Freddie Feilding

Gap year Australia & New Zealand

July 14^th I set off from London Heathrow to Perth where I then made my way down to the small beautiful town of Albany. Albany was where I’d call home for the next 6 months. Here I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work as a gap assistant at Great Southern Grammar. 

My role was deputy head of one of the 4 boarding houses, Anchorage which houaed year 11, 10 and 8 students. When I arrived I was told that they were a bit rough around the edges and so they were. Quite hard work but were great friends and built a big brotherly bond with all of them. Every other day I’d be on duty from 3:30pm to 11pm at night. Each day involved sorting out afternoon tea where I’d stock up the fridge and other essentials such as Milo. During the days at Grammar I was heavily involved with PE and athletics, which was great. I was also involved with the outdoor education programme consisting mountain biking, snorkelling, fishing, kayaking and surfing. Surfing will be something that I’ll definitely take back with me to the UK. I was also involved with coaching the 1^st football team and rugby sevens team. I really enjoyed being able to teach the boys how to play rugby as a lot of them had never played before as WA is so focused around AFL ‘’footy’’.  I felt as though I made a real difference in my role as assistant and would love to do it again. With PE and Outdoor Ed we were really just there to fill numbers and join in but also supervise such as being the back end of the mountain biking just in case there were any falls. 

On long weekends the other gappies and I would head up to Perth to watch the AFL and a bit of shopping. During the holiday we headed to Bali where we went on trips to the monkey forest and other places, which was surrounded by amazing culture. Most mornings another gappie and I would head out to the beach and rent a surfboard for the morning. It’s a place that I’ll have to visit again sometime soon.

My time at Great Southern Grammar was amazing. Being able to be involved with so much and go on so many trips was great. I’ll miss the weekend duties in the summer where we would head down to the beach and play cricket, footy and jump off the pontoons in the sea where in the background whales were jumping out of the water on the other side of the safety net. Also mornings surf sessions where the sunrise was like nothing I’ve seen before with dolphins jumping out of the waves while the suns early light glistened off the surface of the water. Real magical moments that I’ll honestly never forget and will miss. Last but not least the boys, brothers to me, will be greatly missed along with the gappies and other friends I made along the way. 

When my time came to an end at Great Southern Grammar I decided to head out on a tour from Alice Springs to Melbourne via Adelaide. The plan was to end up in Melbourne and stay on a farm with a friend from school over the Christmas New Year period before I flew out to Auckland.

The heat really hit me when I arrived in Alice Springs on 18^th December and the following day I boarded the tour bus, which would take us all the way down to Adelaide. On the way down we slept in swags, which was amazing. The stars in the outback were the best I had ever seen. We stopped off at Fularu, Ularu, Kings Canyon, Coober Pedy, Port Augusta and then Adelaide. Ularu was the highlight of the tour as it was just amazing how big the rock was and learning about aboriginal culture and watching the sun go down in the background as the BBQ was on the go was such an amazing experience. Another experience that I won’t forget was being caught up in a sand storm at Coober Pedy. After Adelaide we headed along the great ocean road and stopped at the twelve apostles and other coastal features along the way. From the Grampians we had spectacular views from the lookout points. 

In Melbourne I spent a few days exploring then made my way down to Turadin where I met up with my friend from school and worked on a riding for disabled farm before boarding my flight to Auckland.

On the 5^th of January I arrived in Auckland and was kindly invited to stay with the Meikle family at Whangapoua beach on the Coromandel Peninsula. I spent a week here which was jam packed full of activities including surfing, paddle boarding, fishing, scurfing and cliff jumping. The food and hospitality of the Meikle family was great. Days spent next to the beach sipping on Jim’s signature G&T’s will be missed. 

After a week In Whangapoua I joined a tour from Auckland to Wellington. We stopped at various places including; Hahei, Hobbiton, Waitomo caves, Rotorua, Raglan, Hamilton, Blue Duck Station Bulls. My favourite parts of the tour were Hot Water Beach, surfing in Raglan and the Hobbitton movie set. On the way down I made great friends with some of the travellers and I am still in contact with them. Unfortunately the weather on the trip wasn’t the best but the tour still was a real success and I loved it all bar the rain. We had planned to do the Tongariro Crossing but this was cancelled due to the weather.

Once I got to Wellington it wasn’t long until I was welcomed to Scots College as the 4^th gap assistant. My role at Scots involved being a floater in lessons to help people who struggled. I was involved with English and science lessons with year 7’s. Another role was to be a scribe for boys who struggled to write in their exams. Within boarding I was on duty for most nights in prep as well as going on trips with the boarders on the weekends. These trips included paintballing, high ropes, bowling and the Roxy Cinema. I was also involved with taking the under 15’s B cricket team and sport on Thursday. Trips to Makaheki and Otaki involved treks, white water rafting and high ropes. On the one trip with year 6’s I was in charge of free time activities and games. 

Whilst I was at Scots College I was able to go on trips with the gappies to Fiji and the South Island during the holidays. On the trip to Fiji we did an island hopping tour. At each island we stayed one night and went to 6 islands over the 7 days. On these Islands we learnt Night spearfishing, Snorkelling on corals, Fijian lessons, coconut ring making and how to open a coconut which was a staple source of food out there. Also of course lots of touch rugby with the locals. The locals were amazing with so much energy it was very inspiring to see how happy they were with such little resources. A big lesson for me was learnt on my outlook on life and the importance of having a good time and being positive and happy. While in Fiji we met up with an old Scots boy who took us out on his boat in Suva which was awesome as he took us out to the reefs.

Another trip we did was a road trip from Christchurch to Queenstown. We landed in Christchurch where we drove down to Dunedin. In Dunedin we went to watch the Hurricanes (Wellington) play the Highlanders (Otago). The atmosphere was electric as we were surrounded by all the uni students. We then drove to Queenstown and where the views were incredible especially as we approached Queenstown. Whilst there we enjoyed long nights out and seeing the sights around. One day we went to Milford Sounds which was amazing. We then flew back to Wellington in time for the start of the last term.

Whilst in Wellington I became part of the Seatoun football team.  We managed to win the league and gained promotion into Cap 1.  Being a part of this team I have made some incredible friends and useful contacts for the future. The team spirit and banter has been great to be a part of and was topped off by the end of season trip to Nelson. Which was packed with so many good memories with so many great people, they will all be missed. 

The memories I have made from this year of adventure will be with me for the rest of my life. The past year has been full of things that I’d thought I’d never get to experience. These experiences wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the James Meikle Shrewsbury Scholarship and James family and Trustees. I have learnt so much from this year which will stay with me forever. I wished this year would not end but sadly it has to. Thank you to everyone who supports the scholarship. Furthermore a special thank you to Liz and Jim and the Trustees for their support throughout the whole year and I look forward to seeing you again in the future.

Freddie Fielding