For the past three weeks I have been traveling throughout Australia on a coach bus covering more than 2,240 miles, driving through three states and one territory of the continent. Covering this distance has meant more than 120 hours worth of bus riding. With 31 exchange students, three supervisors, a cook and a driver, we set off together on the trip of a lifetime.

What an adventurous and amazing three weeks, and looking back, it is so hard to pick that one thing that I enjoyed most. During our trip we visited two of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World - Uluru (Ayers Rock) and the Great Barrier Reef.

Uluru is located in the Northern Territory of Australia and is one of the oldest rocks on Earth. The flattened top is 1,142 feet about the surrounding plains and the base is 5 miles around.

Uluru is a sacred sight for Aborigines, the indigenous people of Australia, who now have rights over it.

There is an Aboriginal legend that suggests that Uluru was once an ocean, but after a great battle at its shores it rose up in revolt at the bloodshed, forming the great red rock.

Visitors are able to climb the rock, although Aborigines find it disrespectful to their beliefs. Since the Aborigines of the area do own the rights to Uluru, they have the power to close the climb whenever it is needed for a ceremony or if they feel it is dangerous to climb.

All three days we spent camping near Uluru the climb was closed due to high winds; however, we were given a spectacular helicopter ride over Uluru, which was absolutely amazing and one of the highlights of the trip. We also walked around the base of Uluru where we could see the many caves that cover it. Although it was extremely beautiful, you are asked not to take pictures of certain sections of the rock since Aborigines believe that when you take a picture of something, you are stealing their spirit.

The Great Barrier Reef is made up of a series of smaller reefs stretching 1,250 miles down Australia's northeastern coast in the Coral Sea. Reefs as large as the Great Barrier Reef take thousands of years to develop, considering that living coral grows less then two inches a year.

About 350 different types of coral live and grow in the Great Barrier Reef. Not only do the corals live in the reef, but it is also home to many different creatures.

Many different types of fish depend on the coral to protect them.

While visiting The Great Barrier Reef, we stayed in the beautiful seaside town of Airlie Beach, which is know as The Heart of the Great Barrier Reef. We spent the day ocean rafting around the area at more than 30 knots! We stopped at a few islands, including Whitehaven Beach, which has the whitest sand in the world. Next to the vibrant blue ocean, we felt we were in paradise.

After lunch, we cruised over to the reef and spent and hour snorkeling. The beautiful fish and amazing colors of the coral made us all want to stay. But our time in the water was up before we knew it, and soon enough we were heading back to land.

Our safari adventure included quite a few other activities. We rode camels in the desert, went ocean kayaking with dolphins, bush camped outside, climbed King's Canyon where we swam in a pristine natural pool of water known as #&The Garden of Eden.#8

Early in the trip we spent a night in Coober Pedy where we slept in an underground hotel. Coober Pedy is a small mining village in South Australia.

It gets so unbearably hot, that the majority of civilians build their homes into the hill where the houses remain a constant temperature through all seasons.

Churches, hotels, museums are all underground as well.

Although we experienced so many unbelievable activities, one of the best memories will be my time with all the exchange students. It was the trip of a lifetime, and I shared it with new life-long friends.

Maggie Hoercher would be graduating this year at Auburn High School, instead she is studying abroad as a Rotary Foreign Exchange Student to Australia.

She can be e-mailed at mhoerch@hotmail.com