Today was jam-packed with adventures and tours. Many of us would agree that it has been the best day of the tour so far. We woke up nice and early, had a delicious breakfast and headed out to Questacon, Old Parliament House (MOAD), Mt Ainslie Lookout, the Australian Institute of Sport, more shopping and then Zone 3 for laser tag and arcade games. Although it was only 3 degrees once we reached breakfast at 7:30am, the chilly weather didn’t hold us back!

Our first activity of the day was Questacon. Our visit to Questacon kept us entertained and served as a good opener to our fourth day on the HASS tour. Within the building itself we realised that there were several levels, each of which illustrated different elements of our everyday life, in particular history, science and geography. We explored each of the 7 levels over a couple of hours, making the most of our time at each one.

• Level 1  was “Curiosity:Building Breakthroughs in Lego Bricks” and was truly amazing as it was interactive and had some extraordinary Lego sculptures of planets, the Mars Rover, spaceships, famous inventions of female scientists and much more.
• Level 2 “Fundamental” was all about energy and physics. We explored how the use of everyday elements like air and light can be used to alter how things work, as well as how we perceived the use of certain objects.
• Level 3 “Awesome Earth”was also a hands-on floor that helped us understand and experience the beauty of the Earth. We had the opportunity to see a stunning simulation of a lighting strike which took place every 15 minutes, and watch a mini water-vapour tornado build momentum in front of our eyes.
• Level 4 “Q Lab” was all about patterns and observing our world around us. Throughout the gallery, we explored objects like human skulls and observed what small insects looked under microscopes.
• Level 5 “The Shed” was a constructing and mind-tinkering exhibit where we created different inventions using various shapes.
• Level 6 “Mini Q” we didn’t explore as this level was only for younger children.
• Level 7 “Excite@Q” was all about moving our minds and muscles. The gallery showcased a range of physical activities. One in particular was a free-fall from the top of the room where we would drop down at lightning speed. There was also a fast-ball simulator which measured the speed and force of the pitcher – with Harry breaking the daily record at least twice!

After we went to Questacon we headed to Old Parliament House by coach. Along the way Peter was sharing with us some of the history of Canberra and the different memorial sculptures along Anzac Parade, which are dedicated to Australia’s participation in different wars and conflicts around the world. Aris impressed Miss Koutsoukos (Miss K) by highlighting the Australian Hellenic Memorial, which contains a mosaic of the Greek islands that were defended by Greek, ANZAC, British and other troops during various conflicts. This served as a meaningful reminder of our shared Greek heritage and the sacrifices made by Australian soldiers alongside troops from all over the world in order to protect humankind. We can’t wait to head to the War Memorial tomorrow to see more of these special monuments.

As we entered Old Parliament House (or MOAD – the Museum of Australian Democracy), we were greeted by our tour guides who were highly enthusiastic about all things parliament. We started our tour with a briefing on early parliamentary laws and started some role plays, where we had the chance to be Gough Whitlam, Sir John Kerr and Malcolm Fraser – acting out the dismissal of Whitlam in 1975. It was fascinating to re-enact the interactions that were had in the very same rooms in the building so long ago, in the PM’s office, the old House of Representatives and the old Senate. We continued walking and talking though Parliament House and we went on with our role play, including the teachers as speakers too. Generally we had a great time exploring Old Parliament House and having discussions about the decisions made by our past Governor-Generals and Prime Ministers.

Mt Ainslie Lookout was at the top of the windy mountain road, not far from Anzac Parade. Walking around we could see the outskirts of Canberra and the surrounding mountains. It was great to finally see for ourselves the equilateral triangle of Canberra’s main areas which the guides told us about in the National Capital Exhibition just yesterday. We took photos here of the awesome view of all the major sites in Canberra.

Following lunch we headed to the Australian Institute of Sport where we had the opportunity to watch the gymnasts practice their routines and tricks. We also learned about the minimum height restrictions for certain sports like Volleyball, and about different athletes’ training regimes and the facilities they use. We were surprised to learn that underneath the 50m swimming pool where athlete swimmers train, there is a sort of ‘underwater aquarium’ where only the coaches can watch the swimmers’ technique from below the surface of the water. Then we spent about 30 minutes trying out the different sports simulations, such as skiing, basketball, AFL football, cycling, etc.

After visiting Canberra Central to start gathering our snacks for the long drives to Jindabyne and Sydney later in the week, we returned for dinner at our accommodation and then travelled to Zone 3 for tonight’s activity. At Zone 3 we alternated playing a few games of Laser Tag and the many old-school arcade games at the venue. The competitive spirit was high throughout each game of laser tag, however the stand-out competitor was Aiden – winning two out of the three games. Late at night we then returned to our villas for a much-needed shower and sleep.

Today’s blog was produced by Miss Glacken’s activity group: Summer, Evan, Zara, Taleesha, Fred, Justin, Xavier, Aiden, Jasmine and Veera.