Canberra Excursion 

Canberra 17th - 21st September 2023

Monday 18/9/23 

An early start on our first day in Canberra for a lovely breakfast. All the food at Canberra Park has been delicious. We got on the bus then headed to the Old Parliament House electoral centre. We were taught how to vote correctly when we conducted our own election and discussed the upcoming referendum. 

Our next stop was the AIS where we looked around at the different training facilities and were lucky enough to see some athletes training. The Sportec room was by far a highlight as we got to put our skills to the test at a range of sports and compare ourselves to some of Australia’s best athletes. 

At Cockington Green, we walked around the beautiful gardens that had small miniature fairy garden houses and all different kinds of scenery. The train ride was a great way to see it all from a new perspective too. 

We finally arrived at Questacon where we were able to learn new things about Science and we could have fun trying some new inventions. Some of us even braved the Giant drop just before leaving. 

We finished our day at the Botanic Gardens on a night tour. We learnt lots of interesting facts and it was especially exciting for the group that got to see a sugar glider just before leaving. We had a very busy day but it was filled with excitement.

By Baxter, Khloe and Sam

Tuesday 19/9/23

Today we started at Parliament House. We were able to take some amazing photos of the Canberra views from the roof. We also got to roll down the grass at the very top! It was an extremely entertaining experience. There were draw dropping sights when we viewed the Senate and the House of Representatives and we learnt that the flag on top of the Parliament House is about the size of the bus driving us around this week. 

We visited the National Gallery where we explored all the unusual and amazing artworks. We even got to have a go at making our own artworks to bring home. After a quick lunch along Lake Burleigh Griffin we made our way to the CSIRO Discovery Centre. It was great to spend sometime exploring outside. Looking through the microscopes at the different materials was the best part. After much anticipation we arrived at the War Memorial. It was a very exciting experience for us all, especially Logan. We got to see all the military equipment from the wars, some aircrafts and learn the stories of some soldiers. A real highlight was getting to see some real soldiers.

Our day finished with a tour of the National Dinosaur Museum. We got to see lots of dinosaurs, skeletons and fossils. We learnt lots of great facts here. The gift shop was expensive so we had to be very careful. All round day 2 was a hit!

By Logan, Rachael and Ellie

Wednesday 20/9/23

Our final day in Canberra started with a nice drive around the embassies of different countries where people from different countries can go for help when away from home. After that we got to go for a tour at the Royal Mint and see how Australia makes coins. Then we got to make our own coins and walk around the gift shop. 

Later we went Government House and we leant about the four C’s of the Governor General’s job which are constitutional, ceremonial, community and chief minster. 

After that we went to the Zoo/Aquarium and saw all sorts and varieties of fish and wild animals like lions, tigers, leopards, meerkats, monkeys, African wild dogs {African painted dogs}, deer and a varieties of fish and shark.

And we got back and had dinner and dessert we came back to the cabin and had a games night. To top off a super exciting few days in Canberra we had the fire alarm go off just after we had gone to bed and had to evacuate the building. Thankfully everything was ok and everyone was safe.

By Charles, Darci, Baxter, George 

We had the best time away in Canberra. A massive thank you to Mrs. Ahumada for organizing a wonderful, fun filled and education trip. A big thank you also to our incredible bus driver Lorrie for driving us around Canberra safely and Miss Outridge, Todd Clark, Casey Lennon and Mrs. Nugent for coming along to keep everyone safe and help us have fun.