This is me doing my homework...

It is a good thing I don't go to school "for real" here because I'm pretty sure I would fail out. I can't bring myself to do any work; maybe it's because I just had over two months of vacation and it's hard to get back into the swing of things. Either way, I've been procrastinating my homework for a while now and I thought I would write an update for you guys while I did. See, I'm being productive...kind of. Anyway after I last posted I hiked up Castle Hill, which is this giant hill that is in the center of Townsville. You can see it from everywhere downtown, which would probably be a good way to know what direction I am heading, but I don't know enough to know where to head based on it. It was a great hike, and I didn't die from heat stroke! It was pretty hot, but I think I'm getting used to it. I'll probably be cold when I get home this summer, crazy I know. This weather is kind of confusing me though, because I keep thinking that because it is this nice out I should be going to Maine soon, but that's not happening (which I'm kind of sad about, I will miss Maine in the spring. Actually I'm going to miss Spring in general, which is upsetting). Anyway, the hike wound around the mountain because if it went straight up we would have needed rock climbing gear. I could see Townsville and the ocean the whole way up, which was strange to be able to see the city on a hike. It was beautiful though, the dirt and rock here is so much different then at home, it's almost red. There were stairs that were built into the path to make it easier to climb--I was pretty grateful for these! The view from the top was neat, we could see everything: JCU, Magnetic Island, all of the city, and much more. It was so nice and peaceful on the top of the mountain, after I caught my breath that is! We stayed there to watch the sunset, which was definitely worth the wait. I didn't even fall down the mountain on the way down. It must have been the fact that I thought ahead and brought band-aids, or maybe my sweet new hiking boots. Here are some pictures from the day...

I love this picture! Too bad I was only halfway there though.

Other than Castle Hill, nothing overly exciting is going on here. I'm missing spring training a lot, I've resorted to streaming WEEI over my computer. It's weird to listen to the Big O at 7 am though. I am going on a trip at the end of March to the rainforest and a waterfall. I'm pretty excited! We are planning our trip to Sydney tomorrow, so hopefully we'll book that soon. My friend Caitlin and I are looking into going to Tasmania during our Study week before finals. They give you a whole week to study for your finals before you take them, it's crazy! I plan to take full advantage of that and not study one bit! I'm still trying to figure out a way to get to the Outback, but plane tickets to Alice Springs are pretty expensive. I'll figure something out though, hopefully! O.K now that I have officially wasted enough time I'm going to go finish my work! Or I'll go catch up on what the sox are up to. I love Youk's new facial hair, I think it disguises his massive chin a little better than last years style!