Home from the Land Down Under

Abbie Olson holds a koala bear during her trip to Australia.

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Story Published: Aug 28, 2008 at 11:18 PM PST

Story Updated: Nov 21, 2008 at 12:23 AM PST

By Matt Loveless

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LEWISTON - It started with a picture of a mule deer in her backyard.

It turned into the trip of a lifetime.

"Oh gosh, I couldn't tell you about it," said ninth Grader Abbie Olson. "It would take too much time."

Abbie is back at Jenifer Junior High for the fll, and the teenager’s "what I did on my summer vacation" essay will probably take the cake.This spring, Olson found out she would be one of 15 kids in the U.S. chosen for a two-week exploration of Australia.

"They think Americans are awesome," said Abbie. "We don't really understand how cool they think we are. I actually made some friend with little fourth and fifth graders, and they're just the cutest little guys ever."

She's back, and all she did, with her free Nikon camera, was swim with the turtles in the Great Barrier Reef, hang with marsupials, and get set up with some swanky accommodations.

"They got us up at 7:00 or 8:00 a.m., and we would go down and eat five-star meals at every beautiful hotel you can think of, because we stayed top-rated hotels in Queensland and Tasmania."

Abbie brought her mom along, who, according to Abbie, was one of the giddiest on the plane ride. Of course, mom was good for some authentic Australian souvenirs.

"This kangaroo, my mom bought at the Karanda village," said Olson. "It plays their unofficial anthem Waltzing Matilda. I couldn't ask for a better time, a better two weeks. It was great."

Abbie's trip was blogged and captured in video at kids.nationalgeographic.com.

Next year, National Geographic is taking a group of kids to Peru.

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