After six decades Down Under, this adventure program continues to rise.
THIS YEAR MARKS THE 60TH anniversary in Australia of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. Adventure filmmaker and Australia’s first Gold Awardee Michael Dillon reflects on its personal and national impact.
Delayed by storms and flooding rivers, we reached the hilltop, exhausted, soaked and shivering and needed to phone our parents to say we were okay. A lady our mother’s age opened the door at the first house we came to. The sight of half-drowned boys affected her greatly and tears welled in her eyes. Weeping quietly, she ushered us in, went to a room, and emerged with warm clothes our size. We guessed she must have a son our age and he must be away. She treated us tenderly, as if we were her sons. But why were there still tears in her eyes? We later learnt she had indeed had a son our age, but he’d drowned in the river the year before.
Of all my schoolboy memories, this one burns brightest, closely followed by many others amassed while doing The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award.
When Everest was first climbed, Prince Philip, patron of that expedition, got together with the expedition leader, John Hunt, and the headmaster from his own schooldays, Kurt Hahn. Together they contrived a program to round off the education of teenagers. School, they agreed, was useful but it didn’t expose students to outdoor adventure, nor give them a taste of service to others.
The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award was born. At Bronze, Silver and Gold levels, participants would undertake physical challenges, develop new skills, provide service to others and go adventuring. Anyone aged 14–24 was eligible.
ANTIPODEAN BEGINNINGS
Denne historien er fra May - June 2019-utgaven av Australian Geographic Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra May - June 2019-utgaven av Australian Geographic Magazine.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Loveday Internment Camp, SA A
DURING WORLD WAR II, civilians n Australia deemed \"enemy aliens\" - mostly those of German, Italian and Japanese descent were housed in internment camps.
THE STORYTELLERS OF THE GREAT BARRIER REEF
More than 100 dedicated Master Reef Guides are sharing the GBR's most important stories with visitors in a bid to inspire its greater protection.
A BEAUTIFUL DISASTER
Does last summer's mass coral bleaching event sound a death knell for Australia's beloved Great Barrier Reef? \"Not on my watch!\" is the message coming from he army of heartbroken, but resolute, marine scientists who've responded to the crisis by doubling down on their research.
AROUND AUSTRALIA IN 44 DAYS
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first aerial circumnavigation of Australia. Aviator Michael Smith retraces the flight in his unique amphibious flying boat, Southern Sun, starting and finishing at RAAF Base Point Cook, on Melbourne's Port Phillip, taking in 15,000km of vast, diverse and stunning coastline in between.
CLEAR-CUTTING KOALA COUNTRY
More than 3000sq.km of forests on NSW's Mid North Coast have been earmarked for the Great Koala National Park. But there's still work to be done before this proposed reserve becomes the safe haven koalas desperately need.
MORE THAN QUOKKAS
Sure, you can't avoid those cute little marsupials that made Rottnest Island world-famous, but there's so much more to life on this ocean-ringed jewel off the Western Australian coast.
A WILD POLO TUSSLE
It's an event reminiscent of a Banjo Paterson poem. For 35 years, in the High Country 200km east of Melbourne, city polo players have gathered annually at Cobungra, Victoria's largest cattle station, to vie with a rural team for the Dinner Plain Polo Cup.
Ancient know-how meets a modern challenge
Contemporary marine park management is infused with traditional knowledge to tackle new threats on the Great Barrier Reef.
LOOKING FOR TJAKURA
The search is on across Australia's deserts for a culturally important vulnerable lizard.
RESCUING THE CHUDITCH
After intensive planning, recovery for this endangered marsupial species is being stepped up to secure its future.
