Even though I arrived in Australia a day later then planned, I still had a great time! We had some very cool experiences on this trip like going to an AFL game, a Rugby game, a tour of the Sydney Opera House, and snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef.
Thank you to Professor Burton and Barb for this great trip that everyone enjoyed!
- Eli S.
Today we went to Fitzroy island. We woke up really early at 7:45 because we had to be on the boat at 8:30 and we walked to the marina. The boat we took also took some people snorkeling so we were just one of the stops. The boat ride there was very bumpy and they told us that it would be. Today was our first free day in Cairns and our last free day in Australia. As a group we started the day by walking over to the ferry terminal and hopped onto the ferry to Fitzroy Island.
The ferry was a smooth ride and was 45 minutes long. When we got to the island the group all split up. Preston, Eli, Sam and Gray went paddle boarding. Jack, Cami, Jules and Morgen went on a hike towards the lighthouse. And the two of us went to get food at drinks at the cafe on the island.
Around 11:30 the whole group met at the cafe and all got lunch together. After lunch we made our way over to the beach. We took the 45 minute hike to Nudey beach where we went in the water, tanned, napped and went on a walk to find shells and other things that washed up from the ocean. On this walk we also found very cool pieces of coral.
We took a long walk back through the trees in order to go to the boat and we waited around 20 minutes for the boat, and I am personally afraid of snakes so I was scared that a snake was going to appear because thats what happened when we stood in that area when we first got on the island, so I made everyone crowd around in a circle to protect me. We got on the boat and had a smooth ride back to the marina, then walked back to the hotel.
We all showered and then got ready for our last dinner together. We went to a pizza place and we got different types of pizza and we all shared and reflected on the trip while sharing our favorite memories and laughing at our new inside jokes.
After dinner we walked to the water and took photos together as a group as a final goodbye. Professor and his wife walked away from us and everyone watched them walk into the sunset, as it symbolized that the trip was over. We walked around a little more and said our final goodbyes to each other and told each other how happy we were that we met each other on this trip, and how much fun we had together. Then we all went back to our rooms and did the last minute packing, then went to sleep because we all had early flights to catch.
-Sarah P. and Marni N.
Waterfalls - Day 17 (06/17/2022)
The day started off with the girls grabbing a fast breakfast. We got croissants, omelettes and granola bowls. We then met by the lobby and we broke up into two cars, the girls went with Mrs. Burton and the guys with professor Burton. We drove for about one hour and got to Babinda Bakery where we stoped to get some pastries. They had all types of pies, cookies, and cakes that looked delicious.
We decided to try the m&m’s cookies that were very good, others got pies and said they really enjoyed them. We then made our way to Babinda falls, it was pretty cloudy so only Sarah and Jules got in the water.
After Josephine falls we wanted to try the skywalk which seemed pretty fun because it included trails where you got close to different waterfalls. We got confused because we were using a map and ended up driving to Paronella park. When we got there we realized the skywalk was not here and we needed to drive about 30 minutes the other way and it took about 1 hour and a half to complete the trail so we decided to visit Millaa Millaa waterfall which is one of the most famous one’s in Cairns. It was a fifty minute drive, but it was worth it because when we got there there was this massive fall coming down and below it you were able to swim. It was still pretty cloudy and the water was cold but Sam, Preston, Morgen, Jules, Marni, and Sarah got in and even went behind the waterfall.

It was time for lunch so we drove to Malanda to get some lunch. We found a small cafe where we decided to get something quick. Most people got burgers with fries or fish sandwiches. They came out pretty quickly and we were good to head to the last waterfall of the day. This one was called Malanda waterfall. This last one was strange because it was shorter than the others but longer and it came down to like a pool. No one got in because we needed to start heading back before it got really dark.
Finally professor Burton wanted to show us the Cathedral Fig Tree which is about 500 years old. This tree was impressive it had like aerial roots that dropped down to the floor and seem to form like a curtain. We were all very impressed but got back to the car to drive back to the hotel.
After an hour and a half drive we made it back to the hotel. Most of us decided to shower and go out for dinner. We went to a Korean bbq place where most of us ordered beef and cooked it on the grill. After that we got gelato and ended the day by going back to the hotel to sleep.
-Cami.
