Day 5 - Skating, Giant-wheeling, Stadium-ing and Flying

 


It was hard to believe that our final tour day had finally arrived, but we still had one more jam packed day of activities and sight-seeing. After breakfast a group of students went for one last walk through the CBD for a Starbucks hot chocolate (and much needed to warm our hands in 6 degree but 'feels like' 3 degree weather), before we loaded the bus with our noticeably heavier bags and took off to begin the big day of our Docklands experience.

Our first stop a ice skating. The O’Brien Group Icehouse Complex was built in 2010 at a cost of $16M. It features two Olympic-sized rinks, one of which has been fitted for viewing ice hockey.


We arrived to see what can only be described as champions of the future, practising graceful moves on the ice (much to the disbelief of the students who were just hoping to remain upright). We assembled for a coaching lesson by professional coaches and then skills were tested on the Bradbury ice rink (named after Australia’s first Winter Olympic gold medalist, Steven Bradbury). 

Some kids had never stepped foot on ice before and it was heartening to see our more experienced students holding hands of newbies, helping fallen mates stand back up and all around have a lot of laughs together.

Across the road we went for our next tour stop - the observation wheel. Next term, students will be studying a Geography unit on liveability. Students were able to view one of the world’s most liveable cities from 120 metres above the ground in the Melbourne Star. The Star is one of only four giant observation wheels in the world, rotating very slowly – one revolution every 30 minutes. It was another beautiful blue skied day, and students were able to get some fantastic photos of the city and have a better idea of where everything was located. A brief lunch stop where students were provided with money to choose their own meal from the various cafes and kiosks around the Wheel, before we were off for our final tour stop.


The former Etihad Stadium, newly renamed Marvel Stadium, is the home of several AFL teams: Essendon, St. Kilda, The Western Bulldogs, Carlton and North Melbourne. It seats 55000 people and is incredibly impressive. Students experienced all aspects of the stadium on a personal VIP tour of the stadium from the dressing rooms and change benches to the corporate boxes. 


Sadly, it was time to bid Melbourne adieu as Ray took us on our final bus trip to the airport.

It has been an incredible five days and all of us have all been utterly impressed with the positive attitudes and eagerness of the students. Despite constantly being confused as Richmond supporters, we received a lot of people asking our students who we were and why we were down (which they answered politely and with great social skills) and we received a lot of feedback on how wonderful their behaviour was. We are sure this is a trip they will never forget, nor will we!

~Miss Kybus, Mrs Winkel, Mr Franich & Miss Preston

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