URBAN DOMAIN 2024

TLC Pagodas – Day 1

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We certainly made the most of our first full day in Thailand. Upon arrival at Chiang Mai airport we were greeted by our friendly guides and taken directly to our hotel. On the way to the hotel we were struck by the ancient walls that line the city – Chiang Mai is a city with an incredible history and we were looking forward to learning more about it. 

Having dropped our bags off to the hotel, we commenced a walking tour of the city. On this tour we were fortunate to be able to visit various ancient shrines that held cultural significance. The golden furnishing on the outside of the shrine was particularly striking.

After spending a tranquil half hour wandering the sacred sites of Chiang Mai, we were then treated to some traditional Thai cuisine at a local restaurant. The serves were extremely generous and it was a nice time to sit and relax with friends and discuss the last 24 hours. After lunch we then walked back to the hotel and were able to check into our rooms. After some time to freshen up we reassembled at 3:30pm and caught buses to a nearby farm to take part in a cooking class. After an introduction to the local herbs and vegetables that were grown on site and used in the dishes, it was time to test our skills. Some students also chose to experiment with the aptly named “Volcano Chilli’. The dishes we cooked were Tom Yam soup, Kaeng Ka Ri Gai (Yellow Curry with Chicken), Pad Thai and Sticky Rice with Mango. Various proclamations about entering Masterchef were made, and no doubt all parents can look forward to some delicious meals being prepared for them by each student. 

Reflecting on the end of the day, most could not believe that we had only been here for such a short time yet already managed to do so much. Tomorrow we will be starting the day with traditional Muay Thai boxing, before then taking on white water rafting. We will certainly sleep well tonight and you will hear from us again tomorrow.

China Day 2 – Wolong

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58395518-7F6C-42A5-823A-C3659A9F7931Our day began with a lengthy bus ride, through busy roads but affording nice views. The traffic conditions show just how populated Chengdu is – 16 million approximately. The streets were always full of people, cars, motorbikes and bicycles in and around the city. That was until we drove through the Wolong mountains; the pure grandeur of these giants was enough to lift everyone’s already high spirits.

When we arrived at the Wolong Panda Centre, we were greeted with our uniforms and brooms which were used in our sweeping of roads and enclosures. This was better than many would think sweeping roads might be, as we were right next to the panda enclosures. Next we went into the empty panda enclosures and cleaned them of trash and dead leaves. It was interesting to see how much trash managed to get into the enclosures. We then got to see the pandas being fed up close and took some adorable photos. We then got to have a delicious Chinese-style lunch. Next we went into the new enclosures, to be opened in a few weeks. We then helped prepare the enclosures for the pandas to live in. Following this, we watched a documentary about the efforts the Chinese government and the conservation centre have put in to the redistribution of giant pandas to the wild. The documentary taught us about the life of the panda from birth in captivity, to hopefully being let out into the wild. The new information presented to us was enough for all in the China group to know how much blood and sweat had been put into the resurrection of the giant panda species and to learn about the impact of our work done at the conservation centre. It was interesting yet sad to see the past attempts of putting captive born pandas into the wild, despite the organisation recently being successful in their goal. Once we got back to the hotel after a short break, we all went out for hot pot dinner. This was a different yet delicious and extremely fun way to eat. A great way to end an already perfect day.

Yvette and Ollie

Note from Alan Scott: When last I travelled to Wolong, it was a few months before the devastating earthquake of 2008. The road infrastructure was so poor, that it took the bus almost 9 hours to get there from Chengdu. Today’s trip, by comparison, took 3 hours, and the prevalence of lengthy tunnels through the mountains was quite staggering. One tunnel alone was over 5 km long. All of these tunnels affording access to Wolong have been constructed since the earthquake. They are large enough for military transport to more quickly access areas potentially affected by natural disasters.

Australia – Day 2: Goodbye Darwin, hello Warruwi!

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After a good nights sleep, we woke up and ate breakfast at the buffet bar at the hotel. Everyone, despite the heat, was feeling really good and excited to come to Warruwi. We quickly packed up our hotel rooms and caught the bus back to Darwin airport. This time, instead of entering the main terminal, we entered a smaller lounge area for private airplane companies. 

