Australia Jan 2010 - Liz Hollis

In January 2010, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to attend the ACE (Australian Centenary Event) camp just outside Melbourne, Australia.

On 27th December, around 50 Guides from all over the UK met up at Heathrow airport to fly out to Australia. I was part of the Midlands group and there were 10 of us – one from each county but we soon got to know people from the other regions too.

We arrived in Sydney on Tuesday 29th December and had just under a week to do some sightseeing before going to camp. We climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge, had a tour around the Sydney Opera House, spent a morning at Bondi Beach and did lots of shopping! We were also lucky enough to be in Sydney for New Year’s Eve and the firework display over the Harbour Bridge which was spectacular!

We then took the train to a small town just outside of Melbourne where we stayed the night in a Guide hut before heading to camp in Geelong the next day.

We all had an amazing and unforgettable week with the opportunity to make lots of new friends from around the world and to try new things. There were nearly 2500 Guides at the camp – mostly from Australia and New Zealand but also some from the Americas and countries like Japan and Korea. On Tuesday the whole camp took a trip to Phillip Island to watch wild penguins coming into shore as the sun set and on Wednesday there was an international day when we had the opportunity to find out about different cultures and learn songs and crafts from other countries.

The week at camp seemed to go really fast but afterwards we still had a few days before coming home which we spent in Melbourne. Highlights included visiting the old jail, looking at the views from the Eureka Skydeck and shopping at the Queen Victoria Market.

Overall it was a fantastic trip and one I’ll remember forever and I think the best bit was probably the friends I made and the opportunity to see a beautiful part of the world.

Liz Hollis