Coast and Cricket - Student Point of View

This blog post was written by one of our students, Emma!

Hello everyone! My name is Emma Robinson, and I am currently a part of the Australian Conservation from Land to Sea program in Sydney!

Yesterday, we explored the Australian coast, and the importance of preserving the natural beauty of Sydney. We took a bus to the northern beaches of Sydney where we first took a quick stop at a beach on our ride up to Ku-ring-gai National Park. At this beach, we saw a pod of dolphins, and then proceeded on our bus ride to the national park. Once we got to the national park we started on our hike to Barrenjoey Lighthouse, a lighthouse used when the colony of Sydney was established by European settlers to watch over who was coming into the city. After this, we drove to a nearby city to have a packed lunch of wraps and sandwiches, and we walked to the Coastal Environmental Center near the Tasman Sea. First the leader of the center showed us a performance of the traditional Australian instrument, the didgeridoo, and we proceeded to go on a hike on a nearby trail overlooking the Tasman Sea. We then discussed the impact of human behavior, especially plastic. After this we visited another beach, we hiked up a small trail to another beach with amazing views of the surrounding water. We took the bus back to our dorm housing, and we got free time to determine our dinner with our stipend. I personally took the light rail with friends to Chinatown and got takeout to eat at our house. 

Today we went to Sydney Cricket Grounds to explore a large part of the sports culture here and to hear the history of the sport in Australia. We had a tour of the stadium and heard the stories of famous cricket players that influenced the sport such as Richie Benaud, Belinda Clark, and Stan McGabe. We heard about how Australian cricket has paved the way for record breaking hitting standards as well as setting new standards for women in the sport. The Sydney Cricket Grounds have historic buildings that are still being used for the dressing rooms for both the away and home teams, and after we had this tour, we learned how to play cricket. We practiced hitting and bowling the ball, and we learned the rules. It was a really interesting and fun opportunity to learn about a sport that we aren’t exposed to in our day to day life. We then went to the entertainment quarter to buy lunch with our stipend money and have the opportunity to play various games like bowling, laser tag, or other fun activities. We also had the opportunity to go out for dinner, but my friends and I made dinner together in our dorm house. It was more of a chill day to recharge from such a busy week, and my house watched a movie together before going to bed. 

If you are thinking about the program, it is an amazing opportunity to experience different opportunities that influence how you see the world. It is an opportunity to have freedom, but also to learn things in a hands on environment.