Day 3 saw an exceptionally early start. We woke up around 5:00am to get to breakfast at 6:00am and then on the bus to head to Melbourne Airport to make our 8:45am flight. We arrived on time however the flight was delayed at the last minute, meaning we waited on the tarmac while checks were done and planes in the queue were cleared from the airport. But we made it in the end, welcomed by the crisp, cold air of the nation’s capital.

Picking us up at Canberra Airport was Peter, our coach driver who will journey with us through Canberra and also Sydney, up until we embark on our travels back home to Perth. We went to several locations today in Canberra, such as the National Portrait Gallery, National Capital Exhibition, National Museum and Canberra Central.

The day’s tours began at the National Portrait Gallery where we split into three big groups and moved around art exhibitions that showcased portraits in all kinds of forms, styles and subject matter. We talked with the tour guides about why some portraits had won competitions while others hadn’t, and we recognised that art can be valued in many different ways. Most of us found the most value in portraits that were realist in style, larger than life, or appeared to require lots of skill and effort. We put our own skills and efforts to the test with some contour drawing – this meant we had to draw a portrait of a sculpture in the Gallery, but without lifting our pencils from the page or looking down at the page for the entire time. You can see some of our interesting artworks below. Our second masterpiece had to be a portrait of an Australian, someone famous or someone we felt deserved to be showcased in the Gallery. There is an image below of Elijah’s portrait, which he drew of his mum.

The best part of the day for many of us was going to the National Capital Exhibition as we learned all about the history of Canberra and the ideas and decision-making behind the designs of the city. The thoughtful planning of Canberra also astonished us, particularly how the plans were interpreted and built upon over time, such as the building of New Parliament House above the Old Parliament House and the construction of the War Memorial which wasn’t a part of the original 1911 plans for the city. This tour really set the scene for our stay in Canberra, as we will be exploring many areas on this map throughout our time here.

The teachers had been talking up the Canberra Central shopping complex throughout our time at Melbourne…and it sure didn’t disappoint. The several storeys and blocks of shopping and eateries was our lunch spot and our space to roam for an hour or so. It is a miracle we all found our way back to the entrance on time to head to our next stop.

For our last tour of the day we visited the National Museum where we learned about connections between our country and ourselves, and about the decisive moments in history that have changed our nation. The museum’s exhibits communicated new meanings of Connection and Country which we hadn’t already considered. The artefacts and images told stories that would have stayed a mystery to us if we had never gone over east to visit the Museum. One of our tour guides Steph was actually the Museum’s main curator for many of the exhibits we saw and she had a lot of insider information about how the museum is pieced together and how artefacts are acquired and eventually displayed. Our other tour guide, Deb, is a proud Indigenous woman who shared her own personal connections to country, before encouraging us to explore the exhibits and make new connections of our own.

Our last stop was our new accommodation at Sundown, where we will mix more with our cross-campus peers and get to know each other better in our large villas. We are looking forward to the night activities planned here in the coming days.

Most notably, because singing (shouting) the “Happy Birthday” song to Ash in the middle of the city was not quite enough of a celebration, after dinner we finished the night with cake for Ash, ice-cream for us, and a more in-tune rendition of the birthday song. The night ended with us winding down in our rooms; talking, unpacking and playing card games. The perfect way to finish off a long and tour-filled day.

Day 3’s blog is brought to you by Mr Osborne’s group: Seraphina, Pearl, Zach, Joshua, Ash, Ryan (Green), Israel, Olivia (Rounce) and Nicola.