Royal National Park!

As I woke up on Saturday morning, I looked out of the window to find bright sunshine and absolutely no clouds in the sky. At that moment I thought to myself, ‘what a great day to go explore the historic Royal National Park’. Boy, was I right! I headed to the University of Sydney library on this extremely hot day to meet up with the small Tuesday night class at 10:00 a.m. sharp. Since this was my first time meeting the Tuesday night class I was a little nervous, but anxious at the same time. 

My first look at Royal National Park. 

When I arrived I was greeted by all the students which was rather exciting! This doesn’t usually happen, so I was thinking that these EDUH 4052 students were awesome! Shortly after I was greeted by Dr. Wayne who was more than happy to introduce himself as well, which was a little intimidating for me since he is one big guy. Once most of the students arrived we decided to head into the air conditioned bus which was rather relaxing since it was one of the first times that I had experienced air-conditioning in Australia.  We sat in the van waiting on one other person, but they were past the departure time so we had to leave without them. From the start of the van ride, I was able to meet a couple people sitting around me and talk to make the van ride seem a little shorter. Talking actually worked because before I knew it we were at Royal National Park. Anxious to start the hike, we all rushed off of the air-conditioned van and began to head towards the start of the trail.  

Beautiful views of high cliffs

Dr. Wayne had us stop at the beginning of the trail to give us some helpful information about snakes, cliffs, and koalas that was essential to our hike. Even before we left for our hike I feel like I had learned quite a lot of information about bushwalking. Dr. Wayne reminded me of a man from the 20^th Century named John Dewey.  Dewey believed that “Curriculum should be based on students’ interests and should involve them in active experiences” (“John Dewey Powerpoint”, 2013). I believe that this was Dr. Wayne’s thought process and desired teaching method because he wanted us to engage with nature in a way that made us most comfortable. I am referring Dr. Wayne to John Dewey because Dr. Wayne elaborated that much of what we will learn out in the bush can only be learned in the bush instead of reading various text from books and lecture notes. With that being said, engaging with nature is exactly what we did. We started by heading toward the cliffs so we could walk down the coast line, which was very beautiful! We were told to stay at least two to three body lengths away from the cliff edge just in case the sand stone was thin which would prevent anyone from falling and getting injured.  I was slightly skeptical about his proposition because rocks are hard, earth made objects, so why wouldn’t we be able to stand on them? Shortly after I asked myself the question, Dr. Wayne went on to explain that the ocean constantly hits the sandstone from underneath, deteriorating  the rock slowly which eventually makes the sandstone extremely thin. 

This is a cool picture of the sandstone we walked on.

It was nice to meet other students from other parts of the world, although most were from America. We started off by learning one another’s name by constantly repeating everyone’s name until we reached the last person who had to recite everyone’s name including Dr. Wayne’s. Shortly after the name game, it was time to go off the grid for a little and we decided to go solo .We were told to pick an area away from the other students, basically being alone, and just reflect on what we may encounter while we bushwalk throughout Royal National Park. “The purpose or outcome of reflection is learning or the production of further material for reflection” (Moon, 1999, pg153). I agree completely with this statement because of the thoughts that ran through my mind during our solo time.

The group that I hiked with.

 While sitting, reflecting on what may come across, I began to think of the many different plants and/or animals which I may see. I wouldn’t know what to do, tell, or say to people if I were to encounter such things like a snake for the first time in Australia! Having solo time really brought me to a deep thought about who and where I am as a person in life. Many of my thoughts were centered around my future college career, what job I could establish and what life would bring to my partner and I. Being in such a calm and serene place can only bring good thoughts, especially when you know you are in a good place in life. Unfortunately, solo time seemed to end too quick! So it was off to the trail that I volunteered to lead! It started off a bit rocky since we were walking on the rocks where there was no trail in sight. Luckily, we approached one that followed the coast line. About 20 minutes later we reached a small flow of water that trickled off of a rock. I am not sure what the correct name of the water flow, but I do know that it was from the rain the day before and it was A-Okay to drink! I not only filled up my water bottle, but I decided to soak my whole head since it was a scorcher that day! With the cold water running down my head, it felt more than awesome! Dr. Wayne said we had to leave if we wanted to get to the swimming hole at the end of the day. So we scooted along to our next destination – Cheese Cake Rock. 

