dogs, peanut butter, and waterfalls

its hard to believe that in a few days i'll have been in australia for two months. that will also mean that i only have around two and a half more left.. crazy. its been easy to lose track of time, getting lost in days that i wish could just go on forever. tropical northeast australia is an incredible place to explore- while i first resented the humidity, i am now loving that there is water all around. even just going to the river that runs through townsville and down by JCU is still a novelty. last wednesday katrina and i went with deon to take his two dogs (staffordshire bull terriers!) for a swim. 

excited for the river

 jock and habana couldn't decide if they wanted in or out..

kisses from jock

we found a rope swing & katrina was mildly successful at swinging 

i feel like i've almost gotten into a routine here. then again i'm not really sure what i've been doing on mondays, but tuesdays are filled with class and then indoor rock climbing. i can't tell if i'm still improving with my climbing.. at first it was like i was getting noticeably better each time, and now i've sort of reached a plateau.. we'll see. it's a learning curve! on wednesday our frisbee team won again, fluro fantasy is undefeated! this is likely because i have yet to make more than two passes per game, but i still feel fairly helpful while frantically running around "defending". also, it was passover last week, so i attempted to embrace my jewish identity and refrain from eating leavened bread. the dining staff at st. mark's made some homemade matzah and i felt guilty not eating it, so that sort of kept me going on the right track. pizza and cake don't count though right? 

peanut butter can make anything taste great. its also become an integral part of my every meal..

due to easter weekend, we had no class on friday! i went off with friends to crystal creek, about an hour north west of townsville. the creek is in paluma national park, and all around are lush green hills of tropical forest. the water is clear and cold- this place is AWESOME- may hold record for best day trip ever. 

paths are for losers.. we made our way jumping rock to rock up the creek to find waterfalls & rock slides

made it!

ryan standing under a waterfall, the current was super strong so this is actually an accomplishment

action shot!

underwater selfies are super attractive

the ultimate photo bombers

we decided to climb farther upstream to check out more rock slides

one of my favorite pictures of the day. the water felt as good as it looks 

slippery rocks!

so many of these bright butterflies around

train!

of course we had to find some rocks to climb

made it to the top

sliding!

many action shots were taken this day

after a few hours, we drove over to paradise waterhole. there's a campground right near here that i hope to come back to soon. i just got a four person tent.. who's keen!?

i love these people

i attempted some back flips..

group shot

as we made our way back to townsville, we stopped at frosty mango, which has the most delicious ice cream. they also have a bunch of fruit for sale out front- i hadn't seen many of these before! i tried some of their more exotic ice cream flavors like sapodilla and jackfruit, but opted for mango. in previous trips i have also really enjoyed coconut and chocolate (sorry boring i know but i really like chocolate okay).

mango on the left, passionfruit on the right

on the drive back, the sun was starting to set and it was that time of the day when everything is cast in this golden light. windows down, music playing.. we were all so happy. it's going to be hard to come home.