Marion and Kelly are from opposite sides of the globe and in a new hemisphere but share similar goals - to extend their academic experience while having fun and seeing a new country.

Both are on overlapping internships with CQUniversity in the broad area of economic valuation.

Kelly (left) and Marion on campus

Marion Musielak, from France, has been preparing contextual documents ahead of a survey into the values people place on protecting the Great Barrier Reef, across a range of scenarios.

Kelly Squires, from the USA, has been coding data for spreadsheets describing housing needs on the coalfields (a project which Marion has also been helping with in terms of data entry).

The student from Paris, who is enrolled at a major Agronomic School at Toulouse, has been living in shared housing at Rockhampton with a mini-United Nations of housemates from Japan, Korea, South Africa and Chile.

Her American counterpart, from the University of Maryland, has been enjoying the social life at the Capricornia College residential facility (after a slow start due to her arrival in term break).

Both visitors have been taking weekend excursions to see other parts of Queensland, including forest and island areas.

Marion gets to 'value' the reef

Marion also took in a bit of the Rocky culture, with visits to the bullrides and horse races. The latter experience was an eye-opener in terms of the "focus on dresses and hats rather than horses".

Kelly recently arranged a road trip with some friends heading to Townsville, so she was able to see plenty of Queensland along the way.

Marion meeting the locals 
Kelly enjoys surfing at Surfer's Paradise 
Kelly admires the sunset at Magnetic Island