Caroline Marion, 2013 South Queensland student blogger, writes:

June 13

If I wasn’t in love with Australia enough, my fondness of this country just quadrupled. The Wolfpack Abroad program took me to the coast. Oh. My. Goodness. I already knew I loved the beach and all water-related activities (I am a marine science major after all), but it’s so much more pristine here. I’ve never been anywhere but the Atlantic Ocean, so being on Australia’s Pacific Ocean coastline is so neat! In the past two weeks, we’ve experienced a variety of coasts: the calm, lake-like area of Hervey Bay, breathtaking coral reefs on Lady Elliot Island and the surfing Mecca of the aptly-named Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast.

I’ll start with Hervey Bay, which was our first coastal destination. It was nice to get to a more rural location contrasting to hustling Brisbane. It was a cute coastal town with the best fish and chips around! It had a small town feel that was very welcoming. Our accommodations were also awesome! We had our own bungalows providing ample space for everyone. While we were enjoying the warm weather and friendly town, we were also antsy to journey to the Great Barrier Reef.

Lady Elliot Island from the air

Hervey Bay was just a pit stop for the one and only Lady Elliot Island! Let me tell you, it lives up to its reputation! It’s most certainly the most intriguing place I’ve had the opportunity to visit in my life. We flew there via a small plane, which provided outstanding views of the island and started our GBR time off in an amazing way. When we arrived though, it only got better with every hour.

Caroline during a reef walk

We snorkeled with vibrant coral and swam with sea turtles, and I scuba dove with manta rays and tiger sharks. We snorkeled and dove daily for our four days on the Island, thus offering maximum enjoyment of the underwater world. We also completed research on the reef, assessing the reef’s general health and discussing contributing factors to the reef health and how the Island’s tourism can be more sustainable. Our AUIP field guild Joe Pollock helped us greatly and educated us vastly about coral and the local marine species, which was right up my ally!

Caroline and classmates enjoying LEI

Plus, the Island’s food was unbelievably abundant and so yummy! With buffets offering everything from pasta to fresh fish to assorted salads and an endless supply of desserts, we thought we were in heaven. Also, all the meals were included in our program fee, which was really nice to not have to think about paying for our food on the Island. Needless to say, Lady Elliot Island was the best part of the study abroad program thus far. It was truly incredible.

View during a guided reef walk