Author: jgourley

By Elle 

Today started out how every other day this trip has; an early wake up, filling buffet and a last minute briefing in the lobby. However the briefing was something different, and needless to say exciting. Hoang explained to us the very detailed adventure race that all of Vietnam yellow had been excited for throughout the trip. My team was let out first and we very leisurely strolled to the post office we had previously visited on our first night in Ho Chi Minh city. My group was made up of Bella Cav, Chloe, Callum, Simon, Annabelle, Marie, Hoang and myself. We flew through the first set of questions thanks to the information given to us previously. As we travelled to our next destination which would of only been a five minute walk, we were very surprised to find out we were being put onto these bicycles, called cyclos, that were driven by older men. Annabelle, Simon and I were tightly squished onto the seat and spent the entire 5 minute ride complaining about space. 
Thankfully we arrived at the market and made our way through the very tempting stalls to the Western gate. There, we met a lady who presented us with three fruits that we had to taste and identify. That took longer than expected but we finally got through the task. Next, we stupidly skipped a task and had to re-calibrate our route to find ally that held the information we needed. Finally we reached the very tall Bitexco building that was 265m in height and had over 50 levels. My group enjoyed the view a bit too much and we spent some more time there than needed. 
We arrived at the hotel as our final destination and found out we came third, a bummer at first but was quickly forgotten as the refreshing shower we had was so much better than any prize. We filed into the bus and went an hour out of Ho Chi Minh to the “Happy Heaven” orphanage. 
We spent a very eye-opening, exciting and fun 2 hours there. Simply playing, feeding and carrying the children. I became very close to a little child as many of the other members of the group did. The boys played ball games with the kids, some helped with colouring in images and others enjoyed building blocks with the kids. 
Eyeopening may be a bit of a understatement. Seeing some of those children having the biggest smiles on their faces just from getting a small back rub or a ball thrown to them was so confronting because we cry over the smallest things. It was so beautiful seeing everyone shut off from their own issues to help bring joy to someone else’s day was an incredible.
Now we are in the air port waiting to come home and give everyone massive cuddles and kisses. Can’t wait to see you all very soon.

Love Elle. 
  

After a very busy day on and returning from the Mekong river, we look forward to the great race tomorrow morning around Ho Chi Minh City. 

Following the race and prior to departing for the airport, we will head to a remote orphanage to interact with and assist in daily activities for some of Vietnam’s most unfortunate children. 

Final day posts will be made from the airport. Stay tuned! 

By Annabelle 

Today we woke up bright an early for a day that we knew would be jam packed! We were packed and ready to head to the airport at 7:15am. Our journey to the airport started by the girls and boys splitting into two mini bus’ and heading to the actual bus stop as our bus was too big to get through the streets to our hotel. After arriving at the bus that would take us the rest of the way, we all settled in for a rest. Most people plugged their headphones in and listened to some of their favourite tunes but for the rest of us, we either sat there looking at the crowded streets of Hoi An or we had a nice quick sleep. When we got to the airport, we checked in our bags in small groups. This has become somewhat of a skill so we were all capable of checking in our luggage with no hassles whatsoever. We finally boarded the aeroplane and we were off. This flight was a short one and I managed to sleep the whole way! When we arrived in Ho Chi Minh city we raced to get our baggage, praying that none had been lost. After around 25 minutes of bag collecting, we were able to leave the airport once and for all, well at least for the next few days. 
Ok, so we were finally at the hotel and ready to check in! Our eyes were filled with happiness when we saw the hotel. It is a massive hotel with white and gold features inside. The breakfast buffet room is in view of the entrance and one’s eyes are immediately drawn to a white piano placed in the corner of the reception room. We got settled until 2:30 and then we headed out for lunch at a restaurant called pho24. We all had a choice between chicken noodle soup or beef noodle soup. The vast majority of us chose beef but some people had chicken. The food was amazing and filled us all right up. When lunch concluded, we headed off to independence palace. It was a 20 minute walk to get there and the view was amazing. We were able to walk through the palace and see many of the conference rooms. Some of us also went to the top floor where we were able to see the two bombing points from the 1975 April attack. As we were inside the palace, it started pouring down with rain. Of course, being typical teenagers, we felt it would be fun to run through all of the puddles and and jump around in the humid rain. The walk back to our hotel was an interesting one with many of us quite wet, but we made it back in one piece. We had around time to get changed into some clean clothes, have a shower and relax.
Before heading off to dinner we all gathered around the piano to have a classic St Leonards sing along. What trip would be complete without one of these!? We were amazed by the voice of our tour guide, Hoang, who we had never heard sing until today. He was brilliant to say the least! Shortly after, we headed out to dinner at a Vietnamese restaurant called Restaurant 13. When served with a bowl of rice, a bowl of noodles and some chicken and beef we were all pretty happy. Dinner was done in a heartbeat and we all headed back to the hotel for a nice sleep before another jam packed day tomorrow, where we will travel to the Mekong Delta for an overnight home stay. After arriving at the hotel we were briefed on what would happen tomorrow and then we went to our rooms for a good night’s sleep. 
We are all having a great time and I can speak on the behalf of everyone when I say we are really missing our families back home! 
Lots of love,

