Greetings From Sydney, Australia! It may have been a non-stop 15 hour flight, but the 29 Elon University students finally arrived on 7:42AM on January 6th (which involved completely missing out on January 25th ). The students were exhausted by being 14-hours ahead of their regular time but it did not stop them from exploring the Land Down Under. The Harbor Bridge, the opera house and downtown culture was what the students mostly tried to embrace on their free day. With cameras around their necks and the sun at a beautiful 90 degrees farenheit, it was the ideal day to take in. Staying in the area of Potts Point, students were able to socialize, explore and relax themselves for the incredible experience in which they were about to experience in the morning.

January 7th may be a Friday, but people were up earlier than the usual 8am Departure time (mostly due to the jet-lag) for the start of the course with an exhilirating trip to Kur-N-Gai National Park. The tour guide for the day, Leslie, took the students through an incredible tour of Aboriginal culture through stone floor stone carvings. Even with rain showers and excessive heat, we were enganged by all of the carvings and what they represented. Leslie began and ended the tour with making sure we all paid respects to his ancestors and everyone that goes back to the start of Australia’s history.

The most entertaining part of the day for us was byfar playing games of the aboriginal culture. One game involved throwing tennis balls at a centerpiece and the other involved using boomarangs and arrows. I felt that the class truly bonded today and all of us realized at Manly Beach during the conclusion of the day that this is “just the beginning”.

Stay Tuned for our next update from Canyoning in the Blue Mountains.

G’Day Mates.

-Raj Rawal – Class of 2012