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Words: Trinity Handley
Photos: Trinity Handley
November 23rd, 2009
THE DEADLYS AND SYDNEY
Six students and two Academy staff members flew to Sydney in October to spend three nights in Australia’s largest city to attend the Deadly Awards among other sights and activities.
Daryl Banks, Daryl Kelly, Lindsay Ryan, Nicky McAuliffe, Todd Yarran and Aaron Ryder, earnt the privilege through regular attendance and excellent attitude to take part in the trip, one which has been one of the Academy highlights of the year.
We arrived in the early hours of the morning on Wednesday, October 14 after flying the “Red-Eye” from Perth the previous night. Tired and weary, we found our accommodation on busy George st, checked in and headed straight to bed to catch up on a few zzz’s.
Once refreshed the boys checked out the local scenery, a maze of shops, tall buildings, buskers and workers.On the Thursday we visited Sydney Aquarium, located at Darling Harbour. A picturesque mix of bridges, yachts, water, ships, cafes and tourism venues with the CBD as our backdrop.
Later in the evening it was time for the main event, The Deadlys!
The Deadlys is an annual awards night celebrating achievement by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in fields such as, sport, music, film & TV, art & Literature and health. In its 15th year the ceremony was hosted by actor Luke Carroll, had performances by Jessica Mauboy, Casey Donovan, and Street Warriors and was held at none other than the Sydney Opera House.
The awards night was a great chance for our fellas to see and hear up close the success stories of their idols, enjoy a fantastic night of entertainment as well as do a bit of star gazing.
"It was pretty deadly” said Nicky McAuliffe “and it was great to see famous aboriginal people”
“Its good to go and watch indigenous role models” – Todd Yarran
“The deadly awards were my highlight, we got to see people from TV” - Aaron Ryder
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On the Friday the group walked across the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge on our way to Taronga Zoo. Set on the the beautiful banks of Mosman, the zoo had everything and more with our group having no difficulty staying until closing time.
Saturday our group decided to check the famous Bondi Beach.
White sands, pumping surf and bronzed bodies greeted us as we stepped off the bus and whilst Pirra and Myself were keen to test out the regular set of waves the beach had to offer. The Temperature was deemed “not hot enough” by our young fellas, instead taking photos and people watching on the steps, their feet, sadly not even touching the sand.
We had a couple of hours to use up before it was time to head back to the airport, choosing to stop on Oxford st near the Paddington Markets and do some last minute shopping or buy gifts for loved ones.
The boys had mixed feelings returning home. Caught between wanting to see and do more in the big city and looking forward to a place more familiar and relaxed it was time to go. However, some announced that after they finished school, they will get a job and save their money to return to Sydney to do it all again.
“Keep going to training and school and be on your good behaviour and you get rewarded”- Aaron Ryder
“Sydney is a bigger place, with more people and more things to do. There are lot of places you can go and have fun” – Todd Yarran
“I’d love to come back one day” – Nicky McAuliffe
The Trip for Pirra and myself was a lot of fun and a great experience too. Thank you to all the boys for their company and help.
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