Ivanhoe Staff
Garry Chapman
Hello, I’m Garry Chapman, the India trip leader for 2014. This will be my fourth trip to India, a country that fascinates me. I was fortunate to lead the inaugural Year 9 trip to India in 2013, which was a huge success. I’m very grateful for the opportunity to return in 2014. As a boy, I always enjoyed reading my Dad’s National Geographic magazines and dreaming of one day travelling to some of the world’s exotic places. As I grew older, the dream never really left me. I began to read traveller’s tales and view adventure documentaries on television. This fed my desire to visit these places and experience different cultures first hand. India was always high on my bucket list. Thirty years ago, on our way home from a Himalayan trek, my wife and I spent a few weeks in northern India. We began by touring the famed tourist triangle of Delhi, Agra and Jaipur, then travelled throughout Rajasthan on steam trains. The sights, sounds and smells of that trip have been etched in my memory ever since. When people ask me why India is so special, the best way I can answer is to tell them that every time I turn around, there’s a good chance I might see something I’ve never seen before in my life. I’m really looking forward to sharing my next trip to this mystical land with the members of the 2014 Ivanhoe team.
Georgia Grant
I couldn’t be more thrilled with the opportunity to visit India with the Year 9s on their International Trip. This will be my second experience of India; it is such an exciting, magical and chaotic country.
I have been fortunate enough over the years to travel to countries all over the world, my favourite of all being Turkey and Istanbul where I lived and worked for three months. Exploring new cities and experiencing new cultures is a true passion of mine.
My parents are lovers of travel and have instilled in me the importance of seeking new adventures and discovering everything that the world has to offer.
My previous trip to India was with my Mum, we had three exhilarating weeks charging around the North through Delhi, Agra, Jaipur and Udaipur. We were also lucky enough to be able to explore the rural country-side, which was a highlight. We met some of the most beautiful and happy people on this part of the trip, and it was an unforgettable experience to get a snapshot into their lives. The last two weeks of our trip were spent in the South of India in Goa with the highlight being floating around the serene Kerala Backwaters on a houseboat. The whole trip was unforgettable and upon our return I found it hard to describe to friends and family the experience of visiting India. It is truly a place you have to see for yourself and I am looking forward to sharing this experience with the 2014 group.
Wendy McCarry
My first big experience with travel when I was 17 and spent a year as an exchange student in France. As I am originally from Canada this was my first time outside of North America, and from that point on I realised that travelling would become a big part of my life. As an exchange student I lived with a French family for a year, attended the local high school, and learned a lot about French culture and language. I would encourage any student considering an exchange to go for it – it was an experience that truly changed my life.
In university I spent a summer working in Dublin and also spent another year as an exchange student in Karlstad, Sweden studying maths and Swedish history. On return from my year abroad I knew I wanted to keep travelling, so 8 months later I moved to London to start my career as a teacher. What was supposed to be one year in London turned into 7, and while living there I was lucky to be able to travel throughout Europe and parts of Africa. Highlights include a school service trip to Ghana with Year 12 students, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and diving in the Red Sea in Egypt. In January 2013 my husband and I moved to Melbourne so that we could experience travelling in a different part of the world. This will be my first time in India, and I am thrilled to be a part of this trip. I am most looking forward to experiencing the Holi festival and taking part in yoga and meditation.
Ivanhoe Students
April Bray
My name is April Bray and I am 13 years old. I’m from the Plenty Campus of Ivanhoe Grammar School. I love to travel and have been to many places around the world with my family including Switzerland, England, South Africa, and Austria. My all-time favourite place that I’ve been to would definitely be Venice, the extraordinary history of the people and the island is astounding. My friend Jay is definitely the person who got me interested and taught me the most about history. I remember sitting in front of the T.V with about 3 cats on top of me listening to her tell stories about Vikings, or Tudors, or Victorian inventions gone wrong. India has a rich history and it will be wonderful to visit a country with such an eventful past. I think that the international trip to India will be an excitingly different experience of a new culture.
Olivia Corda
Hi, I’m Olivia and I am 14 years old. I have travelled overseas a few times and have really enjoyed it! The first time I went overseas was when I was 18 months old to Bali. My most memorable trip was to Europe; my favourite places were Venice and Florence in Italy. My family and I have travelled around Australia as well, including Darwin and Byron Bay. In my free time I love to spend time with my friends and family and play sport, especially netball. I am extremely excited to travel to India as it will be an exotic and memorable experience. I am particularly interested in the food and learning about a diverse and captivating way of life.
Katrina Dalgleish
Hi, I’m Katrina. I am a student from the Plenty Campus. I enjoy playing netball and tennis. I have travelled overseas before and have enjoyed learning about the different cultures when visiting other countries. I have not been to India and am looking forward to experiencing their culture and their education system.
