Australia Centenary Event - 2010

After  almost a year of meetings, forms, preparation and A LOT of fundraising I finally made the 2 hour journey to Heathrow to meet up with the 56 other guides from Wales, Scotland, and Midlands.  In retrospect it was nothing compared to the 10 and 12 hour plane journey we were in for but my anticipation seemed to make it last forever.  I arrived at Heathrow slightly nervous but mainly excited. Then, following a surprisingly cheerful farewell from my mother, went through all the tedious check in procedures and, long story short, boarded the 10 hour flight to Beijing.  I was literally bouncing up and down in my seat and was not quite as smart as the other girls, who decided it was a prime opportunity to get some sleep as it would be a long journey.  We touched down at around 7:30 Beijing time but 11:00 English time, so no wonder we were all exhausted.  Beijing was scarily clean and almost completely deserted.  On the return journey I got to watch the sunrise in Beijing which was nice as you could actually look at the sun without hurting your eyes because of all the pollution.  We saw a Chinese hut sign which was, so far the highlight of the trip, but not for long.  A short wait later (12 hours) and we were in Australia - Sydney!  I remember walking out and instantly being blinded by the dazzling sun and clear blue sky.  It was very hot.  It was quite a drastic change from England where it was minus degrees, and about to go through a deep freeze.  Australia on the other hand was preparing for a heat wave that struck later during the trip.

A very nice coach driver took us all the way to our first youth hostel so we did not have to walk with our heavy hiking bags.  We collapsed in, were told the plan, assigned to our rooms and raced to the showers.  That day we went out to explore Darling harbour - which was within walking distance, get our bearings and have dinner in a local restaurant that became our favourite throughout the course of the week.  It was very disorientating because all over the harbour there were flags wishing you merry Christmas and it was about 27 degrees with clear blue skies behind.  The picture didn't quite fit.  A monorail also kept jumping out of nowhere and scaring the living daylights out of me.  Over the next few days we went to Sydney harbour, climbed the pylons for some breathtaking views and historic videos, went on a jet boat ride around the harbour where our guide pointed out Russell Crowe's apartment, did a lot of shopping, had a tour of Sydney's east side and Bondi beach, we braved the Oz sky deck - 820 feet high.  We went to Sydney aquarium, which was incredible, full of giant sharks and 40 foot wide sting rays.  After that there was a guided tour of the famous Sydney Opera House and my highlight of the whole trip apart from the camp: New Years Eve on the Sydney Opera House steps.  For me nothing could top that and it was an experience I shall never forget.  We were right in front of the Opera House overlooking the harbour bridge, and as it got dark, fireworks exploded off both of them and were mirrored in the tall sky scrapers opposite, which were also emitting a colourful display.  The whole atmosphere was mind-blowing and it was unbelievably busy.  The only downside was that we had to arrive at three in the afternoon to secure a good place and that meant we had to wait nine hours until the main fireworks but it was worth it.

At the end of the week we reluctantly fought with our backpacks, stuffing all our things in, and got the overnight train through beautiful countryside, spotting wild kangaroos and passing many oddly named places with names like Wagawaga.  We reached a little town called Mittagong where we were received by the Australian guides who had prepared us a lovely meal.

 The next day was the first day we would spend on camp; we travelled a short distance to a large college where the camp was being held.  We checked in, receiving our ACE 2010 t-shirts, bags, bottles and information. The camp was split into different sub-camps all with different colours and dates.  I was maroon 1980s.  We all were split up and wandered off to seek out our sub camps and be directed our patrol, and then our tent.  Eight girls shared a tent and I was with four Australians, four New Zealanders and one other English girl in the Muppets patrol.  We introduced ourselves and made the finishing touches to our tents.  That evening there was an opening ceremony welcoming our Guiding sisters from many countries including Thailand, Argentina, Cambodia, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Canada, the UK, Fiji and New Zealand.  We also heard from the Mayor of Geelong, an Aboriginal Elder played the didgeridoo and there was dancing and singing.   The Chief and State Commissioners for Victoria also spoke.  We explored camp and discovered the general store, guide shop, cinema, ace place and the food hall, which luckily was only just down the central lane.  

Two of the days while we were on camp we had activities that we booked at home, a half day activity and a full day one.  My half day was yoga and my full day was African safari, a tour of Victoria's massive safari park. Throughout the course of the week we had various patrol and camp activities, archery and boomerang making, a trip to see the adorable penguins on Phillip island, Churchill island, a visit to a water park, international day when we swapped all our badges and learnt about other cultures.  

We also had rock-climbing and bungee jumping with a big wide game stationed in Geelong on the last day.  We explored the centre with our friends while checking off points, swam in the beach, had a free ice cream and had the opportunity to go to the big mall. Prizes were given to the winning group.  Camp was one of the highlights of the trip and the ending ceremony was very sad because we had to say goodbye to all the wonderful friends we had made.  There were many tears and many hugs and many "I'll talk to you on facebook "s and we tore ourselves away to board the coach to the second youth hostel, leaving with many memories and valuable life skills that we will always remember.

Still buzzing from camp but absolutely shattered we threw our clothes in the lifesaving washing machines and collapsed on the sofa to watch the wide screen TV.  The weather forecast for the next week was up and it went: Monday hot; 34 degrees, Tuesday hot; 38 degrees, Wednesday hotter; 45 degrees, Thursday hot; 43 degrees and Friday hot; 36 degrees.  Then we looked at a satellite picture of England on the computer and it was completely white.  During our stay in Melbourne, we did some sightseeing in the centre, there were many amazing modern and old buildings, we went to the immigration museum, Queen Victoria market, up the Melbourne sky deck which had an ejecting glass box, we went to the dazzling beach, went to the old gaol and saw Ned Kelly's hanging post, did more souvenir shopping and on the last day, visited Melbourne zoo which was full of kangaroos, lions, Meerkats, tigers and one very sleepy koala.  We all dressed up for our last proper meal together in Melbourne and somehow worked our way through 45 pizzas.  Then, our bags laden with Australian treasures, we made our way through Melbourne to the train station taking us back to Sydney, all 57 of us, in a long line.  We dumped our bags in the headquarters of girlguiding Australia and went out for our last day.  At  lunch there were speeches and toasts - also a few birthdays, tears and tokens of appreciation. 

Later that evening we boarded the plane to Beijing then home, saying our final farewells to Australia and screaming as the plane touched down in England. I was returning with over 60 new friends, amazing memories and experiences I will always remember.

Sarah Bingham

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