2017
MID YEAR TRIP
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This year the QUT Big Lift crew travelled to Dalby, Injune, Roma and Chinchilla for an incredible 7 day trip which ran from 3rd July- 9th July. In each town amazing new experiences, stories and learning happened. We our all so grateful and humbled to collectively share in such an adventure. Service-learning trips like these help us to engage and open up our eyes to new perspectives.
We started our journey from Brisbane where we all packed the bus with our light baggage (some not so light) and hit the road. The bus became our new abode over the 7 days as we clocked up 13 hours and 26 minutes (according to google maps). That meant for over 1,138km we were able to spread the Big Lift Love, whether that be in Dalby, Injune, Roma or Chinchilla. Each town truly had something unique to offer us all, and we genuinely felt very touched by the welcoming community spirit. Overall, we gained such insightful knowledge about what regional and rural life is like for many, including how the Coal Seam Gas industries is having both positive and negative impacts and learnt about the many other struggles and joys that rural life brings. Click and check out more about what we did and see in Dalby, Injune, Roma and Chinchilla.
Once again, QUT Big Lift is so thankful to have had this opportunity to visit each of these wonderful towns and it would not have been possible without support from family, friends, QUT and the towns themselves. We can’t wait for our next service-learning trip!
Dalby - Day 1
We arrived in Dalby, a town that is 13,000 people strong situated 2.5 hours northwest of Brisbane. We were welcomed at the Dalby PCYC which we called home for the next two nights. The Big Lifters got straight into some service activities as we helped out with the local Lantern making. We had a heap of fun helping to create some of the magnificent dinosaur lanterns, this was in preparation for Dalby's annual Delicious and Delightful Festival on 26th and 27th of August 2017.
Dalby - Day 2
On day 2 we were able to do a variety of service projects. Some of us went back to continue to help out with the lantern making, while others went off to do some gardening at the Blue Care Centre and general cleaning up at the fascinating Pioneer Park Museum. The president of the museum, Elaine Fox, warmly welcomed us and showed us around. A young journalist from Dalby Herald also came to interview us at the museum, check out the article here. The Big Lift action did not stop there, after returning from our service learning projects, we all hopped on the bus and travelled to listen and talk to one of the landowners and stallholders from QGC about how gas wells are working in the industry and on farm land. Both parties were very informative and happy to answer our questions. It was an eye opening experience for many of us, and quite a rare opportunity to see a functioning gas well.
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Injune - Day 3
It was time to say good-bye to Dalby and head to the small town of Injune in July! Nestled in the quiet bushland of South-Western Queensland, Injune is a thriving town with a population of just 450 people. We arrived just in time to help set up for the community Blue Light Disco and dinner which is coordinated by the Injune Police and Council. We all had a blast and partied hard with the locals.
Injune - Day 4
On day 3 the Big Lifters were back at it with service projects which included, spring cleaning at the Railway Precinct, gardening at the Retirement village, general cleaning up at the Refuse Centre, more cleaning at the Community Centre and a variety jobs were done at the Injune State School, including table making. Our IKEA furniture assembling skills were put to the test.
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Roma - Day 5
It was time to hit the road again because we were making a day pit stop to the wonderful town of Roma! This town of under 7,000 people is very well known for it's Gas and Oil production as it was the first place in Australia where natural gas was found. We were able to visit the and explore The Big Rig, where we found out how Australia's multimillion industry in oil came to be.
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Chinchilla - Day 6
We'd arrived at our last stop, Chinchilla, a town just 300km from Brisbane with a population of just under 6,000. It was our last day of service projects. The Big Lifters helped out at a variety of different places which included: The Historical Museum, Youth Hub Centre and other community members homes. Then at the end of the day, we were warmly welcomed for dinner at Cameby Hall. During the night many community members openly shared their perspectives and experiences of what rural life is like and what some of the major struggles are for people living in regional communities.
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Chinchilla - Day 7
We'd had our last Big Lift Fam camp fire and sleepover but it was finally time to pack up and head home. Overall, the trip fed us with a lot of food for thought and we'd all gained a lot of new knowledge about regional and rural life. We are very grateful to all the communities: Dalby, Injune, Roma and Chinchilla for allowing us to visit and learn more about your amazing towns. We look forward to visiting in the future!
