About 43 years ago, I spotted an advertisement in the paper for the YMCA wildness program. I was 15 and wanted to do something different. My first experience was a boat trip. I still have the images of sunrises and sunsets with all beautiful colors on Lake of the Woods.

As a teenager, I didn’t know that I was having the best adventure a teenager could have. Even now I can feel the cold water dripping down my arm as we sat in the boat pulling the paddles awkardly through running water. It was my first experience in a boat and my arms became tired after many hours of paddling.

We stopped for lunch in the boat by assembling all the boats together. Our guide handed out chocolate, cheese and dried meat.

At night, it was time to camp at our site picked out by our guide. There we learned to start campfires and cook some of our meals. This is where I felt in love with noodles. It was wonderful to share simple meals over the fire and talk with new friends. We cleaned up our mess and put up our tents and slept on the ground. We learned to carry the heavy packs to our next destination. I developed a sense   of accomplishment and had arm muscles after that trip.

There were no phones , makeup, hair dryers...just us and the bush. We came from different backgrounds with different personalities and we all had to work together as a group.

I liked the boat trip so much that I joined the “Survival” trip the next year. I kept a journal from that second trip and often go back to it.

5 . Discovering Tasmania

The island of Tasmania is a place of natural beauty and has more than 2,000 km of walking tracks and 18 national parks. If you go on a tour, you’ll discover a wild and beautiful place where the people are friendly and the food is delicious. If you don’t like walking, there are other tours you can choose from including a river cruise and cycling. You can also enjoy fishing, sailing or sunbathing on the beach.

The Tarkine coast is located in the northwest of Tasmania. It’s such a wild and remote area that you can easily complete your walk without seeing anyone apart from the members of your group and your two guides. The area contains the largest temperate rainforest in Australia which is home to more than 50 endangered species. It is also home to many Aboriginal Heritage Sites. During your tour, you’ll come across rivers, mountain ranges, waterfalls, wildlife and long wild beaches.

Tour plan:

Day 1:

You’re picked up from your hotel in the town of Launceston and driven to the Tarkine.

You then complete a three-hour walk through the forest before arriving at your camp at Mystery Creek. There you will enjoy a delicious meal cooked by your guides.

Day 2:

After breakfast, you continue deeper into the rainforest, passing some of the tallest trees in the world as you go, and stopping for lunch and then camp in the evening.

Day 3:

The exciting part of today’s tour is the Tarkine Falls, a beautiful 15-metre waterfall.

Day 4:

Today you can stay at the camp and bathe in the Tarkine Falls, or you can go for a walk for more fantastic views of the forest.

Day 5:

After a last journey through the forest, you are picked up at about 4:00 p.m. and you arrive in Launceston at around 7:00 p.m. The tour includes two professional guides, transport to and from the rainforest, all food while on the tours and all safety equipment. You should buy or hire（租用）recommended camping equipment including: backpacks, sleeping bags, sleep mats, head torches, rain coats and trousers.