Cowboys and Bushwalking

Last night I went to a Cowboys game with some friends! It was against the Melbourne Storm..... we were beat but it was still fun and good experience. (26-12) The under 20's rugby, who played before the game started, won over the Storm by one point. What is interesting is that in rugby what we would consider to be a touch down is called a Try and kicking a goal is just a goal. Try is worth 4 points and a goal 2. You we reach the end zone you have to touch the ball to the ground in order to receive points. You cant make any forward passes, you have to throw them behind you to your other teammates.
Today I celebrated my friends bday... we went hiking up a hill that is behind out campus. It was a pretty fun trip! Our friend was making fun of us for calling it hiking because that is term for more extreme terrain, instead he said it was more like bushwalking. The views of the city and other hills were amazing! The also have some of the trails named after dangerous animals... Blue Ringed Octopus and Spider Bite. It was funny because when we were coming down the hill we ended up falling a bit and sliding down it cause the rocks were so lose. We kept on teasing one another about it and refering to falling over as 'stacking it'. Oh, Leandra just stacked it! Its an Aussie term. We were even recording our descent and there were some good footages of us stacking it. Good times!
Take much care everyone! :) Thanks for stopping by.
Pics:
1. A view from our Bushwalk!
2. My mates!
3. At the Cowboys game. We sat in the grass so we were close to the game! :)
4. Tackle!
5. A view of the whole field. We were in the grass off to the right.

Earth Hour !! March 28th, 2009!

There is some interesting information about Earth Hour . . . .
http://www.earthhour.org/home/
Earth Hour began in Sydney in 2007, when 2.2 million homes and businesses switched off their lights for one hour. In 2008 the message had grown into a global sustainability movement, with 50 million people switching off their lights. Global landmarks such as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, Rome’s Colosseum, the Sydney Opera House and the Coca Cola billboard in Times Square all stood in darkness.
In Oslo’s city centre, members of the public will take up the challenge of peddle-powered light bulbs, while residents in the city of Lisbon will sit down to an evening of outdoor candle-lit dining as they watch their city skyline go dark.
Athens to cast its vote for Earth by switching lights off at the Acropolis• Empire State Building and Petronas Towers join list of modern marvels switching off for Earth Hour March 24, 2009
James Cook University has registered as a participant in this global event!!! :)

G'Day Sheilas and Blokes!
Not a whole lot is going on at the moment. The last couple of days have involved going to lectures and hanging out with friends. The rest of the this week will be good though!
Tomorrow I am going to the club at our university with some friends. It is only open until midnight but it still makes for an enjoyable thursday night! On Friday night there is pub crawl for our residence hall. A bus is taking us to a few bars in town and we are supposed to be dressed up as movie characters. I am going to dress up as Frankenstein. (pictures will soon follow....) I am going to have one of my friends do my hair, which I am a little scared for but oh well, it should make for a fun evening! Saturday night the Cowboys rugby game!! It will be their third game and it is against our arch rivals, the Melbourne Storm. We have won the first two games --- with the last one being a butt kicking! 42-14! If any of you are interested in the team or rygby in general, you can go to the following website:
http://www.cowboys.com.au/
Then on Sunday I will be volunteering at Billabong. I am really looking forward to it!! :)
Here are some other Aussie things...
Nappies = Diapers
You dont know when your finals are until later in the semester.
Stores close pretty early. For example the bookstore on campus closes at 4:30.
I cant seem to find folders for school... its all just binders and such.
Queensland doesnt have daylight savings time.
pitchers of beer are called jugs
grass is a lot thicker here
when i was at the grocery store the eggs were out on the shelves with the other food, not in a cooler or anything
granola bars are called muesli bars

Mommy and Joey!

I totally forgot to post this picture!

Billabong Sanctuary - Day 2!

Today was my second day volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary! (Last weekend I wasn't feeling too well, so I didn't go) Today was a really fun day! :)
I started off during the nocturnal animals again like last time. There were sugar gliders, emus, curlews, and various other birds. We also rake the paths because it gets cluttered with leaves and just makes it look cleaner. What is awesome about Billabong is that it has a very natural setting. It has dirt paths and trees are all over -- it seems like you are just walking around out in nature and seeing animals in enclosures.
What I really liked was when I helped with the shows and animal pictures. I worked at the cash register for the wombat and koala photos and helped to put them in cardboard frames of the sanctuary for them to take home. I was able to hold a blue tongued stink along with a shingleback stink. ( I attached an image of the shingleback that I found on the web) I mainly held the shingleback, named Gus, and passed him off for other people to hold. It was very cute! I also held a black headed python named Skinny and handed it off to other people to hold. It was amazing at how many little kids were holding him! There were some who couldnt have been older than 3 or 4 years old who were giving it a go! It was nice to see some brave kids!
Once again Arnie drove around in the car with us! He is needing his bottle less and is getting used to eating normal food! He is getting so grown up.
Next weekend I am going to volunteer as well! I am looking forward to it.
Take care everyone!
Pictures:
1. Arnie and I and Katie in the background being silly! Looks like I am eating his ear or something.
2. Katie and I walking to lunch.
3. Where we prepare our food! There are also snakes, baby crocs, and tarantulus in cages the room as well.
4. Standing in front of a Billabong Sanctuary sign.
5. Picture of a shingleback stink I got online -- they feel pretty cool!

