1971 School Magazine

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the cake shops. At Armidale we stepped out of the bus into South Fole conditions. (We had travelled farther than I thought!) trt was a wonder some people fitted into their sleeping bags, they were so well protected from the cold. The last day we travelled through country ablaze rvith wattle on to Stanthorpe and lunch at Warwick. It was no time before we rattled and cheered through the Brisbane suburbs, ahead of time for the first time during the triP.

F{omeward bound! Saturday we headed for Renmark where we inspected a winery after lunch. Unfortunately, the Sales Department was closed (they had warning we were coming)' Stayed at Mildura-for the night. Travelling to Forbes next day was done in overcast weather. Some of our more financial companions indulged in the luxury of caravans for the rught' Parkes Radio Telescope was visited on Monday morning. Then we continued on to Tamworth to raid

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so long. Finally, however, we pushed^ -qn fbr Queensiown. At 10.30 p.m., and the end of 50 miles of winding, snow-covered mountain road, ,our two long-sufferlng bus drivers, who were a little the worse for"wear, took their brake pedals out oftheir pockets and breathed two great sighs of reLief. Friday began with a tour of the Copper,Mines at Queenstown -in thot. awesome, naked yellow hills, aird ended at Table Cape, the most northerly point of Tasmania, after passing through some very beautiful, green, rolling cbuntryside, dotted with sheep and Eattle. Tour -'A' spent the night in Wynyard, while Tour 'B' bedded down in Burnie. The next morning after more English countryside, the Grammarians converged on Gowrie Park Hydro- Electricitv Commission -Camp lor lunch at their canteen, where the food kept coming and coming, and we kept eating and eating. The sight of all those little grey boxes in rows, which they called the single mert'iquirters, kept us quiet until we reached^Entally House,'a very-old homestead restored as a Colonial Museum. The two rival busloads were re-united in Launceston, where we were conspicuous as "those Schoolsirls' from Queensland", because of our mainlaid accents and the fact that our escapades in the snow had made headlines. On Sunday, after touring Launceston (and being taught how io pronounce same) we continued to Derionport. wheie we boarded the "Princess of Tasmania", the ugly sister of the "Empress"' After one more ileeplesJnight we descended on Melbourne, which was to suffer the same cruel fate as Sydney' Judsins bv the phvsical condition of the group of weaiy T.au.[e.s wtto boarded a D'C'9 at Melbourne's new international Airport, every inch of the city had experienced the heavy tread of Grammar feet. So it was, at 7 p.m. on Monday, 16th August' that a very memorable experience came to a close' Our thanki go to Mrs. Kufielman, Miss P-aterson and Helen and lack Zappala for their forbearance in coping so adequateiy with us, and we hope they enjoyea the trip as much as we did.

Fond parents, brothers and sisters waved a tearful farewell fo a little over half a hundred Grammarians as thev drew away from the gates of B.G-G.S. and sped through the night in two sleek Pioneer Coaches tbwards SJrdney. Some seventeen sleepless hours later, two -dusty coaches drew up in front of the Canberra Orienial, Kings Cross, and half a hundred sieht-seeins Grammarians rudely interrupted the oJaceful Svdnev weekend scene' On Sunday night i24 hourr ifter'originatly scheduled) we were given a iolourful send-off -by some of the now completely cowed Sydney residents as we gently shuddered and rolled oui of ihe harbour on the glamorous 'Empress of Australia'. The next two days rate, for most, amongst the best on the trip, with personal (well, almost! !) stewards, glorious weather, sumptuous meals and nothing to do but have fun, the, Grammarians must have wiighed a few stone heavier between them when they arriied in Hobart on Tuesday morning. (Funny thing about Hobart-it rolls! !) It was raining, of course (for the first time in about six weekslor so the natives said), and the visibility on Mount Wellington was down to about six feet, bit that didn't put a damper on our first sight of snow. Tuesday nighi found about half of us (Tour 'A') installed-in Jane Franklin College-, where the food was quite good and the heaters worked-and the other half in Hytten Hall Men's Collegg, where the food was terribie and the heaters didn't work, but there were some interesting (??**) posters on the walls. Wednesday saw the Grammarians converging delightedly bn Port Arthur convict ruins-model pris6n, hospital, penitentiary and lunatic gsyluT (now 'Coun6i1 Chambers)-and the sights of Eagle Hawk Neck. On Thursday we set off for Queenstown. If we were ioyful at the sight of Mt. Wellington snow, we w... -..ituti. when it began actually to snow on the road to Derwent Bridge. If only it had stopped snowing, and snowing . . ' and SNOWING! | Six hours w. weie stranded at Derwent Bridge, waiting for a decision to go forward or backward. Poor Roadhouse wasn't expeiting so many hungry Queenslanders for

Lynn Robinson, Amanda Greaves

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