Irene McCormack |

The second IMCC Ski Trip took place during the last holidays, however it was in fact much more than just a skiing event. Although this aspect of the excursion was the highlight for many of the participating students and staff, some of which had never even seen snow before, it was sandwiched between two experiences, each very diverse yet equally rewarding in terms of the cultural opportunities they provided.
The extravaganza was really 3 trips in 1 and the following account will attempt to relay an idea of how much it is possible to include in a 10 day period.

Thirty six tired, yet excited staff and students gathered at Perth's Domestic Airport in the very early hours of Thursday morning for our flight to Melbourne. We arrived in Victoria's capital and were transported to our City centre hotel by luxury coach, accompanied by a carefully prepared soundtrack which Mr Bright had compiled prior to our departure. The first track, the Black Eyed Peas 'I Gotta Feeling' was to prove the signature tune for the duration of the trip as we began many a day with this song, eagerly anticipating what the day ahead would provide.

The evening brought us to Melbourne's South Bank, initially explored by foot as we sampled a range of cuisines to suit most tastes, then 88 floors up as the brave amongst us accepted the challenge of the 'Edge'. Standing inside a glass box and suspended outside of Eureka's Skydeck, almost 300 metres above the magnificently illuminated City lights was breathtaking – unfortunately it did not prevent a number of our students screaming out through a mixture of fear and excitement.

Miss McGowan provided a wonderful, in depth sight-seeing tour of Melbourne, taking in many of its sporting and cultural delights. Lunch at the Queen Victoria Markets provided further opportunities for shopping, and never let it be said that IMCC students failed to rise to the challenge. However a few of us lesser mortals gratefully accepted the chance to return to our hotel and catch up on some much needed rest.
The evening was to provide one of the highlights of the trip – a footy game under the closed roof of Etihad Stadium. As if we had not already experienced enough excitement the evening before, a single point victory to Collingwood over the Bulldogs had many of us on the 'edge' of our seats. As a die-hard soccer fan, even yours truly became wrapped up in the occasion. At half-time, we also celebrated the 16th birthday of one of our students, along with 51,000 other people – some party!

The thought of four hours sitting on a bus at first seemed daunting, yet the journey to our accommodation in the snow provided an opportunity to relax and recharge our batteries as we prepared for the skiing leg of the tour. Our bus driver for this leg of the trip was to be a constant source of information and entertainment – thanks Bruce, we shall never forget you - Mr. Bright will always appreciate the photo opportunity provided at his namesake town!

A brief stop in Myrtleford, a quaint little country- Victorian town was a delight, before we arrived in Harrietville. Home cooked food and a wonderfully friendly family style atmosphere were to be our constant companions for the next four days.

At last we arrived at the snow fields of Mount Hotham, although the weather was not ideal on our first day, it was actually snowing and in between skiing down the 'Summit' and the 'Big D', some students took full advantage of the conditions to build a rather impressive snowman (or in today's PC society, should that be snowperson!). A cup of warm soup for lunch never tasted so good!

More skiing and snowboarding were the order of the day and already the students began separating themselves into a range of abilities, largely depending on their confidence and willingness to 'have a go', giving little thought to what happens should they fall down. Needless to say there were some amusing 'stacks', together with some interesting dismounts from the chair lifts!

We now had three distinct groups – a beginner group led by Miss McGowan, an intermediate group led by myself and an advanced skiing group which consisted of students who were already contemplating the challenge of their first 'blue run'. Miss Delaney and Mr Bright were constant companions of this group, both competent snowboarders, they were regularly invited to go head-to-head with our intrepid skiers in order to discover who in fact was fastest on snow.

By now, every one was enjoying their experience in the snow and how fitting that on our final day at Hotham, the sun made an appearance and the skies were finally blue. Even the beginner group were excited as they were now falling over less and less and thoroughly enjoying the freedom of making your way down a mountain on a pair of skis, jacket wrapped around your waist and the wind blowing through your hair – happy days!
The final night at Harrietville was one of mixed emotions – the thought that the skiing was over brought sadness to some, however an impromptu 'Movie / Awards Night' lightened the mood as we recounted the events of the previous seven days. Laughter ensued and ten recipients gratefully accepted their awards – a proud moment indeed for some students. The categories and the winners are listed below:

• The Best Stack Award – Nazree Welch
• The 'Leggings as Pants' Award – Bronte Reeves
• The Gutsy Award – Lauren Defty
• The Drama Queen Award – Ashleigh Graham
• The Styling and Personal Grooming Award – Rob Holland
• The Entertainer Award – Jess Pinili
• The Most Consistent / Best Skier Award – Belinda Bonomelli
• The One Liner Award – Kylah Bayliss
• The 'I should have been born blonde' Award – Brooke Carnivale
• The Makdessi Award – who else but Anthony Makdessi.

The end was by now in sight and yet the most thought provoking and educational aspect of the excursion still lay ahead. A seven hour journey through two States and finally a Territory was expertly broken up by our new bus driver, Simon, who first introduced us to Albury in NSW, home to the famous Etamogah Pub. Lunch followed at the submarine town of Holbrook before a comfort stop at 'The Dog on the Tuckerbox', 5 miles from Gundagai! On arrival in Canberra, we were then treated to a visit up Mount Ainslie and an aerial view of the Australian Capital.