More pictures. :)
1. Driving from Cairns to Townsville.
2. At the Rainforest Station in Cairns.
3. Aussie money! Oh so colorful!
4. Hanging out with friends at The Exchange -- its a bar in town. Yay for Fresher headbands!

Here are some random pictures that I havent posted that I think are cool.
1. Scuba gear when we were on the Great Barrier Reef.
2. Taking a picture of myself on the boat.
3. We had to get up pretty early... bright sun in the background!
4. Here is the AustraLearn group! We were a pretty large group!!
5. Sign in Cairns --- I like the name Wagga Wagga.

Post St. Patrick's Day!

Hello Everyone!
St. Patty's day was a good time! There were people sporting green in my classes (and in one of them someone showed up drunk! --- It was interesting because it was a tutorial so we spent most of the class discussing) About 6 of my friends showed up to my place that evening and we just hung out, played cards, danced, and drank green colored drinks! We ended up not going out, which was fine.
Today It it rained a lot.. really fast! My friend came over for about 10 minutes and when we left for class we saw that it was wet all over! One of my classes it rained so hard that we could here in and it was drowning out the professor's voice! (Some of the buildings are made weird were you can hear the rain real well though) It kept on coming down in short bursts a few times after and we got a little wet walking home. Crazy weather!
The above picture is of my friend Annie and I with our green colored st. patty's day beers! :) Good times.
Take much care!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy St. Patrick's Day from Australia! :) Tonight I am going to have some friends come over to my common room to celebrate. Afterwards I may go out to a pub with those who are interested in going. One of the pubs is going to have Irish dancing later tonight! I have seen pictures of some of my friends from last year and people get dressed up for the evening! There were some pictures of people as leprachans --- having the long, fake beard and all! Looks like it would be a great time!
Here are some links to the pubs here if you are interested in checking them out a bit.
Thanks for stopping by guys!
http://www.mollymalonesirishpub.com.au/
http://www.flynnsirishbar.com/
Have a GREAT St. Paddy's Day in the States!

Fires, Floods, and an Oil Spill --- What a Year!

I got an email about an oil spill that occurred south of where I am....

Oil spill along Moreton Island, South-east Queensland,
AAP David Hunt
Up to 100,000 litres of heavy grade fuel oil is now smothering 
south-east Queensland's coast after the tanker, the MV Pacific 
Adventurer, was damaged on Tuesday in rough seas. The tanker's 31, 
six-metre cargo containers, containing around 600 tonnes of ammonium 
nitrate fertilizer, are still lost at sea somewhere off the coast of 
Stradbroke Island.

Enchidna !!!

Last night my friend came over to my room and told me that there was an echidna outside of the dining hall! We went over there and he was all curled up -- it was very cute! I went back to get my camera and my friend went back to her room and when I went back out to get a picture of it he was coming down the sidewalk by my room! I ran to call my friend and then went back to take pictures of him and he was right outside of my door!
Below are some websites about echidnas.
http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/animals/echidnas.htm
http://cms.jcu.edu.au/discovernature/mammalscommon/JCUDEV_008104
Pictures:

1. Hanging outside my room! What a cute little snout! :)
2. Hiding in a ball! Poor thing was probably freak out by all the people walking by and taking
pictures!
3. Echidna coming into my common room!


Here is a video of the little dude walking away from me!

Video of The Lagoon! :)

