Follow the Journey

Carpe Diem staff training is in full swing here in sunny Portland and we couldn’t be more excited to meet the Walkabout group in just a few short days.  We’re busy with itineraries and maps and guide books…oh and bikes and frisbees and tea shops too…all so we can be prepared for an incredible semester.  Over the coming months this blog will be a place for the group to share… Read More

A warm hello to everyone reading back at home! The group just re-entered civilization after an awesome 5 day outback experience with WayOutback tours. Our guide, Tamara, took great care of us while we all got acclimated to the 40+ degree desert lifestyle. We left Alice Springs on December 1st bright and early in the morning so that we could get to camp in time to hike around the famous… Read More

G’day family and friends!   We’ve had an eventful week here in Australia that began in the lovely city of Brisbane! After arriving in Brisbane last Monday, we all headed out to explore the city. Some of us shopped, explored, went to museums, or just layed on the public “beach” and tanned. Our 3 days in Brisbane ended with a lovely Thanksgiving brunch with our new Carpe family. While this … Read More

So this is kind of a rap so bare with me, it’ll be a little awkward reading it through typing.   Happiness is the goalll, and suffering is a prison There ain’t no guards on patrolll, and the keys lie with wisdom Our minds are outta controolll, and the remedy is Buddhism. If we stop thinking and listen we might find nothings missin’ No senseless hate, anger or killin’ Just compassion… Read More

Greetings all from Sydney Australia! Its hard to believe that we are now in our 3rd and final Country. We had an incredible free travel week, a week completely planned by the students, to close up our time in New Zealand. We kicked off our week with a beautiful ferry ride from Wellington to the scenic south island! Our ferry arrived taking us through a maze of small islands in… Read More

Kia Ora (Hello) everyone! Tara (T. Banks) Cherwony, here to tell you all about our amazing stay with the Maori! October 28th was the day we started our stay at the Rongomaraeroa Marae, but our fisrt stop was the Porangahau festival. We spent the afternoon relaxing with the locals, trying new foods, and checking out local art creations. We met Ahuriri who organzined our stay at the Marae (communal sleeping… Read More

Hello everyone, its Nick here sending everyone greetings from National Park. Last Saturday we arrived in Haukes Bay after an 8 hour bus ride from Auckland. As we arrived at the farm we were greeted by the wonderful family of PJ and Tom and their children George,Ben,and Rosie. We were fed a wonderful homecooked meal and then we learned that we would be taking on different farming and housing duties… Read More

Hey everyone, Colin Martin here from the green country sides of New Zealand. We arrived in Auckland on the 10th and left bright and early this morning. While in Auckland we branched out and had a huge amount of experiences: some took a ferry to an island and hiked around for a day, while others took a look around the city and did some shopping in the opp shops(thrift stores),… Read More

Hello faithful blog followers! This is Jamo from Michigan here, updating you all on our final week in Rabulu and last few days in Fiji. We spent our 2nd week in Rabulu continuing to work on the cement pathway which we unfortunately did not finish due to the rainy conditions.  On the morning of the 4th we were given a tour of the Fiji water plant which is only a… Read More

  Hi, everyone! Lucy here (from an internet cafe in Tavua) to update you on our latest adventures!   We arrived in Rabulu (the location of our two week home-stay) last Monday after three bus rides that totaled about five hours of travel.  Luckily, once we arrived in the village, we were greeted with music and warmth, as well as a special “cava ceremony” where we got introduced to the… Read More

Bula (hello) to all! The FANZ Walkabout group is safe and sound in the Mango bay resort nestled within the Tadrawai  Valley, so all of those worried parents can take a big sigh of relief. We are currently begining day four of our jouney in the South Pacific and what an eventful four days it has been! After crossing the international dateline we landed in Nadi to be greeted by… Read More

Hey Everyone, Great news! I have heard from Alex and Brooke and everything is going well in Fiji. The group arrived yesterday and they are all already perusing the markets of Sigatoka on the South Coast of Viti Levu as they delve deeper into their orientation. Everyone is gelling well and having a great time! This will most likely be my last post for awhile as from here on out… Read More

Technically they are actually still here, however I am no longer able to see them as they have proceeded through checkout and will be boarding soon for their flight to Fiji! Its a long one, but on the other end the Fijian Islands beckon along with a beautiful new adventure. The group was all smiles and laughter as they left me behind and I do not doubt those positive feelings… Read More

Kia Ora FANZ friends and family! Here is a shout out from Mt Hood, near Portland,OR. Your fearless leaders, Alex Liethen and Brooke Balla, are busy finalizing itineraries, refreshing wilderness medicine skills and sowing the seeds of friendship with the Carpe Diem family. We both couldn’t be more excited about the journey that awaits us all. This is the blog!  It will be totally run and updated by you, the… Read More

  Well we’ve come to that point when the students wrap up their trip, they fly home, and the leaders regain a sense of what it’s like to exist without a troupe of amazing friends/students to hang with. ~Sigh~ The trip has ended and we’ve all sat back I’m sure to recall the last leg of the trip: What a fantastic way to end Australia. We flew from Adelaide to… Read More

Hello All, First off, I think the group will agree that Groovy Grape was definitely a memorable experience. Not just by the things we saw but also the people that we were with. Our tour guide, Leith, was quite the interesting character and full of energy! A couple mornings we were able to experience him with coffee… almost frightening how energetic he was. Anyways, we started off our journey in… Read More

A quick update from your Walk About Bloggers.  Currently we have completed four days of conservation work about an hour outside of Brisbane near Tawoomba planting trees that are intended to reconnect Koala habitats that have been broken up by farmers.  Our work inlcuded taking mattics or palaskies and clearing out about 4 foot wide circles in the grass, then digging a foot deep hole and finally planting one of… Read More

It’s your bloggers here with your daily scoop from the South Pacific.  After a memorable four days in Sydney we hopped on a plane to Brisbane this morning where we will be spending a week with the Conservation Volunteers of Australia.  Today we got to spend the day soaking in some sun and BBQ’ing at the South Bank Park and Lagoon/Pool, with some of Justin’s friends from when he lived… Read More

Hello all from way Down Under! We have spent the past few days exploring the (large) city of Sydney! Our group has had basically a second week of free travel as we all enter our final stretch with each other *sob*. Coming from up in the Blue Mountains, it has been nice to delve into the urban scene (and food) these past three days. Last night we saw a Macbeth… Read More