CANBERRA!!!! we're back......

Well, thursday and friday proved to be highly fascinating times. As many people know, 40 students from Davidson High went to Canberra for a science excursion during the Australian Science Festival. Thanks to Terry Clarke, of Clarke Coaches, and also to Ms Ferguson and Mr Kimura, the trip was highly enjoyable, productive and chaotic! However, i must not forget to thank Ashleigh, david, and Luke, who helped to convince Ms Ferguson that is was worthwhile going on the trip agian, even though it should have been skipped this year! So a big THANKYOU! to those very special people!
Now where to start? Well as i am going to recout the whole trip, i may as well start from the beginning! First thing that happened was waking up to see complete darkness in Chatswood. Wel that was just scary! not even the flourescent Westfield light shined in through my window! very sad. But i woke up all the same, showered, dressed, ate, then walked! Driving to school proved my point that morning radio is sucky, and that midnight radio is always the best! ANyway, arriving at school at 5:30, and seeing all the gang who, like me, were still rubbing the sleep from their eyes! Well it didn't tkae long for everyone to arrive and get on the bus. Well that was it. Hyperactivity and noise all the way! it was so much fun!
Watching the sun rise over the mountains after we left sydney had to have been one of the most beautiful things! It was such a relief to get out of home for a while! Any way back to the trip. After reaching Canberra, our first stop was the ANU (Australian National University) where we were split into two groups, one who would take a coures in Photonics, and one whou would participate in an Earth and Marine Science course. I was in E + M Science, with ash, kirst, kell, bec, and 15 other people. We spent a fascintaing hour or so with Nick and Sarah learning about volcanoues, deep sea vents, and what most of us found very humorous, dead bugs! not that there were actually bugs, they proved to me microscopic organisms that live in the deep sea. these organisms, made of Calcium Carbonate, and Silicon. Pictures of thes little citters were fascinating! and i'm so glad that they're microscopic, any bigger, and they'd be freaky!
After completing our mini-degrees, we were issued with our bags of goodies, lunch was served in the uni grounds. The Photonics group soon joined us, and a few of the guys were still wearing their, 'oh so cool' rainbow specs! aka, paper glasses which refacted light into a spectrum of colours. After luch, we had a short break while waiting for Terry to pick us up.
Back on the bus it was a short drive to Earth Science Education Centre. Here Gale and Lehanne showed us many more geological wonders, after Jackie sighed their ingenious logbook. A large cylinder or water, where each group who visited the centre, was represented by a layer of sand, soil or gravel. In two groups, we all alternately perused the lobby on a treasure hunt for minerals, rocks, and other fascinating tresures. Then we explored different experiments in the centre. Combining again, we bid farwell to the earth sceince education centre, and made our way to the AIS (Australian Institute of Sport)
Arriving early, we watched the olympics on the big screen while waiting for our tour to begin. hen our guide arrived, and escorted us to the activities room. Here we stayed for 45 minutes while testing our mettle on the rowing machines, or in the golf cage, or seeing how different a basketball hoop looks from a wheel chair. Anika and i had a great time, challenging Danny and Rory to a boys vs girls shoot out in the basketball cage, GIRLS WIN! 10-7! Thankyou Thankyou! helped a bit that ani and i had both done basketball at some stage, sorry rory, but your just a bit to short! Anyway moving on! Our tour of the AIS took us through the Gymnasium, where jess and i spent time drooling over the guys doing the pommel horse! Then continuing on to the volleyballers, ashleigh and i enjoyed picking our favourites! And learning that the tallest person on the team was about 6"5' was a jaw-dropping treat! Following this, we proceeded to the swimming. Again, ashleigh and i agreed that guys in speedos is not a terribly exciting sight! and none of them seemed to be able to get out of the pool and walk 15 metres without 'fixing' themselves! *sigh* buty they were cute from the waist up! we avoided looking any lower! Then after the swimmers came the basketballers! mm, very tall! and not as cute, but i wouldn't be complaing!
Well after AIS, we headed for our motel, and dinner! It was great to have a hot meal! Chicken schnitzel, mash, zuccini and carrots, all with gray was one of the most appreciated meals of all time! however trying to make ashleigh eat all hers was a slight chore,but hey, its all good! After dinner, we made camp in our rooms, and changed into our civi's. Then it was onto the bus again, and a drive to the canberra convention centre to listen to four speakers, the editor of New Scientist in England, A femal astronaut who's been into space twice, a female deep sea diver and researcher, and a man who was an expert in physics i belive, and who had some very sceptical ideas on alien messages and the human genome. He felt that it were possible that aliens had left a message encrypted in the human genome, so that it would survive until a time where we could find it. A fascinating evening, many people found it boring, however i loved it, and subsequently copped a slight amount of crap because of it. Oh well, it was fun.
Returning to the motel, we all had a brilliant evening socialising! However without realising it, we made a very big mistake writing a letter to Anika. Ash had been having problems and outlining them in a letter seemed like a good idea. however when she read the letter the following morning, it had a less than deirable result. Anika stormed in to our room. Said "Why don't i just get out of your face Bitch" and then throwing the trorn up letter in ashleigh's face! Well it didn't allow for an axiety free day, but it was a good one nonetheless.
After breakfast, we made our way to the CSIRO Discovery centre. Here we were asked to think of ourselves as the board of a company thinking of supporting a research program. Only on program was able to be supported, and two were presented. one, involved the adressing of the cane toad problem in australia, the other, developement of 'functional food' listening to both side of the arguemnt, and also viewing a 3D movie, undr the guidance of Ed, Steve, and another CSIRO staff ,member. After this, a majority vote saw that the cane toad issue was a far more pressing problem to Australia.
After finishing here, we were directed to a theatrical presentation on the comparisons between nature and the defence forces use of camoflague. aimed at primary school students, it proved to allow a good rest point for many of our companions. But did prove a good experience, as we recieved a free cap or drink bottle.
Our next stop was the convention centre once more, to visit and Eplore the amazing world of science exhibits. A wonderful experience, was however eclipsed by being an audience to Conan The Bubble Man! A fascinating man, he talked about the science of bubble, and showed us some amazing things. Aswell as putting Ms Ferguson inside a bubble! He created a fire buble, a smoke bubble, big, thin, fat, long, and most curious of all, a cube bubble! He also created a bubble on a light table, which allowed us to see the way the light refracts differently through different areas of the bubble. He also adapted a piece of tecnology used to investigate air turbulance, into a bubble prestentation of epic proportions! rateher entertaining! Then Q&A time. in the words of Bronwen.... "Do you have a special blowing tecnique?" Absolutly hillarious for davo!
*sigh* well after COnan, we drove to questacon, and ate lunch on the front steps. Then our last visit began. The girls, Danny and i worked our way from the top to the bottom. The newest addition was a diplay on venomous creatures, the upermost gallery. then working our way through familiar galleries, we made our way to the bottom.
Then finally, we boarded the bus and began our journey home. Stopping at suttons forest for dinner, we were the 15th coach to pass through the macca's ther in and hour and a half! quite an interesting yet unnessercary fact!
Well arriving home, back at school at 8, i was surprised by my boyfriend who came to meet me!
well i'm going to leave it here, that was my trip to canberra, well the concise version anyway.
End Trans!