Continuing a tradition that has been going on since 1989, Mr. John Lum, Faculty, as the EF Educational Tours Representative for JBHS, took another trip, this time to Australia with a small group of teachers and students. The teachers on this trip were Ms.Danielle Simchick, Faculty, and Ms.Jenna Sheaffer, Faculty, who were joined by students Kimberly Stup, Graduated, Ethan Izer, Graduated, and Megan Miller, 12.  Planning these trips for 28 years, he still never gets tired of going to see new places. They have been going on trips annually, a change from taking trips every two years prior to 2001. when before that they only went on trips every two years.

Kicking off the adventure at James Buchanan High School the group headed to Ronald Reagan National Airport. There were many stops between airports before they landed in Brisbane, Australia.

“We left here around 10:00 a.m. and got to Brisbane about 31 hours later,” Lum said.

The fun started in Brisbane and then they traveled north up the coastline to their first stop, Fraser Island. While at Fraser Island the students and teachers on the trip stayed at a Treehouse Resort, which was, “like being in Jurassic Park,” according to Lum.

There was a lot of wildlife on the island that are native only to Australia.

“I saw Dingos in their natural habitat!” Megan Miller, 12 said.

“People ask me about the most beautiful place I’ve ever been and Fraser Island is right up there,” Lum said.

After visiting Fraser Island for three days, the largest completely sand island in the world, they traveled south down the coastline. On the way, they went through Noosa Heads, the Glass House Mountains, and eventually down to Surfer’s Paradise. They spent two days there and then continued on to Boward Bay and Sydney, the capital of Australia.

“We went on a boat ride there in Sydney Harbor,” Miller said of her favorite moment.

In Sydney, they got to see many famous parts of the city. They were able to go up into the Sydney Tower Eye, which allows you to see pretty much all of Sydney. While there they were also able to go and see the Sydney Bridge.

When asked if she had brought anything home with her from Australia Miller said, “I got four boomerangs and a bunch of clothes.”

These were just a few examples of many of the fun places that they got to visit on the trip. If you are interested in traveling there is still an opportunity to sign up for Mr. Lum’s next trip to Costa Rica.