Day 1: Depart the US

• Greet your fellow travelers in your departure city before boarding your international flight to Melbourne, Australia.

Day 2: En route

• Lose a day as you cross the International Date Line en route to Melbourne, Australia.

Day 3: Melbourne

• G’day Mate! Welcome to Melbourne, Australia. Melbourne is a cosmopolitan city famous for fashion, tramways, art & culture and “Aussie Rules” football.
• Explore Queen Victoria Market, the largest and oldest market in the Southern Hemisphere. Opened in 1878, its historic buildings are unchanged from days gone by. Bump elbows with the locals as you experience your first immersion into Australian culture.
• Travel South of Melbourne to the Mornington Peninsula to the Moonlit Sanctuary Wildlife Conservation Park. In small groups learn about the uniqueness and diversity of Australia’s fauna, including marsupials, reptiles and birds. Learn about the management of captive animals, including techniques associated with this. Participate in a hands-on activity to assist with the conservation of these animals, examples may include fertility testing via urine (primarily with sugar gliders), building nest boxes, or preparing an enclosure.
• Next, learn about Australia’s flora; begin with an introduction to basic identification techniques, then plant foods, and a chance to try Aboriginal bush foods. Learn about revegetation techniques, including seed collection, propagation and weed control. Participate in a hands-on activity that assists with the restoration of the Sanctuary’s natural bushland.

Day Prep Note: All students are to wear long pants and closed-toe footwear. Students should wear “work-clothes” — that is clothing they do not mind being soiled. Students should have a current tetanus vaccination; students without such vaccination may not be able to participate in some activities, but can still observe.

Overnight: Melbourne

Day 4: Melbourne

• Travel to the Healesville Sanctuary tucked away in the Yarra Ranges outside the city of Melbourne on 30 hectares of bushlands and see many of the iconic Australian wildlife including platypus, koalas, emus, Tasmanian devils, lyrebirds, wombats and eagles.
• Study at the Centre classroom where an education officer will educate you on the endangered animals at the sanctuary. These may include helmeted honeyeaters, mountain pigmy possums, rock wallabies and northern quolls just to name a few. You will also have the chance to meet such animals as a snake, lizard, green tree frog, stick insects or a tawny frog-mouth (a unique type of bird found throughout the Australian mainland, Tasmania and New Guinea. It resembles an owl).
• Access the Australian Wildlife Health Centre or Animal Hospital as it is more commonly called. Go behind the scenes with a vet as a procedure is being carried out. You will have the opportunity to observe and ask the vet any questions.

Overnight: Melbourne

Day 5: Melbourne and the Great Ocean Road

• The Great Ocean Road is a region of natural diversity–rainforests, rivers, old volcanoes, deserted coastlines with towering limestone stacks, and national parks. The location of this scenic stretch of road has been pounded by wild seas and fierce winds that have sculpted its shape over millions of years.
• Challenge: Participate in the Otway Survivor Challenge at the Otway Fly. Your ranger guide will teach you the skills that the local Aboriginal Koori tribe used thousands of years ago to survive in the bush. Learn how to find bush foods, how to source tools from the forest and how to a build a shelter. Participate in “group tasks” during your discovery of the rainforest. Dare to climb the 47 m spiral tower or walk out on the rocking cantilever high in the tree canopy.
• Your turn to give back! The rainforest is a combination of wet sclerophyll and cool temperate rainforest. Once you have learned about the diversity of this rainforest you will have the opportunity to plant a mountain ash tree. The mountain ash is the tallest of the eucalypt; they grow up to 400 feet.

Overnight: Melbourne

Day 6: Melbourne – Alice Springs – Outback Bush Camp

• This morning board your flight for Alice Springs. Alice Springs is in the heart of the Outback, located in the center of Australia.
• Make your way to your Outback Bush Camp. Learn from the locals about their lifestyle and how they live in a remote area. Listen to “yarns” and learn about the history of the station. In Australia, ranches are known as “stations.” Take a station tour, learn about the native flora and listen for the sounds of the fauna. Discover some authentic outback skills, such as damper making, boiling billy tea and whip cracking.
• Tonight you will revel in your million-star accommodations as you snuggle into your swag (a unique canvas cover and sleeping bag rolled into one neat bundle) for a good night’s sleep. Look for the Southern Cross as you enjoy the peace of the Australian bush.

Overnight: Under the stars at the Outback Bush Camp

Day 7: Outback Bush Camp – Uluru (Ayers Rock)

• Travel to Ayers Rock, also known by its Aboriginal name, Uluru. Located in the heart of Central Australia, this region was named a World Heritage site in 1987, and is a natural wonder of the world.
• Discover how this landscape provides spiritual and economic sustenance for the indigenous Anangu people. Listen to your Anangu guide as you visit the many caves of the Mala people and learn about how they lived and prepared for ceremonies at the base of Uluru.
• Camels were introduced into Australia because they can thrive on Australia's desert flora and fauna, not only getting enough nutrition, but also enough water. Today there are wild camels roaming the desert plains, but they are also a fun way to take in the view, so tonight take a camel to sunset. Enjoy the breathtaking views of Uluru – Kata Tjuta National Park as the sun sets.

