Day 1: Friday, 27th of February - We all arrived at the choir hall at 1:30, where our bus was to leave. We loaded all our belongings on the bus, and once everyone said their farewells, we were off... on an 8-hour trip. But we all brought various entertainment. The older, responsible ones brought homework, and others brought games, books, and other handheld devices. (Seriously though, my new nintendo got a good workout) After about 2 hours, we had a quick toilet stop, stopping roughly two hours after each stop, for toilets and snacks. We arrived at Canberra at 10:45pm and made our way to our assigned cabins. I was in a cabin with three of my closest friends (Laura, Alex, and Annalyse), which was awesome.
Day 2: Saturday, 28th- We woke up (note *rudely awoken) at 7:30 the next morning. We had breakfast, and then had a bit of free time, during which time we did a quick practice, and tidied up our cabins from all the belongings flung throughout the night before :) We packed the piano, stand, and amps into the bus, had lunch, and then headed to the Australian War Memorial. We had a wonderful two hours, exploring the Museum, and learning all the wonderful history the place had to offer. We then had a performance in the Memorial Area, next to the Eternal Flame. Then, we sang the National Anthem for the Last Post Ceremony. That was incredible. We headed to Parliament House, where we had a delicious dinner, then sang in the Marble Foyer. We were all so tired when we finished, that we just wanted to go back to the cabins, and just skip seeing the Enlightenment Festival. But something crazy happened. There was a roving entertainment, call the Shark Guys. They were these three middle aged men who were dressed in lycra shark suits, singing songs. They were doing their thing, when they spotted us, and came over, and asked us to sing a song. It was so awesome. Of course, once they left, we were so pumped, our chaperones had a hard time getting us back to the bus, so we stayed and watched the lights for a bit. Then we went home :)
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| The beautiful lights on Parliament House. Taken from across the lake |
Day 3: Sunday, 1st of March - After a quick and early breakfast, we made our way to Parliament House again, this time for a tour. It was so interesting, but unfortunately we were only there for half an hour. But then we went to Old Parliament House, where our tour lasted an hour. When our choir director was booking the tour, she asked if we could sing the King's Hall, but we were told no. But when we got there, they asked if we could sing! So we sang one of our favourite Australian songs, and the acoustics were amazeballs!!! Everyone had tears in their eyes, they were so good. After a lunch in the beautiful park next door, we went to Questacon. For those who don't know, Questacon is a science and technology centre. It's the coolest place on earth. We had a short 20 minute program... then we played! It was seriously so much fun, we were there for 3 hours. Then we headed back to camp, where we had 5 or so hours to kill. We actually discovered a games hall, where they had pool, table tennis, and air hockey. So that's where we spent our time :) For some reason, I wasn't feeling that great. I had a bad headache, and was a bit nauseous. My family had the flu the week before, so I just put it down to that. But in the cabin, I was sitting with the others playing a game, and felt all these waves of nausea coming over me and my headache got worse. I went to bed, hoping it would pass. Annalyse was already sound asleep, and the other two were on the bunk above me, playing a game by torchlight. All of a sudden, I got really cold. And that's when I knew I was going to throw up. You see, I know when I'm going to throw up, because I get really, really cold, and can't stop shaking. So I was lying in my bunk, praying it would go away, when I felt all my stomach contents shift. I sat up in bed, and said, "Laura, I think I'm going to be sick." And I'm not kidding, I heard her say, "Oh sh**". She jumped down and was like, "Are you going to be okay for thirty seconds if I go get Shelley and Virginia?" (Shelley and Virginia are mums of some of the choristers, and who are a nurse and eye doctor, respectively). I nodded, and said, "Yeah, I've got another few minutes." She raced off, and Alex got down and was handing me water and tissues and blankets and stuff, (her mum's also a nurse). Then Laura, Shelley, and Virginia came back. They took me outside in the cold air, (this was about midnight in Canberra, both of which are always cold) and asked me if I felt alright. I said, yeah, then no, and raced inside. I'll spare you the details, but it wasn't pretty. Amazingly, Annalyse was still asleep! I managed to fall asleep without any more mishap... until the next morning.
