Red Deer Royals Down Under

I was able to get a shot of the Colour Guard in the Great Hall before they cleared us out. The tapestry you see behind the girls looks like an oil painting until you get very close. It's made of an unbelieveable numbers of colours of woolen thread and is a truly impressive piece of work. The colour guard patiently set themselves up in front of the tapestry and the result was this picture.

Monday July 10 the Royals said good bye to the Marching Koalas and bussed down to the Capitol City, Canberra. It is a bit colder here. The leaves are off many of the trees.

When they arrived they toured the War Memorial which is an amazing museum of Australians and their wars. Well done!

The Royals are staying in home stays with the Namanji Redback Marching Band in Quenbeyan which is a suburb east of Canberra.
Last night they had a social event and meal altogether. The bands played for each other.

Today they played in the Great Hall at the Government House:
The Hall is rightly named as it is a Great Big Hall with amzing acoustics. The band looked and played wonderfully. You parents back home can be very proud of your young musicians and colorguard. The Canadian Deputy High Commissioner was there and spoke to them after their performance. I noted that during their performance he was really enjoying himself. He was proud of the kids from his country as well!!

The next day they performed at Garema Square which is downtown Canberra. This is an area where cars are not allowed. Lots of shops and cafes etc. It was a great performance.

Jo Anne

I finally have a chance to put on photos from Sydney's Circular Quay where. This is where you can get ferries and other boats. They played where the overseas cruise ships land which is just around the Circular Quay from the Sydney Opera House.

There were lots of tourists taking pictures and talking to all the parents wearing Canada Flag travel jackets. Those jackets attract alot of attention and conversation. Everyone says they love Canada!! So do we.

Jo Anne

A few of the families took in 7 or 8 of our band members. Here is a photo of the Laird home. A few of us parents on the Companion Tour were lucky enough to have our kids stay in this home. We were invited to an Australian "Barbie" the last night they were there.

See if you can find your kid here:

Jo Anne

We arrived in Newcastle to a warm welcome from the Koalas, who billeted with us last year. Shortly after we arrived, we were invited to be part of "Winter Heat" which is a regular event for residents of this city. Our Board members and Drum Malors were part of a reception with the Lord Mayor of Newcastle. There was an impressive candle lighting ceremony, during which the Royals performed and wowed the crowd. The Koalas have been fabulous hosts and the community in general has been polite, enthusiastic and delighted to support our kids.

The Royals have left Sydney and moved on to Newcastle. Today many of them explored the city, the animals and the surf!!

I have a few photos of performances in Sydney. Marvin and Phil have many more to add once things slow down for them. They will find a computer and add some more shots.

So here are a few photos:

At Darling Harbour the band paraded in and while they did an audience followed them and grew. An appreciative audience!!

Later that day they performed at Hyde Park.

The next day they performed at the Circular Quay which is where all the ships and ferries pick up and drop off passengers. They performed at the Overseas Cruise ship terminal. The Sydney Opera House was in the background. I have no photo at this time. Will add one later.

They walked over to the Opera House for a photo shoot:

All for now!!

In some zoos the people cuddle the koalas but in this zoo it is the other way around.

There were so many interesting animals, a fabulous cable car ride, and it seemed the band members had the run of the zoo as there were very few other people there on this wet day.

Another interesting animal the kids met was the 'roo.

Jo Anne