The weekend before my second week at Jame Cook University, my friends and I decided to go back out to Maggie Island. It was really nice because it wasn't blistering hot, although the beaches looked super murky due to the recent flooding so we stated primarily inland. As we went on a hunt for Koalas, we stumbled upon a hostel. A REALLY nice hostel. For AUD$30 you get a pool, a air conditioned room with a private bath. This hostel is also in charge of the Koala tours and free bird feedings. Sadly we missed the Koala tours, but we happened to make it in time for the free bird feeding. I am not entirely sure what kind of bird these were but they were easily the most aggressive birds I have ever met. They left bite and scratch marks on my face and hands. Off topic a bit, but I have noticed a difference between America and Australia that I have noticed is that Australia tends not to give a fuck about liability and lawsuits. I am pretty sure that they have never even heard of waivers. I also noticed that animals/bugs are NOT afraid of humans. Birds will literally walk fly up to you, cockroaches (a skittish bug) will have no problem chilling on your face, spiders and flies actually chase you, animals will not move out of your way, etc. I have a theory that in Australia, animals and bugs are not afraid of humans because they know that they outnumber the human. This is different from America where most animals and bugs fear humans because well extinction and death I guess. After feeding the birds and chilling by the pool we ended up heading back to Uni. On Tuesday I decided to venture out on my own for the first time. The thing that promoted me to leave Uni by myself was to buy a bus ticket for my coastal trip. My friends couldn't go with me because of their classes so I decided to go for all of us. I am happy to report that I bought the hop on hop off bus ticket to Melbourne and a flight back up to Townsville for only $200. Seriously! A week long trip down the coast of Australia from Townsville, to the Gold Coast, to Sydney, to Melbourne, and back up to Townsville for only $200. THAT IS SO CHEAP. Despite Australia's high price for living, their travel is inexpensive af. Way off topic but I just had to share that. After my friends and I finished planning this trip.. I actually had to go to class. Let me just begin by saying, when you go abroad, DO NOT TAKE DIFFICULT CLASSES. I don't know if it is just the fact that my winter break was two months longer than everyone else's, or because Australia has little busy work and few assignments, or maybe it is because I am currently living with island time, but I am in no way in my academic mode. I am in vacation mode. To me, traveling Australia is more important than school. So in the second week is when students need to actually start doing work, whether it is readings, small papers, or small quizzes. Either way, I am not motivated to do any work. This makes it difficult to listen in class and motivate myself to actually do the readings. Hopefully as the semester continues, my brain adapts and I might actually do my school work. Although I am SOOOO excited for my trip down the coast. I am going to go a little crazy with the pictures and do super cliche things like stand in front of the Sydney Opera House. Despite these exciting future travel plans, I now have to focus on writing a paper which I will probably procrastinate anyway... Cheers :)
Just a couple pictures of the crazy ass birds and my reaction... yikes!