Our day today started at 8:45 AM with a walk to CQ university for our first lecture of the day from Dr. Glen Deakin on the Australian Aborigines and the importance of taking care of your body as an athlete. The Australian Aborigines have a lower life expectancy due to the remote nature of their culture, which included being further away from modern medicine. Australians prioritize physical health and exercise for people of all ages, while in the US sports mostly stop after the youth level. Some of the difficult living conditions for the Aborigines include the distance between populous areas. Whereas in the US you can drive between towns, the Aborigines have to fly helicopters to travel similar distances. Australia is also similar in size to the US, but the terrain is much more difficult, creating the population discrepancy. Similar to the major US sports teams, the major Australian leagues set up Aboriginal camps to try and find the next big athlete and face of the league.
The next presentation from Dr. Deakin was on the importance of cooling down after intense workouts. What you put into your body and how you treat it is as important as the training athletes do. The type of temperature you put your body in after a workout is extremely important. Athletes should try to be in the AC or cold baths after an intense workout. Dr. Deakin wrapped up the presentation by talking about how most workouts should be different and tailored to the specific athlete, weather, and altitude. Our next presenter was a motivational speaker, Mr. Paul Hockey. Mr. Hockey lost his right arm as a newborn and never let it stop him from achieving whatever he wanted. Whether it was karate, riding his motorcycle, or climbing Mount Everest he accomplished it all with only one arm. Mr. Hockey preached the importance of understanding the importance of one's perception and attitude. If Mr. Hockey had just accepted what other people thought or their attitudes towards him; he would have let his disability stop him from accomplishing his goals.
After the lectures, we had what was one of the highlights of the trip for me, visiting the Cairns Taipans basketball team’s practice facility. We started by walking through a hallway with pictures of the team award winners of the past 20 years consisting of many popular American college basketball players. Next, we had a presentation from media marketing manager Jasmine Amis. The presentation started with a background of the team and the players that have played for the program, most notably NBA champion Torrey Craig. The most recent signing for the Taipans is Miami's Sam Waardenburg, an enemy of Syracuse’s basketball team, and someone most of us have seen play live multiple times. The Taipans are the only professional sports team in all of Cairns, which is a warmer climate and a tourist hot spot. The entire front office department of the Taipans consists of only 7 people and they mostly work with the players. This is the complete opposite of the NBA where the front office staff completely outnumber the player staff. Each member of the Taipans front office has to be extremely versatile and take on multiple tasks simultaneously. Next, we had a presentation from Kerry Willaims on his career and hearing about all the giving back the Taipans do to the community. Kerry Williams is a former Taipans player that grew up in the Cairns area and understood the team's community and fans better than almost anyone. The Aboriginal Australian culture is extremely important to the Taipans and their surrounding community, one specific item is the custom Aboriginal jerseys. These jerseys incorporated original Aboriginal artwork and are used to raise awareness. After the presentations, I got the chance to watch some of the Taipans practice with coach Adam Forde and even got to participate in some of the drills. We then had our mini scrimmage after the players were done with the court. As a long-time former basketball player, I had a really good time getting to play on the NBL practice court. Professor Burton and Kerry Williams led one team with the girls and the guys were on the other team. Scoring on Professor Burton and Kerry was fun and the game got competitive even with the skill not being up to that of the NBL. Once we were all too tired from the game we went back upstairs to watch a documentary on Nathan Jawai, the first Aboriginal Australian to play in the NBA. We had exciting dinner plans, having booked a dinner cruise in the Cairns harbor. It was a calm ending to a fun and interesting day.
Today was probably the most anticipated day of the entire trip, at least for me it definitely was. We woke up and met outside bright and early at 7:20am to catch a bus down to the Cairns marina to make our journey out to the Great Barrier Reef. One of the seven wonders of the world (as we learned), the reef is home to almost 3,000 different reefs, and about 900 islands that all take up about 345,000 square kilometers of the ocean. We were greeted by the friendly crew and filled out our paperwork to make sure we were safe to dive and/or snorkel.
