On Wednesday 8 April, 27 students and four staff departed for Canberra on the exceptional Humanities Study Tour. On the tour were students across Years 10 to 12, many currently studying Humanities subjects.
When we arrived in Canberra, our group settled down into dorm rooms at Discovery Parks just outside of central Canberra. We spent the next four days visiting numerous amazing venues and sight-seeing in our nation’s Capital.
On Day 1, our group started with a visit to the National Gallery, where tour guides took us to see some amazing pieces of artwork, including the iconic Blue Poles (1952) by Jackson Pollock, and the Aboriginal Memorial (2008) by Djon Mundine and the people of Ramingining and neighbouring communities of the Central Arnhem Land. The group moved onwards to walk past Old Parliament and up to Capitol Hill before receiving a guided tour of Parliament House. We visited both Houses of parliament, viewing the portraits of past Prime Ministers and enjoyed time on the roof of parliament overlooking the city. Parliament unfortunately was not sitting during our visit, so we saw no action on either of the floors, but we received some delicious frozen yogurt from the lovely people at Parliament House.
On Day 2, our group started the day with an educational session at the National Electoral Centre, where we conducted our own vote and learnt about how the voting system is run across federal, state and local elections. A guided tour of the National Archives came after, giving us the opportunity to see the original Australian Constitution and Proclamation documents from 1901. We then moved to a guided tour of the High Court before we were welcomed to the Mexican Embassy, spending time with the Ambassador and his staff. This unique opportunity saw us able to explore the inner workings of an embassy and appreciate the work of diplomats all around the world. After a long day, the teachers took all students to play laser tag, summing up our second day beautifully.
During our final days in Canberra, we visited Questacon, the National Arboretum, the Royal Australian Mint and the Australian War Memorial. The War Memorial has recently been expanded and our group had the opportunity to be guided through the new exhibits that are dedicated to Australians who have served in more recent world conflicts, such as the Iraq war and the First and Second World Wars. At the end of our day at the War Memorial, we were invited to take part in the Last Post Ceremony, with both Tour Captain’s laying a wreath on behalf of the Chisholm Catholic College community.
For the final two days of our tour, we had a busy couple of days in Sydney, where we had time to see some of the famous landmarks such as the Sydney Tower Eye, the Botanical Gardens, Taronga Zoo and the Australian Maritime Museum. Sydney saw us enjoying climbing numerous flights of stairs while we stayed at The Rocks, with lots of walking involved in moving to and from our accommodation.
On behalf of all students, I would like to thank Mr Fitzpatrick, Mrs Billington, Ms Hynes and Mr Dhue for accompanying us and making the trip such an enjoyable experience for all involved. I would also like to make mention of our tour bus driver, Adam, who became an iconic highlight of our trip, as well as my fellow students for making the trip a thrilling and exciting adventure, and surely one we will not forget.
Mathilda Richards-Scully
Year 12 – Humanities Tour Captain
