Two New South Wales schools, almost 1,000 kilometres apart, have struck up an unlikely alliance.
They've been brought together by a program that aims to teach some very important life lessons -- while taking away the usual tools of the trade.
Rhiannon Elston has more.
It's a hot summer day on the shores of a remote New South Wales lake called Copi Hollow.
A group of high school students is splashing in the water.
There are no books, classrooms or structured lessons here.
But school is very much in session.
Killara High School teacher Karen Meaney has travelled with around 20 students from Sydney's northern suburbs for a week-long school exchange at Menindee, about 1,000 kilometres inland.
She says her students are learning, without even knowing it.
"The education that our city kids get out here, you just can't get that from a textbook, you know. It's very hands-on, they get to interview elders and a lot of Aboriginal people in the community."
Their hosts are students and teachers from Menindee Central.
It's a school in a town with just 500 residents, and many Indigenous students.
Locals like Jade are happy to show their visitors what life is like away from the coast.
"It's quiet. There's a lot of open space. It's really good."
The Killara students are just as eager to enjoy the experience, but it has been eye-opening in some respects.
Year 10 pupil Olivia explains.
"I really enjoyed visiting the health centre because we got to see how much people in the community can do to support each other. And they're working extra hours and things like that, just to be there for their community."
The exchange gives those from both schools the chance to explore different cultures.
Menindee Principal Daryl Irvine says the informal nature of the visit is important.
"They are the things that are not planned, aren't able to be scripted, that seem to really resonate with kids. Just the experience of being in someone else's patch."
The annual visit is part of a pilot program called the city-country alliance.
More than 20 schools from NSW are currently taking part.
Daryl Irvine says part of its purpose is to help students develop pride in their own cultural backgrounds, while gaining an understanding of others.
And he'd like to see it expanded in the future.
"That diversity of cultural background and religious background -- the chance to take people off their patch and to be able to talk openly about where they've come from. That's a really powerful experience. I keep saying the word powerful, but it is, there's really no other word for it."
