Broome:
Our trip to Broome was amazing! It was a very exciting trip and definitely is the highlight of my experience over here. We left on a Wednesday morning and flew out of Perth at about 12, landing in Broome at about 2. After landing we went to the Notre Dame campus there and dropped off our luggage and went to the nearby Cable Beach and we got to ride camels! It wasn't very extreme riding, but it was still really fun and we got a lot of great pictures as the sun was setting. From there we went back to campus and stayed the night. The next morning we met our aboriginal hosts Colin and Maria and we drove three hours, on red dirt roads, all they way up north to our camp at One Arm Point. It was a bumpy ride but it was fascinating to see such a monotonous yet beautiful landscape. When we arrived we got our tents set up and got settled in, but we didn't do much on the first day because everyone was pretty exhausted. The second day we went to a small community called Lombadina and we spoke to an elder there, Bundy, and he talked to us about his 'salt-water' people and the customs and beliefs they have. It was so interesting learning about one of the oldest but still active cultures. The next day we went to another community to the east called Ardyaloop and we visited a hatchery there as well as spending some time at a beach. The third day, we spent most of the time at the campsite learning how to make spears and then throwing them! I really enjoyed this part and I'm pretty sure I would starve if I had to hunt for food with a spear. We left the next day and it was really sad because while we were there, there was nothing we had to worry about or get distracted by. We woke up with the sun and went to bed with the sun and it was a very refreshing. Overall, my favourite parts were our breakfast and campfire talks with Colin, because we talked about important issues like racism and culture, and it made me realise that I don't know that much about different cultural groups even back home. Another favourite thing was the land itself. It was so cool to see a land untouched by rubbish and pollution, to see wild animals in their natural habitat, and to learn about how the indigenous people would preserve their land so that it would continue to provide for them. It was an amazing trip and I would love to back!
Western Exposure:
A couple of days after we got back from Broome, the majority of us journeyed with a tour up north, visiting many popular sites and taking lots of pictures. We spent a total of 25 hours on a bus over the 4 days, so that was pretty exhausting, but some of the places we visited were really nice. We saw the Pinnacles, went to a really cool gorge, swam with dolphins at monkey mia, went sandboarding, and visited a wildlife park where I got to hang out with pure bred dingoes!! This was a really fun trip as well, but by the end of it I was pretty tired. It would have been fun to spend more time at only a couple of the places, but at the same time it was great to experience more things.
Since then...
The last couple of weeks have been pretty boring, and I've spent most of my time working on papers or doing other sorts of homework. We did get to visit the Fremantle Prison one night, and that was really cool. It has been closed since 1991, but they lead day and night tours nearly every day. It was pretty intense for the convicts there, and it was even pretty spooky walking around with a big group. Thats about it for now, I have 3 papers due in the next 2 weeks, so that is what I will be focusing on, but this weekend Notre Dame is putting on a Ball for the students, so that should be really fun. I would love have some distractions from studying, so please feel free to email me or skype me.
Philip
