The Royal National Park

 

             Why am I writing this blog? 

              

 Australia. This is an amazing country, with beautiful beaches, very distinct animals and great landscapes, which I am being lucky enough to visit. Additionally, as I am undertaking the unit "Learning in Outdoor Education", I was proposed to write a blog commenting and thinking about the experience I had, when visiting some places such as The Royal National park.

In this sense, I hope that somehow I can help people who read this blog to think about learning by outdoor activities process, or even to learn some new things about Australia and its great environment. I would like to point that this is my first blog, so it is being a great opportunity to learn something new and also a challenging task at the same time.

First things first!

Before start talking about my experience when I visited the park, I would like to present some information about the place, providing some historical facts and. of course, show some photos for you to know a little bit better about this really pretty park.

According to the website www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au, the park was established 1879 with 16,000ha of extension, being considered the second-oldest park in the world. It is also important so say that you have the chance to see a considerable range of Aboriginal sites and artefacts during your visit, besides this, you can see a diverse amount of different species of birds, amphibians and reptiles, as well.

.  

My experience

            After this little introduction, I will finally start writing about my own experience and the things I learned in this one-day trip.

The first notable fact is that, unfortunately, I missed the bus and as a consequence, I was not able to go in the same bus as the other students. To explain better, for some reason the alarm I set up in the night before, did not ring and that is why I ended up missing the bus. However, based on this fact, I could understand better some principles of John Dewey's theory about experimental learning cycles.

One of the basis of the theory states that "Experiential Learning Cycles treat the learner's subjective experience as of critical importance in the learning process", which was exactly what happened to me that day. Once after this experience, I will surely be much more careful to prevent that something similar occur a second time. In other words, the fact that for some mistake, I missed the bus for a trip that I really would like to go, will certainly make me to be more aware next time, in order not to allow this situation to happen again.

            

After I realised I could not get the bus with the rest of the group anymore, I almost gave up of going to Royal National Park. However, I went to the train station and got into the train in order to go to this place that I am so thankful to have visited.

At this point of the day, I knew it would be impossible to meet the other students when I arrive in the park, since it is so huge. In this sense, I needed to come up with a new plan and organize my own trip.  The map bellow help me to explain which way I use to get into the park.

 I went out of the train at Cronulla station to get a ferry to go to Bundeena. When I was waiting for the ferry, I ended up meting a very friendly Australian man called Danniel. Furthermore, we talked for the all the waiting time and I he introduced me to his friend called Ray, which invited me to come along with them and spend the day together. Based on that, I can say this was a unexpected thing and, even though I did not know them before, I surely would like to make a new friendship and explore the park with my new friends. 

The first photo bellow shows Ray and the second one shows Danniel.

Ray

Danniel

At this point, there is one more aspect of the experimental learning cycles theory that I consider important to emphasize. Because firstly I was alone for the trip, but in a unexpected way I met two guys who became my friends and made my day totally different than I was expecting. In this sense, the analysed theory argues that "It is the teacher's responsibility to structure and organize a series of experiences which positively influence each individual's potential future experiences (Dewey, 1938/1997)". In other words, it is being said that positive experiences tend to encourage the learner to take risks and be more opened to try different situations, which was exactly what happened to me, since after the commented experience, I feel more confident to go to unknown places and meet different people. 

An outstanding place!

          

            In this field trip, I saw several things that I did not expect to see. For example, I had the chance to see some Aboriginal artwork made 20,000 years ago. 

Kangaroo

Turtle

           

Whale

              As it is shown on the pictures, it is possible to see animals such as kangaroo, turtle and even a whale (even though the picture does not show it very clearly) respectively. Additionally, I did not have much interest about such things before, but it was also the first time I saw something like this with my own eyes, which surely made the experience very different and much more exciting.

        Besides the rock artwork, there was a lot more great views to enjoy at Royal National Park. To explain better, the water is so clear that you always can see the rocks or sand that stay below.

        In addition, the landscape as a mix of the blue sky, the very clear water and the vegetation provides an awesome view to the visitors. 

       


           To summarize, this was a really good experience. I am sure that I learned some important things in that day- such as be more confident when meeting new people and exploring new places. Additionally, I also discovered new topics that I could be interested such as the artwork done by the Australian Aboriginals. Furthermore, I could get in touch and learn more about experimental learning cycles when I was researching to write this blog, which I believe to be one important topic for this course. To make the trip even better, there were so many nice spots and landscapes to see at the Royal National Park as I commented through the blog.

       To finish this post, I made a video about what I have experienced, the things I have learned and what has changed since that day.