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Well, there has been no possibility I would enroll at a university right away to continue my education. For a year, I wanted to get away and have some fun. I thus secured a dream teaching/outdoor instructor job in Kangaroo Valley, New South Wales, Australia, being the nice, fortunate Irish person I am. Awesome. I learned about it accidentally from a family friend who had heard of Glengarry, Scots College, so I mailed my resume.
They gave me a job offer, and in the chaos that ensued, I booked my flights, obtained a Temporary Residence Visa (which takes forever to arrive), and within 4 weeks, I was all by myself, an 18-year-old Irishman with no idea what lay ahead, in Sydney.
Australian outback
A little, quaint Australian community called Kangaroo Valley can be found in the Southern Highlands, around two or three hours south of Sydney. The Glengarry campus, which is essentially on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere, is where I lived and worked. Located in a valley, the campus is traversed by a sizable river. Mountains and bushland encircle it.
The Scots College main campus in Sydney has a campus here. Year nine boys travel to Glengarry for two terms to participate in a variety of sports and outdoor activities, including canoeing, kayaking, mountain biking, orienteering, hill running, and many other activities.
The lads had to be self-sufficient throughout some of the 10-day hikes we planned and led because of this. Anyone who lives in Glengarry, whether a student, teacher, or instructor, will have a transformative experience. It was a wonderful and unusual site! I enjoyed living there since, unlike many Australian trip experiences, you don’t get to know native Australians.
Australia
It was a fun place to live if you were a “Gappie.” There were 4 Australian gaps from all around Australia when I was in Glengarry, along with 3 other “Pommie” gaps (I’m bloody Irish, but they nicknamed me Pommie anyhow!). We had a lot of fun! When we weren’t out on hikes or taking care of the boys, we were always off on wild road trips to the beach where we would go surfing, rock climbing, hang out in our neighborhood pub (Kangaroo Valley Inn, fantastic), play strange sports, or do whatever else we could think of.
Ruby, our pet kangaroo, occupied a lot of our time. We all had two months off over the Christmas break to travel wherever we pleased while still getting paid, which was wonderful! I took numerous haphazard vacations to places like Melbourne, Brisbane, Surfers, Magnetic Island, Cairns, New Zealand, and many more. I cherished my travels, but I also cherished returning to Glengarry and my large Australian family.
I advise taking a gap year and using it to pursue something transformative. I believe Glengarry still accepts Gap students each year, and another location named Timber Tops operates a similar center close to Melbourne. So, go ahead and do it!
