08 Oct 2011
On Sunday, the 27th of March 2011, Abby, Emily, Mr Lucas and the captains and principals from Ganmain, Grong Grong and Beckom headed off to Sydney for the National Young Leaders' Conference.
We were really tired as we had to leave early so we had time to get to Sydney and do some activities in the afternoon. On the way we stopped at a park in Yass for lunch. It had a really fun playground and a giant slide.
As we got to close to Sydney it started to rain and it didn't really look to be a good afternoon, but luckily, after waiting about an hour for Mr Lucas to park the bus, it stopped raining.
The first thing we did was to go for a walk through Hyde Park. While we were there we sang in a choir to help Japan not to give up after the earthquake and tsunami. Next we went to the rocks from one of the first buildings built in Sydney and nearly everyone jumped off a tall rock.
It was time to go on our first ferry to Manly, where we saw the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. When we hopped of the ferry, we found out that Mr Lucas had left Ruby's jumper and his folder behind. The folder had the wristbands for the Young Leaders Conference and that was the only way we could get in.
When we arrived at Manly we started to walk down to the Manly Beach where everyone (except the teachers) had a splash around and ended up getting very wet. This was very uncomfortable when we had to walk all the way to China Town and go to a restaurant called the Nine Dragons for tea.
Mr Lucas was very happy because as we were walking to China Town and ordering his tea he was looking for and found the ferry he had left his folder and Ruby's jumper on.
We had a beautiful dinner full of lots of Chinese food, but we were a bit upset at the end because the ice cream shop that we really wanted to go to was shut.The next day we woke up bright and early and Abby, Ruby, Harrison, Henry, Mr Lucas and Mrs Sturnan went for an early run and Mr Lucas nearly lost the camera.
When we arrived back at the hotel, had a shower and packed our bags it was time to have a beautiful brecky buffet filled with lots of variety of cereals, breads, juices and croissants.
When we had all finished breakfast, we went to the National Young Leaders' Conference! Our first speaker was Mike Martin he had joined the army, and had lots of experience in other jobs as well. He was telling us to be a good influence on other people as leaders of our school. He also talked about how he had seen in the army the leadership shown to him and how he showed leadership in his group.
Next up was Greg Mullins and he was the Commissioner of the NSW Fire and Rescue. He told us that you should never give up and to always be FIRM, FAIR and FRIENDLY when leading people. He told us that when he was as old as us, his parents told him two things- if something is very difficult it will take a long time to do and if it is impossible, it will take even longer.
Soon after was Kurt Fearnley, who was born with a half spine. He has achieved three gold medals at the Paralympics and more medals at other competitions. He also crawled the Kokoda track on his hands, which took him eleven days. He had an amazing story that was so incredible and we will never forget what he told us. He told us to never give up and never turn back and take the easy option.
After that was Jessica Watson who sailed solo around the world. She told us that when she was little she was scared of everything, but when she was eleven her mum read her a book about sailing, which made her want to overcome her fears and sail around the world. The funny thing about that was over two hundred and ten
days she only caught one fish!
Last of all was Talia Fowler, who was a magnificent dancer. She won the 2009 So You Think You Can Dance. She told us that a leader has to give advice and that respect is earned not given. She also told us that everyone has a dream and you should always try and make your dreams come true.
The trip home was rather boring because it felt like it took 5 years!!! On the way home we stopped at Goulburn and had Subway for tea. And we also saw the Big Merino. We finally arrived home very late that night and we were very tired in the morning.
The whole trip was really enjoyable and we definitely recommend it for the captains next year.
Written by, Emily Walsh and Abby Lenord.