Senior School

Senior School Sydney Excursion

On Tuesday morning, 20 March, 19 students from Years 9 to Academy II stepped on to the train that would eventually deliver us to Sydney. Miss Jenner, Mrs Riley, and Mr Wood went along for the adventure too. After nine hours and some delays, we were standing at Central Station.

We stayed at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, Redfern. We were briefed after dinner by an Urban Challenge representative who outlined the details of our race around the city that we would have on Thursday.

Up bright and early for a day of sightseeing, we headed straight to the University of Sydney. We had a guided tour of the Nicholson Museum and were extremely privileged to handle some of the museum’s collection of artefacts. I am sure none of us had previously touched anything so old as an Egyptian Shabti doll or a leather punch from Pompeii. We also toured the University’s grounds, looking at some amazing neo-gothic and modern architecture. Feeling inspired, we then headed off to the Jewish Museum. At the museum we were honoured to hear the moving story of a man who survived the Holocaust. He also happened to be the founder of Seafolly, which he modestly mentioned in passing. The museum was fantastic, giving us an inside view of people’s lives during the Holocaust. Later that evening we caught the Manly ferry, which gave us a great view of the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, to have dinner on the Corso. The voyage was really quite rough, AKA exciting.

The day of the Urban Challenge we all marshalled in the dining hall ready for our first clue. The challenge involved us being divided into two teams and each of us having a role like navigator or photographer. We were given clues that instructed us to go to various places around the city to find our next clue. The highlights of the day were definitely the escape room challenge and when we had to bargain for a cheap meal in China Town for dinner.

On our last day in Sydney we went to the Royal Easter Show. We watched some agricultural demonstrations as a group, before enjoying free time for the rest of the day. We headed home all pretty tired, especially since we were all loaded with heavy show bags.

On Saturday morning we boarded the Country Link again, this time avoiding any delays. Our time in Sydney was fantastic, many good times were had.  A special thanks to Miss Jenner, Mr Wood, and Mrs Riley for organising the excursion and for being calm when Jim bought a Kim Jong-Un mask.