Once everyone was boarded, we were introduced to James, one of the lead divers on the crew. He gave us an overview of the day as we started to leave the dock and head out of the marina. We were then introduced to Santiago, another lead diver on the crew, and he gave us a run down of the groups, our safety numbers, important signs and hand motions to know when out at sea, and anything else we would need to know to dive. We went over the four basic rules of diving: 1) breathe 2) equalize (so the pressure doesn't hurt your ears), 3) don't leave your guide, 4) how to clear water from your mask/regulator. There was tea and coffee and breakfast sandwiches for us before the boat kicked into high gear. After everyone was settled and ate, we met the marine biologist on the crew, who educated us about the reef, the sea life we might see, and what to expect when interacting with the reef. The boat ride out to the reef was about an hour and a half, and we got to watch the mountains of Cairns slowly fade away as we got farther and farther from land. Once we got to the reef we were going to be diving at, the Norman reef, we got called out by our groups to go get into our gear, and our group just so happened to be going first. We were given wetsuits (properly known as sting suits), flippers, and goggles w/ a snorkel attached. As the anxiousness surrounding diving built up, one by one the group was dropping out of actually diving, but four brave souls (and one certified scuba diver) gave it a try: Jules, Cami, Marni, Preston, and Morgen. The rest of the group went out to snorkel with Mrs. Burton, who showed them around the reef while the rest were about 30-40m down. The girls went first:
Our first full day in Cairns was filled with dangerous animals and dangerous jumps. After a brutally long travel day that started at 4am yesterday, our day didn’t start until 10;30 this morning. We hopped on a bus and headed on an hour bus ride to the zoo. We have been told from the start of the trip that we would get to hold a koala in Cairns and I think everyone and their parents were excited for this day. When we got to the zoo we wasted no time and got right in line for the koala. I was the last person in our group to go so I got to see everyone else hold the koala and get their pictures taken. The anticipation built up and it was finally my time to hold the stuff-animal-like creature. The little girl koala was incredibly friendly and sat calmly on my arm as my massive smile covered my face.
While Jules may have wanted to take the koala with us, our trip to the zoo moved on to the kangaroos, where we were quickly approached by the biggest kangaroo of the bunch. I took a fast step back because I had heard all the stories of the boxing kangaroos, and I wasn’t going to be the next victim. Turns out this guy wasn’t trying to fight me, he just wanted to say hi and was a remarkably cool fella. I fed him and took some very cool photos with him and some of the other kangaroos in the field. The rest of the trip to the zoo revolved around one thing, Crocodiles. I don’t think I have ever seen an alligator or crocodile, in person, before today and now I think I have had enough of the modern-day dinosaur-like creatures. We saw the man-made swamps that the adult crocodiles live in, as we drove through the swamp in a boxed-in boat. These things were flinging themselves out of the water trying to catch their lunch and thirty members of the boat looked on in awe. The bite force of the crocodile was so loud it could probably be heard from 100 meters(we are in Australia) away. After the boat trip, we saw the pen where baby crocs are farmed, for their skin and meat. Around fifty crocodiles were just lying there in the cage right in front of us, as we were explained the process of crocodile farming has resulted in the revival of the almost extinct animal. Another highlight was seeing the crocodile demonstration that the zoo puts on where we saw a man spend upwards of thirty minutes in the same pen as the crocodile as we learned even more about the absolute tank of an animal. A few members of the group even tried some crocodiles for lunch, if that gives you an idea of the kind of place we were at.
After the zoo, the group ventured to the Crystal Cascades and took a short hike to a local swimming hole. While it may come as a surprise, the first person in the water was Professor Burton, yep the professor on the trip jumped head first off the face of the rock into the beautiful river. After seeing this, it wasn’t more than ten seconds until I joined him in the water as I jumped in doing a cannonball. This was one of the cooler local spots you will find in the Cairns area and a perfect place to relax for the afternoon. Not everyone in the group went in, but those of us who did were able to do amazing flips of the rocks facade and swim under a waterfall. It was easily one of the coolest parts of the trip and I had an absolute blast jumping into the warm freshwater river, especially because I knew there were no crocodiles.
The group then split up for the rest of the day and found local dinner spots around Cairns and tried some more local meats, this time it was a kangaroo. Today was filled with some big splashes, many crocodiles, kangaroos, and koalas. So exactly what an American would picture when they think of the land down under. We now go to sleep knowing tomorrow we will see one of the natural phenomena of the world, the Great Barrier Reef.
