Saturday 22 October 2016

Stage 3 Canberra Trip

Stage 3 were blessed to have an amazing week exploring the nation's capital. It was fast paced and packed with many memorable points.

We were treated with the opportunity at Parliament House to meet Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Craig Kelly MP, we also met Treasurer Scott Morrison in the hallway walking to question time.

At the Australian Museum, we were fascinated by the artifacts that were uniquely Australia. Many of us were surprised to see the size of Farlap's heart and how the Aboriginals would use their tools in ingenious ways to meet their communities needs. We discovered how our nation rode on the backs of agriculture and mining, now moving to a new world of discovery through Science and Technology.

We got to sit in the seats of Prime Ministers and Senators at Old Parliament House. We learned that Parliament has its own language "hear, hear" and symbols such as the mace in the House of Representatives and the black rod in the Senate.

At the National Art Gallery, we experienced the magnificence of Monet's "Waterlillies", The "Aboriginal Memorial", consisting of 200 hollow coffin logs from central Arnhem Land in the Northen Territory and Sidney Nolan's "Ned Kelly".

At the Australian War Memorial, we took the time to remember those who have served us as a nation. We were able to learn about the impacts war has had on us as a nation and personally as many of us found relatives on the wall of remembrance.

The AIS provided us with the opportunity to let off some steam and play in Sportex. We toured the venues including the gymnastics hall, swimming pool, weights gym and volleyball courts.

Our final day saw us visit Questacon, Australia's National Science and Technology museum. So much discovery was made in each of the exhibits from the earthquake room in Awesome Earth to the makerspace in The Shed, from Wonderworks to Q-Lab and not forgetting "freefall" in the Excite exhibit.

This excursion was a privilege. It took the information we had learnt last term and placed it in context. It gave us a deeper appreciation of the importance of what happens for us as Australians in Canberra.