Hey Camp

Students from our school have recently undertaken an education tour of the national capital. Students were given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy. The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding to our school in the amount of $112.50 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

We woke up early to a wet Monday morning wondering how boring or how fun our camp would be.  As we arrived at school we put our luggage on the bus and said goodbye to our parents, for we would not see them for five days.  

We arrived in Sydney after the twelve-hour drive.  It was dark and we had to get to our hotel and get some rest because tomorrow was going to be a big day. In the morning we headed out to the Bible Society Masterclass, and there were hundreds of kids in the building.  There were even more online watching from a camera at the back. The music was amazing, and we learnt many things about God and His son Jesus. 

We drove to the Sydney Opera House, and got an American tour guide who showed us around the building and talked about the architecture.  The Opera House was stunning and the two main rooms were absolutely amazing!  

After that we caught a ferry to Manly, a town in the area of Sydney, sort of like Irymple in Mildura. We went for a short walk and got one of the best views with the perfect sunset!  We got dinner at a café and then headed home for the next day. 

The next day we went to the Rocks which held the original buildings of Sydney.  After we explored and finished the tour, we headed to the Sydney Eye Tower.  Some of us were unsure about going up the tower, but once we headed up the long elevator, the doors opened up and we went out to see the beautiful view of all of Sydney.  Immediately we were all amazed by the view, some of us bought souvenirs and we headed back down after an hour.  

It was now time to head to Taronga Zoo, where we saw two shows, the first was a sea lion show that was pretty cool and the second was a bird show. We saw some really special birds.  After that we had already split up into groups and went around the zoo. 

We went to Canberra the next morning and arrived after two hours.  When we got there we headed to Questacon then to a mountain overlooking Canberra where we saw the triangle outline of the city.  There was also this big sports place where most Australian Olympians train. The next day we drove to the War Memorial and got a tour and learned about some courageous things that people did.  

After that we went for a walk around the statues, then headed to the Parliament House. Later we had a tour of Parliament House, we got dinner where we were staying and then headed out for go-karting.  Most of us had a lot of fun zooming around corners and going at high speeds.  The next morning was the trip back to Mildura, and we all returned home at night saying goodbye to our legendary bus driver, Rodney.