Townsville and Canberra part 1

The Castle Hill (the big hill looking out over Townsville CBD) had to be conquered on Tuesday morning before it would get too hot. I got slightly lost trying to find the path up but of course I wasn’t going to admit that and turn back, so I just walked through some random shrub until I found the path :-) I could see the top of the hill anyway so I figured I couldn’t really be lost ahum. The walk up was a good exercise and provided me with a little bit of a tan and amazing views. For the way down I took another path dawn and so got to see the hill from all different viewpoints, definitely worth the climb! After that I decided I had deserved an ice cream, so the 50 cent soft serve from McD was very welcome… After walking along the Strand I decided that was enough excitement for the day and since there was free wifi in the hostel I went back and downloaded some episodes of CSI and the Vampire Diaries to watch. Also dropped in next door at the dive shop to check if the Yongala was still on for the next day. Instead of a happy yes the girl said she had to call with the dive director to check if we could go out because of a low number of bookings… thank goodness she called me an hour later to confirm, third try is a charm huh! After dinner I went to the cinema with Ellie (roommate from Canberra) where we split: I to see HPDH part 1 and she to see Bridesmaids. It was a very short night with me getting home at 12 and getting up before 6 (and almost no sleep, too excited I was actually going to dive the Yongala). Got picked up at 6.20 next door and we cruised out to the wreck. It was very choppy with 1,5 mtr swells, but thanks to the drugs I managed to not throw up (unlike others). Good to be in the water though… Visibility wasn’t too great (about 12 m), but wow it was great. MASSIVE fish: batfish, angelfish, trevallies, barracudas and everything at least twice as big than I’ve ever seen. Amazing. Lots of seasnakes, two lionfish and a beautiful big Marble Ray who was really relaxed and nearly touched me cruising slowly past. It was good! Very cold, very choppy and the second dive lots of current (muscle pain next day in my legs…) but worth it. My dive buddy was an Irish guy, very experienced, so that was great. The ride back was less choppy and had a nice chat with the other divers (it’s a 3 hour boat ride each way, so enough time to get to know each other). Time for an early night and packing my stuff the next morning so I could fly off to Canberra. The flight went extremely well: we landed 10 min early,my suitcase came out as third on the luggage carrier and I could jump on the Airport liner bus to the city (which left as soon as I got on, good timing). The hostel is nice and I saw it on the drive in (it’s only 5 min from the bus station), so that went well. It is very very cold here, but yesterday and today (Friday) it’s been sunny with blue skies, so that’s ok. I got some supplies at Aldi and relaxed in the hostel. Today was my first explorer day in town, so I headed to the War Memorial. This is a massive building with great displays on Australia’s involvement in the diverse wars (since 1899). I spent a few hours there and saw maybe 25% of it, it’s that big! Time to walk along the Anzac Parade to see all the statues dedicated to the soldiers and the different wars. Very impressive. I also checked out Blundell’s Cottage (from the outside because it doesn’t open on Fridays) and enjoyed the walk along the edge of Lake Burley. Bought a new memory card for the camera and time to relax some more. I might buy some gloves tomorrow though…