Week two! I am learning more about Australia and enjoying it very much. Last weekend, I visited another region of Australia called the Sunshine Coast, which is in Queensland on the east coast of Australia. It is three hours by plane from Adelaide and it is a very different place. It is more of a vacation, resort area with beautiful beaches, lakes and rainforests. The weather is very sunny and more tropical than Adelaide. Things seemed more relaxed here, like we were on vacation.
One of the best attractions here is the Australia Zoo and Wildlife Preservation Facility founded by Steve Irwin, also known as the Crocodile Hunter. We visited the zoo and it was really amazing! Phoenix had a detailed plan of our visit. He included all the animal shows we were going to see and even planned for lunch! Animals that were native to Australia made up the first part of the zoo. There were some koalas, kangaroos, wombats, crocodiles and even tigers. I actually had the chance to pet a koala bear and a kangaroo! The second part of the zoo contained animals mostly from Africa, like giraffes, zebras, and rhinos. It was a great experience to see all these animals up close!
The zoo was also presenting two shows: the Zoo Wildlife Warrior Show, and the Tiger Show. The first show took place in a large, outdoor stadium called “Crocoseum”. I knew we were in for a good show when we all cried out Crikey! All types of amazing and colorful birds were soaring everywhere. They also had a crocodile who was trained to perform tricks for food! I never thought it would be possible to train a crocodile! The Tiger Show was really impressive too. The animal trainer did some really amazing tricks with the tigers. There was only a large, rather thin glass window protecting us from the tiger. These Sumatran and Bengal tigers were beautiful animals but unfortunately are endangered.
The next day, we headed to Aussie World, a big amusement park. Phoenix and I had so much fun going on all the rides. We went on a huge water log ride, the bumper cars and the roller coasters. We even had lunch at the famous Ettamogah Pub, a funny, cartoon-like restaurant. We also had a chance to do water sports on the lake and beach and also rode Segways!
I had so much fun on this trip with my exchange family. This was an unforgettable experience for me. I also think it was great to spend time with Phoenix and his mom and to get to know them better. I will never forget this weekend!
Anthony Fata ‘18, Exchange Student at Westminster School