Today was not only a free day but also our final day in Sydney. We decided that all ten of us would go on a day trip together and agreed on a trip to the Blue Mountains with a couple of stops along the way.
After about an hour on the bus and a quick power nap from most, we arrived at our first pit stop; the Featherdale Wildlife Park. This was a highly anticipated stop as it featured some animals we had been waiting for the entire trip to see. Specifically, this was our first encounter with koalas and kangaroos. If the trip had just ended here, I don't think anybody would have been mad. Everybody was filling up their camera rolls with pictures of all the native Australian animals, while a few were plotting to bring a koala home with them. We were also able to see some other animals such as penguins, cassowaries, wallabies, and some familiar animals such as goats as well. The openness of the park and the ability to pet and interact with so many of the animals was a fantastic experience and a great first stop.
After a nice brunch with the Burtons, we all had free time before our next activity, a major league rugby (MLR) game. Some went back to the hotel to cheer on the Celtics in the Finals, others chose to relax, and I decided to go to the famous Manly Beach with Eli, Sam, and Gray. We took the speed ferry over and arrived at Manly Beach. The street leading up to the beach was packed with shops and pedestrian-only. After exploring the shops (and buying a few shirts), we walked to the rocks and took in the amazing view.
After taking in the view, Sam and I decided to swim a bit before saying goodbye to Manly Beach. After taking an Uber back, we met up with the rest of the group to go to the NRL game at the Sydney Cricket Grounds. After taking the tram over, we watched the Sydney Roosters square off against the Melbourne Storm. The pre-game graphics were similar to the US and the atmosphere resembled that of American "gridiron" football. A couple students were even infatuated by the players as they were introduced. After initially being confused, we started to figure out the rules of the game as we froze in the cold Sydney winter weather. The game ended 26-18 with the visiting Storm winning. To cap off the night, Barb bought us all donuts before we headed back to the hotel.
We started off our day by heading back to UTS with Professor Adair. We watched the movie Sherpa, which shared the experiences of the Mount Everest Sherpa community following a deadly avalanche that killed 16 in 2014. As a class we noticed some parallels between the treatment of the Sherpas and the treatment of the indigenous of Australia.
Following our visit with Professor Adair at UTS it was lunch time! Everyone broke off and explored China Town. I ended up getting a duck with rice dish. We headed towards Circle Quay following lunch.
After lunch we got on a cruise through the Sydney Harbor. From the water we saw the Opera House, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and more!
I started the day by waking up on the early side to get breakfast with the girls on the trip. Marni, Jules, Cami and I went to a cute Cafe that was about a 5 minute walk away from the hotel. We then met up with the rest of the group in the hotel lobby and walked over to the train station and got on an hour long train to Cronulla Beach.
Our first stop of the day was a typical Aussie beach side community. When we got off the train at our stop the beach was only two blocks away. We went straight to the beach and walked around the rocks exploring the area. Pictured above is Jack and Marni walking on the rocks and all of the girls posed in front of the ocean. I then got changed and went into the ocean with some of the other students. The ocean water today was cold but not as cold as the Bondi Beach pool.
We then took the train one stop and walked to the Points Bet Stadium, home Cronulla Sharks NRL Club. We got a tour of their facilities including both the home and visitors locker rooms. After the tour we got the opportunity to talk to three women on their team. As a woman in the sports industry it was amazing to be able to hard from such influential women who are paving the way for our future in the industry.
