Life-changing experience for Alex thanks to travel award
Sixth Form student Alex Hartemink enjoyed an inspiring and life-changing solo trip to Australia after picking up the Albert Johnston Travel Award.
Alex was inspired to apply for the award to pursue her personal interest in marine flora and fauna inhabiting coral reef ecosystems and to broaden her knowledge of different areas of biology not taught on the A Level course.
After a confident presentation to the award’s judging panel, Alex was very excited to make her dream trip a reality. By adding the travel award funds and her savings from her part-time job together, she was ready to spend four weeks in Oz.
Upon landing in Sydney, she spent a few days exploring on foot.
Lunch overlooking the Sydney Opera House, browsing the vivid storefronts of many local small businesses around The Rocks Market, and walking to Sydney Harbour Bridge, Darling Harbour and Bangaroo Reserve were highlights.
She also spent time at the Sydney Sports Medicine Centre to see a different model of healthcare to our own NHS.
Alex then flew up the coast of Queensland to Gladstone, continuing by ferry to Heron Island.
The University of Queensland Heron Island Marine Research Station is situated on a remote island on the Great Barrier Reef and the university allowed her to volunteer helping researchers in their investigations and, in exchange for four hours a day of repairing pathways, cleaning windows and general upkeep of the station, she was given accommodation.
Alex assisted two PhD students in projects looking at the metabolic changes of epaulette sharks. Increasing water temperatures and lowered oxygen concentrations were used to simulate the current and predicted climate of the Southern Great Barrier Reef flats that these sharks inhabit.
Tasks included capturing epaulette sharks from the heron reef flats, feeding sharks regularly, collecting biopsies and tagging sharks that were being released.
During her time working on Heron, she completed her PADI advanced open water scuba diving qualification which helped to improve her underwater navigation, buoyancy regulation, drift diving control and fish identification – as well as letting her descend to thirty metres.
Alex commented: “During my dives, I was lucky enough to witness an abundance of blue whale pods and manta ray squadrons whilst diving on Heron and Wistari reef. As it was winter, both species migrate up the coast of Queensland from the Antarctic Ocean in search of warmer waters and more plentiful food sources in the South Pacific Ocean.
“I particularly enjoyed taking photos of the many juvenile turtles which remained in the surrounding reef after the nesting season in April. During this time, I sketched the endemic flora and fauna to further my understanding of the species on the island.”
Back in Sydney Alex visited Taronga Zoo and Sydney Aquarium to view other fauna endemic to Australia as she was particularly interested in learning more about Australia’s unique marsupials and other varieties of marine life which she did not see whilst scuba diving.
To better understand the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, Alex visited the NAIDOC exhibition in the Art Gallery of New South Wales and took a day trip to the Blue Mountains, as it is the original home of six groups of indigenous people.
Alongside the natural beauty of the iron rich sandstone and endemic eucalyptus trees, it was explained that the aboriginal people used the Blue Mountains as a ceremonial place, a seasonal home and a hunting ground which made the scenery even more unique.
Alex noted: “Such culture and legacy of the native people run deep within society and all the remaining tribes in Australia. I found the Aboriginal culture of respectful acknowledgement and appreciation of the environment, and the holding of elders in high esteem, passed on through generations, to be inspiring.”
Alex’s experience has inspired her to apply for Marine Biology at university to pursue her passion in biological science and has made her become more independent through travelling.
She concluded: “I am so grateful to the judging panel for selecting me for the Albert Johnston Travel Award – it has been a life-changing experience.”
