After an amazing month in Sydney I am finally home. Before I went to Sydney I was nervous, excited and hopeful of my time there. Meeting so many people from all around the world was a thought that both scared me and enthralled me. To be half way round the world from those I knew and loved back at home did leave me feeling slightly homesick but the welcome we received in Kurri Kurri made me feel like I had a family of my own there.

I and Amith (affectionately known as AJ by our host family) were made to feel very welcome by our hosts. After a 26 hour flight and a 2 hour coach trip our hosts took us in and served up a wonderful roast dinner to us. Our hosts took great care of us and also other people in our group, they really did make our time in Kurri Kurri special.

In Kurri Kurri we were made to feel like guests of honour, even if on our first day we were planting eucalyptus tress and singing to the residents of the local old people’s home. On our first night we were given an Aussie themed barbecue with Australian music and dancing, which by the end of the night had us all on the dance floor.

However, the residents of Kurri Kurri out did themselves the night after with a dinner at the local RSL club followed by an Elvis impersonator whom had us all on the dance floor in a quicker time then the night before, and finished with us all taking part in a conga line around the hall.
On our last day in Kurri Kurri we were taken to one of the many local vineyards, the reason as to why the Hunter Valley region is so famous. There we had a picnic, and were part of a very large group photo with fellow pilgrims from Liverpool and America. After the mega photo some went on a wine tasting session to sample the local produce, whilst others played aqua golf, where by you aim to hit the golf ball into an array of nets situated in a big pond to win prizes.

Then in Sydney, when we all met again at Bondi beach it felt like a large family reunion, it may have only been a few days since we had seen each other but it felt like years and we all had so many stories to tell over the beach and dinner. The walk down towards Bondi at dusk is a memory that I will hold with me for a long time, to see the coast line like that in the twilight of the last minutes of sun was beautiful and to spend it with friends sharing stories of our times in out respective host towns made it all that more special.