Sunday 29th August – Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary

Today I had a refreshing lye in until 8am, and after a quick shower, I joined Dean, Jill and Steve, who had also stayed the night, in the kitchen for breakfast and tea. During this meal Steve and I continued some of our conversation from the night before and he kindly gave me some documentation detailing the project he is working on and offered to send me some work from his Maters.

Before long it was time for me to load the hire car with bags and paperwork and work my way through another series of goodbyes. Dean and Jill had made lovely, welcoming hosts, and I had thoroughly enjoyed my time with such an interesting and knowledgeable couple.

Under Jill’s recommendation, instead of going straight to Melbourne Airport to return my hire car, I instead drove to Healesville Sanctuary to see local wildlife up close as well as seeing how the sanctuary engages children with nature. This was well worth the trip and I highly recommend the experience to anyone ever close to the area. My day at Healesville started with a Bird of Prey Show in which the birds are not tethered and instead are free to fly frighteningly close over the watching crowd. Amazing! Next I explored the reptiles and animals of the night; here I saw many funny looking creatures that were fascinating to watch as they scurried around.

Leaving this area of the sanctuary, I made my way to their ‘animal hospital’. I have one word: WOW! This was a great building in both design and concept. Here visitors could watch vets as they conducted live operations on injured animals, keepers as they trained the newly born Dingo pups or footage and photographs informing them about the research and reintroduction processes conducted by the Sanctuary. I loved this place and spent a long time here wondering about, watching the staff and taking in as much information as I could.

After some time, I made my way around the rest of the Sanctuary visiting first the Emus, whose facial expressions have always greatly amused me, and the pelicans, who I believe I have been fascinated with since being a young girl reading Roald Dahl. Next on my list of must see animals was the platypus. Having never seen one before, on first impressions I was surprised by both their speed in the water and their tiny stature. They are beautiful little creatures and fascinating to watch as they dart around their enclosures. Kangaroos are also kept at the Sanctuary and upon visiting them I was impressed to note that they were in an open enclosure, in which they are free to roam amongst the visitors. Here there were both red and grey kangaroos, both of which are beautiful to watch as they graze only feet away from you.

My final stop at the Sanctuary was to the Koalas as I had never seen one before and they have always fascinated me. Again, like the kangaroos, their enclosure is open and visitors are within touching distance of these incredible creatures. Seeing one climbing a nearby branch as soon as I entered the enclosure, I stopped to take a picture, only to have it stick its tongue out! Nature never ceases to disappoint!

Leaving the Sanctuary I had just enough time to drive to the airport, and thankfully the journey was uneventful and I returned the car with time to spare. As my flight to Sydney wouldn’t be until Tuesday night, I still had a couple of days in Melbourne and so booked myself into a nearby hotel, which I was settled in by about 8pm.

After dinner downstairs, I stayed awake until 3am attending to emails and note writing, after which sleep certainly came easily and I drifted off looking forward to a day in Melbourne tomorrow.

Saturday 28th August – Returning from the Snow

Today I was woken by the bright light reflecting of the snow. It was still early but the cold air was as refreshing as a shower and I felt energised as I quickly packed up my tent and made my way to the table and chairs for chocolate muesli and tea with the rest of the group. Everyone had packed and eaten and were ready to go within 1.5hours – a far cry form the 3hours I had become used to with the younger groups – and soon we were back in our snow shoes and walking to where we had parked the bus the night before.

Reaching Marysville it was time to say goodbye to Kate and the group as they would be making their way back to Melbourne, whist I would be travelling on the bus with Phil back to Rubicon to sort out the equipment. After a further 30minutes drive, we arrived at the centre and quickly offloaded the bus and hung all the equipment in the drying room where it would be able to dry over the weekend ready for Monday morning and new groups of students.

After the equipment was sorted I had a quick shower at the camp, followed by a continued conversation with Phil about outdoor activities and their potential in connecting children with nature and the environment, before it was time to say goodbye and leave the centre.