Our penultimate day began at the Australian Institute of Sport where we enjoyed a guided tour of the highly impressive facility and an interactive session within the complex. Then it was on to the Old Parliament building and an educational session at the Australian Electoral Commission – this was to be the first element of a pre‐arranged program which would ultimately entitle the students to a substantial financial refund on their return to WA. Organised and funded by the Australian Government, the Department of Education, Science and Training provide a $260 'Parliament and Civics Education Rebate' for participating schools. A very clever audio‐visual introduction was followed by a hands‐on fact finding information session about voting in Australia and finally a mock election to decide the students' favourite snack food, voted for using the preferential voting system as indicated by the results right.

After lunch, we spent an hour at the National Capital Planning Centre and discovered how and why Canberra was chosen to be the Australian Capital City. Walter Burleigh-Griffin was indeed an insightful man and he would be proud to see how his vision early in the 20th Century has come to fruition.
The final session to another packed day saw us entertained, and largely providing the entertainment ourselves, at Parliament House. On arrival, we received hospitality before being met by our guide for the first part of our tour. Highlights of this aspect of the visit included the opportunity to sit in the public gallery within both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Camera flash after flash ensued and no photo opportunity went unmissed! After literally walking on top of Parliament House, we were then invited to participate in some role play, with members of our group forming key figures such as the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and their respective Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet ministers. We were led through the procedures which accompany debating a bill – the proposal for banning mobile phones from all Australian schools proving to be a lively and engaging affair, all taking place in the mock, but realistic setting of the genuine Government inner sanctum. It came as no surprise when the Speaker announced that 'the I's have it!'

Our final day began at Questacon, seven floors of interactive exhibits highlighting Science and Technology at its best. It certainly puts our own SciTech into perspective! The vertical drop / slide involving about three metres of 'free-falling' proved too much for some of our students (and staff!) who were unable to face their fear.
And then it was on to our final activity and how fitting that we ended our trip with an incredibly thought provoking and poignant visit to the Australian War Memorial. It provided an amazing contrast to everything we had experienced throughout the previous nine and a half days. First of all we explored the Museum aspect of the Memorial, paying particular attention to the Second World War exhibits, this element of history forming part of the curriculum for those students who study the course as part of their program. Then, it was time to may our respects at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier – some students accepted the opportunity to place a poppy alongside the name of a family member.

The flight home, via Adelaide, seemed to take forever, however we landed in Perth at a more civilised time than we had departed – was it really only 10 days earlier! We had packed so much into a short space of time that it seemed far longer, considering that over the course of the trip we had walked in four Australian States – WA, Victoria, NSW and SA – and the ACT. What an achievement! What an experience! What memories!
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the input played by all the students who participated in the excursion - you are a credit to Irene McCormack Catholic College. I would also like to thank the staff with whom it was my great pleasure to work during the course of the trip – thank you Neil Bright, Ella Delaney and Fiona McGowan – your contribution above all made the trip the huge success it has proven to be. Credit must also be given to Brad Giles who despite not accompanying us on this trip, his mighty efforts, from scratch, last year laid the foundations for what will undoubtedly become a highlight for many a Year 11 student in the future.

Please enjoy the selection of photographs which follow and some genuine student comments which were collected on the flight back home, reflecting how a largely unfamiliar group of students bonded with each other after spending a huge amount of time away from their family probably for the first time. And finally, there is the student perspective of the trip, again penned completely spontaneously by Jess Pinili as she recounts her thoughts of times well spent.

"The 10 days we spent together as a group saw numerous laughs and memorable moments, all of which will leave us with amazing memories that will last a lifetime. Together as a group we co-operated, supported each other and just overall had a good time. The memories of this ski trip are something I will always treasure. I had the time of my life and have come away with friendships that will last forever."

It started on the 9th of July when we boarded a flight to Melbourne in delight. We were nervous, excited and not sure of what was to come but the teachers we were going with were second to none. When we finally landed in Melbourne, we just wanted to ring our parents and tell them how great our surroundings were.
We excitedly boarded our bus to our hotel and we marvelled at the shops that the girls could almost smell. We got to our hotel and settled in, buzzing between one another about our surroundings. For the next couple of days we hopped and bopped from shop to shop gathering bagfuls of clothes, shoes, food, and for some of us nearly the whole lot.

We were in such awe at what Melbourne offered us for the majority it was love and lust. We all had the courage to go in the glass room that overlooked Melbourne with a beautiful view. Then came Friday night, the big football game Collingwood vs Western Bulldogs, it was going to be an intense night and def not lame.
Not mentioning any names but someone shouted and roared throughout the whole game. A whole lot of support, but a whole lot more abuse was heard from the IMCC crew.

We arrived at our accommodation, with our destination being Harrietville. We still couldn't believe that we would be skiing soon. Then for the next four days came the big adventure that we would all say caused us; fright, triumph, cooperation and pushed us to our limits every single day. For some of us skiing came easy, but for others it wasn't so breezy.

Then loomed the trip to Canberra, a six hour drive that to be honest I don't really remember, we got to our accommodation, and settled in all realising that we had only two days left until the end. We went sight seeing to many places, meeting many new faces and learning a whole lot of knowledge that isn't really necessary on a holiday basis.

So now as we eat our last breakfast together, we can reflect on this and what a fabulous ski trip this has been and the many sights we have seen. Not only have we gotten to know one another but we've spent these ten days with four teachers that can compare to no other.
When we see each other at school, we can all smile knowing that we travelled miles together through all different types of weather and through the good and bad, happy and sad.