Freshman Hunter Reese recently returned from a 21-day stay in Australia with his family to visit his Australian uncle who lives there.  The trip was quite an adventure for Reese and his family, who experienced a different season, a new culture and even had a somewhat close call with an international terrorist incident.

First off, just getting to Australia from Tyrone, Pennsylvania is no easy task.

“Because of the time change, we pretty much time traveled to get there,” said Reese. “It took us about 27 hours.”

Once they got there, Reese’s trip went without incident and the family all had a great time, but one of the most notable things about their trip is what could have happened.

Australia’s first deadly terrorist attack occurred on December 15-16, 2014 when a lone gunman held hostages at the Lindt Chocolate Café located in Sydney, Australia. Two hostages were killed and four others were injured in the attack that was carried out by a member of an Islamic extremist group.

All of this happened just across the street from where Reese and his family ate breakfast just about a week earlier.

“It’s amazing to think that one of the days I was there, I had breakfast in a place across from this one cafe. Five days later, that cafe had a terrorist attack it. My family could have decided to go to the cafe on that day. Luckily, they didn’t,” said Reese.

Fortunately for Reese and his family, they just heard about the attack on the news like everyone else and their trip was otherwise unaffected.

Much of their time in Australia was spent outside because being in the Southern Hemisphere, the seasons in Australia are the opposite of those in the the United States and the rest of the Northern Hemisphere.

Reese left Tyrone in the winter and arrived 27 hours later and a season later in Australia.

“I spent my Christmas in Australia. It’s so different than Christmas [in the U.S.]. When we’re all inside, everyone in Australia is outside swimming. I was in a hot tub on Christmas Day. I’ve never done that before!” said Reese.

During Australia’s summer months, the average temperature is 82 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the mercury often soars high above that.

“I’d say the highest temperature reached while I was there was 115 degrees,” said Reese.

There are many things to do in Australia that Pennsylvanians have no opportunity to do such as surfing, wind-sailing, kite-surfing, and simply heading to the beach.

“I had many first time experiences in Australia. I went sand boarding on a huge sand dune. It’s way more difficult than snowboarding,” said Reese.

Reese also spent his first December day on the beach.

However, the beach was only part of their experience. Few places on Earth have as much geographic diversity as Australia.

“Australia doesn’t look anything like the pictures. It has so much more to it than it does in the photos,” said Reese, “It’s so much bigger. At one part, after going over one big hill, all of the land was flat. It’s like you could see the entire continent from where you were standing.”

Australia is one of the largest countries in world, but it’s also a continent, which makes it the smallest continental land mass on Earth, measuring a total of 2.97 million sq. miles.  It’s also the world’s largest island.

Australia has lots of wildlife that cannot be found in America. Kangaroos, koalas, dingos, emus and Tasmanian devils are some of the many unique animals living there.

“My favorite thing I did while I was in Australia was going to Kangaroo Island for sure. People say kangaroos are mean and are known to kick people. In reality however, they’re harmless. Gray kangaroos are actually calm animals. While we have rabbits hopping across our backyards in Pennsylvania, Australia has wallabies. They’re really friendly too. I also saw kookaburras, seals and koalas.” said Reese.

While America is known for their s’mores, apple pies and the many different varieties of cheeseburgers, Australia is full of some more unique tastes.

“The food there is really different from ours. Nothing is really sugary. America has sweeter food. People eat emus, kangaroos, and crocodiles in Australia,” said Reese.

As for the people, Reese was impressed.

“I think that an Australian stranger is nicer than an American stranger. The people that live there are more laid back. They have a different mindset than we do. They don’t care what others think of them,” said Reese.