Central Australia Tour

Central Australia Tour -

Wow! What an adventure the Central Australia Tour was for our group of 33 Year 9, 10, 11 & 12 students. After 10 days on the road, traversing over 3000 km of ever-changing landscapes, there is a special magic and brilliance to those red rocks and dirt of Central Australia.

This tour was one of the best experiences I have been part of in my time teaching. We demanded high standards of behaviour from our students and they were sensational. We regularly got compliments from members of the public and management of the places we visited about their behaviour. What a terrific crew of young people we were privileged to take from Cobram SC.

Some of the “Kodak” moments from the tour included:

The camaraderie that came from the epic 24-hour plus express legs to and from Coober Pedy and Alice Springs. The group kept spirits up amusing themselves with endless songs, sing-alongs and some questionable movie choices…
We talked with the students about how sacred and special many parts of Central Australia are and the deep significance of these places to indigenous Australians and many white Australians too. We encouraged them to respect and embrace the sacredness of this place and learn as much as they could, for which they proudly accepted the challenge.
Our coach drivers commented that they had never seen a group of students so interested and respectful and spend as much time as they moved through the Uluru Cultural Centre. We felt moved as our students respectfully participated in a cultural program and eagerly contributed to the discussions with the Park Rangers regarding language and culture of the local tribal groups.
We walked around the base of Uluru and into Kata Tjuta’s “Valley of the Winds”, spell-bound by the sheer size and beauty of the rock formations and the contrast with the flat, dry scrub of the surrounding desert.
We slept under the stars in a bush camp 100 km from Alice Springs and lay outside watching shooting stars and listening to the sounds of the bush with the brightest stars we had ever seen above us. We regularly talked with the kids about the beauty of our world and respect for the land we were on.
The coach’s “Radio One” – DJ’d by the capable Tristan Grinter (assisted by others along the way) belted out songs and playlists, which for $0.50 per song built up a commendable $284 which was donated on behalf of the College to the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service in Alice Springs. Coupled with the $20 the students “won” by completing our coach driver Mick’s ‘Hard Quiz’, their donation was gratefully received. What brilliant kids we have.
We were able to adapt our flexible itinerary to allow a group of boys to visit the National Roadtrain Hall of Fame in Alice Springs as a reward for their outstanding level of participation on the tour, which was a great opportunity for them all.
At King’s Canyon, half the group chose to sleep out under the stars (mind the dingoes in the camp!) and listening to the sounds of the bush with the brightest stars we had ever seen above us.
On our last night, Mrs Black ran the Central Australia Olympics for the group as a celebration of the incredible journey and experiences of the students on the tour. Many laughs were had as the teams battled through an hysterical array of challenges. The night finished with some quiet reflection of what the students had gained from the tour. It was very touching to read how many students got in touch with what is most important in life and who they really want to be. This was another great teaching opportunity.

These are just some of the special moments and do not include the many laughs, new relationships and friendships that formed and the increased respect the students have for teachers (and vice versa) and for each other.

Cobram SC runs an extraordinary camps program. I don’t believe any school matches what we do with our camps. For us camps are not just “tours” or for “fun” but we want them to be life changing. We want kids to come back and say it was “the best week of their life”. We want kids to find a level of acceptance and respect they have never experienced before at school. We want camps to play a major role in building the Cobram Secondary College culture.

We have encouraged them to be the people that create a culture of care and support within their year level. We want this culture to be what helps protect them and care for them over the coming years at the College. They certainly seem up for that challenge.

Our sincerest thanks to Lisa Anderson of EDTS, who coordinated our itinerary. It was simply fantastic and one on which to build and improve looking ahead. To our coach drivers, Mick and Brien and cook Kristen – you brought us together and shared the journey with us. Thank you for your patience, your empathy and humour.

What great kids we have at our College. I hope you are as proud of them as we are.

Randall Jones, Jayne Black & Anne-Marie Hindle – Central Australia Tour Staff Leaders