After all the planning and preparation the wait is finally over. On arrival in Cairns you will be met by our experienced guide at the airport. We will then have a full trip and safety briefing discussing all aspects of your journey. This is a great time to ask any questions you may have about the program. Our first activity starts by heading to a local art gallery to participate in an indigenous art program. We are welcomed by our Aboriginal guide, and learn how the local art reflects the spirituality and ties to land that the Gimuy Wallabura Yidinji Indigenous people are connected to. The painting you do today echoes the unique style of Aboriginal art, and your piece becomes a souvenir to take home. We will then check into our hotel and refresh and head out to enjoy a welcome dinner.

Meals:  D

This morning we wake up for breakfast before we join a local NGO to make hygiene and comfort packs. During this program our local staff will teach you how to make special bags using upcycled materials for us to fill with food and hygiene items to be distributed to people living on the sheet. The packs will be given out to organisations that help the needy including Wheels of Wellness and Queensland Health – Indigenous Health Unit along with Anglicare. During this process we will hear from a local charity on how some members of the Cairns community have become homeless, and how the packs you are making will help in their daily lives. We then have an exciting afternoon adventure in store. The freshwater rivers outside of Cairns are perfect for Tubing. Think clear, shallow waters with some fast runs and fun rapids, set against a backdrop of granite boulders, mossy stones and rain forest trees. You will be provided with high quality, twin chamber Tubes, life jackets and be accompanied by world class professional river guides. Overnight Cairns

Meals:  B,L,D

Today is a special day! This morning after breakfast we transfer to the pristine Fitzroy Island. A fringing coral reef surrounds the island, part of the inner Great Barrier Reef, providing a sheltered home for a wide range of marine life. We join a marine naturalist for a safety briefing and background on the island and its inhabitants before we walk straight into the water to explore the reef system. After some exploration we will join a Coral watch and data collection program along with a reef restoration program, addressing climate change and coral bleaching. The data collected goes to the University of Queensland's Coral watch scientists who analyse the results. All students will receive a graph of their findings. This afternoon we visit the Cairns Turtle Rehabilitation Centre on Fitzroy Island. The CTRC is a volunteer operated, non-profit organisation dedicated to the rehabilitation of sick and injured turtles. The Great Barrier Reef is home to six of the world’s seven species of marine turtles. A number of these are seriously threatened by a diverse range of natural and, more significantly, human induced factors. We will meet some of the volunteers and see hands on the great work being done here. Students are introduced to an activity that has them evaluating the island’s human impacts throughout the day, and are asked to fill in a “report card”. Finally, you learn to measure water quality using chemical tests. We collect these tallies from each group that visits Fitzroy Island so we can log this data, analyze the results over time, and look for any long term trends. All students will then be involved in setting up camp and food preparation as we spend the night camping next to the beach.

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we will join a marine biologist aboard a catamaran on the Great Barrier Reef, a UNESCO listed World Heritage Site and one of the most bio diverse places on the planet! The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometres over an area of approximately 344,400 square kilometres. Our boat will dock at a floating pontoon as we embark on a snorkeling tour with our specialist guides. Our marine biologist will explain about the importance of the reef and its hidden creatures in marine ecosystems. We hope to see a rainbow of hard and soft corals, turtles, butterfly fish, clown fish (think Nemo!), parrot fish and giant Maori Wrasse. We will receive training and join the Eye of the Reef data collection program run by the Great Barrier Reefs Marine Park Authority Rapid Monitoring Team to help maintain and manage the long term sustainability of this special place. Today we can also participate in a semi submarine and glass bottom boat ride, underwater observatory and marine life touch tank. Tonight we return to our hotel in Cairns.

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we rise for breakfast before heading North to the Daintree Rainforest on what is described as one of the most scenic drives in Australia! We stop and toting shovels and gloves, we join a Cairns not for profit organisation helping to plant native trees to revitalize areas that have been degraded by agriculture or development. You planting trees helps to moderate temperature and humidity and to create niches for other plants and animals. The area where you’re working is area is a ‘hotspot’ for biodiversity and your service work here is helping to protect a buffer zone to a World Heritage area. By working with seedlings, digging, propagating plants, planting, and watering today, you get to support these hard working local volunteers, to help the environment and to contribute to the community. We continue north to Mossman Gorge, an area sacred to the Kuku Yalanji people. Here we trace ancient forest pathways alongside a tumbling river as we weave our way through one of the most complex ecosystems on earth, earing about connection to country and how the local people have lived in harmony with the environment for thousands of years. This afternoon we travel to our accommodation located in the Daintree Rainforest at Cape Tribulation. This is a magic area hosting the oldest continually growing rainforest on earth. Overnight Rainforest Lodge

