Sifting through the mail one morning, Amy Handley of Cullman found a letter concerning her daughter, Caroline.

Eleven-year-old Caroline was puzzled by her mom’s question, “Would you like to go on a long, long trip?”

It turned out that the letter was to inform the family that Caroline had been nominated for a slot in the Student Ambassador Program on a People To People trip to Australia.

People To People, founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, is an educational travel program. It promotes peace through understanding by having students and private citizens meet with their peers in foreign countries throughout the world.

It allows students to earn academic credit while getting to know the culture and the people of the places they tour.

President Eisenhower founded the People To People Program in 1956, along with entertainer Bob Hope, Olympic champion Jesse Owens, Walt Disney, and Hallmark Cards founder, Joyce Hall. The group believed that ordinary citizens of different nations could make a difference where governments could not. Based in Spokane, Washington, the program has been coordinating educational travel for over 50 years.

What really piqued Caroline’s interest was not so much the opportunity to promote world peace — it was the picture of the koala bear that was on the brochure.

Caroline’s dad, Kevin Holland, was skeptical at first, especially when he found out that the parents of the children to be selected would not be tagging along. “No way!” he said emphatically.

That was before the orientation meeting that the group held for the parents of those children nominated for the honor. “We never did find out who nominated Caroline,” said her dad.

The informational meeting was only the first step in the process. The family had to fill out a long application form, Caroline was interviewed, and had to have letters of recommendation submitted before she was officially selected.

“By that time we had been to several meetings, and we were better informed about the organization,” said Holland. “There were other meetings to orientate the families about what to expect. This all took place over the course of about eight months.”

Thirty-two students, from Alabama and Michigan, were selected for the trip to Australia. The kids had gotten to know each other during the orientation period, so they felt comfortable with each other, and were excited to be going to the Land Down Under.

Caroline’s sub-group had nine children. They were carefully chaperoned by adults that they were familiar with from the meetings they had attended together. “It was a very structured environment,” said her dad.

“My biggest fear was the flight,” admitted her mom, Amy. “I’m afraid of flying myself, so that was hard for me.”

Her parent’s comfort level was somewhat better by the time she left, although her mom cried a little when she got on the plane.

From the time the group left Birmingham June 27 until they landed, allowing for layovers and changing planes, the trip took more than 24 hours. They lost a day crossing the International Date Line.

Wearing matching uniforms, they disembarked in Brisbane June 29. “It was freezing cold,” laughed Caroline. “Luckily my mom had packed for warm and cold weather.”

Met by an Australian guide, the group boarded a coach bus and headed into the adventure of a lifetime.

Their first stop was Underwater World, where they saw seals, sharks and other marine life. Next stop, the Australia Zoo, founded by the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. “We saw his daughter, Bindi — who was only 11 — feed the crocodiles and elephants,” said Caroline.

Seeing all the animals was nice, but Caroline was thrilled by the fact that she finally got to see, and hold, a real koala bear. “He was so cute and cuddly,” she exclaimed. “He was just a like baby, so little and very friendly. They just didn’t let me hold him long enough,” she giggled.

She tried the famous Vegemite burger, which she didn’t care for at all. “It was awful, I can’t even describe what it tasted like,” she said. Later, Amy described the Vegemite that Caroline brought home as looking like black butter. “It was disgusting,” she laughed.

One of the most unusual things Caroline and the other American kids learned that night in the hotel was that the water in the bathtub and toilet swirled the opposite direction than they were used to. “It was so weird — it went counter clockwise,” she laughed.  

The next day the group visited the village of Gin Gin, where local parents and children provided them with lunch. Funds raised by hosting years of People to People delegates has resulted in the building of the P&C Friendship Pavilion, so named in honor of the visiting delegates.             

On the road again, they visited Rockhampton, located on the Tropic of Capricorn. Capitol of Australia’s beef industry, Rockhampton produces about 18 million head of beef each year.

On the Capricorn Coast the group toured Yeppoon’s Capricorn Caves, known for their unspoiled beauty and natural formations. Caroline thought the caves were somewhat like Ruby Falls, “Without the water,” she said.

