Australia: The Best Month of My Life!

Submitted by Aaron Whitenight on the 2018 winter session program in Australia sponsored by the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering…

This is our last week in Australia and I don’t think I could be any more upset about that. I am definitely not ready to go back to Delaware yet, summer time is the best time for me. On our free Sunday, everyone on the program signed up to go on the Great Ocean Road, which is a tour of the coastline near us. Unfortunately, it was really foggy that day and we didn’t get to see the Twelve Apostles. Our tour guides were better than I expected, they showed us a lot of good views and interesting places that were good despite the fog.

On our last day before we flew to Sydney, we went to Wilson’s Prom which is a national park at the most southern point of mainland Australia. The whole day reminded me of Tasmania since it is about a three hour drive from Melbourne where we have been staying and was extremely remote. The majority of the class went on a hike to Squeaky Beach which was breathtaking. Every time you took a step, the sand would squeak under you, it was so funny. While we were in the water, a baby seal swam up to all of us and was just floating in 3 feet of water. I have never seen a seal in real life, and definitely have never swum with a wild one at the beach!

I can’t believe how fast the whole month went, I wish I could stay here full time and take classes. Every single person on my program feels like a great friend I have had since high school. I would have never thought that I would have as good of a group as this. Without a doubt, this was the best month of my life, even with classes six days a week. I’ll never forget all of the nice people I met on the program and the times I had here.

Squeaky Beach at Wilson’s Promontory. We hiked an hour to get here through the mountains and it was totally worth it. I have never seen a better beach in my life, the water was clear for more than 5 feet.
Me in a carved out section of a cliff on the Great Ocean Road. It was surreal seeing stuff like this with my own eyes.