2015 Canberra - Day Seven - We're Coming Home

Hi everyone,

It was our last day in Canberra and we were all very tired after our big day in the snow. After getting up early, having breakfast and putting our suitcases on the bus, we travelled to The National Museum. It is a fantastic, modern museum which houses so much information about Australia's history. From there, it was our last stop on the camp; Questacon. This was a real highlight with so much to see and do. All of us had so much fun learning about different scientific concepts. From there, it was off to the airport for our big flight home.


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Flight Details:

Qantas Flight:  QF719

Estimated Arrival 9:25pm

Please make sure you check the flight here and endeavour to arrive at least 10 minutes early.

2015 Canberra - The Snow Day

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The snow day is always the highlight of the trip.  I know that may appear difficult to understand; accepting that students did have the opportunity of attending the High Court of Australia,  seeing the ins and outs of our Federal Parliament and participating in the many other educational activities throughout the week - There is just something awesome about seeing snow everywhere!

The snow also appealed to those young and old.  Mr Thieme was particularly excited as it was his first time in snow too.

Once again, students managed themselves very well.  We can promise they will be ready for some down time when they return as they will have have been on the go for 32 of the previous 40 hours when we return home. (That's why you are missing student blogs this evening :)

It was a spectacular day in the Snowy Mountains, while there was little snow, the clear and relatively warm day day provided some great moments for all of us.  The tobogganing was excellent and our students had lots of chances to go down the hill at Smiggins.

We then took the chair lift right to the top of Perisher and explored a little.

We are now ready for the final day in Canberra at Questacon and the National Museum.  We look forward to seeing you all in about 24 hours time.

Regards

Gavin Nancarrow

2015 Canberra Trip Day Five - Monday

"The calm before the snow-storm" - Well hopefully lots of snow!

Today was an eventful and educational day.  Our children have been excellent and commended everywhere they go for their excellent manners, obedience and great questions.

We are very proud of the way our students have managed themselves, shared with each other and cooperated throughout the trip.

We will endeavour to send lots of photos from the snowfields tomorrow.

Keep praying for us - in particular for lots of snow, safety as we travel and powerful growing opportunities for our young crew.

Regards

Gavin Nancarrow


Click here to visit the Google photo album

Year 6

Today was great for people to get some space information.   We went to the Deep Space complex.  We spent half of the day going there and learning about what is going on in exploration and the other planets.  Then we had a look around at the Mars rover and a space suit and the 2015 Horizon Project to arrive near Pluto on the 14 July 2015 at 9.50pm EST.  We also got a good view of the five satellite communication dishes talking to space craft.  After all of that we had an amazing lunch.

PS

Dad, Mum, Liz, Peter, Nae, Daniel and Stephen,  I love you  XXXOOXO please post an embarrassing comment.  Phillip

The highlight of my day was the Canberra Deep Space Centre, where our guide (who programs satellites) explained about space and where some of the things like zip lock bags and roll ups had been used going to the moon.  We also got to see what a space suit was made of and plenty of other things including the mission to Pluto with Voyager I that communicated with Earth by talking to some of the satellite radio dishes on the site.

Giles.

Year 7

Today at the Deep Space Centre it was pretty cool.  We did stuff like looking at space suits and how the astronauts went to the moon.  It was also interesting how they surveyed and gathered information on other planets such as the moon, Pluto and Ceres.  They used robots to gather everything from all the planets except the moon.

Jacob

Hi everyone,

Today we went to CSIRO Deep Space Centre.  It was a long drive so we got to listen to music on the way, which was awesome.  There were lots of things I didn’t know about space.  The presenter was talking to us also showed us a video of what discoveries have been made recently in our solar system.  We also had a challenge to find out who was the first woman on the moon.  Then we had lunch outside in the sun.

Lizzie.

The visit to Geoscience was so fun,  we kind of did work and looked at rocks.  There were some awesome priceless crystals and a lot more.  We also got to see how much we were worth in gold.  Also we learnt about earthquakes and seismographs.  It’s actually pretty simple machines with wires underground that detect vibrations and these send it back to the machine and it records it down.

