A Capital Experience - 86 students in Canberra

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WARNING. This blog entry is about a school trip with 86 students. It's not really very exciting...

The final week of Term 3 took us to Canberra with our school's Year 6 classes. This was a great way to see the main museums, parliment buildings, and other attractions of the Nation's capital but we did pay a heavy price - supervising 86 eleven year olds.

After lunch on Monday we loaded up two coaches at school and landed in Canberra around 7:00pm. Our lodging for the week was at the Canberra Motor Lodge - a combination of motel, cabins and campsites. We were in the cabins - 2 bedroom motorhomes. There was a group dining room on site, and after a late dinner, the students tucked themselves into bed at a very reasonable hour.

The real tour began the next morning. Our first stop was the National Museum - heaps of interactive exhibits about all sorts of Australiana. Next... the Canberra Exhibition Centre where we learned all about Canberra's careful design. 30 years after the 1901 federation, the capital city location was chosen (half-way between Sydney and Melbourne). The city is very geometric, based around a large equilateral triangle with Parliament House, the Defence Headquarters and City Hill. The centre of the triangle contains a wide, greenspace all the way from Parliament House to the Australian War Memorial. Overall, it is very impressive and beautiful.

We spent Tuesday afternoon at Parliament House where we learned all about the Senate and House of Representatives and toured both chambers. Parliament House has a very 70s feel about it - quite different from Canada's Parliament buildings. After returning to our cabins for dinner, the students and teachers headed off to Questacon - the National Science Centre - for an evening of fun and exploration. Unfortunately, Sarah's cold kept her in bed for the evening.

Wednesday began with a visit to the Electoral Education centre where we learned all about how both the senate and electoral district representatives are elected. Australia's preferential voting system means that voters rank all candidates in each election - there were so many candidates for the senate that the ballot was nearly 1 metre long and required each candidate to be ranked from 1 to 76 For those getting excited about the details of the electoral process, please visit wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_electoral_system .

After being educated about the electoral system, we took a quick bus tour around all the embassies. Some of the embassies were beautiful - the Chinese and Turkish embassies were particularly impressive in architecture. The Canadian embassy looked like a boring office building. The tour was followed by a quick walk through the National Gallery where the students were particularly interested in a display about Ned Kelly - a famous Australian bushranger. After lunch, we were guided on a white-glove tour of Old Parliament House. When Canberra was built, they didn't have the money or resources to construct a proper Parliament House. Instead, they constructed a temporary parliament that functioned from 1927 to 1988. The "Old Parliment House" is now a protected heritage site, but we were able to sit in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

To end the afternoon, we walked up ANZAC Parade and were able to see all the monuments to those who served in the various armed foces and wars. We finished the walk at the Australian War Memorial where we attended the "Last Post". After dinner we took the kids to the Australian Institute of Sport. We now know how Australia does so well at the Olympics! Once an athlete proves themselves capable of world-class results, they are offered a scholarship to the AIS where all their training and living expenses are covered. They live and train right there, go to school locally and have private tutoring in the evenings. The facility is huge and covers every summer sport. The whole site is very similar to the one in Lake Placid, New York.

By Thursday, the students (and teachers) were starting to wilt. A guided tour through the War Memorial Museum was great - and we hardly touched the surface! After a quick "morning tea", we were on the road home just before noon. We stopped on the way for lunch and finished up back at school just after 5pm.

We are now officially on our spring holiday and head off to Alice Springs on Saturday (no rest for the very weary!) followed by Tasmania a week later.

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Photos

Wall of Remembrance
A few of the 102 000 names.

Checking out the waterfront
Tom and some Year 6 students view the Canberra waterfront and Captain Cook Fountain.

Wall of Remembrance
The names of more than 102 000 soldiers.

Canberra City Plan
This photo illustrates the triangular nature of Canberra's city plan.

Korean War Memorial
Just one of more than a dozen beautiful monuments along the ANZAC Parade.

Australian War Memorial
A very impressive war memorial and National War Museum.

Inside the war memorial
This is where the Last Post is played to close the Memorial every evening.

Lake Burley Griffin
The sun sets on another busy day.

Canberra panorama
The 3-photo panorama was taken from the top of Mount Ainslie.

A view up the ANZAC Parade
The War Memorial in the foreground and ANZAC Parade leading across Lake Burley Griffin to Parliament House.

ANZAC Parade and Parliament House
A view down the parade with late afternoon shadows.

ANZAC Parade and Parliament House
A view down the Parade to the Old Parliament House (white) and new Parliament House.

Parliament House(s)
Old Parliament House (white) and the new Parliament House (under the flag).

Canberra Parliament
Australia's parliament house has a new, clean look to it.

Flag above Parliament House
The flag was at half-mast for Peter Brock's funeral the day before. It was not at half-mast for Steve Irwin on this day.

The Australian Coat of Arms
The kangaroo and emu are the only two native Australian animals that can not walk backwards. This is somehow symbolic.