Max Dalheim
My name is Max Dalheim. I am 14. I was born in Melbourne, Victoria in 1999. I live with my sister Rosie (17 years old), my Mum and my Dad. I have a dog named Suki. She is 18 months old. I like to play sports. My favourite sport is hockey. I go for Richmond Tigers in the AFL. I am In Year 9 at Ivanhoe Grammar School. I went to Westgarth Primary School. I am really looking forward to going to India to try different foods and experience different cultures.
Marina Gonzalvo
Hi, my name is Marina and I am 14 years old. I can’t wait for the trip to India and I am looking forward to experiencing the culture, food and education that seems so different to Australia. In my spare time, some of the things I enjoy doing are listening to music, spending time with my friends and family and I also love travelling. I have travelled overseas various times and some of the places I have visited are Argentina, Europe, Fiji and New Zealand. Two of my favourite places that I have been to so far are London and Venice, and I would someday like to visit Amsterdam and Indonesia. I haven’t visited any of the countries in the Asian region, so I am really excited about visiting India, which I’m sure will be a memorable trip.
Ned Hopper
My name is Ned Hopper. I am 14 years old. I was born in Melbourne, Australia on the 10th of March 1999. I live with my Brother, Felix (aged 11), My mum, Ann-Marie (aged 48) and my dad, John (aged 48) I have a dog whose name is Steve. He is 1 year old now. I love playing and watching sport. I play cricket and school cricket in the summer and I play Footy, Hockey and school Hockey. I also barrack for the Western Bulldogs in the AFL. I go to a lot of Western Bulldogs AFL games to support my team. I am In Year 9 at Ivanhoe Grammar School. I went to Aphington Primary School. That is where I learnt the basics, and that is how I got in to Ivanhoe Grammar. The year that I was in grade 6 we were very successful in sport, we won a title of 16 sporting awards for the year. That is the highest ever at Alphingon Primary School.
Emma Hubball
I have been at Ivanhoe Grammar since ELC. I am really excited to go to India as I have never been before. It will be a totally new experience for me as well. I can’t wait to try the new things in India.
I have many hobbies that include swimming, triathlons and gymnastics. I have been doing gymnastics for over 13 years and I recently competed in the State Championships where I won a State Title. I have travelled a lot throughout Asia and I absolutely love it. My favourite places that I have been able to go to so far have been the Maldives and Singapore. I have also been to China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji, New Zealand and The Cook Islands. I love how they are very different from life here in Melbourne. I also love the different foods and cultures.
Matthew Jones
I’m Matthew Jones and I’m 15 years old. This my first trip outside of Australia. I cannot say when I started wanting to travel to other countries other than to say “I have always” wanted to travel to other countries. I can always remember Mum pointing out things on the news from other countries and then telling me to read up on the country in one of our reference books or look it up on the internet. That way I would learn about the country. I sometimes think that was Mum’s way of answering my question about the country because she didn’t know the answer to the question. I like learning about history because what has happened is fact and recorded. It’s not like trying to learn English literature and trying to explain what the writer meant when he or she wrote some passage. History is history. When I read about a country or looked it up on the internet I saw many different types of architecture. All the countries with lots of history and ancient buildings have fascinated me and India falls into that category. I can’t wait to get there and see everything first hand. My uncle David, who taught at Ivanhoe, gave me a lot of history and geography books when I was younger. That started my interest in other countries and their history.
Walter Jones
Hi, I’m Walter, I’m 14, and some of my favourite things in life would include watching and playing AFL, music and my friends and family. I am very lucky in that I have been able to visit quite a few different places in the world already during my lifetime. Among the places that I have visited are Paris, Hong Kong, China, Thailand, Prague and Bali. I am very excited to go to India because I believe that it will offer new experiences that can not be found anywhere else. Here’s a much younger photo of me in China
Amalia Kermond-Marino
Hi I’m Amalia, I am 14 years old and I have been travelling a lot of times, all over the world. My favourite place to go to is Istanbul or Canada. In my spare time I like listening to music and going to concerts, as well as travelling and spending time with my friends and family. I’m really excited about travelling to India because I haven’t been to Asia a lot in my life and It would be great to see a new part of the world and have great experiences that I can look back on in the future. I’m also looking forward to experiencing a new culture.
Kevin Mao
I came to Ivanhoe Grammar School Plenty Campus in Year 7. Now I am currently 14 years old and in the middle of ECP of Year 9. I am really excited to go to India as I have never been before but my sister and friends highly recommend me to go and have describe and showed me some exceptional scenery in India.