Tonight I would again be spending the night at Dean’s and was having dinner with him, his wife and Steve, the principle of Bogong Outdoor Education Centre, and so, it being only lunchtime, and under the advise of Dean and Phil, I went to explore Snobs Creek Falls and Eildon Dam, both of which were spectacular.

Snobs Creek Falls has to be the biggest fall I have ever seen and, water, especially waterfalls, being one of my favourite features of nature, I found it breathtaking. The Dam too was very impressive, especially considering I had been told by Dean that his wife had run its length in the 2000 Sydney Olympics, and I had seen her beautiful Olympic torch, in pride of place in their living room, to prove it!

I returned to Dean and Jill’s at around 5pm and spent some time talking with Dean about the snow camping experience before Steve from Bogong arrived for dinner. Tonight Jill had cooked lamb curry, which was followed by some more of her delicious ice-cream and a platter of fruit, in addition to mars bar slice and peanut butter fudge – all homemade and fantastic! This was all eaten whilst the group of us discussed outdoor education, curriculum structures and a concept Steve is currently working on for a new environmental outdoor education centre in addition to his recently completed masters project which was also engaged with outdoor education.

After a long day, early start and a mound of information for my brain to digest we said our goodnights and went to bed tired and in need of rest.

Friday 27th August – Snow Camping at Lake Mountain

After breakfast at Dean and Jill’s, I made my way back to Rubicon Centre to meet with Page, who was full of enthusiasm as she showed me around the environmental activities at the centre and the documentation she had available on the topic. I was particularly interested in an activity she conducts which tells the story of a river whilst children add everyday substances to a bowl of water. At the end of the story, the water is inevitably dirty and the children are given the opportunity to discuss what could have been changed during the story to have created minimum impact on the natural environment and, in particular, the river and its wildlife.

After my chat with Page, I went to find Phil, the activity leader going up Lake Mountain, in order to finalise all of the necessary equipment for the trek. Upon meeting Phil, I also met Kate, the teacher going with the ‘Summit to Sea’ group and the group themselves.

After meeting and getting organised, it was soon time to load the bus with our equipment and ourselves and start our 1hour journey to the snow at Lake Mountain. During the bus journey I took the opportunity to introduce myself to the group and talk a bit about my research and why I had chosen to follow one of their training expeditions for the night. At this, they all appeared to be a very enthusiastic group and started talking about the day and night in the snow ahead of them.

The first half hour of the journey took us to Marysville; one of the small towns which were badly affected by the bush fires of 2009 –now known as Black Saturday. When I say badly affected, make no mistake, I am not over exaggerating, as close to the whole town was burnt to the ground with some men, out at work, loosing their wives and children who had been trapped at home. I found this a very sad and moving experience, being so close to something I had only previously seen on our news back in the UK. Suddenly the effect, and power, of nature was all too real.

The next part of the journey involved the bus making the incline of Lake Mountain. This was a very beautiful journey, which instantly had me thinking of Christmas back home as the ground level of snow and covering of indigenous trees, increased with our ascent.

Upon reaching the Ski Offices, where we would need to buy passes for the trip, we had also reached as far as we could drive and it was now time for the group to put on their snow shoes and load their rucksacks onto their backs, but not before a quick lunch in a shelter. The walk to the camp felt unusual to begin with, this being my first time walking on snow with a pack and my first time using snow shoes. Once the technique was sussed, however, and I was using my poles to their best advantage, it became an enjoyable experience and I was able to take in my beautiful surroundings and the group’s behaviour and response. The group were interesting to watch; the girls remained quiet and walked briskly on the main tracks, whilst the boys were more conversational and frequently went off track to walk small, steep inclines with close to 1m of snow coverage.

