bushtelegraph
Astounding arboretum
A century ago, when architect Walter Burley Griffin designed Canberra, he envisaged
a continental arboretum that would showcase iconic trees from around the world.
Fast-forward to 2013 and the capital has a new attraction, the National Arboretum
Canberra. The 250-hectare site features 100 forests of native and exotic trees,
including those with endangered conservation status. The plantings have been
designed to give visitors the pleasure of being enveloped in a forest of one species
and to serve as seed banks for the future. www.nationalarboretum.act.gov.au
Chart-topping wine region
Beyond the classroom
Wine Enthusiast Magazine has named the Hunter Valley one of
the top 10 wine travel destinations of 2013. This grape-growing
region of NSW offers oenophiles terrific wine-tasting experiences
at numerous cellar doors and is easily accessed from Sydney. With
its winemaking history and signature wine styles, the Hunter Valley
certainly deserves its place among the world's top wine regions.
www.winecountry.com.au
Have you ever dreamed of travelling overseas as
part of your education? Perhaps to help people
in need? A group of students were fortunate
enough to experience just that on Wenona's third
Service Learning Tour to Indochina. Watching the
sun rise over Angkor Wat (Cambodia), visiting
floating houses and coming to grips with modern
history in the Thai Binh Province (Vietnam)
were among the highlights of the trip. In keeping
with the 127-year-old motto, Ut Prosim (That
I may serve), of the North Sydney girls' day
and boarding school, Wenona has established
strong ties with the Thai Binh Association of
Victims of Agent Orange and the Thai Binh
Orphanage. Wenona's Modern History students
stacked bricks, visited the orphanage, met and
interviewed residents and academics and saw
many key sites from their classroom studies of
Vietnam and Cambodia. "We feel honoured to
have helped to fund and assist in the construction
of houses for victims of Agent Orange and
their families and the renovation of the Thai
Binh Orphanage," says Wenona's director
of community and service learning, Ms Kate
Seale. Wenona's vision is to be a global learning
community empowering young women to serve
and shape their world. www.wenona.nsw.edu.au
top aussie beaches as voted
by telegraph UK readers
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/travel/lions-rugbyaustralia/9475320/sun-surf-sand-best-australia-beaches.html
COTTESLOE, WA
BELLS BEACH, Vic
WHITEHAVEN, QLD
BONDI, nsw
VIVONNE BAY, sa
WINEGLASS BAY, tas
XV
