Six years ago Lindsay Kleuskens was an exchange student at St Peter's school in Broulee - in Year 9.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Following her year in Australia, she her family returned to Canada, but that never really cured Lindsay of her fascination for Australia ... So she came back.
Part of her whirlwind tour back to Broulee includes an action-packed schedule catching up with some school friends, seeing some pen-friends, and also playing golf on the monumental Narooma Golf Club course.
"There is nothing like the Narooma golf course - the ocean views, the green grass, it is just gorgeous," Ms Kleuskens said.
Of course, there was the obligatory swim at Broulee's North Beach, with the water temperature twice that of the air temperature - her patriotic way of celebrating Canada Nation Day on 1 July.
Her parents Julie and David undertook a teaching exchange in Broulee in 2013, and worked in the senior school at St Peter's for the 12 months.
This was a reciprocal arrangement with another teaching couple.
The families swapped houses, and undertook their "out of country experience" accompanied by their families.
Ms Kleuskens is studying Communications back at Ryerson University in Toronto, two hours North East of her home town of London.
Her university is centred around once disused school that has been transformed into a campus. It now makes up almost the entire adjoining suburb, and is adjacent to the business centre of Toronto. It includes a couple of gymnasiums - one that has been constructed below the main grassed quadrangle in the centre of the old school.
Her sports-mad family threw itself into all manner of sporting opportunities downunder - notably basketball.
Ms Kleuskens made a sensational effort in taking a main role in the school's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. This year's musical is I am Woman - a tribute to the great female musical artists over the decades. Lindsay is thrilled to see it. You can too, on Thursday or Friday. Tickets available on 4471 5111.
READ MORE: Pauline Siteaud Canada bound
"It has been a real buzz catching up with some of my old teachers, and friends back here," Ms Kleuskens said. "Some thinks have changed: the school looks better, and some of my great teachers have not changed one bit - that is really good to see!"
What she loved about Australia (and Broulee) is the surf, the sand, the lifestyle, and the Australian nature and way of life. The best bit was a daring midnight swim at Broulee on New Year's Eve 2014 and the outdoor education week hike in Year 9 from Wog Wog into the Budawangs - a factor many kids identify as a truly unique feature of their middle high school years.
What she loves about her home in Toronto: the university, poutine (a national Canadian dish of potato fries, gravy and grated cheese), maple syrup (and her dad is now tapping the big maple tree in their home yard - catching 10 litres of sap in the spring, which is then boiled up to make the traditional Canadian syrup.