INDONESIAN STUDY TOUR

On the 14 – 25th of September, 16 students from year 8, 9 and 10 went to Indonesia on a study tour with Miss Sellenger and Mr Prior. Over the course of 11 days, we explored the islands of Java and Bali. The first three days were spent in Jakarta; we went to an old boat harbour, the national museum of Indonesia, botanical gardens and Mona's tower where we met a group of Indonesian school kids who were very excited to see us and wanted lots of pictures!

Next we travelled to Bandung where we saw a traditional dancing performance and got to play instruments and dance with the local children. We also visited a volcano followed by hot springs then we had a few free hours to either go shopping or go next door to the Trans Studio Theme Park.

The following day we had an early start as we had an 8 hour train ride from Bandung to Yogyakarta ahead of us. Although it was a long ride, the time went quickly looking at the beautiful scenery.

In Yogyakarta we had traditional music lessons, dance lessons and a becak ride that took us through villages to a cake factory then to a small temple were we saw an Indonesian movie being filmed and then out for lunch.

Whilst in Yogyakarta we visited a few temples; Magelang, Prambanan temple and Borobudur Temple which had a beautiful view from the top and we practiced our bartering skills with the locals who were selling fans.

For the last four days we flew over to Bali and stayed in Ubud, a small town surrounded by rice fields. After we settled in to our villas and got some rest, we spent the next day tasting Indonesian tea and coffee, followed by a bike ride passing all the local villages and rice fields. We then returned back to the villa for a swim in the pool and shopping at the local markets.

Whilst in Bali, we went to a kecak performance which was next to Uluwatu temple, surrounded by the sea, and spent the night having a seafood BBQ on the beach and singing along to some Nickelback songs on the 2 hour bus ride back.

For the second last day we slept in and ate breakfast at the buffet, before learning a traditional Balinese dance, a cooking lesson in which we made our lunch and afterwards we had a music lesson and got the chance to learn how to play traditional Balinese instruments.

The last day was pretty relaxed as we got to spend 4 hours at the Ubud market bartering with the locals in Indonesian for the best price. We got to swim in the pool before leaving the villas at 7pm to travel to Denpasar airport for the trip back home to Melbourne.

We really enjoyed the bike ride in Ubud and bartering at the local markets as both of these things were great experiences and showed us what it's like to be a local in Indonesia.

Overall, it was an amazing experience and we advise that if you have the chance to go; take it.

Tia Riddle and Kirsty Williams.