G'Day!
I thought that I would put a video on here of The Lagoon. Its a very nice outdoor pool that is about a 30 minute walk from my Uni. The pool is located next to river and has some amazing views around it!! Today I went shopping in town and also picked up tickets to a Cowboys game! (Cowboys are the rugby team from Queensland). They are playing the Melbourne Storm. Tomorrow I am volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary for my second time. I have no idea what I am going to be doing but I am looking forward to spending the day there on Sunday!
Last night I just had a movie night with some friends. We watched Star Dust in the movie theater on campus -- it was a fun time.
Here are some other fun Aussie things:::
~Passionfruit is popular here, today i had a mango and passionfruit granola bar and have had
passionfruit gelato.
~Some of the classes that I am in have video streaming. There is a James Cook University
campus in Townsville and one in Cairns. Sometimes, my professor is being recorded live
and shown in a classroom in Cairns and for us people in Townsville we get to see a live
recording of the students in Cairns. We can talk with them as well!
~Our student planners are called student diaries
~At one of the residence halls they play a game called 'Cup'. It is a fun game but it can
sometimes leave you frustrated. ;) When you are done with your glass, you can place it
into someone else's glass so they have to put it away. That person can then cup
someone else and so on. Even if your class has just a little bit of liquid in it --- it can still be
cupped, as long an none of it comes out, If the liquid does spill, than the person who did
the cupping that gets to put it away. Also, if you try cupping someone and it tips over, you
have to put it away as well. People end up having to put away a tower of cups!
~On outlets there is a little switch above it to turn on the power
~ All classes here are worth 3 credits

Another Picture of Australia!

G'Day Everyone!
Just wanted to post another picture of Australia on the site --- this one will give you an idea of its size. Even with its size, people tend to live along the coasts. (The middle of Australia is pretty much desert)
Last night I went to the 'uni club'. Which is a club on campus with some friends. A lot of people like to go out on Thursday nights! It was cool because when we were walking to the uni club there was a lot of bats flying around! Huge fruit bats! They are so cute!! Tonight I am watching a movie with some friends and I am going to try to volunteer at the Billabong Sanctuary on Sunday! :)
Hope all is well -- take care everyone and hope to talk to you soon!
Bobbi
pictures!

1.Really cool trees!
2. A picture at uni club with some friends! :)
3. Thanks again Simon for the email of the picture! Showing how large Australia is....

Aussie Aussie Aussie Oi Oi Oi!

This posting is just going to be about websites and info on Australia.
www.billabongsanctuary.com.au
The previous link is the place where I volunteer at. I have had trouble reaching it here but maybe you will have better luck with it!
Here is Australia's national anthem: "
"Advance Australia Fair"
Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
We've golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea:
Our land abounds in nature's gifts
Of beauty rich and rare,
In history's page let every stage
Advance Australia fair,
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We'll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands,
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.

Some Aussie slang:
Buggered = tired
Cossie = swim suit (or togs, like I stated in another post)
mozzie = mosquito
scull = to chug
arvo= afternoon
cell phone = mobile


"

Randomness..

Hey Everyone!
Just wanted to post some random pictures and say Hi! Not a whole lot going on here. Just been hanging out with friends and working on school. I bought a rugby ball the other day! I have been thrown it around with friends for a while --- its weird to get used to after you have thrown a football. Even stranger when you actually play because you always have to pass the ball behind you -- you cant pass it forward. Also, I have learned that tea can be another term for dinner. I have also noticed that in the grocery stores (or at least the one that I went to) the eggs are out on the shelves and not in the fridge. What I like about living here is that you see other residents often. When I eat in the dining hall I usually see my friends there and when you are in the residence hall you can walk over to your friends room and just walk right into their livingroom and knock on their bedroom door. There is always people coming and going into my common room -- my roommates and their friends.
Pictures:
1. Possum (no 'o' in front of it) We were walking from a club one night and saw this guy hanging out by a tree. There was one up in the tree as well. Cute little guys.
2. Here is the picture that I got from my first few days in Australia when I was in Cairns and went to the Rainforest Station. We went on a duck boat there and got to feed kangaroos and wallabies and looked at other aussie critters.
3. Going to the Lagoon there was an interesting statue of a dog peeing. I had to take a picture of it!

Billabong Sanctuary!

I woke up at 6 o'clock this morning so I could get picked up to go to the Billabong Sanctuary -- which is a small zoo in Townsville. One of the rangers came to pick me and another volunteer up at Uni and I sat in the front seat with a young wallaby. The ranger that I was with is looking over the baby and brought it with her to work. His name is Arnie. Very cute little guy.
When I got to the zoo I helped clean the cages and feed the animals that were considered to be nocturnal. This mainly consisted of birds. I also helped with food prep -- which was pretty interesting. It started off as cutting up some fruit and getting seed and went to chopping up meat. The meat part was interesting but gross.
I learned how to hold a koala and how to pass it to another person to hold the way people do in pictures. Koalas have sharp claws and my left arm is all scratched up! I also learned how to hold a small croc. I was able to pass him to visitors at the zoo and let them hold him. I also watched some of their shows and information sessions about the animals. The croc show was very cool --- they are massive and waaaayyy cool!
I had a really good day at the sanctuary -- I am looking to do it every other sunday.
Hope you guys are doing well! Take much care.
Pictures:

1. Arnie running around while we were eating.
2. Hanging out with one of the koalas.
3. Arnie in his cloth pouch! He just chills in there --- very cute!
~*~ Random note about koalas. Koalas can only be held for 30 mintues throughout the day. (I think that they made take a few days off or something in between handlings) We had a stop watch so we knew how long they were out for! Also, they sleep about 20 hours a day! What a life.

