Can you imagine fitting Universal studios, Kennedy Space Centre, iFly, Boggy Creek Airboat Adventures, the Capitol tour, a White House tour, Disney and two Smithsonian museums into a single 11-day tour? Guess what! Hillbrook Anglican School managed to! Keep reading to find out how they did it and how it went...
Day 1
The night before your set to fly out, the excitement runs high! The bags are packed and you just want to get going. This was the feeling of the 20 students from Hillbrook Anglican School who on the 16th September were set to fly from Brisbane to Orlando! The trip for these excited students had been confirmed since November 2016 so the long wait until September was finally over. After about 12 hours of flying, the students had arrived in Orlando. Time to get the trip going!!
Day 2
Hillbrook was straight into it with an action-packed day at Universal Studios, Orlando. Even the teachers gave it all a go!
Day 3
Day 3 consisted of a visit to Camp KSC, NASA where the students had lunch with an Astronaut and experienced all NASA had to offer.
Day 4
On day 4, the students enjoyed the unique Boggy Creek Airboat Adventure, exploring the Florida Everglades and seeing the Florida alligator in its natural environment. They then headed to iFly, Orlando’s own indoor wind-tunnel to experience iFly’s flight chamber for themselves. Last but not least, the group headed to SEA LIFE Orlando Aquarium to cap off the day.
Day 5
You can't go all the way to America and not head to Disney for a day
Day 6
After experiencing Orlando, it was time to head to Washington, DC.
Day 7
Day one in Washington involved the Capitol Tour. Hillbrook was able to see the Capitol's Crypt, the Rotunda, and National Statuary Hall. They were also very privileged to get a tour of the White House itself. This is extremely rare for a school group and was a great effort by Breege, the head teacher, who was able to organise this for her students. This was a very busy day as the school also headed to National Mall and Museum, topped off with an NHL game to finish.
Day 8
Today the group headed to the National History Museum. They finished the day with the Moonlit Monument Tour on bikes.
Day 9
Before departing DC, Hillbrook made one last stop at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, also known as the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. This museum is home to the Space Shuttle, Discovery, which is proudly on display amongst other missiles, rockets, space capsules, and satellites.
Day 10 & 11
Hillbrook crossed the international dateline and arrived home after a fantastic time away.
