Coodlie Park / Australian Wildlife Adventures

Placement organization

Name of organization: Coodlie Park / Australian Wildlife Adventures
Town/city: Port Kenny
Country: Australië
Website: https://www.coodliepark.com.au/

Student

Name of student: Liang Reijmers

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Coodlie Park is a big property which has different types of accommodation. The property has a big camp ground, 2 self contained cottages and a hostel as well.

Australian Wildlife Adventures is the tour operating company and has 2 brands:

Nullarbor Traveller
Focused on backpackers, offers camping tours through Western Australia and South Australia.

Xplore Eyre
Focused on Port Lincoln day tours and tailor made/accommodated trips through Western Australia and South Australia.
Target group of the organization: Backpackers, families, depending on which brand of the companies
Company culture: Very informal, as you live and work together with your boss, the environment is pretty relaxed. Hassie is very open, which makes communicating really easy.
Number of employees: Hassie the owner and 2 employees + tour guides
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

As these companies are only small companies, there is no specific department you will be working for. You will get to do lots and lots of different stuff which fit in many departments.

Brief description of your daily activities: During the internship you work for Coodlie Park, and Nullarbor Traveller and Xplore Eyre. The last 2 are brands of Australian Wildlife Adventures. Your activities for all of these will be:

Helping out customers (phone,email,reception)
Making Bookings
Keep the campground tidy
Welcome the tours who arrive at Coodlie Park
Help out tour guides when they need something
Help catering when there is a private request
Keep up with statistics
Administration

Basically you just support Hassie wherever he needs help. You will work mainly with Hassie together at the office in the house where you will be staying as well.
Brief description of your company assignment: I am making a marketing and business plan for Coodlie Park as it was non existent yet.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Hassie is always keen to help you out. He finds it important that you will personally learn a lot when you will work with him. He finds it important that you can make Coodlie Park your home, and you will have the time of your life. He is very open and tells you what he thinks. He is also really keen on giving you all the information about the companies and giving some new ideas is always appreciated.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, responsible, flexible, stress-proof, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, especially excel is what you will use quite a lot.
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Provided by the company
How did you go to work every day? Open the door, bedroom is next to the office, as soon as you open the door you are standing in the office, how chill is that?

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Working Holiday Visa
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Website of the Australian Government
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? arranging it takes about an hour, being granted the necessary visa can take about 2/3 months, however I received it in 1 minute
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? As long as you can make yourself clear it should not be necessary, however it could be an advantage when your English is not that good.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200 euros (Tip: look on Kilroy for student prices)
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € Depending on whether you can live without any snacks, alcohol. I did not spend any money.
Costs of visa: € 290
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? I did not get paid but did not spend any money either as all I needed was provided by Hassie and Jo:

Accommodation
Meals (It is appreciated if you cook for them every now and then)
Tours (Adelaide to Perth, Perth to Coodlie Park This tour is your arrival to Coodlie Park)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I watched Australian movies and series, but in the end it didn’t get me anywhere. I found out that living in such a remote area is like going back in time 10 years or so. Together with really laid back people, there is not much preparation needed. Just be prepared to live in the outback for 5 months.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? I found it easier as everyone is realy relaxed, this gives you less the feeling of being pressured.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: liangreijmers@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do everything that Hassie or locals offer, even though it might be scary, it is worth it and in the end you cannot regret not having done it.

I would also recommend to watch the sunset (and if you’re up to it the sunrise) as often as possible. It is so amazing to watch.

Take one for the team! Definitely do, this will be explained further when you are at Coodlie Park.

At least try the food you get, sometimes you get such different meats or fish which turns out to be better than expected.

Another recommendation would be to start playing Sequence, this will be the game that will be played a lot. (Surprise Hassie with your skills!)

One very important tip: You will be going to the Australian outback for 5 months, make sure that you are ready to live in such a remote area. There will be no shops and not many places to go to on your own. You will do things together with other people however this is something you should be aware of. If you are a very outgoing person there will be no possibilities to go out, the alternative you get here is to stay at the campground when the Nullarbor Traveller tours arrive. These are fun nights with barbies and campfires.

All in all it is an amazing experience and you will definitely learn a lot. The people are amazing and all I could say is be prepared and enjoy the journey.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Coodlie Park has a private beach, during the placement you will get a car which you can drive on the property. This means you can even drive it to the beach.

Other leisure possibilities are going to the surroundings with Hassie or with others. There are plenty of places to visit such as Venus Bay, Murphy’s Haystacks, Port Kenny, Mount Camel Beach, Lake Newland Conservation Park, Streaky Bay, and many more

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link