They learned the proper way to throw a boomerang at the Aboriginal Center. “I threw it pretty well, the instructor said mine came closest to coming all the way back,” she grinned. “It was sort of similar to our bow and arrows, except the boomerang comes back,” she laughed.

“We learned that the native Aborigine’s used the boomerang for hunting. Those were called the killing boomerangs,” explained Caroline. “It was actually invented by kids as a toy, and the first ones were made from leaves.”

“We also got to try using a musical instrument called the didgeridoo, a horn-like instrument named for the sound it makes.”  

That night, the American children ate kangaroo and crocodile for the first time. “It was sort of tough, but it tasted a little like chicken,” Caroline joked. “The kangaroo was actually prepared like hamburger. They don’t eat catsup, which they refer to as tomato sauce, on their French fries, and they didn’t serve any sort of sauce with the meat,” she said.

On July 3, they found themselves on Daydream Island, in Whitsundays, Australia. The resort there was beautiful, like a tropical paradise. There, they saw the natural wonders of the Great Barrier Reef.

“We went through a program called “OUCH” (Order of Underwater Coral Heroes) which taught us the things we needed to know in order to snorkel safely in the reef - like not to touch the coral,” said Caroline.

“The marine biologist said he hoped we wouldn’t see any great white sharks, which scared us at first, but then he explained that we would be in a contained area. We were all really excited about snorkeling over the reef.”

Wearing a wet suit to protect their skin from jellyfish stings, and thermal gear to help them stay warm, the group donned prescription-like goggles to help them see to their best advantage. “It was kind of like H-D vision,” she laughed.

“At first I was kind of creeped out by the schools of fish, but when they wouldn’t let me touch them, I figured out they were okay.”

“The best thing was seeing this big, giant clam, about the size of a garbage can lid, open up it’s shell,” said an animated Caroline. “It had the most unusual and amazing colors — like blue, green, pink, sort of zebra striped.”

One of the most unexpected highlights of the trip was a visit to a ranch in Biloela. “I’ve been to a dairy farm in North Carolina, and was expecting it to be like that, but this was a lot more fun,” she said.

The group was hosted by a farm family, and spent two days and nights there, engaging in the day-to-day activities of the family. “We went horseback riding, and ate our meals in a camp-like setting,” she described. “The cabins were rustic, and the big traditional breakfast was more like Southern food.”

During all this time, the children were able to communicate with their parents via international cell phone. Sometimes the kids admitted to being a little homesick at night, “But mainly during the day we were having so much fun we didn’t have time to think about missing our parents,” said Caroline.

On July 8, the group flew to Sydney, the largest city in Australia, where they took part in a reenactment of the days of convict slavery, dressed in period costumes. Later, they visited the Sydney Opera House, “I loved the opera House, it was just beautiful,” she said.  

They toured the Olympic Park Stadium, and the Parliament House. Later they had their farewell dinner high above the twinkling nighttime lights of Sydney in a pinnacle-type restaurant in Darling Harbor.

On July 11, they bid farewell to the Sunshine Coast. Caroline said it was truly the trip of a lifetime, and she made some very good friends on the trip. “I even have a pen-pal,” she said, happily.

“Between the Australians and the kids from Michigan, she lost a lot of her Southern accent by the time she got home, “ laughed her dad.

“I learned a lot about being more responsible for myself on this trip. I had to wash my own clothes, and keep up with my things,” she said.

“She has matured due to this trip. It helped her to learn to organize and be responsible for her things, and she’s really been a big help to me around the house since she got back,” said her mom.

Thoughtfully, Caroline returned with gifts, mementos of her trip; an opal for her mother, a boomerang for her little brother, Grant, and containers of Vegemite for everyone else.

A straight “A” student, Caroline kept a daily journal of her travels, filled with her thoughts and impressions. She is interested in writing for her school paper, and has material for several school reports.

Caroline thinks her dad might just be considering Australia as their next vacation spot.