The walk was brief (just a couple of hours) and soon we arrived at our base camp for the night. It was beautiful! The snow covering here was just less than 1m deep and so the first step was to work as a group, compressing the snow so that the tents could be erected without submerging. This was a fun group activity which ensured everyone was working together with the same aim, having a good night sleep. Once compressed the snow needed to be smoothed using skis as all lumps in the snow would soon freeze and feel like rocks until the thin layer of tent on which we would all be lying. Erecting the tents in snow, once the ground was suitable, was much the same as you would in any wet weather, with speed to ensure the minimal amount of belongings got wet. As some members of the group built their tents, other members began building the table and chairs for dinner. This process involved these members compressing the snow to create a path to another part of the camp and digging into the snow to create a large eating table with seating around it. This part was very impressive and I thoroughly enjoyed the concept of building your campsite. Similarly, walls needed to be built around the tents in order to prevent the wind from coming in during the cold night.

Building in snow is slow and cold work, and by the time the tents were up, the table and chairs were built and sheltered with a tarp and all members of the group were settled with a hot drink to warm them, it was already nearing dinner time and everyone soon busied themselves chopping and cooking, using melted snow to boil their food. Dinner was noodles with vegetables and was delicious and filling. It never ceases to amaze me what can be cooked in the outdoors, even in the most adverse of conditions.

After dinner the group soon departed for an early bed to warm themselves with water bottles filled with boiled snow, acting as hot water bottles. Tonight sleep came easily and was surprisingly comfortable and warm. Snow camping is definitely something I will try again and would encourage others to do so too.

Thursday 26th August – Arriving at Rubicon Outdoor Centre

Today I woke early as I need to pack and organise the room I had been staying in during my time at Somers before heading to breakfast at 7.50am. After loading the car with my bags, I made my way to the dinning room for a breakfast of muesli, bacon, eggs and toast, which I ate with the visiting teachers.

After breakfast I went for one last walk around the site, enjoying the centre and its beautiful scenery, until it was time for Assembly. Today this was to be a little bit special. After the children’s daily weather report, Steve invited me to the front of the hall to thank me for visiting Somers and to present me with a range of gifts and curriculum documents. Next, we asked the children to sing ‘Haggis on a Surfboard’; an adaptation of ‘Wombat on a Surfboard’ which they had become accustomed to singing each morning. This was really special, especially seeing some of the children from the previous day’s activities, standing and cheering as everyone sang. I will remember this, and my time at Somers, fondly for some time to come.

It was now time to leave Somers and, despite my short time here, I still felt slightly sad at another series of goodbyes as I made my way off site and started my journey to Rubicon – the final Outdoor Education Centre I would be visiting in Victoria. This journey, under the advice of the map Steve had printed, should have taken only 2.5 hours; however, after a wrong turn early on in the journey, I arrived at Rubicon 5 hours after I set off! The drive, however, was beautiful; filled with large trees and ferns which dominated the long, steep, winding road.

At Rubicon, I was greeted by Dean, the principle of the centre and my contact prior to my arrival. He, like everyone else I had been fortunate enough to meet with in Australia, was very friendly and welcoming. After a brief chat we went for a walk around the centre, talking about the different activities, looking around the ski and equipment sheds, dormitories, kitchen and so on. Rubicon, like Somers, is residential in dorms, with children visiting from a large number of schools. The programs at Rubicon, however, run for 5 days instead of 9 and the age of the children is slightly older at 13–14 years. Rubicon also works with a school group each year which are involved in the ‘Summit to Sea’ expedition, a 21 day trekking and paddling expedition with twelve 16 year old students, one school teacher and one activity leader which runs in September. During this week, the ‘Summit to Sea’ group was visiting Rubicon to conduct some practice expeditions and tomorrow they would be walking out at Lake Mountain on snow shoes, snow camping and then walking back Saturday morning. I had asked Dean if I could join in on this short, one night expedition so that I could meet with a group that had volunteered to do a long and enduring outdoor excursion whilst also getting a chance to experience snow camping for myself, having never done it before. In preparation for this, Dean helped me get together all the necessary equipment I would need for the trip and put it aside for my collection tomorrow morning.

