Adrienne Wilson, 2011 South Queensland student blogger, writes:

June 5 – 6

I’d just like to give a quick shout-out to Colin, who was an awesome friend, guide, and bus driver. I strongly advise anyone who is going on any of AUIP’s programs to really get to know everyone involved from the tour guides, the lecturers, the cooks, the hotel staff, the bus drivers – just everyone in sight – as they have the best stories, ever. Colin and I are pictured together at right.

Today we journeyed to our farm stays, which were all situated around Dalby. Dalby is apparently a very rural town with an emphasis on agriculture (grain and cotton), coal, and railroads. Shirley, my farm stay host, says the population is probably around 6000. For the majority of the bus ride I sat in the front bus seat next to Colin, and it was totally well worth it. I was noticing things on the road, and reading the Dalby guidebook. We also talked about all sorts of stuff like how Colin used to drive the bus for a circus group, which I thought was really cool. We also talked about go-carting, lugeing, coal, and farm festivals.

I’m going to have to say that the farm stay is definitely my favorite part of the trip. The countryside is amazing, and I was actually very disappointed that we could only stay for one night. The people here are very welcoming. At left is a picture of Kasha, me, and our amazing host, Shirley, who gave us a fantastic tour of the area:

So anyway, Shirley took us up to the National Park, which is up in the mountains where there are some really great views. The Bunya Pine Tree is also very distinctive. We also got to check out the birds (kookaburras, parrots, and crows) and saw a lot of wallabies.

The entire experience was one giant learning experience as we were introduced to Shirley’s family, introduced around the cattle farm, learned farming techniques, and how farming impacted the environment (and vice versa). We also got to play with the animals, meet amazing people, and drive a Gator!