I can’t believe that it’s already my fourth week in Australia. This has been an amazing journey that I will never forget. I have already been to many different places along the coast of Victoria and it has been quite eventful. Last weekend, Tom’s family and I went to Inverloch, a small town on the beach. Since they have a beach house there, we stayed for one night and we spent a lot of time relaxing. The Australian coast is very different from North America. It seems to be a lot more natural with fewer people and more wildlife such as sea grass and marine organisms. Also, there aren’t many buildings on the shore, which is great.
Tom and I spent a lot of time together on the beach and it turns out that he is huge NFL fan just like me, so we threw a football around on the sand. In addition, we visited an area called “Eagles Nest,” which is a very rocky area on the shore. I enjoyed going there and we were able to see some crabs and even a scorpion!
This week, Tomas and I went to The Great Ocean Road, one of the most scenic and historical areas on earth. In fact, it was the Australian WWI veterans who built this highway after they returned home. The drive was just amazing and we saw many beaches, the ocean, and some hills. The water seamed clear and turquoise and I really wanted to stop and jump in. However we weren’t able to because we wanted to leave enough time to see the Twelve Apostles. The Twelve Apostles were beautiful even if there are only eight left. The reason why four are missing is because the apostles are actually limestone stacks in the ocean so they are eroding quickly due to the waves. In fact, if I come back in a few years, some of them might be completely gone.
This trip is going by very quickly and I’m enjoying all of the experiences and adventures so far. We are going to Sydney and the Eureka Tower next! –Terry Xiao ’18
To be fully honest, I expected the graffiti tour to be a waste of time. We were all exhausted from the long flight and were anxious to get to bed. Fortunately, the graffiti tour was a huge surprise! I found myself completely invested in this two-hour tour. We explored the streets of Bogotá and got a good feel of the city we were staying in. The streets were packed with people staring at us and giving weird looks. We didn’t pay attention to this though, as the street art we were seeing was incredible.
Today we got the awesome opportunity to build houses for two homeless families. We met up with five students from a local English school and travelled a few hours out into the mountains to meet with people from a foundation called Catalina Muñoz. This foundation’s goal is to build houses for impoverished homeless families.
As I sit at the airport in Los Angeles, waiting for my flight to Montreal, I am struggling to find the perfect words to describe the second half of my exchange. This is because during such a short amount of time in Melbourne, so many memories and friendships were created and I am still in shock that it is already over.
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.
