By: Rayan Rafeeu, Grade 7, Billabong High International School.
On the 09th of August 2019, I was given, and took, the wonderful opportunity to go to the gorgeous country, island, and continent of Australia. This trip was organized by Madam Shakila, who gave the principal of Billabong High International School, teachers of Billabong High International School and Shamsudheen School, and I the chance to visit this country. In this trip, many experiences were learnt, as follows.
09 August 2019.
This was our first day in Australia. We had visited one of the most famous destinations in Perth, Kings Park. Kings Park is the largest inner city park in the world. In this park, several monuments were shown. In honour of those who passed away in World War II, several statues were presented. In this park, a mesmerizing view of the City Of Perth was seen in front of a lovely lake. The Boab Tree was also displayed in this park. It is a ginormous tree which is over 740 years but still lives. It took 6 days to bring it into Perth, and has been there since.
10 August 2019.
Today was a visit to Caversham Wildlife Park, one of the most frequently visited wildlife parks in Australia. We saw several species of animals, such as the Albino kangaroos, koalas, wombats, penguins, peacocks, and so on. We fed the kangaroos, watched animals perform tricks, and enjoyed watching wildlife at its best.
The koalas are calm creatures who live off eucalyptus leaves and can eat up to 200g-1kg. They have a slow metabolism rate which explains why koalas are known to be sleepy creatures.
The hosts of this wildlife park demonstrated how to ‘muster’ sheep. Mustering is a process in which a specifically trained dog chases sheep into a pen in order to receive wool. The sheperd uses a machine called a ‘sheep press’ to receive wool from sheep. It was invented by a sheperd who had back problems due to taking wool from sheep, as he was bent over for a reasonably long time. The old fashioned way to get wool of off sheep was by using a tool called ‘sheers’.
Afterwards, we visited a chocolate factory. We saw how the employees made their fresh chocolate and saw many varieties of chocolate. One of the best things we managed to do was help ourselves to the free chocolate samples!
To finish off the day, we visited a winery. The winery was a place where wine was freshly made. We saw the processes of how they picked the necessary fruit, the machines they used to make it into wine, and how they stored it.
11 August 2019,
We experienced an Australian Road-trip on this particular day. We went on a 3 hour ride to Busselton. We saw several beautiful views on the trip there. On the way there, we saw a special breed of cows called ‘Angus’. These cows give tender beef, otherwise known as wagyu, one of the best beef known. These cows are only fed a certain type of grains.
We arrived at Busselton Jetty, one of the most admirable places I’ve ever visited. The jetty is around 1.8km and takes 1 hour or so to walk to the end. The jetty is longest wooden piled jetty in the Southern Hemisphere, located in Geographe Bay. The first section of the jetty was opened in 1865 and has been extended numerous times to its current length.
12 August 2019.
Today, we visited the Yanchep National Park, where the Yanchep Crystal Cave is located. It was a cave discovered by Edward of Europe in the 1800s and it was open to the public in 1902. It was a famous honey moon destination back in the day. The rocks in the cave are acidic. Legend claims that there was a good spirit and a bad spirit in the cave. The good spirit lived, and hence it is claimed that only good things happen in this cave. Its a humid but warm cave.
13 August 2019.
We visited a preschool, a primary/secondary/high school and a university of Australia. We learnt the different programs they used to teach students. We also met some of the teachers there. The schools focused heavily on outdoor activities and ‘learn through play’ methods. My personal favourite aspect of this was in these schools they had large libraries in which students could study together in.
We then went to Midland Gate shopping centre and did all the necessary shopping.
14 August 2019.
Today was also spent on shopping. We tried sushi with soy sauce and wasbi here for the first time. The next thing about this shopping trip i personally love, was that I shopped alone! The hostess of this trip wanted me to get a taste of independence and responsibility and hence allowed me to go around the mall by myself. I got everything I desired and made new friends on the way!
Along with this, we went into the City of Perth to see the Bell Tower. It was beautifully lit up at night. We also experienced the FREEZING cold that night. We were all shivering and could barely take a good picture!
We then drove through Fremantle, one of the most well known places in Perth. The Fremantle Prison is also known throughout. It is a prison which is said that you may hear the groans of the tortured from the past.
15 August 2019.
Today it was another road trip. We first visited the City Of Perth again, and took a look around. We browsed through the countless stores and admired the winter beauty of it all.
Soon, we visited the Sand Dunes. It was a desert in which we could sand board and do many other activities. It was a splendid view around the roads once we reached the top of the Sand Dunes.
At last, we visited the Pinnacles. It was a gorgeous place surrounded by unique structures of limestone rocks in unusual but special forms. We saw the sunset, which is said to be ‘spiritually awakening’ in the Pinnacles.
16 August 2019.
Today, we did our final shopping trip. After shopping, we went for a small visit to Fremantle, except this time it was daytime. We went inside the Fremantle Markets and saw different products. There were many people, some even playing musical instruments for the public. The feeling of being there was lively.
Finally, we visited Bankers Beach, It was a gorgeous beach, but since it was very windy and rainy we could not stay for long. In fact, it got so rainy that some roofs of houses even flew off!
17 August 2019.
It was time to say goodbye to Australia. I was extremely saddened in all honesty, but all good things have to end. We packed up everything (in quite a struggle since we had a lot of things) and ended up rushing to the airport in a very big haste! We almost missed our flight!
That was our fun, exciting, and educational trip to Australia. I had many experiences of all sorts, gained a lot of information, and got my very first taste of independence on the soil of Australia. It was all a trip made possible by the cooperation of several people. On behalf of everyone, I thank you, Dr Mariyam Shakeela and Addu Women’s Association for letting me have one of the best experiences of my life, if not many others. Lots of love to everyone.
