Page 4 - June 09

Next Club Meeting

The next Club meeting 09 Jun 2025

Our next club meeting will be held at the Mooloolaba Bowls Club. The guest speakers will
be Various Club members who will be talking on Club projects and activities.

Several of our Club members will give brief presentation Subjects covered include the
history of our Equine project and an announcement on changes Story Telling update, Club
social activities, Sunshine Coast Garden Show
Director's Reports

From our outbound Youth Exchange Student Maddi Lang

Hello Rotary club of Mooloolaba

In May, my district in Brazil held our Grande Viagem (Big Trip), we went up to the North
East of Brazil and travelled along the coastline. It was the most amazing experience I've had
in my life. The sights I got to see, and the people I travelled with will stick with me for a long
time. We stayed in a range of places including; Manaus, Fortaleza, Jericoacoara, Salvador,
Praia do Forte, Presidente Prudente and even the AMAZON!

In Manaus we explored the city and learnt about the natural environment of the rainforest in
Brazil. It was interesting to explore the forest there because it reminded me exactly of the
Buderim Falls. After Manaus we spent 4 days on a boat on the Amazon River. This is
probably the coolest experience of my exchange so far. I loved sleeping in hammocks and
waking up surrounded by water just knowing that I was in the AMAZON. Woah. Just woah.
While we were in the Amazon, we visited a native tribe and danced with them, we swam
with pink dolphins, did a 3 hour walk in the rainforest and even supplied medicine to the
local islands which was an incredible experience. Sleeping on a boat for 3 days with 30 other
kids really brings you closer with them, especially when the bathrooms didn't work properly.
After the amazon we went to a little beachy, tourist town called Jericoacoara. It is definitely a
tourist destination that will 100% try to upsell EVERYTHING there, but would I still
recommend going. Absolutely. Jericoacoara was the best place on that whole trip for me. The
atmosphere was incredible; it quite literally is in the middle of nowhere. It's surrounded by
sand dunes, palm trees and the beach. For me, that's perfect. I enjoyed the three days we
stayed there so much. Although I got a little sunburnt it was worth it to swim in the beach
and then walk back and sleep in a hammock. I could have stayed there for weeks.

From Jericoacoara we went to Fortaleza and Salvador. Fortaleza was exactly like the Gold
Coast. Great big high-rises right on the beach. It was lots of fun to explore the city with
everyone. Salvador was roughly the same. It was so much fun to be able to spend all day
learning about the history of the city and then come back to our hotels and relax by the pool.
We spent one day in Praia do Forte where we saw turtles! Unfortunately, after this our trip
was over, we all returned to Presidente Prudente where Rotary held a big meeting for the
weekend, and we all said our goodbyes to each other.

Maddi Lang