of people went. It was an insanely hot day
and the walk was killer- we stopped on the way at the Tavern for a beer break
to cool off. Once we got there, we found a spot on the grass (the stadium seats
were sold out), which was unfortunately right in the sun. The first half was
pretty miserable with the heat, but we still had a great time. There was cloud
cover for the 2nd half and the game was a lot more fun to watch.
I don’t fully understand the rules, Billy tried to explain
it to me at the beginning of the game. I’ve got cricket down pretty well, but
AFL was tough to really see at a live event.
Most of the guys from GR were barracking for the Suns, since most people who go to JCU are from Queensland. The only other AFL team for Queensland is the Brisbane Lions.
The final score was North Melbourne winning with 2.13.6 (102
total) to the Suns with 1.11.14 (89 total).
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sunday March 3, 2013
Great Barrier Reef Aquarium (Reef HQ)
Today I went to Reef HQ in Townsville with some American
friends: Jorge, Meredith, and Shannon. Reef HQ has the largest living coral
reef in any aquarium in the world!
The most amazing part of the aquarium is the underwater
tunnel:
This is where all the large predators live:
Sawfish
Hammerheads
Blacktip Reef Sharks
Guitarfish
Nurse shark (named Cuddles who is extremely overweight, he's the one resting on the bottom)
Turtle (Peter, who was in the turtle hospital that they have
and had been moved to the big tank for some swimming and diving practice before
he’ll be released back into the ocean)
And lots of fish
We also had to get a picture in the old SCUBA helmet:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment