Six US high school students have experienced life Down Under – Wyndham style.
The students, from Costa Mesa in California, have spent three weeks at Hoppers Crossing Secondary College, celebrating 10 years of a strong sister city relationship.
But Australia wasn’t all that the Estancia High School students thought it would be.
“I thought I’d be seeing spiders and snakes everywhere, but haven’t seen any,” Lauren said.
“It’s been an absolute incredible experience … everybody has been super nice and welcoming.”
Liam observed that Wyndham was a clean city.
“It’s been really nice – it’s really in the most prime location, close to everything,” he said.
“It’s definitely very culturally diverse and the public transport system is just great.”
Hoppers Crossing Secondary College assistant principal Christine Tipping said 160 students had gone through the exchange program.
The Californian students’ teacher chaperone, Linda Tenno, said her son visited Australia as part of the student exchange program five years ago so she was excited to participate this year.
Some of the highlights for this group of US students were visits to Melbourne CBD, the Great Ocean Road and Otway Ranges and the Hoppers Crossing debutante ball.
They stayed with families in the local area, and all look forward to maintaining the friendships started during their stay in Australia.
They all have plans to return to Australia.