Day Prep Note: The local Anangu do not climb Uluru because of its great spiritual significance. They request that visitors also not climb the rock, partly due to the path crossing a sacred traditional Dreamtime track, and also due to a sense of responsibility for the safety of visitors to their land.

Overnight: Ayers Rock

Day 8: Uluru (Ayers Rock)

• A visit to Uluru is not complete without waking early to see the first light on Uluru. Enjoy a cup of hot chocolate as you brave the brisk morning, although the sight will be one that you will cherish forever.
• Explore the 36 rock domes of Kata Tjuta, and hike through Olga Gorge.
• Finish off an action packed day with a good old fashion BBQ — you will be provided the meat, but it’s traditional Aussie style of do-it-yourself.
• This evening learn about the constellations above you with an astronomy talk. Can you find the Southern Cross?

Overnight: Ayers Rock

Day 9: Uluru (Ayers Rock) - Cairns

• Learn about Aboriginal art and culture from aboriginal artists. Aboriginal Guides introduce their culture and how it is expressed in their works of art. Join the artists to complete your own painting, which you can take home as a memento of your experience.
• This afternoon board your flight to Cairns.
• Cairns is a coastal cosmopolitan city nestled in northern Queensland amid two of Australia’s most treasured World Heritage destinations: the Wet Tropics Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.
• Have a close encounter with a crocodile, as you observe it feeding. Learn about the crocodile biology and their behavior during a detailed talk from the keeper as you shadow him through his duties.
• Tonight, at dinner be joined by a speaker whose making a difference, a knowledgeable wildlife keeper who will talk on a
  variety of topics from environmental management to snake bite treatment.

Overnight: Cairns

Day 10: Cairns - Townsville

• Visit a banana-processing factory and learn about the processing and preparation of bananas.
• Have an opportunity to have your picture taken with a koala at a wildlife sanctuary.
• Arrive this afternoon in Townsville, the home base for much of the current research facilities for the Great Barrier Reef; including a few organizations you will be becoming more familiar with over the next few days as you participate in an exclusive Great Barrier Reef Research Course. Organizations such as James Cook University, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, and the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
• Meet the course facilitators and take an introductory tour of the Aquarium.
• Receive an overview of the program

Overnight: Townsville

Day 11: Townsville

• Day one of an intense Great Barrier Reef Study program with an Introduction to the Great Barrier Reef.
  • Coral 101 – what is coral, how is it formed? What types of coral are there? Hands-on activity with coral skeletons and a challenge to identify types of coral within the Aquarium.
  • Reef Species – what is the ecology and diversity of the reef? Participate in food chain role playing and identification as you learn the key features to this ecological wonder.
  • Great Barrier Reef History – learn about the history of the reef with up to date research findings and directions.
  • Management of Reef Systems – who manages the GBR and what is their role? Practice on a mock reef system how each part is zoned, who uses it, who protects it and what industries most benefit the Australian economy.
  • Climate Change – how does climate change impact the reef? What is coral bleaching? Learn the six big effects and the six big things you can do.
  • Reef Health – what is this, how is the state of the Reef monitored? Perform an experiment by facilitating a titration to judge calcium levels in the coral tank.
  • Introduction to Reef Research – why do reef research? Understanding and utilizing reef research. Students will learn some basic methods of data collection and then actually choose and perform a behavioral analysis on a chosen animal.
• Enjoy dinner and prepare for your evening sessions and Aquarium sleepover.
  • Introduction to Dangerous Creatures of the GBR – crown of thorns.
  • Marine species identification.

Overnight: Reef HQ Aquarium sleepover

Day 12: Great Barrier Reef and Magnetic Island or Orpheus Island

• Travel to Magnetic or Orpheus Island research site
• Introduction to on-site research
• Learn snorkeling techniques used by researchers for data collection and observation.
• Practice snorkeling techniques

Overnight: Great Barrier Reef Island – Magnetic or Orpheus Island

Day 13: Great Barrier Reef and Magnetic Island or Orpheus Island

• Today put into practice what has been learnt and spend a full day as a Great Barrier Reef researcher.
• Participate in an actual research project in conjunction with GBRMPA & JCU on the Great Barrier Reef.
• Coral observation via transects, physical data recording.
• Full day collecting information learnt from the classroom with experts from JCU, GRBMPA, and AIMS etc.

Overnight: Great Barrier Reef Island – Magnetic or Orpheus Island

Day 14: Townsville

• Return to classroom to analyze the data collected.
• Manipulation of data collected.
• Interruption of data collected and transcribed into a meaningful form.
• Workshop data collection results to draw conclusions and list outcomes of the project.

Overnight: Townsville

Day 15: Depart for US

• Say farewell to Australia as you board your flight in Townsville bound for the United States (via Brisbane).