The Australia and New Zealand Trip: What Happened?
By Kelly Sandmann
Just a disclaimer what happened in the first half of this trip is nobody’s fault and nobody should be held accountable for the delays we encountered. It was just merely bad luck, that is all. I do not hate EF Tours or any of the teachers/staff that set up the trip because it isn’t their fault. Thank you and enjoy my perspective of what happened on this trip.
The Australia (AUS) and New Zealand (NZ) was a trip announced around January of 2023, sparking joy in anyone who wanted to travel around the world or who didn’t have anything to do over the summer or just wanted to go on a trip you would never forget (probably most likely option). I guess you would be shocked if I were to tell you that the thing that made everything go downhill was the wing of a plane getting overfilled with a little too much fuel to fly. . .
Let’s start this “story” where this all began at Oakmont Regional High School, where we had to get on a bus to arrive at the Boston Airport. This part was fine, no problems here, everyone was talking to each other and eating all their snacks for the flights ahead (or at least I was). When we arrived in Boston we got our tickets and all the fun stuff that happens at airports. Our first flight was a 3hr flight from Boston to Charlotte, North Carolina (NC). We stopped at North Carolina to meet another group from Alabama which had around 6-7 people (I later learned that they never stopped in NC). When we got onto the plane, we were confused that the plane hadn’t left, and then we heard that we had to wait because of an over fuel in one of the wings (I believe it was the right wing). And then we waited. . . and waited. Until we started to move and take off. We left an hour or two later. When we landed in Charlotte we already knew we missed our connecting flight to LA. We waited in the airport for a while, we even stayed at a specific wall. That wall is a weird memory from that trip. After a few hours, we finally got something a sliver of hope. We got a hotel room, so we didn’t have to sleep in the nast airport or watch planes depart out of boredom we could sleep. But, before I continue I want to give a major shout-out to all the staff, especially Mrs.Archalangelo (Mrs.A). She dealt with all the delays and with the EF tours situation about flights and hotels, She is the reason why we didn’t have to sleep at an airport that day and we got a hotel room.
When we got to our hotel it was interesting, to say the least. I won’t reveal the name of the hotel we went to in Charlotte but I will reveal some of the moments I had at this hotel. To begin, we were put into groups of 4. I was grouped with: Niev (Graduated), Bailey (Graduated), and Paiden (Class of 2026). Our window was facing towards the back of the hotel/parking lot. From the reviews someone sent in the group chat (we had a group chat with everyone on the trip counting teachers) there were a lot of illegal deals going on, so in the morning we saw the teachers talking (like normal people) but Bailey made a joke about how this and took a picture through our window and sent it to the group chat saying as a joke that it looked like one of those deals where happening. That was probably the most memorable part of the hotel. We left that hotel at 12 p.m. to get back to the airport and that amazing wall to board our next flight to Los Angeles (LA), California. From there we had a 5-hour flight from Charlotte to LAX, which went sort of smoothly but nothing too major from the flight. We had a 6-hour layover before our next flight from LA to Australia. So we traveled around LA for a day so we weren’t just laying around doing nothing as we had been for the last few days and we finally got our suitcases which went on the flight we were supposed to go on before all the crazy delays.
In LA we got to the hotel around 6-7 pm and we stayed at a very fancy hotel. Which had a Mcdonald’s across the street so since we are all very mature teenagers and young adults. We had McDonalds for dinner like the mature people we are. The people who worked at the hotel were amazing and really understanding of our situation. We even got a grand tour of LA for the time we were missing. In order we saw: The Hollywood Sign & the Griffith Observatory, we took pictures of the Hollywood Sign and observed the Observatory. Inside the Observatory when you first walk in you see a Pendulum. You can walk on top of the Observatory as well, and it gives a view of LA. Next, we went to the “Walk of Fame” which consisted of shopping, finding a Harry Styles sign, and looking at the celebrity stars we were walking on. Some I saw were: Elton John, Walt Disney, Micheal Jackson, and uh Big Bird. After we got dropped off and saw rich people stores aka stores with very unreasonable prices yay. We got a tour around Beverly Hills and got to see houses of celebrities who were mostly dead but we got to see the houses of living celebrities too. Lastly, before we got back to the hotel to get our stuff and go to the airport, we went to a beach and got to walk around. I did not go in the water or close to it for that matter. I looked around at the shops mostly because I love souvenirs. In the end, we went back to the hotel to collect our suitcases and head off back to our favorite place: The Airport. To prepare our roughly 13hr flight.
