Welcome to our last of the daily posts for the Tour.
On our final day of the tour we did a final luggage pack, loaded our bags onto the coach and headed to the Australian National Maritime Museum. We arrived early and took a short walk over the Pyrmont Bridge to enjoy a different view of Sydney. Inside the Museum we explored several galleries on migration, wildlife photography and First Nations maritime history. At 10:30 the HMAS Vampire and real-life submarine HMAS Onslow opened for us to explore. The HMAS Onslow was commissioned in 1969 and served the Royal Australian Navy for 30 years, travelling around the world many times. It was given to the Museum by the Department of Defence in 1999. Inside the submarine it was extremely crammed, and we had to duck and squish through the walkways and go down stairwells backwards. We had almost full access to the navigation rooms, living quarters, kitchens, bathrooms and other areas aboard both the submarine and the naval ship. We imagined how difficult it must have been to live in these ships and submarines for long periods of time. We also considered the kinds of expertise and intelligence required to operate these vessels.
From the Museum we travelled to Bondi Beach, where students had the opportunity to venture down to the beach, walk along the sand, buy lunch and ice-cream from the eateries nearby, and enjoy riding on the ferris wheel (for some, numerous times).
We had one last chance to shop – purchasing gifts and dinner/snacks for the plane – at Bondi Junction, before heading to Sydney airport and checking in for our flight home. This was a relatively speedy operation, taking only about an hour for us to check-in our luggage, get through security and make it to the gate. We were slightly late boarding our flight (due to the late arrival of the cabin crew) but soon we were on our way home. It surprised the teachers how chatty and lively the students were on the way home, with only a few students managing to get some sleep on the 5 hour journey to Perth. Finally we arrived safely to Perth and reunited with our loved ones.
Today’s final blog was pieced together by myself (Miss K). On behalf of the Tour staff, I’d like to say a huge thank you to the parents/guardians who entrusted us with caring for your wonderful children these past 10 days, and for your support along the way. We are incredibly proud of the way our students conducted themselves throughout the tour and for the respect and kindness they showed to all members of the communities we came across. We have been overwhelmed by the positive feedback from various institutions and members of the public who approached us to compliment the fantastic students who represented our School. Thank you also for your prayers. We know we have been truly blessed with unique and rewarding experiences during this year’s Tour and we hope this has enriched the students’ learning experiences and helped them to foster their love of all things HASS.
God bless,
Miss K and the St Stephen’s School HaSS teams.
-
- Mr Osborne’s Group
-
- Mr Barnes’ Group
-
- Miss K’s Group
-
- Miss Glacken’s Group
-
- Miss Erasmus’ Group
-
- Inside the HMAS Onslow
-
- Aboard the HMAS Vampire
A big thank you to the all the tour staff for all you did to give our kids a rewarding experience. I still remember my school trip (Multiple decades ago) and I know the students will carry the memories of this trip for a lifetime, and yeah they may have learnt something as well 🙂
Thank you to all the staff involved in this tour – from the planning and booking to those travelling with our kids. We are truly grateful to you all for enabling our children to have these amazing experiences which they will no doubt treasure and talk about for a very long time.
Thank you so much to all the amazing staff involved in this tour. Your time, effort and care of the students during the trip is deeply appreciated. I throughly enjoyed reading the blogs each day which kept me up to date with your adventure’s. I know so many memories were made during this tour which will stay with the students forever. Thank you.
Just wanted to send my appreciation for the blog and wonderful photo’s taken by the students and teachers on tour. Thank you for the teachers wonderful care of student’s. The kids have made memories of a lifetime and there smiling/tired faces say it all. 😊
Thank you so much for facilitating this incredible adventure for our kids. Definitely one they will remember forever.
Have loved receiving the daily updates and photos.
And it’s so lovely to hear the feedback that they represented the school well. Everyone should be extremely proud.
Sincere thanks to all of the amazing staff who made this Tour possible. I appreciate all the time and energy taken to organise such a wonderful experience – not to mention the time away from your own families while you cared for our gorgeous kids.
It has been an almost non- stop retell of the whole adventure at our place!! Wow!!
Thanks so much 🙏🏻
Huge gratitude to all the staff involved in this incredible tour. The daily blogs have felt like we were also on this journey with you. Thank you with all our hearts, for the experience you have given to our children. We hope you get some much needed rest and downtime.
Thank you 🙏🏽
We extend our sincere thanks to all the amazing staff who made this tour possible. We deeply appreciate the time and energy you invested in organising such a wonderful experience, as well as the time spent away from your own families/lives to care for our lovely children.
This adventure will be discussed and remembered for years to come – thank you.
We are truly appreciative of the incredible tour the staff delivered. We are astounded by the number and diversity of experiences Pearl had. Thank you for your dedication, care and wonderful communication. I am sure this HASS Tour will resonate for years to come.
What a great experience for all the students and memories that will last a lifetime! Thanks to all involved for organising and accompanying the kids. Have looked forward to reading the blog and seeing the photos posted everyday.