Day 4: Monday, 2nd of March - I woke up the next morning. And had to go throw up. I was just so tired, (and really didn't want to have breakfast), I told the others to go to breakfast. After a few minutes, Shelley came to the cabin, and convinced me to come down and sit in the little waiting room off the dining room. I was so out of it, I didn't even care that my outfit consisted of booty shorts, a singlet, a sweater, socks, and thongs, all wrapped up in a blanket. Looking back now, I realise I wasn't wearing a bra. Oh well. I sat/dozed/looked adorable/not really on a couch, covered by an enormous, itchy blanket, feeling miserable, until the others had finished breakfast, and followed them back. I slowly got dressed, sitting down every thirty seconds, and hoping I wouldn't puke. That wasn't an easy task, and I also had to pack my suitcase. Not fun. But with the others help, I finally looked halfway presentable, so after loading my belongings on the bus, I went to the waiting room to get my hair braided. Our choir hair braid is a french braid, and we have a few hair braiders, who go around and do everyone's hair. I'm one of the hair braiders, but I felt so bad, I just sat there like a zombie, and had them do my hair. Shelley gave me an icy pole and kept getting me to eat it. I tried to eat it, really, but couldn't for a few reasons. 1. my taste buds were totally whack, and it tasted disgusting. 2. It was orange flavoured, and I hate orange icy poles. 3. My stomach was so upset. So I just kinda slurped it. We made it to Parliament House, where we were to perform again, this time in the Great Hall. We were doing warm ups, and Shelley kept giving me gatorade (which, for the record, I find absolutely repulsive). We started the concert, and I remember telling myself, that, even if I died later, I had to keep it together for the concert, because there were some important politicians in the audience, and this meant a great deal to our director. The details in my head are kinda fuzzy. I can vaguely remember the songs we were singing. I remember the other director giving her best smile, and calling me 'a trooper'. But the thing that's best in my mind, is, I finally couldn't take it. I was so dizzy, and I was seeing black spots, which happens before I faint, so I knew I had to sit down. They had a chair next to the choir for me, which they tried to keep me to, but I refused. We were already down in members, and especially sopranos were lacking. So I knew I had to help still, so even while sitting down, I sang. And I remember this especially well, because it was the last song, and I felt so much better sitting down, I sang better, and everyone was crying. Once we finished, and the formalness was over, one of my friends standing next to me, said in a choked voice, "Come here you". And hugged me so tight, I started crying all over again. But the day wasn't over yet. We had Lisa Chesters, our local Federal MP in Bendigo, take us on a private tour of the 'Inner Sanctum', which is a fancy name for the corridors which only the politicians are allowed to go through, followed by snacks. I was having a few grapes (the only thing I had all day, apart from icy poles and gatorade) and had to go to the toilet. So I went with Laura and Alex, who were pretty much my carers for that day :) ....... and I threw up again. So I tick, "Thrown up in private Parliament bathroom" off my bucket list! But the funny thing is that when we went back, one of the directors looked at me, and said, "I'm encouraged. You have good colour in your cheeks" and I thought, "That's because I just threw up..." I blame my mother. We then had to line up for the security check to get into Question Time, and I was sitting down on a seat, while everyone else was queued up, and this girl from a school group came up to me, and said, "I just wanted to say how much I love your hair." And I was pretty surprised and feeling like a zombie still, but I said, "Oh thanks. It's our choir hair-do." And she said, "Oh! You're in a choir." I said, "Yeah, the Bendigo Youth Choir." and pointed them out. She asked when we were singing, and I said that we had already sung, and were going home after Question Time, and she said, "Well, I'm sure you sang brilliantly." So that was nice :) Then after Question Time, we had to go home. But that was the best experience of my life :)
Thanks for putting up with such a long post.
♥ Keely
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