The Beach, Queenslanders, Parties, Class, Titantics, and Antiques: All in a Day's Work

Things have been moving along lately. I've had seven weeks of non-stop classes, the last of which was human parasitology. I can now diagnose the 4 species of malaria! Not to mention all last week I was looking through a microscope at an African refugee's diarrhoea (amongst other things) for parasites--it was full of nematode eggs. Anyway, when not in class, I enjoy modeling on Palarenda beach with Jodi: Yes, so we had a picnic out there, Magnetic Island was off the coast:
As our backdrop:
I doodled in the sand:
And Theane helped me:

Then we went up Castle Hill. Here's the view out towards university way and Mt Stuart:
And out towards Palarenda:
And towards Maggie Island:
And towards the tablelands:
Nice scenery from up there:
After our jaunt to the beach, we went to Fiona's place, which was a beautiful old Queenslander house (circa 1890, more to come on Queenslander homes). It was a lot like an old plantation home in Louisiana:
Even had the kitchen set apart:
Windows open, allowing Dengue to come in:
There were some crazy girls inside:
Actually, they were going to a dress-up party. Here they are, can't keep their lips off Lawrence:
I had a few to drink (not):
And in Public Health Managment we all presented our group topics. My group did Cholera in emperor penguins in Antarctica. Here is Dr. Bruce demonstrating the effects of sexually transmitted infections in aboriginal communities:
We were all amused, especially Margaret:
Here is Gifty from India, he is a dentist gone physican gone PhD virologist:
Here is Dr. Michael Golding, fellow INTJ, showing who is boss:
And here are some Rotarians enjoying brekky at the recycling plant we visited:
On Fred's president changeover night, the theme was Titantic. We all dressed up:
Woah there Captain Ian Weller, looks like you had a bit too much to drink, no wonder the Titantic sank:
Ha ha, people are dressed up:
Here's the Van Amstel's, in their silly octopus hats (even little James):
Oh, wait, thier whole table has silly octopus hats, and brass instruments:
Trevor, Carol, and Mary had a go, too:
That weekend we went to Ingham to see the district govenor:
Here they are:
Clap clap:
Wow, so Kate rented this beach condo while here doing classes, and she let us have it for the weekend:
Nice pool, no extra cost, just put the money on the fridge:
Nice views of Castle Hill:
And the strand:
Wow:
For some odd reason, they had the US flag up:
Jodi and Tierra, both Canadians, weren't pleased (they were really just jealous, as Canadians always are):
Today (Sunday), I went with Trevor and Carol to Brandon near Ingham to meet with their club of council members:
There was this nice old Catholic church, which a cyclone blew over. They were going to burn it or tear it down, but instead the council decided to move it to their land and pay unemployed people to paint it (note to Welsh!):
Let's go inside:
Wow, how beautiful. To think they may have destroyed it! It would have made a nice house at the least:
Nice construction:
And beautiful wood floors! Keith tells me they are cypress floors. Cypress is the only pine that grows in Australia. How similar to home!
Nice gallery, too. They were turning it into a museum:
Outside was an old steam engine from 1890:
And in the council barn there were some old tractors:
This was the same model as my grandfather's:
Oh, and no wonder Aussie dental hygeine is so bad. Just look at the dental equipement they work with:
I might take this one home for my office!