Rustic Impresses Down Under

After attending the Sacred Valley Service trip, Rustic's premier Peru program, I thought it nearly impossible of how a program could top the experiences in the land of the Incas. However, I was drawn to the Seven Wonders of Australia trip due to its non-stop, eventful itinerary that journeyed from the Great Barrier Reef to the barren Outback to the architectural beauty of Sydney.

The trip itself, for someone who has travelled across the world, was not just one where I could check off Australia on my continents list. It was a program that allowed me to view the marvels of the nation and be granted the opportunity to view firsthand the historical and cultural aspects of Australia. Despite Australia's similarities to the United States such as their historical links to the British, I viewed a nation that has built its own history. Firsthand, I visited an Aboriginal community in the Outback and the way they survived through their methods of hunting, creating their own food supply, and their trading methods between tribes across Australia. Travel another couple hours and you will reach the area surrounding Uluru, where a town and even a large airport has been built to support the continuous flow of tourists. Surveying the way how Aboriginal land has shifted into an area constantly affected by tourism was unique to view.

Every activity or tourist site our group visited truly encompassed the Australian experience. The Great Barrier Reef, probably the greatest natural wonder I have ever seen, allowed each member of the group individual independence to explore species of the reef. I ended up breaking off and not only found a family of clownfish, but a reef shark. In the Outback, the wonders of Uluru and Kata Tjuta became our backyard as we explored the rock formations and watched their colors shift at sunset. Lastly, in Sydney, climbing the Harbor Bridge, visiting Bondi Beach, and ferrying to Manly, allowed me to get a unique experience of the city, one in which I felt shifted into an actual citizen of Sydney.

The activities that I mentioned before are not even a fraction of what I experienced in Australia; I wish I could mention everything that I viewed and experienced, but by the end, it could possibly be longer than Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Before I conclude, it is important to mention the community service at Our Big Kitchen and Thread Together. Firsthand, my group benefited homeless communities all over Australia whether it was making soup and strudel or disseminating piles of clothing into their appropriate sizes to be shipped in boxes to shelters across the country. On the trip, I especially felt that Rustic Pathways achieves its mission on introducing specific community service initiatives relative to the nation to its travellers.

Since I was on a Rustic trip last year, I viewed my travel group as the catalysts who affected how I saw, interacted, and enjoyed Peru. Relative to this year, that philosophy was truly accurate. The leaders and students on Seven Wonders exhibited the qualities that I had hoped judging from my experiences in Peru. I could see just from meeting my fellow travelers on the first day in Brisbane's International Airport that each teenager was individually motivated and willing to embark on any experience that could allow them to get the best opportunity while in the country. And our leaders were the best two people who could grant us the opportunities; the trip would have not been the same without their will to travel, their experiences, and most of all, their love for Australia.