Australia: Sport, History and Culture 2017 Blog

June 10th we arrived in Cairns and it was a great first day! We went on a tour around a rain forest which was very cool. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the different types of animals that live in the rain forest as well as all of the plants. The tour also included a portion in a small creak where we saw a few lizards along the side and in the trees. After the tour we walked over to learn about the indigenous community of the area. Our new guide for this part was a part of an indigenous tribe in the area and he demonstrated blowing into a musical tube for us as well as tossing spears. After that, he allowed us all a turn to throw boomerangs which was very cool and surprisingly we were not terrible. After tossing the boomerangs we saw a show that a few of the members of the community put on with traditional dances. Patrick and Rachel also got involved by participating with them and learning the dance. It was a very cool day and really interesting to learn more about the i

June 9th was our free day in Sydney and it was spent mostly relaxing and regaining energy. I slept in until around noon and woke up to watch the NBA Finals in the hotel room with my roommates. After the game I went to Darling Harbor to have lunch with a friend of mine from home who is working in Sydney for the summer. I really enjoyed Darling Harbor and was glad that I went because it is a really neat and scenic area. I went back to the Great Southern Hotel after my late lunch and spent the rest of the day hanging out and continuing a pretty mellow day. This day was really crucial for me because I had been running very low on energy and really need to catch up on sleep for Cairns.

On June 12th, I woke up at around 8:40am and walked down the street to get a coffee with my roommates in cairns; Andrew, Nick, Ryan, and Peter-Owen. After that, we hopped on a bus and went to a zoo around 30-45 minutes away. Upon arriving, Dougo gave us our crocodile boat tour passes. After that, we all ate at the zoo, and proceeded to go get pictures with a koala, which now sits on my mantel at my house. After that, we walked over to the crocodile boat tour where we were driven around in a boat in Hartley’s Lagoon for 45 minutes and we learned all about crocodiles, fed them food and watched them snap for it. I learned on that tour that the crocodile has the hardest bite in the animal kingdom, by a longshot. After that, everybody was given free time to explore the zoo. I went to go see the kangaroos and wallaby’s first, but saw everything from cassowaries to komodo dragons. Towards the end of my free time, I went and watched the snake show where some monotone man talked all about snake

                Tod ay we had our last full day in Cairns and sadly, our last day in Australia. I started the day by waking up and getting my final ham, cheese, and tomato toastie to start the day. Then, a bunch of us took a bus to Palm Cove and enjoyed our final day on a beautiful beach, getting some food and drinks with a view. The time managed to fly right past us throughout the day as we tried to ignore the inevitable departure back home that was creeping up.  We headed back for a final group dinner at Fasta Pasta, and enjoyed our last meal all together for the last time.  At night, a lot of us decided on going to the Night Markets for last minute souvenirs. Then, a majority of us decided to spend our tie staying awake for our meet up at 3:45 AM and walked down to the ocean and all hung out to spend the last of our time together, reflecting on our trip and how quickly the time evaded us. Terribly hard to swallow what has been an amazing experience is concluding, we can take with us

    On Saturday our group started early and headed out a few blocks to one of Victoria universities campuses. Here, we were given a lecture by our guest professor Michelle on the history of the city of Melbourne and learned its deep and how the city transitioned from one of the richest in the British empire to the sports capital of the world. After this lecture, our professor for the day led us on a walk to one of the many back alleys in Melbourne filled with small shops and cafes. After a small coffee break we headed back to the classroom for a lecture on Australian rules football, learning the sports rules, teams, and legends. The group then had a small lunch break before heading to the park to play some Aussie rules football. At the park we met with a real Aussie rules coach who taught us the basics of kicking, passing, and dribbling the ball and how to successfully complete a mark. Then the coach organized a scrimmage between the group and we got to show off our new skills. This wa

Today was our travel day from Melbourne to Sydney but the day wasn’t wasted by flying as our program coordinator “Dougo” scheduled us to wake up before the crack of dawn to get on a plane and make sure we had a full day to explore Sydney.  Despite everyone being tired, the whole group was buzzing with excitement at the opportunity to see a new city, especially one with so many amazing landmarks.  Once we arrived at the airport we got right on a bus and began a guided driving tour of the city. We got our first glimpse of Darling and Sydney Harbors as well as an opportunity to get out and take pictures in front of the world famous Sydney Opera House and Harbor Bridge. From there we walked around the Sydney Harbor area and got a peek at the botanical gardens.  Next, we were off to mouth of the Harbor to an area called Watsons Bay for some amazing views and photo opportunities. We hiked along the cliffs and were able to see some whales breaching out in the ocean below us.  Our fin