Youth and staff from the Community of Christ Sierra Pacific USA Mission Center in California, USA, traveled 19 September–5 October 2025, to Australia for an Intercultural Youth Bridging Trip. Laura Bolton, mission center youth minister, said it was an experience they will never forget. The group “discovered the beauty of creation and community in ways that changed us,” she said. These are notes from one of the youth participants. 

By Arull Naidu 
Elk Grove, California, USA 

Day one was rough. It started with a two-hour drive from Sacramento to the San Francisco International Airport. It was nice seeing friends I don’t get to see often, along with some new faces. I ate a cold and dry sushi burrito before getting on a sixteen-hour flight to New Zealand. The flight felt like days, especially with the time changes. 

When we finally landed, most rushed to get food. I ended up with pancakes from McDonald’s before waiting two hours to board our flight to Sydney. That flight was only three hours, but it still felt long. After landing, we took the train to the hotel. After almost a full day of travel, we finally got to lie down—but not for long. Laura (Bolton, Intercultural Bridging Program organizer) told us it was the last day The Rocks Market would be open, and most of us didn’t want to miss it. Even exhausted, I went along. 

Walking into The Rocks for the first time was unreal. Seeing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House right next to each other was nothing like I imagined. I hadn’t researched much before the trip, so seeing Sydney’s most iconic area for the first time felt even more surreal. The area was full of beautiful architecture, boats, and energy, and the market itself had tons of vendors selling all kinds of things. We spent a couple of hours there before heading back to the hotel and finally sleeping. 

The next day we went to Blue Mountains National Park, about a two-hour train ride away. After lunch, everyone split up. Deacon (Hedman) and I planned a route to see as much as possible. What started as “five more minutes” turned into a full hike to the Three Sisters, because every lookout just kept getting better. We took the steep railway down into the valley and walked around until closing. We actually got locked and had to get a worker to come rescue us before taking the last cableway back up. 

I really connected with the idea that humans should bend to nature instead of trying to control it.

That night, we went to dinner at The Rocks, where I ordered the fish of the week. They brought out a whole grilled fish, and my friends were dying watching me try to figure out how to eat it. Eventually I did, and it was definitely worth the laughs. 

The next morning, we went back to The Rocks for a guided tour led by Amanda, a First Nations Australian. Learning about Aboriginal culture was one of the most meaningful parts of the trip. I really connected with the idea that humans should bend to nature instead of trying to control it. At our core, we’re animals, and we should live in balance with the Earth. After that, we took a ferry to Manly Beach and split up for lunch. I didn’t eat and went on my own since Deacon was still tired, and I didn’t know where anyone else was. 

I ended up getting my eyebrow pierced at a small tattoo shop before heading toward the coastal trails. I followed the path from Shelly Beach to the Fairfax Track and back down to the wharf just in time to catch the ferry. The views were some of the best I’d seen, and I stopped for cake at a small café because they were closing, and I knew I wouldn’t be back. 

The following day we toured the Opera House. The architecture was cool, but the tour itself was a little underwhelming. We had lunch there, which made up for it. Most of us ordered kangaroo, which was really good and surprisingly similar to beef. Later, Deacon and I took a ferry to the zoo but ended up walking along a beach, collecting shells, and sitting on a cliff near a lighthouse, eating cookies looking out at the harbor. We rushed back just in time to catch the ferry and later met the group for a dinner cruise around the harbor with amazing views of the bridge and Opera House.  

We continued playing games and working together and growing closer.

On our last full day in Sydney, I woke up early and wandered the city while it was quiet. I met up with Deacon and Annabelle Carpenter and went to St. Mary’s Cathedral, my first time ever inside one. We spent more than an hour looking up at the murals and details. Later, we toured the Royal Botanic Gardens, learned about plants used by First Nations people, and walked way too far for pizza topped with kangaroo, ostrich, and oyster, which ended up being completely worth it. 

That afternoon, we rented e-bikes and rode around the city with no real direction until it was time for the Sydney Harbor Bridge climb. We suited up, went through the safety briefing, and climbed up with insane views of the city. It was super fun, easy, and a perfect way to end our time in Sydney. 

The next morning, we packed up and headed to the airport for our flight to Melbourne. Compared to everything before it, the three-hour flight felt easy. Most of us talked to friends or stared out the window. We rested at the hotel for a few hours before heading to dinner at Henry & the Fox, which was amazing. 

The next day, we visited Moonlit Sanctuary where we saw tons of native animals and even got to pet kangaroos. Later at Phillip Island, we got soaked by waves, walked around Cowes Township, and ended the night watching penguins waddle up the beach. 

This is where I kind of realized it was a lot more normal to include yourself into things than it was to wait to be invited.

The following day we traveled to Camp Kookaburra, which was surrounded by endless fields of bright yellow canola flowers. It didn’t look anything like the camps we were used to, and at first, it felt like there wasn’t much to do. After dinner and a few games, we went to sleep. 

Our first full day of camp was pretty fun. I woke up early and went to play pool inside the game room, which became a routine. We broke out into elective groups, and after afternoon tea we played kickball, an American game, which the Australians hadn’t heard of. They got the hang of it pretty fast, and we had fun. Probably one of the best parts of camp was Night Owls, something we don’t do at Happy Valley. It’s basically just an organized game at night. 

The next day was more of the same. People were still pretty withdrawn but connected during games. We made candles, played gaga ball and other games that made us cooperate and work together, which helped us get to know each other better. For night games we broke up into teams and competed against one another at different stations, racking up points. My team won, obviously, and by quite a few points as well. 

Day three was really where things started to change. Everyone got closer, sat with each other, and talked a lot more. This is where I kind of realized it was a lot more normal to include yourself into things than it was to wait to be invited. In America it is considered weird to include yourself into things if you weren’t invited, and most of us thought that the rest of the world was the same, but it seems the people in Australia are a lot more inviting and open. 

Seeing everyone come together and embrace one another really reminds me of how great of a community our church is.

After electives we cycled, played volleyball, did the low-ropes course, and archery. At Happy Valley we have a high-ropes course that is a lot more intense just because of the height, but the low-ropes course is definitely a lot harder, requiring a lot more balance and skill. We continued playing games and working together and growing closer. Night games was especially fun this night because we got to do a scavenger hunt while being hunted and watched by “guards.” This is when we realized we definitely wanted to bring Night Owls back to the US and integrate them into our camps.  

Our last full day at camp was probably our best. We all sat together at every meal and hung out all day. We took camp photos, made s’mores, played sports and games, and learned some Australian dances. We did Night Owls and then Communion, which was probably the best part about camp. Seeing everyone come together and embrace one another really reminds me of how great of a community our church is. Later that night we went stargazing and stayed out until 1or 2 in the morning, just talking and hanging out. 

The last day at camp was spent saying goodbye to the campers and staff, which was honestly pretty sad. We had grown close in a short amount of time and had no idea when or if we’d ever see one another again. We drove back toward the city, dropped off the Australian campers and staff at the airport before returning to the hotel to leave our bags. That night, we went to a board-game café for dinner and stayed for a few hours, splitting into smaller groups and playing plenty of different games. 

The following day, we got breakfast at a crowded café and split into our own groups. I headed out with Annabelle and Audriel Hinds while the rest of the campers went back to the hotel. We spent the day wandering through a few museums, stopping by St. Paul’s Cathedral, and riding a Ferris wheel to get one last view of the city. Later that night, we took the bus to Easey’s. Eating on the top floor inside an actual train car was easily one of the coolest dining experiences of the trip. It felt like a fun, unexpected way to wrap up our final night together.