Having seen the centre, met the staff, and with there being no children on site, I headed with Dean for the 20 minute drive to his house, where he was kindly letting me base myself until Sunday. Once settled, Dean laid out an array of nibbles and we sat talking and munching for most of the evening until he served up a delicious dinner, which we ate whilst continuing our conversations until his wife, Jill, joined us later in the evening. After dinner, Jill served up some home made mango ice-cream which, I swear, was the most delicious ice-cream I have ever tasted. It was just like eating fresh mangos! This we ate whilst watching a television program about AFL (Australian Football League); both Dean and Jill are fans of the game.

Half way through the program I excused myself for bed as I needed to pack my bag for tomorrow’s expedition and get a good nights rest before I met with Page, the environmental leader at Rubicon, first thing for a discussion on her work at the centre.

Wednesday 25th August – Dinner with Denise

Today started with a walk around the centre grounds, taking photographs, whilst the children enjoyed their free time before breakfast at 7.50am. Walking into the dinning room, I was greeted by some of the assistants and teachers I had met yesterday and we sat together talking about the children and the centre, enjoying a feast of food; fried and continental. Whilst we sat on a large table at the back of the dinning room, the children sat on smaller, 4 person tables, which ran in 4 rows, up the length of the room. Each day a child from each of the eight dormitories (huts) were placed on ‘table duty’, where they had to act as waiters to the other members of their hut. This, I felt, was a great way of giving the children responsibility and duties whilst on camp that could be easily transferred to their lives back home.

After breakfast, Denise and I took the opportunity to look around the centre together. During this time she introduced me to many activities, including the high ropes course, indoor archery, table tennis and mini golf rooms, as well as the indoor low ropes course, used in the event of continuous bad weather. Denise also showed me the climbing wall which had been designed, especially by the Somers staff. This wall is designed to be an indoor wall in bad weather, or, in good weather, a series of roller doors can be opened to create an outdoor space. Instead of the standard system where children climb to the top and then abseil down again, staff designed this wall so that children get off at the top and then abseil down the other side of the building into an outdoor space, much like how they would experience climbing and abseiling in a natural, outdoor environment. Denise kindly took me to the top of the climbing wall and opened the abseil entrance, to which I was greeted by a beautiful view out of Somers Camp and over the ocean; mesmerising.

After my exploration of the centre with Denise came Assembly. This is a time for singing, dancing and the daily weather report, which the children must fill into their camp booklets. During this time, huts are also given marks for tidiness and sustainability; the winning hut receiving a trophy they can decorate and display in their hut window.

Denise had arranged for me to meet with Malcolm, the sustainability expert at Somers Camp, for the duration of the morning, following Assembly. Malcolm has recently completed his Masters and is now studying a Dip Ed in Sustainability and has been developing ways of improving the sustainable ‘outputs’ for the children’s program and activities at Somers for over 10 years.

During our time together, Malcolm and I discussed, in detail, his thesis, the structure of my thesis, the program and activities at Somers Camp, the recent sustainability improvements Somers has made in educating visiting children such as the herb gardens, orchards and environmental studies building where the children can learn about and interact with local species. He also introduced me to the guinea pigs on camp. These 20 creatures are used at the camp to help children develop social skills with both people and nature. Children come and sit with a guinea pig each day, grooming, petting, feeding and nurturing. Through learning the gentle and caring approach needed to interact with these animals, the children, Malcolm tells me, learn to mirror this in their approach to other natural species and, in turn, other children.

Our chat didn’t end until lunch time, by which time Malcolm and I had covered many ideas in relation to my research and he had given me a list of interesting books which he recommended I read. I have to admit, by this time I felt very much like I do after a supervisory meeting in Scotland and my head was spinning with fresh ideas.

