This January I was fortunate enough to study abroad in Australia for three amazing weeks. I had been thinking about this trip for the last two years and was finally able to go, if any of you are on the edge about studying abroad I seriously recommend it, you won’t regret it.
The first week of our trip we spent in Cairns which was extremely hot and humid, however; I’d take that over snow any day. While we were in Cairns I went scuba diving and snorkeling for the first time, and what better place to do that than in The Great Barrier Reef? I had a great time and loved being able to see the fish and reefs up close.
Some other things we did in Cairns were visit the Daintree Rainforest, fed the kangaroos, and held a koala bear. We also learned about a few of the businesses and services in Australia, one of my personal favorites was the Royal Flying Doctors, they offer clinics and in the case of a serious injury, planes.
After Cairns we flew to Sydney where the temperature was a lot cooler and much more bearable. In Sydney we each had volunteer placements which actually turned out to be one of the highlights of my trip, I was able to meet a lot of great people who I’ve been able to keep in touch with. My placement was at St. Vincent De Paul, our main project was helping them to reorganize and clean the store. It took quite a while but in the end it looked great and knowing who and how we were helping gave us the extra motivation we all needed, and it was a great experience.
A few of my favorite memories in Sydney are the cricket match we went to, the Aboriginal community we visited, the Harry Potter Museum, seeing Sydney University, the botanical gardens, the Sydney Opera House, and our walk through the bush.
Our last day in Sydney fell on Australia Day, they had tons of booths and crafters set up all around town. That night we watched fireworks at Darling Harbour which completely blew ours out of the water. Not only were they gorgeous but they lasted at least a half hour and they had laser beams and music that matched up with the fireworks.
I had an amazing trip and would go back in a heartbeat, it any of you are thinking of going let me know if you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer them!
