Local Student Travels To Australia

By Susan Coney

Rebecca Devivo recently had the opportunity to travel to Australia for 18 days with People to People International, an organization dedicated to enhancing cross-cultural communication. Rebecca participated in the trip along with approximately 40 other Fairfield County students.

While visiting the land down under, Rebecca had the good fortune to experience a variety of adventures. “I swam in the Great Barrier Reef, climbed King’s Canyon, viewed Ayers Rock, and went to Alice Springs,” she said.

A favorite spot for Rebecca was the beautiful harbor city, Sydney. A highlight of her visit to Sydney was entering the Olympic Stadium and having the chance to take a dip in the Olympic pool.

 “I want to move to Sydney… the shopping, the bridge, the beautiful Opera House, and the wonderful people,” she said. Rebecca has had the opportunity to travel a great deal in her life. Her mother, Carol, is from Scotland and her father, Mario, is from Italy so Rebecca has traveled extensively with her family. “It is such a different place, I really liked it a lot. I loved the chance to experience the culture,” Rebecca said.

“It was a really good experience for me. I’ve never been away from my family before. I wasn’t really ever homesick. I spoke with my mom every day by cell phone, even when I was way out in the bush camping I got cell phone reception,” she laughed.

Rebecca stayed with an Australian family for two nights during her travels. She commented that the people were very friendly and very similar to Americans. She ate the traditional “damper,” which is dense bread. However, she was not fond of the Vegemite spread that the Australians typically put on everything. “I ate a kangaroo steak and emu sausage. I didn’t like either one just because of the fact that I knew what kind of animal it was and it bothered me,” she commented.

The People to People group visited the Rainforest Station Nature Park, which provided a range of attractions allowing visitors to experience Australia’s natural beauty and traditional culture in one setting.

She toured the magnificent tropical rainforest on an amphibious Army Duck and learned about the forest trees, plants, birds, and butterflies. Rebecca also saw native Aborigines perform and learned about their music, culture, and the tools they use in their everyday lives.

While touring the Rainforest Station Nature Park Rebecca had up-close contact with as many as 20 kangaroos in an open area set aside in the park where visitors can feed, touch, and photograph kangaroos and wallabies in a natural setting.

Although Rebecca had a wonderful time and never experienced homesickness, her mother had a more difficult time being away from her daughter. “I really missed her. It was all her idea to go and it was a great experience for her. She really bonded and made friends. I enjoyed looking at the travel itinerary posted on the website everyday so I could keep track of what she was doing. I also called her daily on the cell phone,” she said.

Rebecca recently graduated from Newtown Middle School and will be attending Westover School in the fall.