Written by Zoe Mitchell and Lilly Bevan. This is the full trip report — our earlier story covered the first few days in Sydney.
On Thursday 13 August, 44 very excited students left Denmark. After the six-hour drive to Perth and an overnight stay near the Swan River, we arrived in Sydney in the afternoon — and were lucky enough to walk over the Harbour Bridge that night.
The next day we toured Sydney and The Rocks, learning the history of the area, and experienced the amazing architecture of the Sydney Opera House. On Sunday we bussed to Bondi Beach, where we met a famous Bondi lifeguard — a big highlight — and then headed on the three-and-a-half hour trip to Canberra.
Sydney on the first night.
Parliament, the AIS and the Mint
Our first day in Canberra took in New Parliament House, with a detailed tour of the Senate and the House of Representatives. We were lucky enough to hear a live debate and to meet Rick Wilson, the federal member for our region. Then came Old Parliament House and the Museum of Australian Democracy, and in the evening Mount Stromlo Observatory, where we learnt about the history of space and its machinery.
Day two was the Australian Institute of Sport, where we were guided around the training turf of many Olympians — we even saw Georgia Godwin warming up. Our next stop was the Governor-General’s residence, which was heavily guarded and had a lot of strict rules to follow. We then headed to the Royal Australian Mint to watch coins being made, and finished at Questacon, where the illusions were great and the earthquake room was everyone’s favourite.
Day three in Canberra was the snow.
The snow
Day three was the snow. We headed up to the Snowy Mountains and met some amazing coaches who helped us perfect our skiing and snowboarding. We had so much fun, lots of funny stacks and even more memories.
Our second-last day was another day full of museums and tours: the National Museum of Australia, the Australian War Memorial, the National Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery.
Our last day involved another early start, and we were sad our trip had come to an end. We were all exhausted but so incredibly grateful for the experience we were given, and we would like to thank all the staff who worked together to organise such a big event.
The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians visiting the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. Under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program it contributed $1,275.00 per student towards the cost of this excursion, paid directly to the school on completion.