Riley

Today was very scientific, it all started off good.  I think we learned something today, like I didn’t know there were bigger suns and more planets.  My most favourite place today was CSIRO.  It was fun and I liked the little activities and we all had a little laugh and lots of fun.  We are about to go to and have dinner and go to bed and get ready for tomorrow.  So today was a big science day.

Zipporah.

2015 Canberra - Sunday Day Four

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Year 6

Hello!

Today we went to church at St Andrews and it was an awesome experience. We learnt how Jesus did amazing miracles and how Jesus saved us. After that, we had morning tea and then had some fun riding on unicycles and ringing the bells of the church. We all loved the activities and had great time.

Hi Mum and Dad.

Jamie Hutchinson

Hello everyone!

Today the year 6 & 7 classes went to the high court and we got to see where the cameras are in court. Our host also talked about the court room and we saw the paintings of the most famous High Court Judges. In the courtroom, there was a massive tapestry that had symbols on it. Each of the symbols represented a state of Australia.

By Sam Morgan-Power

Hi everyone back home! This is Joel.

Today we went to many places but I am writing about the War Memorial. The first thing we did when we got there was to go to the gift shop. After purchasing a few things, we then walked around the museum and looked at the names of the fallen on the Roll of Honour wall. At the end of the day, our school attended the memorial service. I thought the bugle was cool.

Hi mum and dad! Missing you,

Joel

Today, the year 6 & 7 classes went up to Mt Ainslie and viewed the city. It was awesome! We all went there the night before but we went there again to see Canberra during the day. While we were there an eagle appeared in the sky above us. We all enjoyed it very much.

Hello everyone,

Today was the 28th of June we went to the High Court.  At the High Court we got a tour by Morrie, who took us into courtroom 3.  In the court room he told us about what he does and what you do in the court room.  Aft he talked about the buildings’ history we had a question time and we were on our way.   Charlotte.

Today we went to the High Court, we weren’t there for long but we did find out about the High Court.  They have three courtrooms.  We went into courtroom 3.  It was designed well for a court room.  I enjoyed it very much and I love you very much Mum.  Madisan.

Today we woke up at 6.30am and we all got up and went into the cafeteria and once everyone had finished we got on the bus to go to St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church.  When we got to church we all went into the main area of the church and we all sat down on the row of chairs.  This really nice guy came into the main area of the church and talked to us about how Jesus died for us and how God gave up his only Son for us, but we only stayed for about an hour and then after that we went to the church hall.  We watched a little slide show about how Canberra was made and also about a bible verse.  After all that we went outside to have morning tea.  Then everyone had a chance of bell ringing, juggling or riding on a unicycle.  We also got to have a look around at the inside of the church.  My favourite thing of the day was all the fun we had after the church service.

Dear Mum,

I love you very much and I am also having a really good time but it is very cold.

Love from Asha.

Year 7

Today we all went to a church service.  We had fun ringing bells, singing songs, juggling and riding unicycles.  The building was beautiful.  The whole morning there was great.  I miss you all over here.

Liam.

Today we went to a St Andrew’s church, Mount Ainslie look out and the War Memorial.  My favourite part of today was the look out when I got to see my half-brother, his friend Emma and her dog Bain.  Today was a fun day and I enjoyed it a lot.  Skye.

Hi everyone,

Today the Year 7’s and I went to the High Court.   We learnt a lot of stuff.  It was awesome fun.  We didn’t stay get to stay long though but we enjoyed it while it lasted.

Hi Mum, Dad, Liam, Riley and Mason,

I am having a great tie here and I miss you so much!  I will how you all the pictures and tell you all about it.  Love Chelsea.

Hi Mum,

Today we went to the War Memorial again and looked at the WWI and WWII areas.  We looked at all the exhibits.  There were dioramas of the battles which were cool.

From Travis.

Dear Mum, Dad & Georgia,

Today we went to the war memorial. It was so amazing!

