INTERNATIONAL STUDENT PROGRAM

Holiday Fun at Lakes Entrance

A group of our International Students and their parents, along with two homestay parents, Ms Luong, Ms Nguyen and Mr Agg travelled to Lakes Entrance during the school break to enjoy the sites of Gippsland, 90 mile beach, Raymond Island Koala Sanctuary and partake in fishing and crab trapping activities. 

Many thanks to Ms Luong and Ms Nguyen for organising and promoting the program and to Jenny Tang and Sam Liu for driving and guiding the group. We had 27 participants in total, and all enjoyed themselves immensely.

From Christine Qiao (Year 11 International Student from China)

I was so excited about the trip the night before leaving because sand crab fishing is something that I haven’t done before. Jumping on the bus I started the trip with my family, friends and teachers. The relationship between me and my friends got closer. Friendship really is magic that it heals everything, keeps you happy. I talked to my friends, slept, ate, more sleep and we finally arrived at the destination after 5 hours of traveling. What a relief! 

Immediately we headed to the dock to catch crabs. Nets and chicken were all we got and the weather was pretty cold so I didn’t feel like I’m going to trap any crabs. But the parents trapped a few crabs in just 10 minutes! I was so excited so I decided to try by myself. I threw the net in and pulled it out. I couldn’t do them well at first but gradually became a master of crab hunting, little bit of proud of myself. I really enjoy the process of trapping crabs and I’m glad that I tried to do it or I’ll definitely be regretted. It was so fun and it was so satisfying watching the buckets fill with crabs-lots of crabs-like about 30 of them.

We had a great dinner as expected. I ate so much that I felt like I’ve never had that amount of food before. I kept eating even though I was full. Thanks for Yolanda’s dad’s excellent cooking skills, he made the whole meal and I loved them! The crabs were so fresh, the meat was so delicious and juicy, the side dishes were also tasty.

On the final day, we went to Raymond Island to spot koalas sleeping in the trees. It was my first time seeing real koalas and in such close distance. They literally didn’t move, just stayed in the trees and slept. But they were so cute! I felt like Australia always do a great job on animal protection. All the trees were saved for the koalas to live in.

I learned a lot about nature during this trip. The beautiful sea, the tasty food, the wild animals and the fresh air; all precious gifts from the nature that we as humans should appreciate more. I also realized the importance of protecting the environment.

I really enjoyed the trip, really grateful for all my teachers, parents, friends and the tour guide who gave us such a nice opportunity to enjoy our holidays away from Melbourne.