Townsville, Australia

Flat Stanley went to Townsville, Australia to visit with Emma's cousin, Ben.  

Here is the journal Ben sent back.  The pictures are phenomenal!  Such amazing animals were seen on Flat Stanley's journey down under! 

• Flat Stanley visited Townsville, QLD Australia.  Townsville is in the "dry tropics" along the coast in the northern part of the state of Queensland, near the Great Barrier Reef. Since Australia is in the southern hemisphere the seasons are the opposite of those in Pittsburgh.  It is actually the start of winter here. However, since it is in the tropics it still 24C (75F). Townsville is a small city with an official population of ~200,000, but it feels much smaller.  There is a university here - James Cook University, but most of the people in the town are miners that work in the mineral or coal mines or members of the Australian military.  We have a couple of professional sports teams, but the sports are very different from those in Pittsburgh.  Our teams are the Cowboys (a rugby team) and the Townsville Crocodiles (a professional basketball team).
  
• The people here also talk very differently than people in Pittsburgh.  They speak English, but have different words for things and a funny accent.  For example, everyone calls each other "mate", they say "No worries!" all the time and "ta" means thank you. They also like to say "Goodonya" when you do something they like or to wish you luck.  Some foods also have different names.  Cantaloupe are "rock melons", peppers are "capsicums" and raisins are "sultanas".
  
• While here Flat Stanley met many of the local animals.  Some were strange and funny - like the laughing kookaburra (for video and audio of their laugh check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qix6oUxim3Q), the platypus, the possums, the koalas and the kangaroos, but others were scary, like the cassowary and the goanna!  He met the platypus and cassowary in the tropical rainforest north of Townsville, in Yungaburra and found the goanna in the rainforest village of Paluma. He also met lots of colorful, tropical birds like the sulfur-crested cockatoo and the King Parrot.
  
•  While here Flat Stanley spent a lot of time exploring outside in the mountains and rain forests.  He saw the rain forests and waterfalls. He also climbed Castle Hill - a rocky mountain in the middle of Townsville, went to the beach (the Strand) and road his bike along the Ross River.  He is sad to leave Townsville, but excited to return to Pittsburgh to for summer and to watch the Penguins!

Wallaman Falls

Climbing at Castle Hill

Stanley was frightened by the goanna! 

Thank you, Ben, for taking Flat Stanley all over Australia!  We really enjoyed seeing all of the awesome pictures!  It looks like he had a blast!  We're excited he's home now, and hopefully he can help the Pens win the cup!