Before we left the War Memorial we got to watch the last post ceremony. It was awesome! Our school laid three wreaths. Miss you all, love you all.

Love Jennaya.

Saturday Day Three

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Southern Hills Christian College students are participating in the Last Post Ceremony
on Sunday 28 June 2015 commencing at 4.55pm EST (2.55pm Western Australia time)

You will be able to view the live stream of the ceremony by clicking here.

Our students will be laying a wreath at the ceremony.
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Note from Editors:

The slideshow has been created with Picasa Web. This is being superseded by Google Hangouts and Photos. If you click on the bottom right of the slideshow you should be taken to the individual photos.

However for your convenience here are the links to the same photos via google photos:

Canberra Day One Photos

Canberra Day Two Photos

Canberra Day Three Photos

Hello everyone!

The Australian Institute of Sport was the first place we travelled to today. We took a tour and saw the Australian gymnasts training. We were lucky to see them doing flips on the floor and on the bars. It was so good. We’re having an awesome time.

Samuel.

Hello everyone back home.

Today we visited the Australian Institute of Sport where we were given a brief tour and talk about the gymnastics training centre, the volleyball court, the swimming pool and gym. We were told many interesting facts about both the training centres and the athletes. The last thing we did at the AIS was to participate in fun games and exercises in the activity room. It was a fun and interesting experience.

            Before I go, I’d like I’d just like to say that there is a special thing out there that I really miss, and that would be my bed. Oh wait…and my family. I love you mum, dad and Kai.

Giorgia

Today we went to the zoo and it was cool. We saw fish, lions, tigers, monkeys, birds, bears and my favourite, the snow leopard. They were beautiful. In fact, one of them only had one eye. Some of us got to hold a snake and feed a lion.

I miss you mum and Mr Cat.

Ahlia

Today we visited the National Zoo and Aquarium and I saw a white lion. I didn’t get to feed it, but some other people did. I recorded all of the feeding and it was pretty cool. When Mrs Doyle fed the lion, she bent down and looked it in the eyes and the lion growled. My second favourite part was the tiger. The tiger was very calm, but when we went up to the fence it would become hyped. The tiger looked so smooth, I just wanted to pat it.

Mia

Hi everyone!

We went to the National Zoo t day and we saw some cute animals. We saw lions, monkeys, lizards and fish in the aquarium. We also saw snakes, a giraffe and emus. It was a lot of fun in the aquarium where we saw sharks.

We were lucky enough to take a tour around the zoo with one of the keepers. She let us pat a snake and then walk around the aquarium by ourselves. It was so much fun. At the end of the day, we got to go around the zoo again where we saw a zoo keeper feeding the white lion. We were all able to go to the gift shop at some stage. It was a fun day.

Thanks for reading and I miss you mum and dad.

Monique.

We all had a great time at the zoo.  We took so many photos - our memory cards are probably full.

At the start we went to the aquarium.  We had two choices.  Hold a snake or feed a white lion.  After we did these two activities, our tour guide took us to a walk through enclosure.  We all fed an emu and surprisingly they only pecked out of our hands.

We split up into groups and explored the zoo.  This day at the zoo was a cool day and everyone enjoyed it.  As we left we past the last enclosure - the elvis monkeys!

Hi I am Ben.

We went to AIS today.  When we arrived we wnet into the figt shop.  Then we looked at the pool.  It is one of the technological pools in the world.  It has cameras and an underwater room for the coaches.  It has a portable diving platform to readjust the pool length.  

We then headed to the hm and saw a few men working out and got told a man lifted 100kg with just his legs.  Then we went to the indoor volleyball court and gymnastics centre.  I wished that I had done gymnastics because their muscles were huge!

We finished the tour at Sportex.  There was a football, rowing and soccer simulator.  I went on the climbing wall, chin-up bar, bike, and arm wrestling bench.

We then left and had lunch and were lucky enough to get a few signatures from some of the gymnasts.