Annabelle xx 
*** Day 15 and 16 will be posted tomorrow night as one blog for Mekong Delta. 

Good morning to everyone back in Aus!

We arrived safely in Ho Chi Minh city this morning and will be posting our day 14 blog tomorrow, along with day 15. 

Day 15 includes visiting the Cu Chi tunnels and heading to Mekong delta for our overnight home stay. 

Post soon 🙂

​Today was our final day in Hoi An and everyone througly enjoyed the opportunity to recharge the batteries before flying out to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow morning. Tonight we reflect on the past 13 days and hear from another seven students about their most memeroable moments so far. 
Matt -My favourite part of the trip had to be the over night train ride, our little cabin consisted of 4 boys not intending to sleep. It was a bumpy but memorable ride with some of my greatest friends. It is a time I will never forget.
Elle – 100% my favourite moment of the trip was nailing in the final wall of the house and stepping back to see our work finally completed. Talking with the family and learning a bit of history was interesting. Although it was the favourite, it was also the saddest and most appreciated. 

Leah – My most memorable moment of the whole trip would be abseiling because it was such an exhilarating experience that I had never done before and I was challenged to do something that scared me, but I’m happy I did it and wish I could do it again. 
Lucy – Creating an extremely strong bond with our tour guide, Hoang, who we nicknamed Quamie. He is such a legend because he puts us first, has taught us so much about his beloved country and has a sense of humour that we all appreciate.  

Aussie – My favourite part of the trip so far has been the bike ride in Hue, where we went to the colosseum of fighting tigers and elephants and after that we visited an incense market stall where I bought multiple scents of incense. 
Liam – The best part of the trip has been visiting the temples and pagodas. I felt like I really understood the religion of the country and the importance it had and still has to the Vietnamese people. 

Cal – When all eight boys had a night out in Hue and we went to a family restaurant, along the main dining strip, where we were able to use a pool table and awesome speakers all for ourselves.  

By Marie and Carien
Today started off with a great roof top breakfast buffet full of pancakes, various bread and fruits. This was a good way to kick off the first full day in Hoi An. After breakfast some headed off to see about some jewellery for loved ones and themselves. We soon discovered on arrival to the jeweller that they can literally make any design you want. We placed our orders and then headed off to explore Hoi An on some vintage bikes. The bike ride might have been long and exhausting but it was all worth it when we saw the beautiful beach got fresh juices. We were even lucky enough to run into another Australian who we could all enjoy an easy conversation with in English. We embraced the view of the sea for about an hour before making our way back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel we were keen to jump in the pool as we were feeling hot and sweaty. But, this couldn’t happen until our journal pages were up to date. Once completed the smiles on people’s faces as they headed towards the pool to jump in was extraordinary. After some time in the hotel to relax, we walked to explore the heritage listed city of Hoi An. In groups of three we made our way up and down through the streets of the UNESCO Heritage listed town of Hoi An practising our bargaining skills. There were still some rookie bargainers in the group (some paying significantly more for the same item than others…). Let’s just say we are learning to bargain hard as some have not budgeted as well as others. A few of us also had to pop back into the tailor shop to get fitted again and suggest any alterations to be made to our orders. 

Meeting at 5:30pm at the Japanese bridge, created 300 years ago, we took off to go to a stunning restaurant where we learnt from the best about how to cook Vietnamese dishes that we were able to enjoy afterwards (parents do not expect anything spectacular when we get home). We cooked two dishes, spring rolls and skewers with marinated chicken. Our cooking instructor also showed us how to make a quick and fresh green papaya salad, even providing a utensil to peel the papaya with as a gift to each of us. Everyone did an amazing job and it was a well deserved dinner. Bellies full, we headed back to the hotel to go for a night swim before getting into bed.

Sending our love to everyone back at home and missing you all very much xx

Marie & Carien