Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium

Aussie terms of the day....

 “College” – what they call dormitories or residence halls. If one of your class mates asks what college you’re in, don’t worry, they aren't delusional or lost (at least, I would hope not). They just want to know if you live on campus.  I sure hope they would know what school they were attending…

"Chooks" - another word for chickens!

            Today was another fantastic day! I met another Julia at the Crystal Creek trip yesterday and with the both of us being new to Townsville had decided to explore a bit of the sites of town together for the day.  One of my housemates, Michelle, and her boyfriend, Shane, came along as well, completing our fun and lively group for the day.  Our first stop was to Juliette’s, a gelato and coffee shop on the Strand, where we sat in the shade and looked out over the ocean while eating our ice creams and coffees and talking about childhood memories. 

Julia & Julia at Juliette's!

            When we started to really feel the heat we decided to continue on with our day and made our way down the road to the Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium.  Now that was cool!! We go there just in time to jump in on one of the turtle talks and take a tour of the turtle hospital.  That was amazing! They have a number of different species of turtle in there including some Loggerheads, a Green Sea Turtle and a Hawksbill Turtle. Most of them had been turtles battling illnesses or recovering from encounters with human machinery (namely boats) and preparing for reintroduction into the wild.

            After that we spent an hour or two just walking around the aquarium and taking in the amazing sights! I took so many pictures!

You can see a bit of the tunnel there that goes under and
between two of the gigantic tanks

Very cool reef formation

The "Predator Tank"

Feeding time!

            After spending a couple hours there, we left for a short while and went to get lunch at Subway.  I got a seafood sandwich which was awesome and definitely not something I have ever seen at a Subway in the states! We got back to the Aquarium just in time to make it to the feeding show and that was super cool as well.  

Feeding some of the smaller tanks before heading on to the big ones.

Noah the turtle eating his fish.

            Definitely helps you realize just how many fish they have in those tanks as they all school together at the top in anticipation of being fed! Funny how animals always seem to just know... Gosh it was fun getting to spend the day exploring the world's largest living coral reef aquarium! And I got to have some pretty cool people to do it with :). Oh, AND I got in half price because I am now considered a local of Townsville... Imagine that!