A fantastic experience for participating members of the Geography class as we adventured through Northern Queensland during this much-anticipated field trip.

After a year of planning, 24 students and three sleep-deprived staff met at 1:30 am on a typical dreary Waikato winter night to travel up to Auckland for our flight to Cairns.

Despite the early start, spirits were high, with everyone looking forward to the sun and warmth of tropical North Queensland. We weren’t far into our tour when we had our first piece of excitement. Our flight to Cairns was via Sydney, but unfortunately, we were late getting into Sydney and therefore ran the very real risk of missing our connecting flight to Cairns. Qantas, however, held back the plane as we ran to the gate. Our arrival on the plane was greeted by the captain announcing that the plane was delayed due to the late arrival of St Peter’s School from Cambridge, New Zealand! He did, however, also say that it wasn’t our fault, which avoided some awkwardness with the other passengers on the flight.

On arrival at Cairns, we picked up our hire vans and headed for Cairns Central Shopping Mall for some shopping and a bite to eat. Shopping was to become somewhat of a recurring theme on this trip, with some tour members proving to be very proficient in this area!

After a relaxing afternoon, an excellent dinner and a good night's sleep, we were all set for our first adventure of the trip, the SkyRail Cableway, which travels from Cairns to the sleepy tourist town of Kuranda. It is one of the longest cable cars in the world, travelling over waterfalls, rivers and tropical rainforest to Kuranda. Renowned for its markets, the group took advantage, indulging in more shopping before we headed back down.

A trip to the Cairns aquarium the following morning showed us what we would likely see on our trip to the Great Barrier Reef. We were there early before the aquarium opened to the public and had the place to ourselves, which was a surreal experience. From the aquarium, we headed inland to Undara and the Outback. At Undara, we stayed in swag tents (permanently erected tents). For students who had a fear of spiders and snakes etc., this was a somewhat uncomfortable experience! For others, camping in the outback was a lifetime opportunity.

After a fair dinkum bush breakfast, we felt we were in an episode of the Aussie TV show Outback Truckers as we bounced along dusty and rough outback roads on our way to remote Cobbold Gorge. We spent the next two nights there exploring the outback and the gorge with a guided tour and even a paddleboard trip through the gorge. There was a great deal of nerves when the students discovered that crocodiles were present in the gorge! Nerves were calmed, though, when we found out that they were just harmless freshwater crocodiles. We did, however, have an interesting experience with a snake. The guides at Cobbold Gorge had caught a snake which had gotten into one of the staff houses. They then put it in a box (for a release back into the bush) and put it in the bus we were travelling in on our way to the gorge, not that we knew. We found out later that the snake had gotten out of the box and was on the bus with us at some point in the trip! Fortunately, it was small and harmless, and the guides quickly found and released it.

Just as we were getting used to life in the outback, it was time to head back to Cairns (and all the shops) and visit the Great Barrier Reef. For many of the students, this was the highlight of the trip. As well as all the typical tropical fish, we saw a huge turtle swim around the group as we snorkelled. It was a truly magical experience.

We finished our Northern Queensland Journey with a saltwater crocodile spotting tour on the Daintree River, which somehow also incorporated some shopping and a visit to the rainforest at Mossman Gorge, where we experienced an indigenous cultural experience. Our last activity together was fish and chips on the beach at Port Douglas. A fitting way to end a wonderful trip. 

After nine days in tropical warmth, we returned to contrasting weather, arriving at school at 2:00 am on a cold, foggy night.

Thank you to the parent helpers transporting students to the airport at such crazy times and the staff who gave up their holidays to attend this trip. Without them, we simply could not have gone.

Lastly, the biggest thank you must go to the students themselves. Their behaviour was impeccable, which made for a very enjoyable trip. People commented on how polite and friendly our students were everywhere we went.

Social Sciences is thinking of running this trip again in 2025. If you have questions about future trips, please contact HOF Social Sciences, Mr Matthew Markham.