The MSE Darwin Tour 2006, was definitely a memory that all of us will treasure for many years. Every day was packed full of rehearsals, masterclasses and sightseeing. Once we were all up in Darwin and had recovered from our plane trip, arriving in Darwin at midnight, the MSE violinists had a masterclass with the DSO concertmaster, Penny Reiss. It was our first masterclass for quite a few of us. Then in the afternoon we had a tour of Darwin, from Fannie Bay gaol, to the spectacular ocean view. On Tuesday, we headed off to Park. Coming from Melbourne, we all realized that it wasn’t a good idea to swim with these huge salt water crocodiles! For lunch we had a taste of Casuarina Plaza, which is the Darwin shopping centre. In the afternoon, we had our first rehearsal with the DYO, and then the MSE performed a concert for them. Wednesday, we all dragged ourselves out of bed and set off to Kakadu National Park. We climbed Ubirr rock, visited some museums and gift shops, and then had a cruise of the Yellow Waters, where we saw many birds, plants and crocodiles. Then, after a long day, we drove back to Darwin. The Darwin Museum was great fun. We amused ourselves for a while dressing up and drawing pictures of each other. Mindel Markets was the place to be from 5pm onwards, and it was so crowded that you could hardly walk! On Friday we drove up to Litchfield National Park. We stopped at three different waterfalls, some people went for a walk up the top of Wangi falls, and then we all had a swim in Florence Falls. As Saturday was our last day, it was very busy. In the morning we had two masterclasses, then rehearsal, and the big concert! People from all over Darwin came to listen to the North and South Orchestras together. Then we packed up and had a party for the rest of the night! We didn’t see the point in going to sleep, since we had to get up at   3 O’clock in the morning anyway! Darwin tour was fantastic and I’m sure many of us learnt from the masterclasses, and enjoyed seeing Darwin. For me, the whole tour passed too quickly and I really enjoyed being part of it.

Justine