Today I woke up at 9 am because I had to be downstairs in the hotel lobby at 9:15. After the group met at 9:15 we made our way over to UTS (University of Technology Sydney) to meet with Dr. Craig Longman, a Lawyer. We went up to the 17th floor and sat down at a circle table and at our seat, there were piles of paper in front of us. Looking at these photos at first I was very intimidated, but once the professor started talking to us, the papers made sense and went along with his talking points. The topic of today's lecture was Lawyering for Change: Deploying law with First Nations in Australia. We started learning about all of the hardships and the trouble that the indigenous people of Australia have gone through and have continued to go through. Dr. Longman was telling us about how they got their land taken away from them and how they are treated horribly by the police and the legal system. Dr. Longman is a lawyer for them and wants to fight for their rights and fight against the implicit bias that is against the aboriginal people. It was really sad and hard to hear. A lot of the aboriginal children are taken away from them because the parent's arent seemed fit to take care of their children which is simply not true. We also then learned about cases of three children who were killed by a serial killer and the police did nothing about it because they did not believe the abrigionals. It was super hard to hear all of this because I do not think that a lot of us were expecting to dig so deep like this on our trip to Australia. This to me was such an eye-opening experience because Australia is not just kangaroos and koalas, there is a lot that is happening that needs to be fixed. After hearing all of this, the group had to take a minute and digest what we just heard so we ended up taking a coffee break in the middle of the session to debrief and process what we just heard. When we went back up to the classroom, we then got into the topic of gun violence in the United States and a lot of the group spoke their mind about how they feel about it and how it is a scary thing that is going on in America. Although they do not have this problem in Australia, we also learned about the protests that took place outside the town hall in Australia in 2020 when the George Floyd killing happened in America Another professor by the name of Dr. Paddy Gibson came and taught us about taking action. It was so fascinating to see how many people showed up to the town hall protest in Australia about it with Black Lives Matter signs and more. This protest was not approved at first because it was breaking COVID-19 laws, but after so many people showed up anyway, it got approved because the government did not want to look powerless. This whole meeting was very powerful and it definitely bonded us as a group because it was very emotional and hard to talk about and listen to. My main takeaway was that our generation needs to speak up and take action because that will cause change.
After our very powerful meeting with Dr. Longman we got lunch inside of that building and then we all sat outside as a group and ate lunch on the steps because it was very sunny outside and the sunshine felt so good. Lunch was pretty quiet because a lot of us were still processing about what we had just learned. I had a salad for lunch. We then walked over to meet with our next teacher, Dr. Andrew Novack. This presentation was supposed to be about E-sports but since the group was so emotionally drained it is really hard to go from talking about real problems in the world that are going on right now then transferring right to sports. So, this presentation was really diving in deep into the history of Australia, their people, their exports, and more. It was interesting to learn more about the history of their land, their health system, and the animals they have. At the end, we did a Q and A and got to ask about anything and everything relating to Australia. My question was what is the one thing we should do before we left Sydney and the professor's response was the bridge climb. I looked into the bridge climb but it was booked for the time we were in Sydney. After the Q and A was over around 4:30 we walked back to the hotel.
We all got ready for dinner and headed by tram to a rooftop place. We outside and the views of Sydney from the rooftop were breathtaking. The food was really good and after we all finished our dinner we headed to the Sydney Opera house because vivid, which is a light show was taking place. The opera house was lit up with all the different designs they kept switching. It was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen, I loved all the vibrant colors that were projecting. After we watched the lights, we walked around the harbor and got ice cream, and then made our way back to the hotel by tram. Overall, the day was really hard and emotional for the whole group but it was conversations that needed to happen and realities that needed to be faced and talked about.
Sydney Arrival (06/07/2022, Day 5)
We woke up at 4:30 to meet downstairs with the group so we could head to the airport to get to Sydney. We got something to eat there, most of us got breakfast sandwiches and then we headed to the gate. We got picked up at the airport and drove around for a bit until we got to the lookout of the Opera house. Even though everyone came with high expectations it blew our minds.
We got back on the coach and headed to Bondi beach. Once we got there we got lunch, we were all excited to get down and swim. We quickly changed and headed down, first Jules, Morgen and Sam went into the ocean with Tom while Preston, Sarah, and Marni jumped into the pool. It was freezing so we got out pretty quickly. After that Preston and I jumped into the ocean where surprisingly the water was warmer. We stayed in there for a while and when most of us got out we headed to the sauna. It felt so good to be warm again. We quickly showered and changed and went on a walk through the beach. When we got to the end we went over to the street and explored the stores.
We met with the Burton’s and headed back to the hotel to check in. We passed underneath the bridge and stopped there to take some pictures. After that we just headed to the hotel to check in and get dinner. We were all pretty tired from the great day we had.
Cami.