After lunch, which I ate with Malcolm in a separate dinning room so we could continue our conversation, I observed several of the activities running during the program this week at Somers. The first of these activities was Boating which was held to the back of the centre on an onsite river. Here children are paired off and placed in tin boats that they had to negotiate rowing together, with each of the two children rowing on either side. Malcolm had mentioned earlier that he thought this was a great communication and teambuilding exercise and I completely agree. This activity lasts two hours, whilst the others, run in parallel, last only one hour. Thus, wishing to see as many activities as possible during my short time at Somers, I left this activity half way through and moved on to an Environmental Studies session with a different group.

During the Environmental Studies session, which was held in the Environmental Studies building I had just visited with Malcolm, the group of children were introduced to the concept of what they would learn during this activity throughout the remainder of the week. They were shown the live animals, reptiles and fish, as well as the stuffed and bottled, preserved local animals on display. Next, the instructor took the children out to the barn area of the Environmental Studies Centre where they were shown the goats, chickens and guinea pigs. Here I was able to see, for the first time, the passion with which the children interacted with these small creatures as they weighed, measured, fed and brushed them. A great interaction activity that some of these children had never previously been exposed to.

The third and final activity I visited for the day was the Challenge Swing. This activity sees each of the children in the group being attached to a harness and pulled by the rest of the group backwards until they reach 18.5m, at which point they let go and swing until they reach a stand still; the time this takes depends on the weight of the child. This drop from 18.5m inevitably results in a free fall at the start and again once the child reaches the other side, described as being similar to the motion of jumping out of an aeroplane. Each of the children had to try the Challenge swing, but they were the guide of how high the swing was to go. So, for example, if a child was scared then they could just sit at the bottom in the harness, the main thing was that they had gotten as far as getting strapped in to the swing. That said, all but two of the children wanted to go right to the top. I was given the option of a try but decided to decline and instead busied myself helping the children in and out of harnesses. At the end of this activity I helped the instructors pack up and then returned to my room to get changed as tonight Denise had invited me to join her and her family for dinner.

Denise’s house is on site at Somers, and I arrived for dinner at the back of 6pm to be greeted by her husband, John. Soon I was also introduced to Loz, Denise’s daughter, Steve, a staff member from Somers, and his wife, Karen, who were also joining us for dinner. Dinner was pumpkin soup, followed by lamb roast and pavlova for dessert, finished off with chocolate and tea and coffee. Delicious!

After dinner Denise and I said our goodbyes as I would not be seeing her again tomorrow as she would be away on business, and I made my way back to my room for bed before my last day at Somers tomorrow.

Tuesday 24th August – Somers Camp

Today I would be travelling to my first camp in Victoria, Somers Camp – a government subsidised, residential camp which operates with school children aged 10-12 years, from schools across the Victoria State.

The drive to Somers, I had been told by the principle, Denise, was only around 1.5 hours driving from Melbourne City. Having collected my hire car from Melbourne Airport, I made my way out of the car park and onto the freeway smoothly and safely; driving abroad being another new experience for me since arriving in Australia.

The drive was made very easy with Denise’s directions being spot on and very clear and I arrived at Somers Camp just before midday. My arrival would have been earlier had I not doubted my route and turned back for 17km only to realise I had, in fact, been driving the correct way and had turned around only 1km before the camp!

Denise was everything she had seemed in her emails; warm, friendly and very accommodating to my research. I am so appreciative of how lucky I have been with everyone I have met in Australia so far. Welcoming me, Denise showed me around the camp briefly, led me to my accommodation for the next two nights and then took me to the Assembly Hall to be introduced to the 160 waiting children and large number of Somers staff and visiting teachers. Next, the visiting teachers and I followed Denise around the maze of rooms, talking about the program and some general housekeeping rules. After this, with still a little time spare before lunch, I joined the children (aged 10-12years) in the Assembly Hall for a fun and energetic singing session.

