It’s my third week in Australia and I’m having a great time! Each day, I’m learning more about this country and enjoying it very much.
Last weekend, my exchange family and I went for a long bike ride around Adelaide. I don’t really bike a lot in Montreal but they thought this would be a great way to see the city.
Just like Montreal, Adelaide has a few bike paths throughout the city. Some of these paths are very long, almost 9 km, and run through the forests and parks and at some points through the city itself, which was quite busy. The neighbourhoods in Adelaide are a lot like Montreal but the area along the beach is very different and very nice. There are restaurants and stores along the beach and the feeling is very relaxed. I especially enjoy the ice cream shop, which we have gone to a few times already!
At first, I thought that Adelaide was much smaller than Montreal, but I now think they are about the same size. In fact, the stadium where professional cricket and Aussie Rules Football, also called Footy, are played, can hold about 53,000 seats, almost three times the number of seats in the Bell Centre! We rode our bikes for about three hours and I really had a chance to see a lot.
On the weekends, we have also spent quite a bit of time at the beach, which I really enjoy. It has been extremely hot here, sometimes as high as 40 degrees, and the water is actually very warm for swimming. I have been having a great time with Phoenix and his family!
At school, I have been making new friends and enjoying my experience at Westminster. I have been learning a lot about Australia and the other countries in the Pacific. For example, I have learned about the Maori people, who are an indigenous group in New Zealand. Their dance, the Haka, is still used by the New Zealand Rugby team before each game to intimidate their opponents. We also learned about Ned Kelly, an important folk hero to the Australians. He was an outlaw who fought the police and became known for his courage to stand up to the British. Even over 100 years later, they are still learning about his life.
I have also been practicing cricket and volleyball every week with Phoenix. In the first volleyball game I played, we actually defeated St. John School! I was supposed to play my first cricket game last Saturday but unfortunately the weather was 39 degrees and the coaches decided that it was too hot to play. It was a shame because our team hasn’t won a game this season and we actually thought that we were able to win this game.
I’m having such a great time in Australia and will remember this for the rest of my life! — Anthony Fata ’18
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.
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.
As the plane started descending, I saw the amazing view of Adelaide. After three plane rides and more than 24 hours of travel, I was very excited to start my adventure in Australia. During the long plane ride, I was anxious and nervous because I didn’t know what to expect and how my experience would be. I had Skyped my exchange, Phoenix, a few times but now I was finally going to meet him.
