It's actually been nearly 3 months since I went to Canberra (24/10/05 - 28/10/05), so I will do my best to remember what we did. I was a bit lazy at the time, but I will now write it up! It was actually a year 6 (12 year olds, and the eldest in the Junior School) excursion. It is an annual trip the school partakes in, and I think most schools do as well. I say this because Canberra was plagued full of school coach groups and worried teachers trying to find their lost pupils! There is a lot of talk about museums and so on, so this essay won't be as exciting as say my New Zealand ones. You may find it quite interesting though! The trip started on the Monday (24th October) at the school, and it was around about a 4 hour drive to Canberra. As with most major cities, you feel most of the time is spent getting out of city itself. Sydney is no different, and is plagued with traffic problems. Upon arrival in Canberra, our first stop was the National Capital Exhibition. This is where the students where taught a brief history of how Canberra came to be the national's capital. Apparently Canberra was the meeting place of Aboriginals once a year where they could feast upon the migrating Bogong moths. In fact the name Canberra is said to be derived from the Aboriginal word Kamberra, meaning 'meeting place'. This is quite a fitting name for the city, as it weaves in Australia's old culture together with the new (it's still a meeting place now!). Our trip continued, and after lunch, we visited the Electoral Education Centre. This is where the students where clearly explained the history of democracy in Australia. They also where shown how elections and voting works. I think the students really enjoyed this, as it was a very hand's on exhibition and they could get fully involved instead of being talked at for an hour or so. I actually found it interesting myself, as it clarified a lot about a system I am vaguely unfamiliar with (I missed the last general election in the UK by less than two weeks!). It was after this exhibition that we had a quick coach tour of Canberra. What fascinates me about the city is that it is a purpose built city. Every other city I have been too in the world basically has just evolved, due to say good location, a port, good farm land etc. Canberra was actually built to be a capital city. Thus there are lots of parks, open spaces and a man made lake meandering through the city. It is laid out in almost a cobweb fashion, and the geographical positions of certain hills where taken into account. At one end of the city is the Houses of Parliament, and directly opposite it is the War Memorial. To the left of the Houses of Parliament is the City centre. Check out this link for a picture of the layout of Canberra: (http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapimages/australasia/canberra/canberra.gif). It will also be in the Canberra photo album. The Next day, the students headed out to Anzac (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) parade. This is a stretch of road that leads up to Australian War Memorial. Along this parade there are monuments commemorating each and every conflict ANZAC forces have been involved with. You will see these in the photo album. I was fascinated to actually see how many conflicts Aussies had actually been involved with, such as Vietnam and Korea, and yet received very little international recognition for. Naturally we worked our way up to the Australian War Memorial and Museum. I have to say that this is one of the, no THE best museum I have ever been too! It was fantastic. It had thousands of exhibits, and a vastly expansive collection of war artefacts. It even had one of the Japanese submarines sunk in the Sydney Harbour during the Second World War. The only problem was that we only had an hour or so in there. I also had to take around a group of students to take around, so on times I was differed from my amazement. I loved this place so much I am considering visiting Canberra again just to spend a day in there. Also because I have a mate there that told me that I could get beers for $1 on a Thursday night (that's 43p at current exchange rates). After I was prised from the War Museum, the group where jetted off to New Parliament House. It is a fairly new building (1989), so is very interesting. It is actually built where a hill used to be (Capitol Hill), and on top of this hill there was a flag pole. So they demolished this hill, and built the New Parliament House there. When you look at the pictures of New Parliament House, you will notice there is a flag pole almost suspended over the house. The theory is that the flagpole is in the same position as it used to be when it was embedded in the hill. Further more, there is grass laid over the house. This represents that Parliament House is a representation of the people of Australia, and thus the people of Australia can walk over and have a picnic on top of Parliament House. To be honest, this used to be the case, but because of the world we live in these days, Bin Laden might decide to have a picnic above the Prime Ministers office, so you can't go up there! In a nutshell, symbolically the people of Australia aren't below Parliament House, and I think this is a nice touch. We got the usual lardy daa tour, but with a little bonus. When a school group visits, they organise that the representative of the area the school is located in, comes and talks to the group. On the postal address of our school we are listed as being in the Manly area (we're actually in Mackellar), and the Manly area representative is actually a front bencher/Health Minister. He was away, but sent his secretary to meet us and give us a tour of the otherwise inaccessible offices of the House. This is like being given a personnel tour of 10 Downing Street! Thus we walked passed John Howard's (the Prime Minister of Australia) office and I took a picture of