My day started at 9:30 AM and I hurried to get ready, dressing nicely before we went out for the day. We had an important day meeting two different CEOs and dressed business casual for these meetings. We made our way to the tram station at 10 AM and waited for the public transit to stop for us. In Melbourne, the majority of travel is extremely easy and free for the public, something I had previously not been used to. Being the Boston sports fan that I am, I attempted to stream Game 2 of the Celtics/Warriors NBA finals. Of course, when my favorite teams are in the NBA finals I'm abroad and the normal tip-off time is 10 am versus the usual 8 pm. Eventually, we made it onto the tram and were on our way to a self-guided museum tour. We made it to the museum at 11 AM leaving only an hour to explore. Here we were able to observe the story of Aboriginal Victoria from the time of Creation to today and learn more about the different history, culture, achievements, and survival of Victoria’s Aboriginal people. Aboriginal Australians have experienced a very difficult history. They have faced relocation, abuse, captivity, and unequal rights. Australia is constantly working on improving equality and tolerance to help honor the first nations of the continent. The museum was packed. I had never seen so many little kids in such a small area running around, which made it difficult to get to every exhibit. Something I found really interesting about the museum is that there are 250 distinct language groups spread throughout Australia. Once it was 12 o’clock and time to leave the museum we had an hour to get lunch and meet at a hotel to walk to our next stop for the day. Next, we had a presentation from Mr. John Tripodi, CEO of Twenty3 Sport and Entertainment. Twenty3 is a sports marketing agency with a focus on sports, entertainment, media, fashion, and retail. Mr. Tripodi worked important jobs with both Mars Inc. and the L’oreal group, so leaving all that to create Twenty3 was a big risk. He always knew he wanted to work in sports and took his chance with the economic decline in Australia he doubled down and built a successful company. Twenty3 helps their clients maximize high-value opportunities in sport and entertainment. Twenty3 usually has dome involvement with most of the important sports and entertainment events in Melbourne. Twenty3 is given a task by a client and uses creativity to solve problems and meet these goals. An extremely insightful PowerPoint was shared with us where we learned a lot more about sports marketing and entertainment, as well as Melbourne as a whole. After this, we hustled to get into taxis and were on our way to the next speaker, Mr. Ruffy Geminder a, Syracuse alumni and chairman of PACT. We walked into this class as a group of Sports Management and Analytics majors expecting a sports lecture. I had no idea going into this speaker that we were going to be talking about a packaging company. Mr. Geminder is a true professional in his field. Something I particularly found interesting about this lecture was downward industries such as cigarettes and packaging and how they’re moving away from their normal traditions because of the social repercussions to health and the environment. I knew nothing about the packaging industry and left this meeting with a good understanding of the industry, problems and solutions, future, and how it relates to sports. After the speaker we took the train back to the hotel and went to a local Thai food place that was recommended and everyone had a good meal.
-Jack H.
Today was day three and it was our free day in Melbourne. The group split up a bit and explored their own interests in the city:
Morgen and Preston went on the Great Ocean Road tour. They departed from the hotel pretty early in the morning and made their way along the three coasts: the surfing, green, and shipwreck coasts. They saw the 12 Apostles, which is a famous rock statue, visited a bunch of different beaches, and even had the first koala sighting of the trip.
Juliana, Marni, Jack, Sarah, Eli, and Sam found some breakfast and then explored the city a bit. They took the tram to a bunch of different shops and local places to eat, and even went to experience the Melbourne Ice Bar. They were fitted with a large insulated puffer jacket with a hood and gloves, and went into a cafe completely made of ice. There were sculptures, seats, and games to play. Unfortunately, phones were not allowed because of the temperature :(
Cami went on an early morning run and then explored St.Kilda’s & Brighton Beach where she saw the famous bathing boxes and a beautiful view of the Melbourne city skyline.
Gray went to another AFL game at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. He saw his mom’s favorite team, Hawthorn, take on Collingwood.
Most of the group met up to go to the Eureka SkyDeck to see the city lights from the tallest point in the city, taller than the Empire State Building.
Everyone joined up for dinner later on in the night at a restaurant called Arbory Afloat, a small restaurant on the river where the group met some local Australians and talked about school in the U.S. vs. Australia, as well as the different sports we all know and what teams we root for.
That pretty much was the end of our third day in Australia, and it’s safe to say we all were pretty tired by the end of our day exploring our first city ☺️
- Juliana DiCenso