After lunch – ham and salad roll with a glass of milk – I joined a group of 10 girls, a visiting teacher and a Somers instructor on their way to one of the dorms. Here the girls were introduced to the concept of staying the dorm together for 9 days, taught the general rules and asked to unpack and introduce themselves to one another. Next the Somers staff member, Mike, gave each of the girls (and me) a book about their stay at Somers and the activities they would be involved in. He also gave them a postcard, written to them from the last group who had stayed in that dorm. This group would repeat this for the group staying after them and so on. I thought this was a great idea and thoroughly enjoyed reading the messages from the previous children, in particular the frequency with which they each advised this group to take advantage of as much sleep as possible!

During these discussions the fire drill alarm was sounded and all the dorms emptied of children and staff onto the front asphalt area. Instead of returning with the children to their dorm, once they had been accounted for, I joined the visiting teachers and a member of Somers staff in one of the offices for a discussion on the program and health and safety rules.

Now that the children, and staff, had been briefed on the program of events for the week it was time for them all to meet again in the Assembly Hall for group photographs which would be printed at the end of the week. As I would not be required for this stage, and their was little to observe, I instead walked down to the Environmental Studies building which is found in one corner of the Somers Camp grounds. Here I was met with tanks filled with fish, sharks, lizards, snakes and frogs, not to mention a fantastic and welcoming staff member called Kay. Kay introduced me to all these wonderful species and even let me hold some of the lizards whilst she tried to untangle a python from a rat that it was trying to eat backwards and failing miserably. Needless to say, this experience was amazing and I still can’t get over how lucky the children at Somers are to have this facility on site. Kay told me there were also mammals and birds in this area of the camp that the children could interact with, but my meeting with them will have to wait until tomorrow as, by now, it was time for me to meet Denise again and join in on the Somers School Camp Council meeting.

At the meeting, which Denise very kindly invited me to participate in, I met a group of people very passionate about the outdoor education and development of young people, an experience which I found very inspiring. Denise asked me to introduce myself to the committee and discuss my PhD and fellowship. This gained a lot of interest and support and once again I was reminded of how fortunate I am to be spending time with so many knowledgeable, likeminded people in my area of research. In particular, I met two interesting men during this meeting who were both full of interesting comment with regards to my research; the treasurer of the committee and the previous principle of Somers.

As the meeting adjourned, it was late and dark and the weather had turned considerably stormy and I, like many of the others, took this opportunity to retire for some reading before bed, ready for an early 6am start tomorrow morning.

Monday 23rd August – Flying to Melbourne

As planned, I woke early to pack, check out of the hotel and make my way to the Flight Centre to book flights to Melbourne for later on today. Check out did not go as planned as the hotel reception wasn’t open, so, flight booking being a priority, I decided to leave the hotel and return before the check out due time at 10am.

Arriving at the Flight Centre, I was greeted by a friendly assistant from North London! Thankfully she was able to book me a return flight to Melbourne which was leaving Sydney at around 5pm. This meant I would have another day in Sydney as well as still having time to organise myself in Melbourne once I arrived at 6.30pm.

Happy in that my flights had been sorted (and I could stop panicking!) I made my way back to the hotel to check out and leave my bags in the office so that I could spent some time in the city, minus the large backpack, before departing for the airport.

Despite the weekday, as I arrived at City Quay I was still greeted by streets filled with shoppers, tourists and joggers, utilising their lunch break for some cardio exercise. Today the weather was not as fine as previous days, though thankfully it was still dry and I was able to take advantage of some brief tourist activities; collecting leaflets, taking photographs and excitedly exploring the inside of the Sydney Opera House, before settling in a nearby cafe (a Guilian Chocolate one to be precise!) and finalising my plans for the remainder of my time in Australia.

Before long it was time to get the bus back to my hotel, collect my bags and make my way to the airport for my flight to Melbourne. Arriving at the airport, I couldn’t believe I would soon be entering my third Australian state in only 5 days. The flight, though considerably less entertaining than my last experience, was uneventful and brief and I arrived in Melbourne on time and to my already waiting luggage.