We boarded 3 small jets, 2 holding around 10 people and another holding only 6 people. Taking off and flying was very different to what we are used to, but this was all worth it once we were in the air. We were flying closer to ground, making it much easier for us to see smaller details of the beautiful land forms of Northern Australia. As we were flying over some of the mangroves and swamps on the islands, we saw some crocodiles. After about an hour, we could see South Goulburn Island approaching! This is when some of us started to truly understand how small and isolated the community is. There weren’t many houses in sight and most of the land was covered in trees and red dust. As we landed on the airstrip that was about as long as the island was wide, we could feel the anticipation and excitement building up inside us as we got closer to the Warruwi community. As we all got off the planes, we were hit by a warm sea breeze, something most us have missed from cold Melbourne. We were quite surprised by the Warruwi airport, which comprised of a shack with a picnic bench and an outhouse. 

Even driving the 5 minutes from the airport to the Warruwi school was amazing. Most of the roads were red dirt. We passed the island’s generator, which supplies all electricity to the people and homes of Warruwi. We arrived at the school, welcomed by many of the teachers and students at the school. We received a quick briefing from Ebony, one of the teachers followed by a much appreciated lunch of ham, lettuce and cheese sandwiches.

After a quick break, we were separated into 2 different groups. One group went to play on the basketball courts. There, with some of the Warruwi kids, we played some rounds of knockout followed by a competitive round of golden child. The other group played a few games of Ship Ahoy, which produced lots laughter and friendship. 

Later, after having a play on the basketball courts, we were given a tour by four of the Warruwi students; Gloriana, Hannah, Sarah and Kiera. They first took us on walk behind the school to the beach. The water was very clear. On the beach, there were lots of turtle shells littered around from when the locals hunt. The spines on the insides of the shell were strange. Our tour took us through the main of town, where we saw the police station and medical centre. From there, we ventured a little off course to the recreation centre and gym. There was a very large footy oval to the side. On the building was a map of South Goulburn Island, where we could see where the school, bottle rock and other beaches. This really gave us a glimpse into rural life in Australia, something very different from our suburban lives. 

And tonight, after dinner we will be putting on our dancing shoes and going to the Youth Group Traditional Ceremony! 💃🕺

Love,

Elise and Benny on behalf of the Australia Group 🇦🇺🐢

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TLC Pagodas – In transit

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We have all safely arrived in Bangkok for a 2 hour stopover before our connecting flight to Chiang Mai. It was an extremely smooth flight. Some are sleepy, some are tired, but everyone is excited for the journey.

TLC Temples – Day 1

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Everything started at 8:30 on Saturday night when all of the TLC Temples rocked up to school for the last time in 3 weeks. Moods varied between utter excitement and nervousness as emotional goodbyes were exchanged. With a few tears from both sides we boarded the bus and left for the airport. It felt surreal and dream-like; no one felt like they were actually leaving for the trip of a lifetime. We arrived at the airport at around 9:30 and made our way through check in, customs and immigration. We boarded the plane at 12:00am and even though it was midnight no one was tired as the adrenaline rushed through us. The flight from Melbourne to Bangkok lasted over 9 hours, after a 3 hour stop in Bangkok airport we were ready for another flight to our final destination of the day; Chiang Mai. We stepped out of Chiang Mai airport at 28º, and the heat was felt by everyone, we really felt like we were in Thailand.

After we had arrived in Chiang Mai we travelled by bus to our hotel. We had two local guides with us who discussed some Thai history. It was really cool because they also performed a song to us from the annual water festival that had finished yesterday. After arriving at our hotel and dropping off our bags we hopped on some tuk-tuks. These were amazing and were so much fun to ride and completely different from anything we had experienced before. The tuk-tuks took us around the city then stopped at an old buddhist temple. It was really interesting to be able to go into the temple and see first hand how it worked. At the temple we also learnt lots about the biggest religion in Thailand. Some fun facts we learnt were that 95% of the Thai people are buddhist, there is a different buddha statue posed for everyday of the week. A buddhist male is encouraged to become a monk for at least a week during their life; however, some decide to stay for longer with many living as a monk for a year. I think that overall we all found the temple an enlightening experience.
Later that afternoon the group left for an evening of Thai cooking classes. We travelled for 45 minutes into the countryside where we arrived at a farm. Here we split into 3 cooking groups and moved off with a different instructor. We walked around the farm finding, smelling and tasting all of the fresh herbs, spices, fruits and vegetables that we would be using in the cooking. These ranged from everyday coriander to galangal which is a Thai ginger. After this we got to start cooking. We made 4 dishes each and they were all delicious. We started with a tom yum soup, followed by pad Thai and Thai green curry, finished with mango and sticky rice. Everybody got so involved in the cooking and we all came away with so much more knowledge. We all left with full stomachs and satisfied taste buds. After a tiring bus ride back everyone was eager to get into bed, ready for an early start and another jam packed day tomorrow.

Jess and Ryan.