Fun in the Sun

Of course one of the perks of being in Australia is the beach is right at my finger tips! Last weekend myself along with 5 other friends made a trip to The Strand, which is a beach in Townsville that gives you a view of both the port of Townsville and Magnetic Island. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves as was evident at the end of the day when it was completely silent at the bus stop; the sun sucks it all out of you!

I can say now that I have swum in the very warm and very salty ocean waters off Australia where nets protect swimmers from stinging creatures, the main culprits being box jellies. But the white containers dotting the beach labeled "vinegar" are reminders that one can never be too careful when it comes to these things.

Once we decided we had enough of the ocean, we made our way to something I can really only describe as a rope pyramid that allows people to display some of their climbing skills; it made me feel like a kid crawling all over a jungle gym.

We had a brother-sister gymnast duo in our group, Joe and Alice, who showed us some sweet skills. It made me wish I had been able to keep up with gymnastics and it also made me wish I had better flexibility and upper body strength; not everybody can do a press handstand you know.

Despite the fact that I was diligent in putting on sunscreen, I still emerged with quite a good sunburn on my shoulders, chest, and tops of my feet (feet are the worst fyi). Today is the the first day I've really felt it healing since I'm itching up a storm. I'm not trying to come back from Aussie land with skin cancer (Australia has one of the highest rates in the world).... but a tan would be nice.... or at least a good blending of the freckles.... just no peeling please.

On our way back to the bus stop, we stopped at a kiddie water park that looked too fun to resist. I decided to be the photographer and guarder of stuff since I wasn't keen on getting wet all over again (I got teased for behaving like the mom of the group, lol). Everyone was alot of fun to watch anyway, so I enjoyed myself and didn't even have to get wet :)

I'm looking forward to going back, but next time I will be applying sunscreen well before I leave and then make sure I'm completely dry of sweat and water when I reapply.

I have the most fantastic most awesomeness news of the day: I GOT A JOB! Praise the Lord for real! I will be working as a kitchen hand in the dining hall making $17+ dollars an hour, working 4 hour shifts; employers here also do a superannuation fund which is basically a small retirement fund that my employer will be putting money into, and then I will get to take that money back to the states with me. Also, I should get most taxes back since I have applied for a Tax File Number. I'm really excited at the prospect of being able to pay for the rest of my expenses as well as maybe be able to travel a bit while I'm here. God is good.

I'll talk about intricacies and interesting details surrounding orientation week in my next post. The key word for that blurb: Hazing.

This little girl was too cute and I couldn't resist taking a few shots

All smiles from Rayna and Abby

I love this one cause everyone is doing something different

Smiles from Rayna and Alice

Can't leave Abby out!