On the way to Cheese Cake Rock Dr. Wayne stopped us a couple more time to inform us on a variety of different plants that grew in the national park. I learned that the aboriginal people used to take the dried up flower of a plant and use it as a fire stick for the day. We also spotted ‘black boy’, which was a plant with a spear like top that towered over the bush. They call it ‘black boy’ because when the British settlers came they thought the spear like top was the end of a spear from an aborigine person. Once we finally reached Cheese Cake Rock I was speechless – the view was gorgeous! We all sat and took pictures and I enjoyed a part of Australia that without EDUH 4052, I would have never explored. Again, Dr. Wayne said we had to push on so we can make it to Manly/Little Manley beach for a nice lunch on the beach. We traveled though much bush until we reached Manley beach and decided to take our shoes off. As we walked along Manley Beach, we all noticed small little jelly fish looking creatures on the ground. We all started asking what they were and if they can hurt us, but luckily Dr. Wayne told us that they could not. He also explained that these creatures were known as Blue Bottle jelly fish. He then promptly said that there is a interesting little trick that you could do with these Blue Bottle jelly fish. “… interest are the signs and symptoms of growing power” (Dewey, 1998, pg. 233). Let me tell you, my interests for learning what secrets these jelly fish had was growing, along with all my other curiosities about the bush that we were traveling through. Dr. Wayne told us to watch as he stepped on one of the Blue Bottle jellyfish and it made a soft ‘pop’ sound. Although I thought it was going to be something a little more educational, I didn’t mind learning something new about the jelly fish since it made me slightly more knowledgeable. It was finally time for lunch once we made it across the beach. We all sat on some rocks while we talked to one another. All the small talk led me to ask Dr. Wayne how many sheep are in New Zealand. He answered shortly saying, “72 million.” I was completely blown away! I would have never guess that there are 72 million sheep in New Zealand considering how small it is! As we were leaving Little Manley beach, we all gathered and put our arms on one another’s shoulders. We all took in a deep breath and took a mental image of the beautiful sight of Little Manley beach. At that moment I realized that I loved the group that I was in. All the people were so nice and I couldn’t have asked for a better group. That image is an image that I will remember for a lifetime. 

Since it rained the night before, we were able to drink the refreshing water!

As we took off again, we breezed through the rest of the bush until we reached the first swimming hole where the first group was. We recognized the people of the other groups and we were tempted to jump in, but as a group we decided to go to the first swimming hole we saw with the little waterfall. Dr. Wayne talked for a couple minutes and then we were off again. We soon arrived at the original swimming hole where an ice cream truck was sitting, waiting for customers to come. Dr. Wayne said we should all get ice cream after so we weren’t swimming on a full stomach. Now it was time for what we were all waiting for – Swimming! 

Pigs face: I wouldn't recomend it.

The whole group hopped into the slightly cold water and it splashed everywhere! I swam with a buddy over to the mini waterfall just so I could say I swam under it. I think we all had ice-cream on our minds because as soon as we hopped in, we all decided to hop out just for ice-cream! Let me tell you, that was some of the best ice cream I have had since my arrival in Australia! Sadly, the trip had to end and we all piled back onto the bus to head back to the University of Sydney. Once we arrived back, Dr. Wayne’s group had a discussion about what we all had learned today. Clifford E. Knapp said one of the key rules of outdoor learning was ”the develop-ment of new knowledge about the world” (Knapp, 1996, pg. 2). On this trip, through Dr. Wayne and the other students, I know without a doubt that we all gained new knowledge about the world, nature, and even ourselves.

Work Cited:

Dewey, John, Larry Hickman, and Thomas M. Alexander. The essential Dewey. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1998. Print.

Knapp, Clifford. Just beyond the classroom: community adventures for interdisciplinary learning. Charleston, W. Va.: ERIC Clearinghouse on Rural Education and Small Schools, 1996. Print.

Moon, Jenny. Reflection in learning and professional development: theory and practice. London: Kogan Page, 1999. Print.

lrickes. "John Dewey Powerpoint." Upload & Share PowerPoint presentations and documents. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Mar. 2013. <http://www.slideshare.net/lrickes/john-dewey-powerpoint>.