Jul 8

Written by: ngreditor
7/8/2008 4:37 PM 

Australia: A fun and educational experience

Jake Kaufman

I have recently returned to my home in Newman Grove after a fun-filled, 20-day adventure in the land down under, Australia.

This was the best adventure that I could have ever dreamed about.

My journey started on June 6 at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield, getting through security, saying goodbye to family members, and finally boarding my plane to Dallas. After arriving in Dallas, we had a couple hour delay before making our way to Los Angeles Airport (LAX).

At the Los Angeles Airport, the Nebraska Delegation, which consisted of 20 members and 2 leaders, met up with other delegations from Missouri and Georgia. We had some time to get to know the other delegates, because of a five-hour layover at LAX. We then boarded a Qantas Airplane for the 16-hour flight to Australia.

On our way down to Australia, we had to make a quick stop in New Zealand to refuel. This happened because of some crosswinds and reworking of the flight plan. After refueling, we arrived in Sydney and boarded another Qantas Flight and made our way to Cairns, which is pronounced Canes.

When we arrived in Cairns, on June 8, we met our delegation manager, John Leonard, who guided us on our adventure throughout Australia. We also met our bus driver, Kim Geary, who drove us on our journey.

We started out by visiting Tjapuki, an Aboriginal park, where we learned about Aborigines. They taught us how to throw spears and boomerangs. We also watched them perform a native dance. We also went on a Sky Rail, where we could see for miles, while we were just feet above the rainforest canopy. That ride took about an hour and a half.

On June 9 we went to a ranch, which the Australians call a station. The family that hosted us was awesome and very polite. They made sure that we never went hungry. They own a 57,000 acre ranch, and showed us what they do around the ranch. We even saw how they kept ticks off cattle with a process called cattle dipping. We then got a chance to see them brand their cattle. Two of the delegates got to help. Then they castrated a calf, and we tried rocky mountain oysters. When we left, I was sad because it was hard to leave such a fun family, but we still had many things to see.

Then we made our way to Ayr on June 11. This town is in the middle of the Burdikin Shire, a region of Australia. In Ayr they grow sugarcane. A chancellor of Ayr gave us a Civic Welcome. We then moved to our next stop, Airlie Beach, our home for the next two days. When we arrived we did some shopping. The beach there was amazing. It was unlike anything I had ever dreamed about. The next day was the most exciting part, we went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.

On June 12 we boarded our ferry and made our way out to the reef for two hours of fun. On our way out, we saw a whale jump out of the water. When we got to the reef, we got onto a semisubmersible and saw the reef where it couldn’t be snorkeled. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. Then we snorkeled. It was amazing, with all the different kinds of fish and coral. We even saw a White Tip Reef Shark. The reef was made up of many different colors, shapes, and sizes. It was the best time of my life! This was amazing!

On the 13th we traveled to Yeppoon, our next stop. We went to the Capricorn Caves and saw their beauty. The caves were all natural formations and were there for some time. After that, we went to a crocodile farm, called Koorana Croc Farm. There we ate crocodile and spotted the giant lizards with spot lights.

We then made our way to Tangalooma Island Wild Dolphin Resort on June 14. This is the island where the movie Scooby Doo was filmed. We stayed there for two days. When we arrived there we fed wild dolphins. It was cool because when you put the fish into the water you could hear them using their echo-location. They didn’t even touch your hand, when they grabbed the fish they always got it perfectly. The next day, June 17th, I celebrated my birthday with a girl from the Missouri delegation, who had the same birthday. We went sand tobogganing and snorkeling around 16 shipwrecks.

On June 19 we made our way to Tamworth for our home stays. My home stay family was Warren and Dodie O’Keefe. They had three boys, Aaron, Cory, and Lucky. Aaron was 13, Cory was 11, and Lucky was 5. Lucky asked us about everything. Some of the stuff he asked us was, do you have jokes in America, do you have swear words, and lots of other things. They were a great family. They all liked playing rugby, a popular sport in Australia. They were really kind. We stayed with them for two days. On the second day we were with them, we went to school with Aaron. They had to wear uniforms. Then some of the school administrators took us on a tour of the town. We learned a lot of unique information on that tour.

On June 21, I had to say goodbye to them, I was really sad. They had made me feel so welcomed. Then we made our way to Sydney. We saw the Opera House. It was fascinating. It was amazing how they had it put together. We had a tour guide that told us all about it and how it was put together.

Jake at the Sydney Harbour

On June 23 we climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is about 440 feet above the water. We could see the Opera House while we climbed the bridge. We could also see some famous celebrity houses, including Nicole Kidman’s and Keith Urban’s.

If given the chance to do this all again, I would. I really enjoyed this amazing trip. I made some really good friends with the other delegates, which I am still staying in contact with. It was a life-changing experience and an excellent way to make friends and meet new people. I learned a lot of new things, which I will remember for the rest of my life. I would just like to thank everyone who donated money and bought items from my fundraisers, as it really helped with my tuition for this extraordinary experience. I would just like to say that if you ever get a chance to experience the People to People Student Ambassador Program, you should do it! It’s an education of a lifetime. It could change your life forever.