The flight wasn’t bad. For one thing, I was in an aisle seat so there was zero interaction for me if I had to get up and secondly, they had pretty good food. Especially for breakfast, I kid you not that muffin that I had was a whole new world. When we landed in Australia we went on another plane to New Zealand, our final destination for that day. Sadly, we only went to New Zealand for one day.
In New Zealand, we met our EF Tour Guide Lyncon and everyone could probably agree with me that Lycon was an amazing tour guide. He was not only entertaining. He introduced us to TimTams (which I will talk more about later). When we met Lyncon we also met with the other group or the “Alabamas”. We went to the hotel and they gave us breakfast in a basket. That had: “Skippy” cereal, Juice, and more. In the morning we went to the “All Blacks Experience” which is the New Zealand Rugby team. Which consisted of a souvenir shop, inspiring quotes, agility testing (with a rugby ball in your hand), how to throw a rugby ball, how to punt/kick a rugby ball, and an “All Blacks Quiz”, and a height check comparing some of our heights to the players. After we went shopping for souvenirs, I got to witness a bird attempting to eat bread (it failed miserably). At the airport to leave New Zealand to go back to Australia there was a shop named “Mountain Jade” that shows “Jade” which is a mineral, and the shop was filled with jewelry and sculptures of the mineral.
Now to our last destination before the trip is over: Australia. We went to both Sydney and Cairns (It’s pronounced Canz, not Carns).
We started in Sydney, and for our first official day, we went to see the perfect view of the sun and looked around that area. With rocks, you can climb and get a nice view of the ocean, There was also a sliver of a metal rod someone was trying to balance on. Before we left Lycon took a picture of us in front of a quote that read “Always remember the power of the simple smile, a helping hand, a listening ear, and a kind word” -Don Ritchie.
We went to a beach to enjoy the ocean breeze and to wander for a bit. An hour later we went to see the Harbor Bridge and Sydney Opera House not up close yet, but we got to take pictures of them from afar.
To get off the beach and the air we got to see what Australia used to be a dark past that would never be forgotten by the survivors, by audio we would explore what it looked like with visual models. We got to see what tools they used and what clothing they used as well.
We learned about “Nessie” an extinct mammal that used to live in the sea and “Opal” a rock or pebble that got its origin from when the light shined onto it. Those were the first Opals. Opals now make really fancy and expensive jewelry.
We went on a boat tour to see the Harbor Bridge and The Sydney Opera House with a closer look and got to see other lands like a zoo we went to later on and more parts of Sydney we weren’t able to explore. This was also when Lycon gave us a TimTam to try. A TimTam is an Australian snack which is amazing. It is basically just a chocolate wafer but better.
Inside the Sydney Opera House was a treat on its own. With Each floor being a different color. The main floor is purple with purple carpeting. We got to see the view from inside the Opera House, with a view of the water and the Harbor Bridge. We got to explore some of the performance stages, but not the performances (because they weren’t happening at the time and we didn’t pay). We got to feel the eggshell-like roof of the Sydney Opera House. It’s a lot smoother than you expect. The last room we saw in the Opera House was a circus-like room that was set up for a performance that happened later that day.
We went to the “Zoological Park ” and saw a wide range of animals like your Kangaroos and Emus. There was a whole section dedicated to Koalas; there were probably over 20 in just this zoo alone. It felt like I was playing a counting game just for Koalas. We didn’t get the best look but there was also a Dingo and a hiding Platypus. I’m assuming that the Platypus was trying to find Dr. Doofenshmirtz, but that’s just me. We then walked into a bird cage, filled with various amounts of flying birds that almost looked like they were about to hit you but missed you by a centimeter. Right after the birdcage, there was a flock of ducks just chilling. Then some of them were normal animals like Giraffes and Elephants. While at the souvenir shop, we saw a person dressed up as Donkey Kong, and as a joke, Bailey got a picture of him.