More practicalities awaited me, such as hiring a car for my journey to Somers – the first camp I would be visiting in Victoria – and booking a hotel for tonight. Thankfully both of these services were available at the airport right next to where I had collected my luggage and, after an hour of price comparing between the hiring companies, I went back to the first one and hired a car for collection from the airport first thing in the morning.

Tonight I was more tired than I can remember having ever been - I think all the outdoor activities and travelling had finally caught up with me – and so, arriving at the hotel, I quickly settled myself and went to bed, falling asleep instantly.

Sunday 22nd August – Booking Flights to Melbourne

Today I managed to sleep in slightly longer than I have become accustomed to since arriving in Australia, waking at around 10.30am. The plan for the day was to complete some basic practical tasks such as confirming my plans for next week, booking flights to Melbourne and doing some laundary.

With the hotel wifi being out of sync with my laptop, I took off on a short walk to find alternative intenet access so that I could contact the next two centres I would be visiting. Little did I know, this 'short' walk ended up being 12km!

On the internet I was able to contact Denise and Dean from the next two centres, confirm visiting dates and times and most importantly get some driving directions. Originally I had planned to drive to Melbourne from Sydney, but, as this would take at least 13hours, I instead, under much advise, decided to book a flight. Being that it was Sunday, however, this proved much more difficult than originally planned, with many of the airlines being uncontactable. Fortunately, walking back to the hotel I noticed a 'Flight Centre'. It was closed but reopened tomorrow at 9am so I decided I would make my way back there first thing to book some flights for the same day to Melbourne.

After a day of emails and phonecalls, I arrived back at the hotel at around 4pm and quickly got to work doing my laundry using the hotel's washing and drying machines whilst taking the opportunity to do some reading.

Feeling slightly more adventurous (and hungry) than usual in the evening, I decided to get the bus into the city for some dinner in one of the cafes that were open late. Here I found a beautiful little place, where I enjoyed delicious spagetti bolonaise and vegetables. Perfect after a 12km walk and a busy, work filled day.

As I arrived back at the hotel, it was already late and I knew I would have an early start tomorrow with packing and making my way to book flights. I lay down tired and sleep, as usual, came quickly.

Saturday 21st August – Opera House and an AFL Game

Today I woke with an urge to explore Sydney and all its wonders, having previously only seen them in photographs. I caught the bus to Circular Quay at around 10am, arriving in the centre about 20 minutes later. As I got off of the bus, the sun was blazing as it had been during most of my days in WA, but today it was joined by a gusting wind coming up off of the water.

I began my walk around the Quay, amazed by what I saw; the bridge, the Opera House, the people bustling around, their arms full of shopping bags. The Opera House was a beautiful sight, gleaming as it sat with the sun beating down on its curves. People could be seen climbing the bridge; something I hope to try for myself when I return from Melbourne.

Feeling overwhelmed by all these amazing city sights after a month of camping in the country, I decided to text a couple of old friends who live in Sydney to tell them of my arrival; the male being a Scottish man, and the female (his wife) being a Sydney Woman. Within an hour they met me at ‘The Rocks’, an area overlooking the waterfront, where we sat catching up on my adventures and the imminent arrival of their expected new addition to their family. It was great to see some familiar faces after a month of being away from home.

After them listing all the places I should visit whilst during my time in Australia, they invited me on ‘the ultimate Aussie experience’ later that night – a live game of the Austrian Football League. Before I knew it, tickets were booked and we were arranging to meet at 6pm. I was super excited about being able to experience this, knowing only two games coincided with my time in Sydney and after so many people had told me it was a must.

