1969 School Magazine

tHo* W. %uo*"l to "Ko'gl'r*g St"

The city girl yearns for the freedom of t!. nururluf-iit. l"i thl gpportunity to prove she is ilJ;"ot to"gher stuff -ihan our pampered society 'jd;tr[.- Consequently ,b.. idea of a week of ;i""gf-tins i;'; on, Fraslr IslanC-a remote and ';;;;;il; lvi"g off the cen*al Queensland coasr-r, pu.r or J"r annual zoologica! and biolo- "i.uf .*..ririon appealed to us strongly. .Unpre- ;;;ti bv the thoueht of cooking and eating 09{ ;;lood ;; ,h. "h,rg. batbec,r.t, or th" wild ;;;ri; ,hJ *Gh, .*".rg. from the lonely scrub- ir;1J rt the deal of night, u/e conjured up foman- tic notions of our revitalizing return to nature' In our excited reverie, we imagined ourselves beinJ^iJt.a- ;; ,i."p by 'the soothing, muffled ;;;? "l waves lappin s at our back-door as we Iur, snug una ,...rtJ itt o*rt tent-city nestled among the ,ro*y tt"a-fri[s, glistening in p-ure- moonlight, ;;;;; th; ;;-;i;ai"a dome' so far-removed f;;; th. wotid, we saw ourselves as the loneliest outpost of humanity on the Pacific;feasting on ;h;^bo,rntif,rl harvests of the sea and revelling in ;;; -;;6 pLveround which stretched for a fr""a*a miles i; the distant horizon. 'Our un- ;ffi.iri h;;;r would be the gentle brumbies who ;"s f"r-;;r; i ^t dawn on th" beach below and rhe gttorrr of ancient inhabitofs the Peage- i"rirr?-u6origines . . . Ah! dreams indeed of this ;;iJ;; Eldoiudo. Let's return to harsher realitv' The "Lady Fraser", that proud ul4 stream- lined vessel which was going to ferry thi-11V-seven i;;;AiJ ."pt"rers (togeiher. with their dillv bags ,l*iia with items for every imaginable emergetrcY, many tons of provi."ions as well as privgtt reserves oi#frol.ro*"-food such as sweets and fruit-cakes iot i'fortiii.ution during the long hazardous nie1r6", th.ir portable houses and beds-and text- Uoikr ) 'u.totr'th. channel in true Viking style- was really an unassuming little prawning vessel tfr*t bobbed dijectedly up and down on the waves' \[e soon foreet our-disillusionment, however, as the towering crags of Fraser Island materi arized in the blue \ur.7f the distance before our eyes' . . . To think that our spectacular destination was, i" t.tiity , an immense ^sand dune the largest sand island in the world! $flhen \il/e disembarked, everyone grabbed ^.o"pt. -of lo^rr.s of the bread which was to be come our rtupt. diet; some clutched precious fish- i;; ;"d-, grritu* or a frightening assortment of faial *.rp3"r-Urrbecue forks, spades and pi:bt -m -.1f us-you guessed it-beauty cases ! ( lX/e soon dirconer.i that this was an unknown thing on Fraser Island as bV the end of the week our fu..r- rnd feet were artistically camouflaeed with

Eefore we left

dirt ). One colourful procession then boarded a it".k-no, it wasn't really a 6uck-but bore a closer t.r"-blance to some alien mechanized creature with a truck tail transplanted onto the n."J of a ffactor. In fact, I find it impossible to describe and will hencefofth refer to it as fWvrlery,,. A temperamental antique bugg{ *hi.h #tt to become our constant companion and dear friend-our lifeJine with civilization. Mean- rfrit. the other party followed behind in another derelict vehicle. Only after Mystery catapulted over the first bump in the pitted track snrfa.e did we rcaltze that the benches on which we wefe trying to e.;..f;ity sit were not attached to the floor-and tud become mobile too. The nightmarish journey i;;d b.erm-*. knew it would be "survival of the Fitfist" and grasped anything in sight. \ile ;;;r;i the e,rca{'pr forest dusk descended. 5"Ji*tV the ..ii. and oppressive silence of a *""Jto,ttly luxuriant rain-forest engulfed.us' As M;;.y-pl"nged deeper and_degper into a labvrinth of nario* pitht, -. crouched closer together as ;h. ;hortly Lhck arms of the trees groped for our fac.J and- clutched at ouf hair. From time to ti*., we heard a dull thud which sounded suspic- iltly like a piece of falling -luggage, or a. sleeping ;;; 6t-o.-even a bo_dv_,. but- we couldn't turn [^.t . Already 'Natural -selection' was at work' Th; glamour l,f this experience was_ dying as we *.f"Tly rubbed our battired rear ends, Yet, mirac- ;il;;F, we changed. \ile saw the humour of our situatirch and laughed, we felt the pioneering spirit *.it "p i"rid. ,rr" and we drowned our troubles in song. Our headquartefs \ffere reached iq pitch dark- ness. As ;h; ofii.iul site was occupied that night, *. -.rtuliitt-t.a a temporary camp in the hollow U.tri"J irc iirri ridgJ. Erectine a tent for the

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