AMEP EXCURSION TO SYMBIO

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Last Thursday, all of our AMEP students went to Symbio Wildlife Park. We gathered together at 9:15 AM in the Students Association and departed at around 9:30 AM. After half a hour ride to the south of Sydney, we arrived in Symbio Wildlife Park. Fortunately, the weather was cloudy but no rain.

Then, we started to see and interact with the wild animals. There are more than 30 kinds of animals, including reptiles, marsupials, mammals and birds. There are lots of native Australian unique wildlife, like koalas, kangaroos , wombats, tassie devils, emus, dingoes. Some of them are marsupials, like koalas, kangaroos and wombats. There are also some interesting animals from other continents, like the Alpaca from South America, red panda and Sumatran tiger from Asia.

We were lucky to see a peacock opening its tail. It was so beautiful. However the tiger was too shy when I got there. I could just see its face. It was the first time I saw dingoes. They looked gentle and quiet. They were just like your dogs at home. Can you imagine that this friendly dog can hurt people and bite a human baby?

There was also a wildlife show. The staff talked about the life of koalas, snakes and possums. You can even touch them. I was scared of the snake and I just looked at the snake from far away. However, the koala and possum were so cute. The koala just ate the gum leaves and fell asleep quickly. The possum was a little nervous because of so many people around it. The bravest animals in the park were chickens. They were walking around here and there. One of the chickens even wanted to jump into our car!!

Another amazing thing was on our way back to school. We went in the wrong direction. However we were lucky to see the beautiful landscape of Wollongong.

It was a wonderful excursion. Thanks a lot for the teachers who took care of us. We will finish our AMEP semester soon. Wish you all the best in the future.

The Royal National Park

The Royal National Park is the second oldest national park in the world, after Yellowstone National Park. It was established in 1879 as “The National Park” and was renamed as “the Royal National Park ” in 1955. The park was added to the Australian National Heritage List in 2006.

The Royal National Park is located in the south of Sydney and it is only 32 KM from the Sydney CBD. The area is around 150 square KM. So the park is called the 'lungs' of Sydney and residents of Sydney can enjoy themselves in a natural environment. There are mountains, creeks, falls, rivers, beaches, coast and three small towns (Bundeena, Maianbar and Audley) in this park. The view is different depending on the season. Therefore, people can enjoy not only beautiful landscapes, but also lots of activities all year round. Following are the detailed attractions and activities.

Lookouts

There are several lookout places, including Garie, Bola Creek, Governor Game, Bungoona etc. Wattamolla, Garie and Burning Palms are some of the most beautiful beaches in Australia.

Royal Coast Walks

The park has more than 150KM of walking tracks. Royal Coast Walks can guide you on single or multi day walks. Another walk from Bundeea to Jibbon can bring you to view Aboriginal rock carvings.

Historic Audley Boatshed

You can hire row boats, canoes, kayaks, aqua bikes there and share the river with wild ducks.

Camping

Bonnie Vale Camping Area provides basic facilities. For camping in other places, you will need permission to ensure your safety.

Ferry Cruises

Taking a ferry from Bundeena to Cronulla is a different way to explore the beautiful view in the park.

Other activities, like swimming, surfing, fishing, picnicking, cycling, bushwalking and nature study are also popular in the park.

The Royal National Park is a pleasure ground and natural paradise. This oldest national park in Australia can offer you a fresh and memorable experience.

Posture

Posture is the way you sit and walk. A good posture is to keep your back straight and head up.  If you don't do this, you will have a bad posture and you will slouch. It is important to keep a good posture because it is good for your health. A bad posture may cause an unmovable pain in the back or the neck because the spine is pressured.

Nowadays,  the posture of some kids has been getting worse because they spend a lot of time with new technology, like computers, mobile phones and video games. When they use these modern things, they usually have bad posture, like hunching and moving forward. This bad posture can effect the spine badly.

So a bad posture might be comfortable at the time, but it will give you more pain in the future. To stop bad posture, the easiest and most important thing you can do is to limit the amount of time you spend hunched over a keyboard and be active as often as you can.