Written by South Pacific Students, Josie G. and Nolan S.
We continued our journey at ClimateForce, immersing ourselves in the magic that is the Daintree rainforest. We’ve been mixing our time with physical work for ClimateForce (weeding, fence making, beach cleanups and tending to their tree nursery), learning about environmental careers and the research that ClimateForce does (workshops with plant and seed identification, conversations with ClimateForce employees, and being able to see their work in action), and interacting with the nature and people around us in a less structured setting. Then, we said goodbye to our friends at ClimateForce and Australia and headed to New Zealand! After a long travel day (and redemption in the Sydney airport!), we arrived in Wellington. After a night in Wellington, we headed up to the Hart Family Farm.
What have been the three highlights of the week?
🌿 Our group drove to Mossman to the home of Barney, ClimateForce’s CEO. We were able to have a great conversation with him where he talked to each of us about our future aspirations and how we could shift our perspectives to making them “green jobs”– this was amazing as our group has a wide variety of interests but we were able to see how we could use our passions in a way that can help the planet. Afterwards, we went to Mossman Gorge, a special place to the Kuku Yalanji tribe. We swam, ate, and hung out with Barney, Jack, and Georgia. Then, we met with an elder from the area where we learned about the incredible healing properties that certain fruits and plants from the Daintree have, and about his journey to integrate his culture into a more mainstream point of view (something worth mentioning, Australia went through a voice referendum during our visit to incorporate indigenous representation in parliament; it was a political movement that we were very conscious of, even though the referendum did not pass). This day was overall so much fun and educational!
🕺🏽 We were so fortunate to be invited by Liana of ClimateForce to an ecstatic dance event at her home! Her property was deep in the Daintree and was a perfect place to immerse into nature. Some of the group danced in a judgement free zone, others went for a night swim in the creek nearby, but we all had such a great time at this very unique community event.
🔥 We had so many amazing fires under the bright stars. Every night, we would sit out and look at the sky while talking with each other. On our last night in Australia, we went to the beach at Cape Kimberly and had a fire on the beach with the volunteers at ClimateForce. It was an incredible way to close out this chapter of our trip!
Growth comes with challenge – what are some of the challenges you’ve overcome this week?
This week, a few members of the group fell sick to some sort of illness, as well as some dehydration. This was a challenge because it was scary to see our friends in a bad state of health, and having to wait to hear if everyone was okay. Another challenging experience was traveling into another country, as there were so many moving parts and there were a few hiccups getting through customs, like some people forgot some items in their bags that were not supposed to be there. New Zealand biosecurity is legit! Other than those hiccups, the week went very well for the group and was a very fun week.
What are you grateful for this week?
This week, we spent a lot of time reflecting on our gratitude towards our time in Australia. Between a surprise Sydney trip, time with Claire and Marcus, scuba, and ClimateForce, so many amazing memories have been made already. We all came to the consensus that Australia will always hold a special place in our hearts, specifically the Daintree. We feel so grateful to have had such fulfilling and new experiences in Australia.
