Theo Mutter: The Beauty of Australia
During the Spring 2023 semester, I studied abroad in Melbourne, Australia, at Deakin University. While there, I took three once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to explore the country and see places I never thought I would.
My first opportunity came as a program offered only to international students at Deakin with a Phillip Island tour. Phillip Island is known for its nightly penguin marches as the native penguins, known simply as the Little Penguin, come in from being at sea all day. These penguins only come in at night to protect themselves from predators. Penguins that are too young or nursing eggs stay on the island, and those penguins’ parents or partners bring back enough food to share. Our tour started in the morning and took us to the beaches of Philip Island, where we took a beach hike to see some of the coastlines Australia is known for.
We were also taken to an “animal park,” which we would consider a tiny zoo. Here, we got to hand feed some kangaroos and see various native wildlife up close in a private showing, including a two-headed lizard (which does not have two heads; it is named because its head and tail are both identical in size and shape), a koala, and a dingo.
Once it was close to the time that the penguins would come in, we went to the official penguin watchtower and watched as herds of penguins came in from the sea. The watchtower counts the penguins as they come to the shore so that officials can record how the flock is growing or diminishing. We got to walk the boardwalk as the penguins went in, giving us a chance to see them up close, though we were not permitted to take photographs or videos, as the lights from the phones and cameras could damage the penguins’ eyes or scare them into throwing up all the food they had saved. However, pictures and photos were allowed during the day for the penguins that stayed ashore, as the lights would not affect them in any way. This fact, of course, did not discourage some of the more ignorant tourists, who kept trying to film and take photographs despite the staff telling them to stop.
My second opportunity came from my new friend, Meg. She asked if I wanted to join her, and I immediately accepted. For this tour, we had to go into the central part of Melbourne to get to the pick-up location. We navigated through trams, buses, and trains to get where we were waiting for our tour group to start. We were in a group of 3 older couples and a younger group leader. Two couples were also from the US, and we laughed at the coincidence.
Our tour took us to various points along the Great Ocean Road, which we learned was built by veterans of WWI. We got to go on a small hike to see a natural waterfall, which was my personal highlight of this tour. We also went to a redwood tree forest, which propagated from a few baby redwoods brought in from California. We also went to a local restaurant for lunch, where I got a pork dish, which was like pulled pork put into a square. It was some of the best pork I have ever tasted.
My final opportunity came from the same friend as the Great Ocean Road tour. We decided to go to Cairns, Australia, which is best known for having direct access to the Great Barrier Reef. We flew to Cairns and had a cheap hotel room, which we didn’t mind as we did not stay in it for long periods. While there, we went to an artificial lagoon since the ocean in the area itself is too dangerous for inexperienced swimmers due to the large amount of dangerous sea life. We also went to any and all museums we could find in that area.
We had an entire day dedicated to our Great Barrier Reef tour. With a much larger group, we were brought onto a boat and given wetsuits, flippers, and snorkel sets to use. After a safety briefing, we were brought to our first dive/snorkel location. Meg and I decided to splurge a little and signed up for a side tour where a marine biologist took us around the area, pointed out various types of sea life, and told us about their significance to the reef. We got our included meal and wine, and I lounged around on the boat for the entire day.
At the second location, though, Meg and I got to go on a helicopter tour. We got to fly over the reef and see how it looked from above. The pilot pointed out different sections of the reef and showed us where the sea turtles were traveling. My only regret from this trip was not returning to the water at the second location, as I felt a bit tired.
These experiences also allowed me to understand more of Australian culture as we were put into various locations. They saw how life in Australia can vary from location to location, much like how life in the US can vary from state to state and even city to city. I have also realized that I would love to return to Australia with my wife and potentially even move there someday.
Theo Mutter is a senior English major at Lander University and is expected to graduate in Spring 2024. They studied abroad in Melbourne, Australia, during the Spring 2023 semester. They plan to get a Master's in Library Science and eventually do archival work.