Meals:  B,L,D

After a night of immersion in the rainforest, you wake to birdcalls and the chatter of the jungle. If it is hot we can wake early and walk to the nearby crystal-clear rainforest swimming hole used by locals and a perfect place to cool off. We then head to the award winning Daintree Discovery Centre. This world class interpretive facility that allows you easy access to this unique rainforest wilderness via a boardwalk tour, a 23-metre high Canopy Tower, Aerial Walkway and comprehensive Display Centre. In the company of your guide, we can discover what’s tasty on the Bush Tucker Trail, follow the flight of the brilliant blue Ulysses butterfly, look for the endangered giant cassowary in the underbrush, and learn about why the Idiot Fruit is so important. With a large indoor display area, the latest touch screen technology, audio visual theatre and sweeping, all-weather verandas, the Centre provides easy-to-understand information about one of the most biologically complex spots on the planet and you’ll leave with a greater appreciation of this special place. This afternoon we return to Cairns and have some down time for reflection and relaxation. Tonight the students will choose there own dinner in the main street and will be required to pay for their own meals. Overnight Cairns

Meals:  B,L

The Lamb mountain range overlooks Cairns and provides some of the best hikes in the tropics. Over the next two days we visit two National Parks, Davies Creek and Dinden, to hike and explore this protected area. The parks both support a number of endemic flora and fauna including the rare tapping green eyed frog, the Queensland Maple and the Northern Bettong. Today we will make the drive to Dinden stopping at Kuranda en-route where the students will choose and pay for their own lunch. We continue to Dinden after lunchand on arrival we join a fun scramble hike along and in Davies Creek where you create your own trail. Giant boulders, gentle spillways and hidey holes make this a student favourite. At the end of the “trail” lies a tumbling waterfall that offers a perfect swimming hole. You return to your basecamp in the afternoon and set up your tents and help prepare dinner. Later this afternoon we prepare for tomorrows hike. Overnight camping Dinden National Park

Meals:  B,D

Today we will embark on a hike through the Lambs Head Range. We hike past giant boulders, gentle spillways and waterfalls. The trail will be approximately 6 - 8 km and leads us through a Wet Tropics World Heritage Areas featuring stunning rainforest, open Eucalypt forest, wetlands and mangrove forest. Our trail passes exotic ferns, giant Oriana palms and Orchids. A great team effort is required today as our group work together to reach the summit as a team! Back at camp the students will break camp, clean up the surrounding area and head back to Cairns. Overnight Cairns

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning after breakfast we travel to a property owned by a aquaponics gardener for a hands on look at how to produce organic fruits, herbs, veggies and fish in a sustainable way in your school or backyard. Today is a very hands on experience where you will make your own mini aquaponics system that you can replicate at home of back in your school to produce your own food. We will put our learnings into practise as we make the systems and then donate them to local charities to distribute to the community so they can grow their own produce. Today is a creative exercise that will spark discussion about global themes of agriculture, food security, hunger issues and sustainability. Overnight Cairns

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we rise for breakfast before we head towards Port Douglas to meet with the local Kuku Yalanji peoples. The group will spend the afternoon with the people in this area, exploring their terrain and joining them on a traditional hunting and gathering afternoon. The group will travel with traditional custodian members of the Kuku Yalanji and travel to their traditional homeland on Cooya Beach, an area where the community continue to practice their cultural activities and maintain their cultural heritage. The group will explore and discuss matters of cultural importance in this country and the group will lend their hand to traditional activities including the fishing activity of spear throwing and handling, as it is still practiced here today. The traditional custodians will take the students along Cooya beach as they continue to hunt and gather, observing cultural medicine and food plants. They will collect materials for the communities' families, venturing into the mangroves and onto the mudflats. The group then returns to the community to see Kuku Yalanji artifacts and share rare stories from their traditional land while preparing their daily food for their families. We then bid farewell to our hosts and return to Cairns. Overnight Cairns

Meals:  B,L,D

Today we join the Mandingalbay Yidinji people to explore their country straddling the wet tropics and Great Barrier Reef World Heritage areas and learn about their culture. We join a boat ride across the inlet, past mangroves, and are welcomed to country with a traditional smoke ceremony. We listen to our hosts stories about their spiritual nd cultural connection to country before joining a range of immersion programs and activities including bush tucker, maintaining land with local aboriginal rangers and songlines We will have plenty of time to discuss totems and the protection of animals, native title acts and biodiversity studies as well as spirituality and connection to country. At the end of the day we return to Cairns for our farewell dinner. Overnight Cairns

Meals:  B,L,D

This morning we can rise at leisure and pack our gear before enjoying our last breakfast and transferring to the airport for your flight home to Melbourne.

Meals:  B