Blog

Our time at The Crossing was so special. Annette and Dean along with Penny and Chelsea welcomed us with open arms and hearts as we rolled up to the entrance of The Crossing, all of us eager to see our new home for the week. Dean, Penny, and Chelsea guided us on a hike/tour of the property right of the bat. Explaining the native flora, the tidal rivers and the indigenous history of the land. As we arrived to the main building of The Crossing, Annette greeted us with deli… Read more

Hey there everybody, this Cole and Harm checking in with our weekly blog! We started off this week in Wellington, where we took a bumpy, but fun, ferry ride over to New Zealand's south island. Man, it was beautiful! We had a picnic lunch overlooking the bay, before cramming into the van for a two hour drive through vineyards to the Lake Rotoiti park. At the visitor center, we learned a little a bit about the park where we'd be camping for the next few days. We also met o… Read more

Sam Lipin from our New Zealand Australia Group 3 Semester Program updates us on their first service learning project in Tawharanui, NZ. We have arrived in New Zealand! Wahoo! Our first stop was the Tawharanui park and campground. Riddled with sheep, cows and plenty of birds, including the endangered Takahe, we awoke each morning to a symphony of moos, baas and indescribable birds tweets.  Throughout the week, directed by park rangers Morris and Amy, we “tickled” trails… Read more

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Today at 10am, our group of thirteen packed up our bags from our final project site. Our past week at The Crossing was one of the most influential of the program. The Crossing is a non-profit organization started by two wonderful, kind-hearted individuals named Annette and Dean. Their dream was to "provide conservation education experiences that develop young people's capacity to live more sustainably". They wholeheartedly believe that these experiences foster health an… Read more

Hello from Aus! After a few mishaps which may or may not have involved lost luggage and a passport misplaced several hundred miles away, it is a true miracle that I am drafting this blog post from a van carrying the full crew. We said goodbye to New Zealand with heavy hearts, but it has been difficult to dwell on missing the Kiwis because the first week in country #2 of this insane experience has been a whirlwind of adventures launching us headfirst into life in 'straya.… Read more

The week we were waiting for had finally arrived: surf camp! The morning of our travel day, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of eggs, pancakes, and passion fruit courtesy of Jess. After stuffing our bellies, we packed up our bags, piled into the van, and headed off to Crescent Head. We were all pretty excited; the place was definitely a step up from what we were used to (generally camping in the wilderness) and the idea of a pool, volleyball court, and the three meals a… Read more

Immediately after landing in Australia, we drove a couple hours north to the Noosa Everglades where we would start our second canoe trip of the program. We had a casual first night: swimming in the lake, having barbequed kangaroo, and watching at least 25 roos hopping around our campsite. We only saw a couple of joey's poking out of their mama's pouches. Yep, we're well and truly in the land down under, complete with Steve Irwin, shaggy blonde surfers, fluff ball koalas… Read more

Our group spent two days in New Zealand volunteering in the Marlborough Sounds.  We helped create a paththrough the bush for the Department of Conservation to use during a biodiversity operation.  Clearing the path was hard work but very rewarding.  In addition to strenuous work, the island provided breathtaking vistas, lots of wind, and close encounters with spectacular wildlife. We saw stingrays andhad our first encounters with the devious and unrelenting assault of t… Read more

The first sight as I stepped into the Auckland airport was a tan, bearded man in a PD shirt, bathing suit and shoeless feet. That's Andy, our instructor . He's a local here in New Zealand. Have we seen him wear shoes? Only once. The next face we would meet is a small blonde running at us for a hug and calling us by name. Yes, we were a bit scared of this enthusiasm, but that's Laurel for you. Laurel is our other instructor from the States who has yet to let a smile fall… Read more