Harvey Scholar Travel- Kylen in Australia

Kylen- Australia 2014

In Spring 2014 I was able to study abroad in Wollongong Australia with the help of the Harvey scholarship. Wollongong is a town an hour south of Sydney in the midst of transitioning from a coal and manufacturing center, into a tourist lure by taking advantage of its amazing location.  

Before coming to Australia I met up with an old friend who had moved to New Zealand a few years back and we traveled throughout both, islands which had always been a life goal for me.

Staying at the International House near the University of Wollongong was an amazing experience. There were 150 students from all over Australia, the US, and the world. Eating every meal together, it was a great way to meet new and interesting people and therefore enjoy the study abroad experience that much more.

Living only a 5-minute walk to both Uni and the beach and with the mountains just 5 minutes farther I was able to enjoy everything Wollongong had to offer. I tried my hand at surfing numerous times with questionable success, played rugby on the beach, and even understood Cricket long enough to play a match.

With Sydney only being an hour’s train ride north along some of the most spectacular coastline in the world, we headed up there quite often. Most notably to get Scuba certified, see the Australian national soccer team play (the Socceroo’s), and for the Vivid lights festival.

Over our midsession break, several friends and I took 7 days to drive the 3000 km up to Cairns, passing through Byron Bay, Surfers Paradise, and Brisbane on the way up. Once in Cairns we took a boat out to the Great Barrier Reef to dive, which I highly recommend doing sooner rather than later. With Ocean acidification and the resultant coral bleaching, coral reefs around the world are set to lose much of their vigor.

After the semester I explored Melbourne and Tasmania with a couple friends, and stopped in Hawaii on the way back.