Castle Hill and Pub Crawl

September 9, 2006

Allie, Ryan and I decided to be brave and hike up Castle Hill, which is a small mountain in the middle of Townsville. We caught the bus over there, got there around 12:45 hiked up, got to the top around 1:45, then hiked down and caught the bus around 2:45 – so it was a nice little walk. Ryan and I had gone to an aeroboxing class the day before and had the hardest workout of our lives. I think I did more pushups in that class then I have ever in my life. So we were quite sore walking up.
Castle Hill from the bottom


We took the “goat trail” up the mountain which consists of basically just dirt and steps all the way up – very painful when your legs are already sore. Only part of it is in the shade so needless to say we were quite hot in the middle of the day. But I was good and brought water for us all and put on sunblock – So I didn’t get a bit of a tan, which is getting quite annoying since I’ve been here for over a month and half and am still as pale as when I came…

We saw a little gecko on the way up. And a few weeks ago there was a huge fire on Castle Hill, they brought in helicopters with water to dump on it to get it out. Well, one side of the trail was still completly black from the fire. It was an interesting sight.

When we got to the top we could see the airport, the strand, magnetic island and we could just make out James Cook. It was really beautiful up there.
The view of the Strand from the top


There is a road that takes you up to the top as well, so I might get one of my friends to drive us all up there during the sunset one day cause that might be the most beautiful sight I will ever see.

When we got back we had to get ready for John Flynn’s Pub crawl. The theme was Comic book characters, nursery rhymes and fairytale creatures. Em and I really wanted to go as Mario and Luigi, but the boys talked us into being the girls from Team America – so we decided to go as Team Australia (a spoof on Team America – which is a movie made by the same people who make SouthPark) . Well the guys got soo excited when they went out to look for their costumes that they ended up spending over $60 just on guns. After they got their guns they decided that it would be much cooler if they went as SWAT. So they went as swat – ditched me and Emily – but they promised to be our bodyguards for the night. (Em and I spent a total of $10 on our costumes)
Em and I and the SWAT boys


We started the crawl at 5:30 – First pub we went to we didn’t see the boys but for two minutes when they told us that they almost got into a fight with some of the townies. They made it out of there without fighting, and went on to the next pub. We rarely saw them all night. But, I did find the boys carrying a crippled boy from college to one of the bars cause it was such a long walk for the kid. I almost melted - they were such sweet boys :)

At our 3rd pub we had dinner, didn’t fill me up at all, but that was ok. Then we went to two different pubs before they dropped us off in town and offered to take us home immediately or we could find a way home later on our own. So, Allie and I decided to stay in town, Emily went home.
All the girls


It wasn’t that crazy of a night, but I had a great time. Only one person had to be sent home in a taxi because she was so inebriated. And I didn’t even have a hangover in the morning!