Friday Day Two

Today we woke up with a light switching on. We all knew that it was time to get up but most of us stayed in bed. We were all very tired. We eventually got up and got ready for breakfast. When we got to breakfast it was yummy! We had baked beans, scrambled eggs and sausages. Finally, once everyone had finished, we went back to back to our dorms and got our bags ready for the day.
Emily Holland

First up we went to the National Gallery of Democracy. We learnt about how Canberra was designed and came to be. Our activity at this stop was to create a design for an improvement to Canberra city. This was an awesome place to visit.
Dylan Bassett

Our next stop was Old Parliament House.  We learnt about voting and Canberra’s political past. Old Parliament house is heritage listed and we all had to wear a pair of white gloves. We did a mock debate about the Franklin River. Mrs Ashwood dressed up as Prime Minister and Phillip was the clerk with a  curly wig. He rest of us got to sit in the big red chairs.
Phoebe Smith & Scott Campbell

We then got to meet Michaelia Cash, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women and Assistant Minister of Immigration and Border Protection.  This was once we had arrived at the new Parliament House. She was very happy, excited, and impressed with a loud voice. Her nephew Tyler Cash is in year 6 at Southern Hills. We got to see her office and ask her all about being a politician. Because of her role in border protection she talked a bit about the scout dogs at the airport. We were all gifted a lovely black plush ‘Border Protection’ dog to take home.
Tamia Halstead

Michaelia Cash is my Aunty – I call her Aunty Micky. We got to go behind the scenes with her today which was really fun. I think that everyone had great fun today, especially the teachers, really knowing how special these moments we had today were. I will, and I’m sure everyone else will never forget today .
Tyler Cash

After lunch we went on a tour of Parliament House. We had a photo on the rooftop and  learnt that the flag on top of Parliament House is as big as a double decker bus! Our tour guide, who was very good at her job, took us to both chambers; House of Representatives and House of Senate. She discussed the roles of certain seats and the chosen colour scheme. It was interesting to learn that the Senate had voted to change the exit signs in the lower floor of their chambers to red to match the colour scheme. They are the only exit signs this colour in the country! The colours also fade as they get higher up to reflect the sun bleaching things. A little information about the House of Representatives: It has 150 seats and the Prime Minister also sits there. There are two special items that are presented at the start of every session: The house of Representatives has a mace that was used as a weapon to protect the king and the Senate has a black rod.
Jordyn Heylen and Jaime Smith

 “Hi Mum! How are you going?” Dylan

“Hi Mum and Dad! I miss you, I think of you each day and wish you the best. Zach and Mia, keep well and I’ll see you on Wednesday! Love Jordyn

“Hi Mum and Dad and Jett. Say hi to Roxy for me and give her a hug. Love you so much, bye! Love Phoebe”

“Hi Mum and Dad. I miss you guys and my brothers too, even though I didn’t think that was possible! Love Tamia”

“My Mum, Hi Dad, I had fun visiting Aunty Micky!” Love Tyler
“I <3 you mum & Dad”Jaime

“Hi Mum and Dad, I love you and miss you!” Emily

Year 7 Blog Friday
So far the trip has been good. It was a fun, but boring at times, plane trip. There were many things to do such as; watch movies, play games and listen to songs. So far the highlight of the trip was going to the War Memorial. The best part of the War Memorial was the discovery place. There you could go in an old helicopter that was really cool because it shook a little. It was also cool going in the pretend trenches.
Miss you Mum and Dad – Tom

Today we all went to the Old Parliament House of Australia. We acted in a debate of the Franklin River, about whether to build a dam or not. We all contributed to the debate.
Love you Mum and Dad – Miss you! Jordie T

Today we went to the Old Parliament House. We talked about the Franklin River Debate. We got put in groups and each group got a box. Inside my group’s box was hand cuffs, raincoats, a magazine cutting, information boards and signs. After we went through the boxes everyone went into the House of Representatives. We did the exact vote of what people did when this really happened.
I miss you very much Mum, Jett and Dad. I wish you were here with me. I love you, Mackenzie

