First Trip Down Under: East Coast Australia
- LoAroundTheGlobo
- Aug 5, 2019
- 5 min read
Updated: May 3
Summer 2011
Since I'd loved my first and only experience with People to People Student Ambassadors so thoroughly, I decided to participate again and go with a different group, but this time, to Australia for three weeks. We again did our pre-trip meetings at local schools, sometimes with parents in attendance, sometimes not. We organized, packed, and studied up to prepare for our weeks abroad with our peers and three brave teachers who would chaperone our adventures.
About a week before our trip, however, there was volcanic activity in Chile, which sits in the "Ring of Fire" and some of the ash/debris was making its way all the way across the Pacific to New Zealand, where we were supposed to spend a week before exploring Australia. So that part of our trip shifted, and we ended up spending about 3 days in Los Angelos, California, where the program paid for us to enjoy a day at Disneyland Anaheim. As high schoolers, I'm sure we whined briefly, but we ended up having a great few days in California, and thoroughly enjoyed the park that day.
Then we headed down unda' and flew into Melbourne, Victoria where we spent a few days. We were able to walk around the town one of the nights, where we encountered fire twirlers, magicians, and other fascinating street performers. The following day, we headed out to some dunes to go sand-surfing, which was so awesome! We all laughed, rolled, and wrestled each other up on those dunes, sometimes tumbling down the soft, sandy hills. During our last night in Melbourne, we had some more free time to sit on the beach just outside our waterfront villas to watch the sun sink into the sea.
We next headed up to Sydney, New South Wales, where we toured the Sydney Harbor, reveling at the world-famous Sydney Opera House and Bridge. We were able to tour inside the Opera House which is unsurprisingly more normal-looking on its interior than its exterior. We were able to do a couple of boat tours around Sydney Harbor and also visit the Sydney Zoo, which was even more amazing than I'd imagined. The zoo had a special rehabilitative program for its koalas and kangaroos, which were all rescues from the wild, and upon finding this out, I felt as warm and fuzzy on the inside as I did when I had the chance to hold (and be pooped on) by these adorable creatures.
Next, we headed to Brisbane and Gold Coast, Queensland, where we went surfing at the picturesque Bondi Beach, sprawling with Australian cuties and littered with athletic surfers. We soaked up the sun there for a few days, and headed out on a boat tour towards the Great Barrier Reef. The group was set to snorkel and a couple of us that were certified were signed up for scuba diving, which (cue Finding Nemo) was set to be the coolest experience of my life. Now, for fear of being misinterpreted, let me explain my thoughts on my experience at the GBR: it was one of the coolest experiences of my life, but I also came away from the scuba dive with a different perspective than I'd originally expected.
Australians generally are (and the tour guides that day were) extreme environmentalists, passionate about marine conservation and knowledgeable about the wildlife, but even though this was evident, the reef itself was underwhelming and grey -- greyed out by decades of human-traffic, whether getting trashed by unaware tourists or getting overrun with boat emissions, the coral looked sad and the wildlife was sparse. I was thankful, don't get me wrong, to have had this experience, but it reminded me just how magnificent the oceans are, and how important it is that people don't abuse their power to exploit these waters. What I've learned since is that human interaction and certain brands of sunscreen can be extremely detrimental to these ecosystems, so by minimizing these factors, we can all do our part to restore the vibrant life stolen from these reefs.
While in Gold Coast, we went out to a lighthouse, perched perfectly on the most Easterly Point of Mainland Australia, where we marveled at the jagged cliff-line and rough waters that the active lighthouse did a remarkable job of warning boats about. We finished off our trip in Cairns, Queensland in the North. There, we visited a farm where we fed and cuddled lots of different creatures, and we chatted with the family that lived on-property that tended the fields and raised the livestock.
Another day in Cairns, we had this adventure set up that included repelling down a 200ft. cliff. I was pretty nervous about this the entire trip since I used to be terrified of heights, but this day truly sticks out in my mind as one of the reasons I was able to conquer that fear. My friend, Claire, and I clung to each others' hands as we backed up to the ledge, loomed over the seemingly-never-ending valley, and began our descent. Once my feet hit the ground, I felt this surge of gratitude to the staff for keeping me safe, but also to myself for pushing myself to the edge (literally and metaphorically).
Each day we were required to journal, which I'm thankful for because I remember re-reading that journal and feeling every memory come rushing back. Our group as a whole had the greatest time during our adventures all up and down the East Coast. We had all gotten to know each other so well over the course of those few weeks, as we were away from our families, out of our comfort zones, and quite literally on the other side of the world. We all bonded over trying local cuisines, doing our best Australian accent impressions, and getting starry-eyed over the landmarks, cityscapes, views, and creatures we were witnessing.
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To Do or Not To Do?
Yes, mate, do it. No, but seriously, Australia is a very cool place and keeps its spotless reputation for a reason: the locals are as easy-going and kind as they're portrayed to be in movies, the food is as tasty and the creatures as adorably cuddly as you imagine, and the views are as remarkable as they seem. I truly enjoyed my trip there, and was thankful for the specific experience I had, but there's a million ways to travel Australia, as it's very safe and easy to get around. I don't remember much regarding the expenses there as our program fee included our accommodations, transportation, and certain activities, but I don't remember it being exorbitantly expensive, which is yet another bonus. If you're interested, I definitely recommend that you pack your laid-back attitude and get down there!
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