We said our goodbyes, arranging to meet outside my hotel, and I made my way off to explore the nearby markets, sampling a chicken and pumpkin wrap and corn on the cob for my lunch off one of the food stalls. Delicious! As with the markets in Fremantle, these markets in Sydney too were filled with colour, vibrancy and noise and still one of my favourite environments to be in. I love looking at all the sights, listening to the people passing my by and feeling all the trinkets on the stalls as I pass and so I spent a few hours here just relaxing as I took in my surroundings.

Before long the afternoon had passed and it was time to return to my hotel to get changed for my big night in the stands, not before I had time for one last look out over the water at the bridge and Opera House; mesmerizingly beautiful.

We met at 6pm as planned, and spent the next hour making our way through the masses of traffic as everyone in Sydney, it seemed, made their way to the big game.

The atmosphere when we arrived was incredible. Everyone dressed in their team’s colours, cheering excitedly in anticipation of the kick off. Tonight the Sydney Swans would be playing The Bulldogs, a Melbourne team. The game was a great experience, and one I am very grateful to have been part off. Thankfully I was updated frequently on the rules of the game and the player’s history; otherwise things could have got a little confusing! I now think I know more about Australian football and its rules than Scottish football (or Soccer as it’s called over here).

Thankfully, considering I had come to the game with two Sydney fans, the Swans won with over 100 points! At the end of the game is something called ‘Kick to Kick’. This is where all the fans are allowed on the pitch for a kick about; a great concept which proves the relaxed and friendly nature of this fun game.

Leaving the stand, we were already anticipating the difficulty with which we would be leaving the car park, swarms of people all trying to head their cars through the one small exit. Fortunately it took only about an hour and we were soon on our way back to my hotel.

The journey passed quickly, and we pulled up at about 11.30pm; my latest night in Australia so far. Sleep certainly came easily tonight, it had been a long and eventful day and drifting off I could hardly believe everything I had experienced in Sydney in such a short space of time.

Friday 20th August – Arriving in Sydney

Today I had to say goodbye to Perth WA and make my way to the airport at 6am to fly to Sydney.

I arrived at the airport in good time for my flight and spent time wondering the book shop, buying some new reading material for the rest of my travels.

Boarding the plane at 7.35am I was looking forward to sitting back with my book for the next few hours. What followed instead I never could have anticipated! Photographs were a must.

It was the airline’s 20^th year in operation and to mark the event, the airhosts put on a bit of a show. First, ‘Poppy’, our male attendant, donned a red head piece and skirt for serving the drinks to the passengers. As if this wasn’t amusing enough, he and another male attendant then dressed up, under the theme of tomorrow’s Australian election as the two main campaigners, Julia and Tony. Then, speaking into the intercom he invited all the passengers to write down their seat number and who they would be voting for on the pieces of paper being handed out by the third member of the host crew. These pieces of paper were then taken into the captain’s cabin for the votes to be counted. The captain then announced that Tony had received the most votes. At this, the crew member dressed as Tony processed to strut down the aisle dancing and clapping in celebration!

As a final treat the captain drew one the pieces of paper out from a bag and gave the person in the referenced seat number a free treat from the cart. All highly entertaining and surprising; only in Australia!

The plane landed in the early afternoon, greeted by a warm, cloudless day in Sydney. I collected my bags and hopped in a taxi, informing the driver of my hotel address. Unfortunately the driver, for some reason unbeknown to me, dropped me off in the entirely wrong place. Knowing I was at least on the right street, long though it was, I proceeded to try to find the address on foot. After a while, feeling lost and weighed down by my bags, I spotted a couple of members of staff from the airport and asked them if they could point me in the right direction. Keeping up with the lovely, helpful nature of all those people I had met in WA, they not only pointed me in the right direction but phoned the hotel to inform them of my imminent arrival and drove me there!

Arriving at the hotel, I unpacked and changed before making my way back out onto the street to phone home and explore my surroundings. A few hours later and I found myself enjoying a light dinner in a pub close to my hotel before returning for an early night. Tomorrow I wanted to get up early to take full advantage of my weekend before travelling down to Melbourne on Monday.