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The Rocks District Sydney/Final Takeaways

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  After our climb over the Harbor Bridge we visited The Rocks District which is where Sydney’s history and modern energy come together. It is one of the oldest areas in the city and is full of history dating back to its enactment as a convict settlement. While much of the older architecture still stands it has been modernized in some ways. It gave a very European vibe to many of us as we were walking around. Packed with little shops and restaurants it was a very unique part of the city. The cobblestone streets and historic sandstone buildings tell the story of Sydney’s beginnings, with tourist attractions such as the Susannah Place Museum which shows how life was back when the city was first settled. While the architecture and design still carries much of the past it feels very modern walking around with name brand stores, cafes, and vibrant street life. What’s especially interesting about The Rocks is how it balances preserving its history with the pressures of tourism and develo...
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Tall Ship Sydney Harbor Cruise

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Tall Ship Cruise in the Sydney Harbor  Hi, I’m Melanie and my assigned blog post was for the Sydney Harbor tour on the Tall Ship Cruise. I started off my day by getting my daypack ready with a towel and a water bottle. Once I gathered all of my things, I headed downstairs to meet a few friends for breakfast. We walked through the streets of Sydney and found a small panini cafe near the wharf. Once we got to the wharf, we were greeted by a very friendly man named Marty. Marty introduced himself as our skipper on the boat and helped each of us board the vessel. The ship looked like an old pirate ship and had a cannon sitting on the back of the boat. Once everyone was seated, Marty began by explaining a little bit about the ship we were on. The ship took 18 months to build and is 103 years old. The boat originated in Denmark and was used as a trading ship for grain for around 30 years. The ship has had 6 names throughout its life, with the most recent name change going from Svana to S...
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Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Sydney

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 Lessons from Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park By: Phoebe Smith Exploring Ku-Ring-Gai Chase National Park was such a unique and eye-opening experience. It wasn’t just about the gorgeous views (though there were plenty of those); it was about learning how to connect with the land in a way I’d never thought of before. This place has such a rich history, with Aboriginal people living here for over 70,000 years, and their deep relationship with nature is something we can all learn from. One of the coolest things we did was play a game in teams where we tried to identify trees. I had no idea you could tell different types of gum trees just by looking at their fruit! It made me realize how much I usually overlook in nature. We also learned how to pay attention to the little details, like changes in the land’s texture. One minute you’re walking on sand, and the next it’s dirt and wood. Everything has a story, and the more you observe, the more you start to see the bigger picture. The cultu...
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Bridge Climb/Favorite Activity in Sydney

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  After arriving in Sydney we had a lovely day admiring the breathtaking view of the Blue Mountains and the next we made our way to the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. The Sydney Harbour Bridge was built in 1932 constantly flowing with road traffic as well as rail, pedestrians, and even climbers trying to make their way to the top! The purpose of the Sydney Harbour Bridge links the northern and southern shores of Sydney progressing the urbanization of Australia while promoting tourism and industrial development. As well as being a key asset to transportation the bridge is an eco-friendly addition to Sydneys efforts of sustainable practices. The BridgeClimb company has taken numerous initiatives to limit their environmental impact. Our program's decision to take the tour during the day time in comparison to night time is an easy and impactful strategy for practicing ecotourism. This is due to the necessity of lights at night time which waste energy. However the bridge does utilize en...
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Blue Mountains, Tread Lightly, Sydney

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  Today we left Sydney on a day trip to the blue mountains the birthplace of the eucalyptus tree. Where we met with Tim from Tread Lightly. tread lightly is a company that works with schools like Elon to help educate students on Ecotourism. during our scenic hike with Tim he told us how Sydney was formed by the gradual erosion of a plateau that started as roughly the size of Connecticut.    During our hike we stopped for lunch in a cave in the side of the mountain, as we sat there watching water drip out of the sandstone above us Tim told us that Australia’s unique geography and geology allows for there to be 10,000 waterfalls in the blue mountains without any of them having a water source like a lake that feeds them. A fact that I found more interesting was that the water that we were watching drip out of the rock was millions of years old having filtered through various layers of clay and sandstone on a journey that we were so lucky to witness and be a part of. After fi...
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Sydney City

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  Sydney city  Hi, I’m Sabrina Merli, and my blog post is about the city of Sydney. My favorite stop on the trip was Sydney City, so I'm excited to share my experience! We started the day bright and early with the Sydney Bridge Climb at 9 a.m. We were environmentally friendly by walking 45 minutes to get there instead of taking Ubers. When we arrived at the bridge, we saw photos of many famous people who have done the bridge climb. Some of my favorites were Katy Perry, Barack Obama, Ben Stiller, and Oprah Winfrey. Seeing these made me feel better about doing the climb, knowing that over 5 million people have done it before. The climb opened in 1998 and focuses on community, inclusivity, diversity, and the environment. Because our class is about ecotourism, two things stood out to me: the Bridge Climb has a Climate Active certification, and the climber certificates we received are made from 100% recycled materials. I ended up really enjoying the Bridge Climb, even though it was...
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Caroborree, Thunderbird Park, Brisbane

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  On our last and final day in Brisbane, the class practiced and prepared for a traditional Aboriginal celebration called a Corroboree. Corroborees are a performance of song and dance that represent Aboriginal spirituality. To start the day, the men and women were separated and told that we could not see each other in our clothing or jewelry until the Corroboree celebration in the evening. For the women, we started with traditional gift making, also known as the second law in Aboriginal culture. The goal of this first activity was to take pieces of shaved, wet palm, and weave them into their pieces of jewelry such as bracelets, anklets, and necklaces, to wear during the evening celebration. Lydia, Douglas’s niece who helped teach us song and dance, said that palm is the material used as it’s very abundant and durable. grass can be used but it’s hard to find strong grass. The palm will last for decades after drying and can also be used to weave into other things like baby carriers. ...
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