Teach me how to Dougie

Leaving Sydney, we went from bus to plane to bus again in the span of four hours and arrived at O’Reilly’s, two hours outside of Brisbane. Our bus wound up the mountain on a path that left everyone happy to reach the top. O‘Reilly’s is the best of both worlds in that it is an extremely nice resort that happens to exist on top of a mountain in the middle of a dense rainforest. It’s nice to cap off a day navigating your way through the jungle by soaking in the hot tub or swimming in the infinity pool. The accommodations, staff, and especially the food are all excellent.

Even though we arrived under rainy and gray skies, several of us set off on a wet night hike through the rainforest to view glowworms along the riverbank. The next day, our class split into several groups to explore all that O’Reilly’s has to offer. Students fed birds (King parrots and Red parrots, to name a few), took a four-wheel drive bus tour that included a bonfire and tea, or hiked through the rainforest on trails to Python Rock, Morans Falls Lookout, and the Wishing Tree. Later in the afternoon, all 29 of us flew through the treetops on the Flying Fox zip-line. All of this took place in the rain, but spirits were still high.

Yesterday we met with Douglas, an Aboriginal guide, who spoke about his experiences and Aboriginal heritage. He and three of his family members performed traditional Aboriginal dances and invited students to participate and learn the moves. He showed us bush food, Aboriginal weapons and medicine, and demonstrated various traditional activities such as basket weaving and fire making. The rare medicine he invited us to try wasn’t very pleasing to the palette, but everyone can now say they have had aboriginal medicine. After returning to O’Reilly’s with Douglas, he played the didgeridoo for us and we said an emotional goodbye to our new friend.

The excitement of being here has been beyond overwhelming, so we decided to stay here for two extra days (this decision had nothing to do with major flooding at lower elevations).

Overall, O’Reilly’s has been a refreshing experience. We’re away from cities, have limited communication with the outside world (the internet runs like dial-up), and no TV in the rooms. We’ve had time to bond as a group through all the activities and quiet time. O’Reilly’s truly embraces its ecotourism mission, and its easy to get into that mindset when you’re smack in the middle of a rainforest up on a mountain.

The key part of this course is the bonds that have been occurring between all of the members of the class. Being isolated from the rest of society has helped all of us become close friends as the days go along. We are all primarily concerned with learning the culture and eco nature of the land we are on, but we know we must work as a team to do this. As the days are going on, we are all learning to grow from our surroundings and most of all, holding each other accountable for everything.

It is not even halfway through the journey yet and each one of us cannot believe we have to go back to school; we really want to spend more time than a month here.

The University of The Sunshine Coast is next on our agenda then a flight over to Cairns.

Until Then,
Cheers
-Oliver, Carolyn, Nick & Raj.

P.S. – We hope you’re enjoying all of your snow, because we’re very happy with our Sun!