High School Study Abroad
Program in Australia

Reading lists will be posted on your program site in early May. Online pre-departure sessions with your teachers and classmates begin one week prior to departure. These virtual sessions are designed to introduce you to your classmates, teachers, and course work. Our goal is to prepare you to hit the ground running and reduce your workload onsite.

Day 1: On the day of departure, we meet at Toronto's Pearson International Airport. Here, we unite as a group to distribute coursepacks, T-shirts and MEI Journals. After a meet and greet, we board a flight to our first location.

Days 2 — 10: Upon arrival in Sydney, we get the lay of the land with a walkabout of Circular Quay along the harbour and visit the famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge. During our stay, we compete in rugby games, explore the grounds of the University of Sydney, and play Ultimate Frisbee on the white sands of Bondi and Manly beaches. While in the city, our academic focus is on refining theses in academic writing and developing persuasive arguments.

Days 10 — 13: From Sydney, we commence our four-day hiking excursion into the Wolgan Valley, west of the Blue Mountains. Our daily walks, hikes, and mountain biking adventures set the stage for us to develop long-lasting personal fitness plans. While living in ecolodges, we also try our hand at cricket and other group sports. As we explore the beautiful Bells Grotto and tree fern forests, we study regional literature that connects our adventure to Australia’s founding mythology. Additionally, we learn the stories passed down by the island’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that tell of the mythic creatures whose epic battles shaped the landscape into what it is today.

Days 13 — 22: From the Blue Mountains, we fly north to Cairns, located on the coast next to the famous Great Barrier Reef. As it is the nation’s waterfall capital, we begin our adventure with a trek into the Atherton tableland region to reach some of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. Our time here is structured around daily excursions that range from canoeing to mountain biking. Here, we are afforded the opportunity to delve into essay workshops and poetry writing inspired by the region's beauty.

Days 19 — 20: Making our way back to Cairns, we take to the seas of the Outer Great Barrier Reef to enjoy a two-day live-aboard sailing tour, where we have the chance to snorkel and scuba dive in one of the world’s premier diving sites.

Days 23 — 28: We then fly to the tropical paradise of Bali, Indonesia. Here, we decompress from our journey along the beach-lined coast. Residing in Canggu, an adventurer’s paradise, we workout on the beach and hone our surfing skills with lessons from professionals. Our days are spent exploring the island teeming with kingfishers, wild orchids, and monkeys, while our evenings are spent engaging in BookChats over bowls of fresh curry and grilled seafood.

Days 28 — 34: From Canggu, we travel northeast to the nearby city of Ubud, where our exploration of Balinese culture continues and takes us to the Tegallalang rice terraces in the Monkey Forest, and to the Goa Gajah ‘Elephant Cave.’ Here, we prepare for our summatives and afterwards, celebrate our journey as we conclude our adventure through Oceania. On our last evening together, we reminisce over dinner and prepare for our flight home.

Departure from Denpassar Airport on Day 34

Upon your return, you have time to complete additional research and pull your work together before your final one-on-one online assessment. This week allows you to reflect on your travel experiences and integrate them into the course material. MEI staff have found this style of evaluation enjoyable and the most authentic way for students to demonstrate their knowledge and academic skills.