After a gruelling red eye layover at the Darwin airport, our Pakenham Year 10 students finally arrived at East Timor this week. Although a little tired, they were teeming with excitement and curiosity.

For the first two days, the group adjusted to the climate, culture and food and visited the Resistance Museum, Chega and camped out on Hera beach. They also used the time to purchase supplies to take to the local communities and snacks to keep themselves going for the long drives ahead of them.

Yesterday they visited two coffee plantations and processing plants that focus on developing social enterprise and providing knowledge and assistance to local farmers. Later they made their way to the base of Mt Ramelau where they got to bed early in preparation for a 2am wake up to hike to the summit of the tallest mountain in East Timor for sunrise views.