the plaque on his office door for proof. Johnny Howard and I are tight now. Good, solid, life-long mates! Parliament was not actually is session on this day, so we looked around all the different area's, such as the Representatives Chamber (where all the debates are) and the Senates Chamber. The Senate Chamber is actually quite a small room, and is of a light red (pink!!) colour. But what they actually do to make the room look bigger, is the colours actually fade as they get further from the centre of the room! Wednesday had a lot to live up too. Tuesday was, as probably can tell from the above paragraph, a great day. Our first port of call was the National Museum. This is a huge museum much in the form of other National Museum's. Thus there was a little about the heritage, culture, future and so on of Australia. A highlight for the students was most likely the K-Zone, where you could design a city (houses and cars etc), and then this city would appear in a 3-D movie. It was a good laugh. I made a dodgy little futuristic jet propelled Cass mobile! From the National Museum we moved onto Screensound Australia. This is basically an archive of all the movies and television shows in Australia. It also gave a good show/demonstration outlining the history of film making. Again the students enjoyed this visit as it had a more hands on approach to it, such as the students could make there own cartoon using a spinning wheel. Next on the agenda was the National Dinosaur Museum. I actually really enjoyed this museum, mainly due to the tour guide we had. He was obviously a fresher Palaeontology student with huge dread locks and was more than enthusiastic. I think the kids where a bit scared of him though! There was a little more history though before the day was ended. The group where directed towards the infamous Cockington Green. This is a little park where an old couple have replicated and miniaturised famous scenes from all over the world. For example there are the windmills of Holland, mines of North America and the Taj Mahal of India. Most of the park, though, is dedicated to replicating a little stereotypical English town. So there are cricket games, a soccer match (complete with streaker) and so on. Even the flower beds in the little park where English; full of Roses! You will get a better idea of this place from the pictures, and I must especially give note to the Scottish castle they replicated. Thursday actually started of with a visit to the Old Parliament House. As I mentioned earlier the new Parliament House only opened in1989. Australia was pretty much founded in 1901, when all the individual states and territories (such as Victoria and New South Wales) decided to become one nation (Federation). Thus they had to build a Parliament House, but didn't want to rush it. Therefore they thought they would build a temporary Parliament until they built a new one. So they built Old Parliament House (then it was just Parliament House), but due to unforeseeable events such as World War 1 and World War 2, the plan was held of and held of for 88 years! A lot of the house has been kept and maintained since the day it was shut, so it is still worth a visit. Of particular interest was the Prime Ministers office (complete with original furniture etc) which had little spying halls so that the PM was never outnumbered, no matter how alone he was! It was also fun to have a debate in the Old House of Representatives! You had to wear these little gloves though.... Next on the "to do" list was the High Court of Australia. This is a very boring dull place. I suppose it was interesting to see the highest powered court in the country, and learn a little about how cases actually get to the High Court. One court even has enough room for 12 judges, so you know you've screwed up when you end up in there! One of the highlights of the rip for the students was Questacon. It is probably one of Canberra's most famous museums, and is basically a hand's on science centre. There are lots of activities there, such as roller coaster simulation and even a free fall drop. The museum is also set up in a way that it is impossible to get lost in. There is only really one route which spirals along the museum. This was a welcome relief, as the students didn't have to be so vigorously supervised, and seemed to be enriched by the responsibility and freedom of going around the museum by themselves. The last stop of the afternoon was Calthorpes house. This is an old muggy house that for some reason hadn't been touched for 50 years or so. Original furnishings, household appliances and photos all survived to tell a vivid story of family life in Canberra's early days. It was like stepping into a time machine, and being warped back to the 1950's. The day was not finished though, as after dinner a trip to the Planetarium was planned. I'm sure you have all been to a Planetarium before, so I won't bother you with the details. All I can say though is it's great to fall asleep in. You have huge reclining chairs and an awesome view of the stars! Friday was the last day in Canberra, and would be dominated by the long drive back to Sydney. There was one last place to visit, and it was the Australian Institute of Sport. This is where all the Australian top sports athletes train and up-and-coming talents are nurtured. This was probably a highlight of the week for the students, as they got to muck around and play sports for a few hours, instead of having to modestly trample through countless museums. One of the highlights of the trip for me was McDonalds. I'm not usually a fan of the place, but because I was a "teacher" bringing in 40 kids to their restaurant, I got to eat free. I took full advantage of this; huge box of nuggets, chips, large drinks, McFlurry's and on and on! I hope this hasn't been a boring journal entry, but hopefully it might be of some use if anyone decides to visit Canberra.