My time spent in Australia was amazing!

The culture, the people, and the experiences that we had will be something that I never forget.  The Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Center provided an experience that I will probably never have again and the fact that they operate mainly based on volunteers and donations is impressive.  You can tell that the volunteers really care about what they are doing and are extremely organized in their daily operations.  Even if you only have one day to donate to the rehabilitation center, everyone is still extremely grateful for the help and willing to take the time to explain everything.  When not at the rehabilitation center, we were able to visit many of the local centers where some of the country’s natural wildlife reside.

One of my favorite parts of the trip (besides the turtles) was the opportunity to hold a koala!  It was amazing to see how differently the wildlife parks operate in Australia compared to the US.  Most of the animals are separated from the public by glass or enclosures in the US, while in most of the parks that we visited in Australia, the enclosures were just a waist-high fence, or we were able to walk into the enclosure and have the animals right next to us (like the kangaroo exhibit).  You can really tell that Australians respect their environment and wildlife and are very knowledgeable about the land and its history.

Overall, this program is something that I will never forget and will forever be thankful to the people who took the time to make us feel welcome in their country!