I have many hobbies including: swimming, tennis, bowling, pool, running, hanging out with friends and mountain bike riding. I have crossed the world to many places including: China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Bali, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, Malaysia and many places within Australia. But I thought Thailand was my favourite no matter if it’s from the food to the culture – it was absolutely amazing! I love the fact that their lifestyles and food are very different from Melbourne. Finally I am looking forward to the food as I have had a lot of Indian food and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Isabelle McCubbery
Greetings, I am Isabelle McCubbery (as you can see above) and I’m going to be joining you on the trip to India next year, unless you’re just a rando (or parent) who isn’t actually going but just felt like reading this small biography on me, OR it’s now 2014, in which case I won’t be going with you next year, I’ll be going with you this year (this year referring to 2014). I have been at Ivanhoe Grammar since I was in prep, meaning I have been here for a total of 10 years. Before that I lived in England, which is nice place to live, but I wouldn’t suggest going there for a beach holiday. I have travelled all around Europe in my 13 long years of being alive, my favourite country being Italy, which I visited when I was 7 and absolutely loved, apart from the sight-seeing in Rome. This was because, being a 7 year old, I walked for hours around a huge city with a whole lot of random people speaking complete gibberish, then stared and took pictures of what seemed to be a whole lot of rocks placed in the shape of a giant ring, on top of the fact that apparently I wasn’t allowed to walk down the dark empty corridor with a rope across the door and a sign saying “No Entry” meant that it wasn’t that fun. I have also visited Bali and Singapore and am now really looking forward to spending time with you in India, assuming you are going to India with me, and if not, I recommend being jealous because India is going to be awesome. And just to add some contextual information about the picture, I am in a French castle, the radio I’m holding to my ear is giving me its history and my arm is in a make-shift sling because I sprained my wrist trying to do a cartwheel while wearing a dress and inside a hotel room.
Matt Nakulski
Hello, my name is Matt and I am 14 years old. I moved to Australia from England last year and I am looking forward to the trip to India. My favourite things are playing soccer and cricket. I enjoy travelling and have been lucky enough to visit lots of different countries such as South Africa, USA, Canada, Italy, Czech Republic and Singapore. The things I am most looking forward to in India are sightseeing, staying at Daly College and trying the local cuisine. I am also looking forward to having my birthday in India.
Ethan Pride
My name is Ethan Pride and I am 14 years old. I can’t wait to go to India as I love to travel. I have been to every state of Australia as well as New Zealand and Hong Kong. I love to kayak and I am going up to the national championships this next year at Sydney. I also play hockey, soccer, baseball and cricket. This photo is me at last year’s Victorian championships with my partner. I am in the front with the number on.
Eloise Raits
Hello, I’m Eloise Raits and I am travelling to India in 2014. I am really looking forward to travelling to India as I have never been before. I am excited to stay at Daly College and learn about Indian history, culture, language and the arts. I am interested to see the differences between Daly College and Ivanhoe. I am looking forward to visiting the Taj Mahal and the other historical sites throughout India. I have travelled overseas with my family to Fiji, Indonesia, New Zealand and Thailand so I am excited to go to a new country and experience the different culture, food and language. I am a bit nervous about being away from my family and friends for two weeks, but it will be a good opportunity to be independent and learn to not always rely on my parents! I am really looking forward to meeting new people and travelling through India in 2014.
William Ross
Hi my name is Will Ross. I enjoy playing AFL, Cricket, Basketball, Hockey and Tennis. I also like to watch movies, hang out with friends, listen to music and spend time with my family. I have travelled to many places around the world but my very first was Bali when I was about 11/1/2 months old and I have enjoyed travelling since. I have been to Thailand, Cambodia, Singapore, Malaysia, America and I have travelled around Australia for 3 months with my family. I am really looking forward to going to India because of the food, culture, sightseeing and staying at the college and experiencing the extreme heat. Also experiencing the cuisine and to live like they do.
Eliza Watson
Hi, I’m Eliza Watson and I am so excited to go to India! I am 13 years old currently but I will be 14 when I am in India. Some of my hobbies include; sports (netball, touch rugby, basketball) music (viola and singing) , travelling although I haven’t done much of it, however I know that I love experiencing new cultures and places, and I especially love being with friends and family. I’ve only been overseas once, and that was to Fiji when I was 10. It was a more relaxing holiday although I’m sure India will be an extremely different experience. I’ve already begun learning Hindi off YouTube and I’ve started saving for spending money. I am so excited to experience a completely new culture, food and language.
Madison Wilson
Hi my name is Madi. I am 14 years of age and I attend Ivanhoe Grammar Plenty Campus. I started at the school in year 7. I am really enjoying the opportunities that the school is giving me. I enjoy kayaking, drama and cadets the most. I have travelled around the world visiting a host of countries including England, France, China, Hong Kong, America and Bali. My fondest memories of course are from Disneyland. I am really looking forward to my time in India to experience the food and culture and am quite excited to be travelling with my friends.
Ivanhoe to India 2014 