My third week of school in Australia went by fast. I spent it hanging out with all my new friends at school. It was my third and last week at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School. On Friday, I said my goodbyes to most of my friends and had them sign my flag. I also signed up to go to Country Week, a type of mixed sports tournament, (instead of a work experience for the next week) and many of my friends were also going. After school that day, we took the bus home and invited a few people to hang out for Kasper’s upcoming 16th birthday. Many of my new friends showed up and we all had a good time. On Saturday morning, they all headed out and Kasper and I decided we would visit the local wildlife park. At this park, you can buy animal food and feed it to certain animals. I saved mine for the kangaroos. We went to see them last and it was really awesome for me because the closest I’d ever come to a kangaroo was around 30 feet away, the time I’d tried to chase one to get a picture of it. Being a wild kangaroo, it was timid and bounced away, but here, they were close. I got to feed a kangaraoo out of my hand and pat it.

The next day I left for Country Week. Country Week is a huge high school sports event and lots of schools come from all over Australia to compete. This year, 3,700 kids were in attendance to represent their schools. I was signed up for the touch rugby team because it was the only sport I was familiar with. I play rugby back home, but touch was new to me. I didn’t play all that much, because I wasn’t familiar with the different rules between touch and regular rugby, but sports were the least important part of the week. I went to Country Week initially because I wanted a bit more time with my friends – and that’s what I got. I roomed with a few of my friends and hung out with the others whenever I could. The week was very entertaining, and I got to learn more on Footie and Netball while supporting the BCGS teams. The week ended with closing ceremonies and BCGS tied for second.

– Garrett Doyle ‘17