FFA students visit Australia

During the first part of June, the Superior FFA Chapter took 18 students and adults to Australia. This trip was originally scheduled for 2020, but since travel was shut down during that time, the chapter rescheduled for 2022. However, there were still COVID-19 restrictions on travel. Since this trip has been years in the making, both current and now alumni had the opportunity to pay for the trip.

In attendance were Lenden Worm, Mia Gardner, Ava Kirchhoff, Halle Bargen, Maddi Bargen, Barret Bruns, Cannon Corman, Hailey Blecha, Dereck Kirchhoff, Emily and Monte Kirchhoff, Jennifer Bruns, Rita Going, Carla Lawson, Jeff Going, Madi Thomas, and sponsors of the trip, Seth Going and Brent Thomas.

The trip lasted 11 days including travel, however they did lose a day when traveling over the international date line.

The group flew from Omaha to Dallas, Texas where they had a 10 hour layover. While in Texas they toured Fort Worth, going through the Stockyards, and got to watch a longhorn cattle drive. From Dallas the group traveled to Sydney, Australia on a 17-hour flight. Australia is 15 hours ahead of Nebraska.

To make this FFA trip more agriculture related and not too much of a vacation, attendees were able to learn about the different vegetation and wildlife that Australia has to offer. Instead of seeing fields of corn while driving down the highway, group members could see fields of sugar cane. They also learned about the aboriginal culture and how they survived off the land. Another agriculture related topic of discussion was soil conservation.

Ava Kirchhoff explained her reasoning for going as, "I wanted to visit because I knew that it would be a once in a lifetime experience and I knew if I didn't go then, I might not ever get the opportunity again. I also wanted to be able to experience more of the world and see what it's like in different countries."

Ava Kirchhoff's favorite place to visit was Cairns, Australia. Her reasoning was because it was nice and luxurious. Her favorite thing to do was the crocodile excursion.

Mia Gardner's favorite experience was snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef. To do this excursion, the group had to take a two hour boat ride to a part of the Great Barrier Reef called the Moore Reef. While there, they were able to go on a glass bottomed boat, a semi-submarine, and go snorkeling.

When asked if she had any culture shock, Ava Kirchhoff said, "The food was a little different than Nebraska." She went on to say that Australia used a lot of different seasonings. Mia Gardner added to this and said that even though they have the same candy and soda as the U.S., their products have a lot less sugar than ours. Mr. Going was shocked by the amount of Italian cuisine there was to pick from, and how Australian grocery stores are about about 15 years behind the U.S. when it comes to food safety. The people there dressed differently too, even if they were going on a leisurely walk, they would still be dressed up and no one was seen wearing sweatpants.

When comparing Australia to Nebraska, Mia Gardner said, "Australia had lots of forests, beaches and mountains. They had many tropical plants, and an abundance of marsupials and birds. They also had many plants and animals that would have liked to hurt us, like stinging trees and cassowaries."

While visiting Sydney, the weather was rainy and gloomy. Cairns, however, was sunny and averaged about 80 degrees.

A few funny stories any travelers came back with was how Ava Kirchoff's luggage almost ended up in Dublin, Ireland, and how Halle Bargen ended up on the INTERPOL warning list over one piece of beef jerky!