Central Australia

Students' Reflection on the 2019 Central Australia Trip

In the last week of term 2 and the first week of the holidays, a group of year 11's along with Miss Annavarapu, Miss Chiappa, Mr Dunn, Mr Fryar and Miss Inskip went on the Central Australia tour.  After 30 hours on a bus, despite being sleep deprived and in a bad mood, we were treated to the first sights of central Australia's beauty with sunrise at Lake Hart. We continued our way onto Coober Peedy, where we had a tour of a mine and slept underground in the world-famous opal mining town.

 

After crossing the border into the Northern Territory we arrived at Uluru. This was one of the major highlights of the trip for everyone. Despite the 11km walk around the rock, it was such a surreal and emotional experience. We learnt about Uluru and the surrounding landscape of geography. Whilst we had seen pictures of it on the internet, nothing can compare to the real-life experience of the sacred indigenous site. It was the start of us as a group gaining insight and in Mr Dunn's words 'getting it' about the importance and significance of indigenous culture. Out of all of the beauty that Australia has to offer, nothing can compare to this place and it showed us that nature is pretty cool. 

It was such a surreal and emotional experience.

Kings Canyon was a challenging but rewarding part of the trip. We endured a strenuous 7km walk around the rocky canyon. This pushed a lot of us to face fears and step outside our comfort zone but we were rewarded with a stunning view of the waterhole at the garden of Eden. That night we had a Scattergories game which got very heated with the teachers showing us their competitive side and Miss Annavarapu and Miss Inskip having an argument over whether lemon was a flavour of sorbet or ice cream.

The most eye-opening part of the whole trip was the day we spent at the Lilla indigenous community. Here, we were welcomed by a traditional Welcome to Country Smoking Ceremony.  We were guided on a walk to 3 sacred sites within the land which are thousands of years old. This was the major point where together as a group, we stopped and embraced how truly special and important the indigenous culture is. We then had the opportunity to do some dot painting and try some kangaroo tail. This day holds a special place in all of our hearts as it showed us the true meaning of community and even in the middle of nowhere, you can still have true happiness and sense of belonging.

 

Alice Springs was our next stop where we visited a reptile centre and the Royal Flying Doctors Service. A moment of entertainment was provided when our First Aid kit got stolen and Mr Dunn had to chase them down the street. Later that evening we went on an incredible astronomy tour were we randomly ran into Mr Boyce. The stars in Melbourne are nothing compared to those in central Australia.   

 

Despite the town of Daly Waters not being that much, after a 4 am wake up and 12 hours on the bus it was a night where you could truly see the bond that we had formed over the past week. There was a night of dancing, trivia and sleeping together under the stars, which was accompanied by the bedtime story of “Bumbly Wumbly's Sunshine” from Mr Dunn. 

 

We then continued our travels north to Kakadu where we walked around the world heritage listed national park and spent most of our days' swimming and playing cards. We were also treated to some fireworks at night for Territory Day. Before leaving Kakadu, we went on a river cruise down the Yellow Water River, where we got to see crocodiles that were up to 5m long in the wild. Our last night camping was spent at Litchfield sleeping under the stars together with another bedtime story from Mr Dunn, the “Not-So-Colourful Butterfly.” Our last day was spent with the morning swimming at the breath-taking Wangi Falls. We then travelled up to Miss Inskip's home town of Darwin where we spent our last few hours watching Toy Story 4. Emotions started to kick in with even the teachers getting a bit teary as we then headed to our 2 am flight back home to Melbourne.

 

As cliche, as it may sound this trip, was really a once in a lifetime experience. We have certainly come away with a different outlook on life. It’s shown us how much our pre-determined idea of what it’s like in Central Australia actually differs from the real-life experience and how much diversity we really have in our own country. It showed us that you don’t have to go to another country to immerse yourself in a different culture.

We have certainly come away with a different outlook on life.

Even in a little way, something significant for us was how we were able to reflect and take some time to try and understand and appreciate important and sacred sites of the Indigenous culture. Going to Uluru, the Garden of Eden in Kings Canyon, the pond in Lila and Kakadu National Park really brought home how ancient and awe-inspiring our landscape is, and so too are the cultures that have inhabited and thrived in it for thousands of years. We want to thank these communities for inviting us onto their land and sharing aspects of their culture with us

As “cringe” as it sounds, the central Australia tour is really a once in a lifetime opportunity and we have become a little family from this. We’d like to thank Mr Dunn for all his time and effort that he put into organising this amazing trip for us. For any year 10's who are considering going on the trip next year, we highly recommend going as it really exceeds expectations.

 

Emma S.  11F and  Bella M. 11D