Mega City Tour 2014

By Martin Berry (Year 10, Ross)

On April 6, a group of 10 Scotch boys led by Mr Hildebrandt and Mr Hales departed on the Megacity Tour. The tour would introduce us to the magnificent cities of Hong Kong, San Francisco and New York. The aim of the tour was to complement the WACE and IB Geography courses, specifically in the areas of natural hazards (earthquakes) and sustainable urban planning and design. The tour was the second of its kind.

In San Francisco, my personal highlights included the tour of Alcatraz and the day we spent cycling around San Francisco, identifying areas of urban renewal. I really enjoyed Alcatraz because not only was the weather spectacular, the audio tour of Alcatraz was very interesting and informative. Despite not being able to hire an electronic bike, the journey around San Francisco and cycling over the Golden Gate Bridge was amazing.

Whilst in San Francisco I experienced my first baseball game. Unfortunately, the San Francisco Giants lost but this did not dampen the mood of the group as the atmosphere had been superb and all the fans were really friendly and keen to fill us in on the finer details of the game. The next day we visited the majestic Yosemite National Park.

New York! New York! is a wonderful town. In New York we visited Soho and Williamsburg, discussing gentrification and urban renewal. We paid our respects at the sight of Ground Zero, which was a memorable and moving event. You can't visit New York without hitting the shops and we undertook some retail therapy, thus helping the United States economy. Nikes were a popular choice.

In New York, we were fortunate enough to be able to watch a professional NBA basketball game. The game was very enjoyable with fast paced action and crazy shots. The atmosphere of the crowd was great and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

I would definitely recommend the Megacity Tour to all Scotch College boys. Not only was it a fabulous experience but also the friendships and memories will last a lifetime.