Aussie Land!

So, I got this image in an email from one of my Aussie friends and had to post it here! Even though this is more of a joke, Australia does have its fair share of dangerous animals. However, some of them are made up ---- like the 'drop bear'. According to Aussies at my Uni, there is a vicious koala bear that drops out of trees onto people and attacks them. Good times. :) I guess the picture describes this animal well -- 'maneating koalas'. (If you do a google picture search for drop bear you can get some interesting images...)
Here are some George Roberts Hall 'war cries'. Each residence hall, or 'college', is considered to be a team and we play in Fisher Shield sports, which consists of sports like rugby, netball and waterpolo. People sign up for sports and play against other colleges. It is pretty cool --- anyway, here are some of our chants.

We Are the Reapers
We Are the Team
We Can't Be Beaten
That’s Easy Seen
At the end of the season
You'll know the reason
Why we are
the number one team
Yip Yah!

Whose Reapers?
George Roberts Reapers!
Did We Win?
We Shit’d It In!
How Did we do it?
Easy!
What Comes After G?
Rrrrrrrrr!!!!

Here We Are
Here we are
We’re At It Again
We’re at it again
We’re moving up
We’re moving up
We’re moving in
We’re moving in
We Are the Best
We are the best
The very Best
The very best
We Are GR
We are GR
We'll Beat The Rest
(it is repeated because one person, or a few people, say the first line while the rest of the team says the next)

'ello!

So, I spelled Mackers wrong, it is Maccas. (Aussie slang for McDonalds!) I actually went their tonight and got a McFlurry. They are relatively similar to the Maccas in the US. This weekend I am volunteering at the Billabong Sanctuary! I am going to be volunteering there every other Sunday. The sanctuary is a wildlife park located about a twenty minutes from campus. My friends who have already volunteered there said they cleaned koala and wombat cages, learned to hold koalas, and prepared food. I just think that it will be fun to be able to work with Aussie wildlife and to be apart of the organization! :) Here are some links about cane toads if any of you are interested (Thanks Simon!) They are a big pest here in Australia.
http://www.qm.qld.gov.au/features/frogs/canetoad.asp
http://www.austmus.gov.au/factsheets/canetoad.htm
I am going to a Cowboys Rugby game in the next few weeks! They are playing against the Melbourne Storm, a huge arch rival for us! St. Patrick's Day is coming up and I plan on going out to one of their Irish pubs for the evening! :) First time being able to got out for St. Patrick's Day! Even though the drinking age here is 18.
More Aussie things!:
~Lectures for classes are only offered at one time (they do have repeats of tutorials and
practicals throughout the week so times dont clash too much)
~ Aussies dont take really take electives like we have in the states. They come into Uni knowing
what they would like to major in.
~ 'Sausage Sizzles' are popular to have here. During my orientation week I was eating a lot of
them!
~ Aussie coins come in 5, 10, 20, and 50 cents along with 1 and 2 dollar coins. Their bills are 5,
10, 20, 50, and 100 Australian Dollars.
~ Mango is a popular fruit here. You seem this in a lot of options such as smoothies and ice
creams.
~ Australia is going through some extremes - bush fires in the south and flooding in the north!
Here is a link to some information about the bush fires.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/bushfires/

Info in the pictures:
1. A painting on the street as we were walking to The Strand. Thought that i would get a picture
with it!
2. I went to the ReefHQ a while ago, the largest coral reef aquarium!
3. We were able to get a behind the scenes tour - we got to see the turtles! This is a picture of one
of their endangered turtles - dont remember what species it was.
4. Logo for the Cowboys!

Im going to get ready for bed! Take care everyone and thanks for visiting!! :)

Castle Hill!

Here are some pictures from Castle Hill! I went with a group of 8 other people. It was a hot day to be climbing but we made it and it was worth it! :) You could see the whole town and Magnetic Island. It took about 45 minutes to climb up - we stopped and took pictures and water breaks.
Other Aussie Info!:
~ I have heard a lot of Aussies say 'yous' when referring to more than one person.
~ You don't tip when you go out to eat and taking a taxi is expensive! They have 'maxi taxis',
which are pretty much vans, best way to go!
~ Meat pies! I had a lamb one the other day... yummm.
~ For a fruit flavored drink we have 'cordial', i believe it is mixed with water.
~ We have lamb dishes a lot for dinner.
~