We waited in a long line at the airport in order to show them our passports.
It took about two and a half hours to get through the Sydney airport,
including passport check, customs, getting our bags, and changing our money.
Finally we got outside and took a big breath of Australian air. Then we got
a taste of land travel when we got on the bus that was to transport us for
the next two weeks. We met our bus driver, Bernie, and our tour guide, Jodi.
They were both really nice. We drove straight from Sydney airport to Canberra,
the capitol of Australia.
Our first stop in Australia was, ironically, a McDonald's. There we first
learned of two concepts: the concept of substituting the word "chips" for
"french fries" and the concept of paying $2 for a bottle of Coke. And,
much to my and many other people's dismay, there was no Dr. Pepper to be
found. Our first real stop at the Australian Institute Of Sport. There we
had a sack lunch and took a tour of the place. Our first stop was the indoor
stadium. It was some kind of architectural accomplishment... instead of being
supported internally by pillars, etc., it was supported outside by steel
cables connected to half-buried steel structures. We also learned that the
Cranberries had been there not long before (possibly the night before...I
don't exactly remember.) We got to see the gymnastics room and there the
guide told us about how some children come to the institute around the age
of six and train in gymnastics until they are old enough for college. We
also saw the pool, the tennis courts, and the rugby field. (Unfortunately,
the latter was not being used at the time. Our only real taste of rugby came
later...in a hotel room...on the TV.)
So we got back on the bus and were pleased to learn that we were on our
way to a zoo! This is what I had been waiting for! We got there and
C/W from top left: Koalas, Penguins, Wallabies, a Dingo
walked around for more than an hour. We saw all sorts of animals. First
we stopped at the koala cage. They weren't moving very much, but it was
still interesting. There was about 6 of them in the cage. Then we went
on to the wombat cage.
A Kangaroo
It wasn't very agreeable and nobody really got any good pictures. It was
cute though, and Jon became obsessed with wombats. We passed the fairy
penguins, and then saw the wallabies. (For those who don't know, wallabies
are miniature kangaroos.) We passed the dingo cage en route to the fenced
field where the kangaroos were. We got to feed the kangaroos, and that was
a lot of fun. The only rule was that you wanted to stay away from the red
kangaroos. They apparently had a temper. After the kangaroos we went to the
Tasmanian Devil cage, but it wouldn't come out of it's hole. We never did
get to see one.
After we left the zoo, we headed for the Australian War Memorial. It was
cold and the Memorial was outside, but it was still very interesting. The
outside was made of stone and had names carved in it, just as the war
memorials in the US. The inside had a gift shop and many rooms full of
military memorabilia such as airplanes, models of battles, and old weapons.
We left when it closed and went to check in at our hotel. We ate dinner
there, and then after dinner we saw an Aborigine (Australian natives) dance.
It was interesting, though they were rather smelly. Then we went to bed and
spent our first night in Australia.
This page was created by Nick Huinker with lots of help from Lacey Tauber. Main People To People graphic courtesy (much thanks!) to the People To People Student Ambassadors Website.
I would also like to thank Mr. Sam Montgomery, Mrs. Jo Beth Oestreich, and Ms. Debra Davis, our fearless leaders, as well as everyone else whom I shared this experience with.
