Virginia Reid, the Hokies Abroad service-learning in New Zealand and North Queensland 2015 student blogger, writes: 

Anxious and excited, we reached Port Douglas and attended a pre-departure lecture for our two day adventure on the Great Barrier Reef. We met the owner of Eye to Eye Marine Encounters, John Rumney, who gave us snorkeling tips and background for fish identification. 

The morning couldn’t come soon enough, and we were incredibly fortunate to be graced with clear blue skies. The Great Barrier Reef is truly magnificent and unlike anything I have ever encountered. We ventured to three sites and conducted two data collections over the two days of snorkeling. Our favorite site was “SNO” (South North Opal reef). It’s biodiversity was stunning featuring beautiful vibrant corals, white tip reef sharks, carpet sharks, grouper, and an immense amount of parrot fish, just to name a few. We all became novice marine researchers as we followed the transact line above the coral, and counted our assigned species. This data collection gave us key information on the Great Barrier Reef’s health.

Accepting that the end of this life-changing course was in sight, we sadly prepared ourselves for our final days in Cairns. However, we did take a pit stop at the Port Douglas Wildlife Habitat, because no trip to Australia is complete without encountering kangaroos and koalas!  In Cairns we took our final exam which required us to synthesize and present all the key themes, readings, lectures, service work, and field experiences from the course.

With tears in our eyes, we said goodbye to a place that had just begun to feel like home with people that had become our family. This experience changed my life and my worldview.  I could not be more grateful for the brilliant teachers, guides, and friends that made this experience all that it was and made me a better person. There will always be a place in my memories and my heart for this course, New Zealand and Australia, and maybe even some of the classic Aussie musician Slim Dusty’s songs, but most importantly for all of the people that I got to know and work with during this journey.

Cheers, until next time Aussies! You will never be forgotten, Mate wa!