Consume Less; Share Better

This weekend we had another awesome IES sponsored trip. This time we went to Royal National Park.

Our (quite early) morning began with a presentation on Aboriginal culture. The presentation was super enlightening and centered on the Aboriginal’s union with nature. Aboriginal culture is very keen on sustainable practices and only taken from Mother Earth what you NEED rather than WANT. The Aboriginal man who led the presentation told a story of his childhood. His mother sent him to bring back six abalone shells. When he returned with 8 abalone shells, she punished him for taking more than what was needed and he learned a valuable lesson about their respect for the land.

After the discussion, we learned about boomerangs and how they’re used for hunting. We then had an opportunity to learn and practice throwing boomerangs. We then went for a 1.5 hour canoe trip down the river. The trip was beautifully scenic and DEFINITELY  a workout!

After a tiring workout and a delicious lunch, we drove to Royal National Park for a nice hike! We hiked to a small secluded beach with a waterfall with freezing cold water. We decided we would use this opportunity to record an ALS ice bucket challenge for Todd St Vrain, our center director here in Sydney, and one of my friends! It was an awesome opportunity to raise awareness and put our lessons on sustainability from the Aboriginal culture to practice by using sea water rather than clean water.

After we continued our hike, we happened upon a beautiful watering hole and decided to go for a spontaneous swim. The water was freezing cold but definitely an awesome experience.

Overall, we had an amazing time canoeing, swimming, hiking, and throwing boomerangs! It’s so nice when we can all get together from our respective universities and hang out like during orientation days. It can be hard to meet up being that some universities are farther from one another. These spaced out IES trips do a great job at keeping us all in touch!