After the Zoo we split into 2 groups: If you wanted to ride Jet Boats or Climb the Harbor Bridge. I went for the Jet Boats because 1. I am not climbing 4,000 steps. I will metaphorically die and 2. Jet Boats are really cool and less work for me. For the people that did the Jet Boats, we put all our electronics in a locked box and put on a very oversized red raincoat (That kind of looked like the red suits the guards wore in Squid Games).
We went inside the Sydney Sky Tower and looked around and went up this really tall tower to the top. Fun Fact: In the elevator to the top of the tower you have a camera to the other elevator and the other elevator can you as well if you look at the screen. The top of the tower had an amazing view of the city. Inside the other components before you reach the tower it is like a mall. There is a multitude of stores and a mirrored ceiling for some amazing mirror selfies. We were given time to walk around that area besides the tower and I spent my time at a Minifigure shop with Bailey.
To Cairns, we travel the next day. Which has probably one of the best suitcase dispensers I’ve seen. It is usually all boring but these are in the shape of aquatic animals. Like turtles and sharks. Cairns I would describe is kind of like Florida: It’s humid and hot and sometimes rainy.
We were given the option to go to a night market. Which is filled with basically anything a traveler needs. . .souviener wise. It had bracelets, Funko pops, t-shirts, and random figures made out of pistachio nuts.
Visiting the Great Barrier Reef was an interesting experience. We had to go on a bumpy boat ride where a lot of people got sick and realized their mistakes of not taking medicine. When we got to the reef, it was amazing. We got to snorkel and look at the coral and all the schools of fish swimming around us. I only saw a turtle, but others saw lemon sharks (those are unharmful), jellyfish, and others. Later before we started heading back the waters were getting caught with jellyfish so we had to start wearing wetsuits just so we didn’t get stunned by the jellyfish.
We traveled through a rainforest and got to see some of the trees and waterfalls in that area. Around the rainforest part, there was a butterfly observatory and a section where you could hold a sloth. I walked through the butterfly observatory and I got to learn little facts along the way.
One of my favorite parts was the cultural section. I got to learn what a Didgeridoo is. A Didgeridoo is a woodland instrument that women cannot play according to the culture it originates from. We got to see them throw spears professionally. Sadly, we couldn’t throw any because of safety reasons. But, we did get to throw boomerangs which was amazing. Everyone has to throw one in the cage while everyone else watches you. I, personally, did amazing. I guess I am a natural boomerang thrower. The last thing they showed us was their cultural dances. Which was loud but really interesting in a way I cannot really explain. They pulled some of us up to the stage to do the dances with them.
The last dinner we had was surprising enough Mrs.Leblanc’s birthday. So we all sang an Australian version of the happy birthday song and we all had a laugh at it. We all got little “Happy Birthday” hats too which I thought was a great little touch.
The last day or known as probably one of the sadder days (in a good way). As a little touch before we departed to head back to America Lyncon decided that we would have a cookout at the park. They had grills already there all we had to do was get the food. At the lunch barbeque, there was Kangaroo, Tofu, Fairy Bread, and a lot more. We did the Oakmont tradition which is before we leave we say something we loved about the trip and the tour guide. Which yeah it might sound dumb, but in my honest opinion it is one of the saddest parts. Because you are leaving a place you mostly feel attached to. But, I feel like everyone is glad to be back in America, and most of us if not all would love to go back.
In the end, I want to thank all the staff/teachers who made this trip possible which is: Hannah Gates (Ms.Gates), Tanya LeBlanc (Mrs.Leblanc), Alana Archalengelo (Mrs.Archalengelo), and Lyncon Miller (Lyncon). They are the reason why most of us made this trip possible and entertaining even with all those delays and missing flights/connections. So I just want to say thank you for everything you did.
