To: Friends & family of Australia program participants

from: Eric & Tracey

We arrived in Cairns on the Queensland coast this afternoon. With the program winding down, this will be our last group e-mail update before July 31, when some of us head home and others travel more around Australia or to other destinations.

After surnrise and sunset at Uluru (Ayers Rock), two walks around parts of the Rock, sunrise at equally astounding Kata Juta (the Olga mountains) and an early-morning hike into Kata Juta's Mt. Olga Gorge, we went to Alice Springs for sessions at the Central Australian Aborginal Media Association and the Center for Appropriate Technology. CAAMA is the country's largest and best-known indigenous media organization. We were briefed by its director and toured its radio station and documentary and music production studios. CAT works with about 600 remote Aboriginal communities scattered through the bush on designing and implementing low-technology, easy-to-maintain solutions to problems with transportation, sanitation, cooking, water supplies and housing. It also provides training and public education. While at Alice Springs, we hiked at Simpsons Gap and Standley Chasm, two geologically distinct sites (and home to agile wallabies) within West MacDonnell Mountains Natio! nal Park.

From there, it was off to the airport for a three-hour flight and two-hour coach ride to a lodge deep in the Daintree Rainforest. Our formal group activity was a three-hour night nature walk led by naturalists. Many students used their spare time to go horseback riding through the rainforest and a tea plantation, while some were content to laze at the beach. A few hearty souls braved a chilly morning and 5:50 a.m. wakeup to go kayaking on Cow Bay for sunrise and a beachside breakfast.

Now that we're in Cairns, we'll spent Saturday on an all-day crusie to the Great Barrier Reef, with opportunities for snorkeling and scuba diving to enjoy the rich wildlife in this World Heritage site. The students' final academic work is due before the boat leaves -- a descriptive writing assignment based on their Daintree experience, a writing assignment involving spirituality of place and a journal entry about CAAMA or CAT. Then they get a well-deserved two days of R&R, as well as an evening BBQ, before the program comes to a close.

After we return to the States, we'll resume posting writing assignments and the small-group Web assignments on our program Web site at http://australia.jrn.msu.edu (no www).

Finally, congratulations to Corey, Joe & Neerja who officially graduate at the end of the summer semester.