Today we went to the Parliament House. The thing I am going to write about is the colours and facts about parliament. The House of Representatives is green for the eucalyptus leaves and the red in the Senate represents the olden days and how only the rich wore red, but also the blossoms and red dirt of Australia. Something that surprised me was how there was grass going all the way up to the roof and that all the year 7’s, including teachers, could fir in one elevator!
Jono

Written by Emily Holland, Jordyn Heylen, Brianna Bird, Jaime Smith, Tamia Halstead, Phoebe Smith, Dylan Bassett & Scott Campbell

Thursday Day One

Year 7

So far the trip has been good.  The plane trip was a fun but boring at times.  There were many things to do such as watch movies, play games and listen to songs.  So far the highlight of the trip was going to the War Memorial.  The best part of the War Memorial was the Discovery Zone, where you could go in an old helicopter.  That was really cool because it shook a little.  It was also cool going in the pretend trenches. 

Miss you Mum and Dad, Tom.

To Mum, Dad and Keegan,      

                                                                                                      We We went to the War Memorial for a little while today.  While we were there we looked at soldiers, submarines, planes and boats.  All of them were very cool. I miss you guys a lot and I love you all. Kade.

The day started with an awakening from Mrs Kitlar and a crisp morning.  Then off to start the beginning of our Canberra journey.  The War Memorial was exciting, interesting and very cool.  It really gave you an idea of what war was like.  We then travelled to the Mint and the Old Parliament House.  We are now home but very tired, looking forward to tomorrows’ events. 

Josie.

We started the day at Government House, the home of the Governor General. My favourite place to visit today was the Australian Mint.  We also went to the War Memorial.  It was a 10/10 for everything.  It is perfect for all ages.  We went to the Hall of Valour and we had to pick a story. I chose to read about Private  Robert  Cuthbert  Grieve.

The Memorial took me on a journey where no book or movie could have.  I’ve learnt many things that will stay as highlights of my childhood.       

Year 6

Today we woke up and we had our showers and went to breakfast.  Then we headed off to the Governor General’s home where we got a tour of the house.  It was huge.  A pleasant experience and we went on the bus.

 Joshua Sanders.

One of the many places we went today was the Australian War Memorial.  We got to see and touch real things they used in the war, like helicopters, planes, trenches and more.  We also got to walk around the museum.  At the end of the day we went to bed, ready for a big day tomorrow.                                                      

Hey Mum, Dad, Tristan and Heather.  I am just letting you guys know that I’m all good and safe and that the flight was great because there were some awesome movies.

 I love you, Ethan.

At 11.00am today we arrived at the War Memorial.  We had a look mainly at the wars that Australia was involved in.  The first thing we had a good look at was the Discovery Zone.  Everybody got to touch and look at things.  This included things like life in the trenches, life while the war was on, living in the submarines, helicopters and more.  After discovery zone, we all went to the light show and watched an amazing show about the men in the helicopters during the war.  It was crazy!  When the light show finished, sadly we split up into groups and did a self-guided tour.  We all had an amazing time. 

Brianna.

On the 25^th of June, Year 6, the Year 7 and Carnarvon students arrived at the Royal Australian Mint to be greeted by Jo to give us a tour around.  First we were given time to browse around the gift shop.  After that, we headed upstairs to the educational room where we watched a video on how to make real gold coins.  After that, we left the educational room and saw a big wall about history of Australian coins.  Then we went on a bridge where you could see the people and robots at work.  We saw two robots called Titan and Robbie in the factory and Titan was showing off.  After that, we headed downstairs and back to the bus.  It was really fun at the Mint. 

Irwin.

At 3.45 we arrived at the Electoral Education Office our tour guide name was Sarah.  She taught us how to vote.  We watched a movie about the history of voting.  Then we played games to do with voting.  We did a preferential vote on fruits, which were orange, apple, peach and banana.  Apple won in the end.  We had a lot of fun. Today was great!                                                                                                  

Hi Mum and Dad, I’m having so much fun, love you.

 Bye.  

Tahlia.