My two week volunteer experience was really an amazing journey. The only thing we knew before we arrived was that we were going to Brisbane to be a “Conservation Volunteer.” We didn’t know where we exactly we were going or what we were going to do, but it made us very curious and excited.
I love animals and nature and that’s why I chose to try volunteering in Australia at the Australian Conservation Experience project. At first I thought that all we would do is take care of animals, but when we arrived our program coordinator said, “The animals don’t need human affection, what they really need from us it to keep the environment clean!” That’s what’s best for them; that way they can live happily in nature.
What we did for those two weeks was not so easy but it was truly meaningful. What I liked most about volunteering was getting to work in a unique environment that you wouldn’t have the chance to experience unless you were a volunteer. Most of the places we worked were deep in the mountains; so beautiful. Everyday we worked about five hours and the leaders would show us some beautiful and amazing places to visit on our time off.
During the second week we got to go “glamping” for four days! Not only was the camp big, but you also got your own fold-up bed – pretty cool! We could see some amazing stars from the camp site. We’d spend each night chatting with the other volunteers and playing games. It was so nice to meet people from all over the world and have fun with them.
For meals we cook for each others in turns. So every night everyone cooked a meal from their own culture for the other volunteers to try. I am from Taiwan so I cooked traditional Taiwanese food for everyone (I was so happy that people liked it very much!) And we tried Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Swiss and American. It’s awesome to get to know each other with food! Delicious!
Also, we saw some beautiful animals on the road, I loved the possums the most, they are just so cute!!!
It was a truly pleasant two week experience! Be prepared to be tired, but also be ready to have an incredible time!
