Ally and the other MZS middle-school students left jobsite this afternoon for an extended field trip to Cairns, Australia. When they arrive there tomorrow morning, they will be met and picked up at the airport by staff members of Small World Journeys, an Australian-based educational tour group dedicated to turning classroom lessons into hands-on, minds-on learning adventures.

An in-house teacher tailored and prepared an extensive itinerary constructed from the school’s curriculum for the weeklong trip. The students will explore the natural world around them while reinforcing and expanding their existing knowledge of ecosystems, biodiversity, specialized adaptations, and sustainability. The uniquely crafted activities are sure to keep them engaged and excited about ecology.

The students and teachers will stay in a hostel for six nights and a rainforest lodge for one night. Every day, they will get up and venture out to a new destination. Some of the destinations include hiking through Wooroonooran National Park to see a treasured collection of plants and animals exclusive to Australia, visiting Mossman Gorge and Daintree Rainforest to observe the specialized adaptation of the curtain fig tree, and snorkeling around the outer Great Barrier Reef to see how marine geomorphology creates cays and islands. The most significant activity is Thursday’s excursion to James Cook University Research Station. There, the students will have the honor of collecting scientific data that will be used and published by James Cook University and UNESCO (The United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).

Including travel time, this will be a short 9-day trip for Ally and a very long 9-day absence for Chris, Kylee, and me. Ally is only in Timika (where the group is spending the night), but we are already missing her and looking forward to her return. Perjalanan aman, Ally!

Ally heading toward the bus that took the students and teachers down to the lowlands. They will stay in Kuala Kencana tonight, and then fly to Cairns early tomorrow morning.