Arcadia Australia
Melbourne: Australia's Cultural Capital
Date
September 6, 2018
Bond students discover Melbourne on Orientation
Melbourne is known for wild changes in weather, delicious multicultural food, mind-blowing graffiti art and incredible landscapes. Our new Bond students arrived on the first day of spring to somewhat wet weather but made the best of it by heading straight to the beach at Sandringham to discover the Red Cliffs, an elusive location only known by locals and inquisitive Arcadian staff.
We clambered around the amazing sandstone structures and wondered at the beauty of nature and how such things could be so peaceful and deserted. Then the rain set in…so we moved on to get the token Instagram picture in front of the Brighton Beach Boxes before moving onto St Kilda for Lunch.
Orientation isn’t complete without a trip to Melbourne Botanic Gardens to get to know Den, the local indigenous guide who helped both staff and students alike to appreciate how land language and culture influence the way we all live together and how we must take care of the land that gives everything to us and only asks we look after her in return. For many students, it was quite a spiritual experience, supported by learning new plants and their purposes and having a few laughs with Den’s cracking personality. He’s truly a gem.
Our day trip was forecast for brilliant weather and the locations didn’t disappoint – London Bridge, near Sorrento, was a delight with wild winds, big waves and we marveled at the size of the beach skeletons of cuttlefish. We had lunch at a local winery and then met an echidna (a very rare Australian animal like a porcupine but won’t throw their spikes) at Cape Schanck which helped work off the delicious pizza. Our afternoon was spent at the Peninsular Hot springs – a natural wonder, which all the students came out of looking much less jet-lagged and more relaxed. On the way home, we stopped at a local hot spot for Kangaroo’s and challenged each other to see how close we could get – Skippy delivered!
What an amazing way to learn about Australia’s most cultural capital.