1973 School Magazine

Suzy's 'oDing-a-ling" version bellowing through the lodge in the early hours of the morning' We all looked olovely' in the mornings, and became expert at dressing for breakfast in forty seconds flat. As in all the story-books, it snowed the morning we left as well. Coming home was disastrous. The coach to the airport was an hour and a half late, Cooma airport was closed due to fog, and upon reach- ing Sydney, we found that we arrived during an industrial air strike, leaving us stranded. Hours later, we arrived in Brisbane, only to find that most of the luggage was delayed in Sydney * some even arrived in the morning, or late the next day. The aim of the school trips is to promote under- standing and friendship between people, as well as to broaden experiences, and thus, education. I feel, that in many respects this trip was a great success, having personally learnt to know, get along with and enjoy the company of many new friends. We would all like to thank Mr and Mrs Salzman and Miss Burnett for all the time, trouble and patience that they spent to give us a most enjoyable and memorable holiday' Tracy Alexander vA CENTRAI,AUSTRALIA TRIP _ 1973. Wren told you are sleeping in the pub of a show- gound for the night what do you expect? Not Mitchell showground pub - Unfortunately an ex- tremely bare room with a hard cold cement floor. This, along with powdered milk and bore water, was our introduction to the Centre Trip. As well as this it was incredibly cold even with three jumpers, a beanie and two pair of socks. The next morning at Charleville there was a mad rush on the pillow department of Woolies! Here we nearly lost two members who wandered off to 'have a look at the river,' while the bus was being repaired for an oil leak. We set off on some of the fust of many long straight roads with an absolutely bare horizon- One "oasis" was a place (?) called Middleton - a pub and a football field. On road again tllere was an explosive bang and we soon discovered that we had a tyre blow-out. After repairs we kept going, happy with the prospect of showers and civilization at Mt' Isa- To ihosi who were awake, Mt. Isa was a spectacular sight at night. We found ourselves parked next to Kedron Teachers College students who had accident- ally run over their driver and were waiting for a replacement. In Mt. Isa we sweltered round the mines wiln hard hats and glasses and then cooled off with a swim in Lake Mondarra. That night we crossed into the Northern Territory, and the next day with a slowly-flattening tyre we ended up at a small road- house. At Barrow Creek (an Overland Telegraph Station) we picked up a hitch-hiker-Ron- who had been waiting for a coach all day to Alice Springs. As usual we arrived late being warned not to wake people in

other coaches. Next day we had free in ,Alice Springs, a really interesting place, where we spent a lot of money. At the end of the day some of the girls came back talking excitedly about how they'd had their photo taken with Dereck Nimmo, who'd been making a film nearby. Some others had been to the rodeo. Before leaving we visited Stanley Chasm and Simpsons Gap - simply a gap in the ranges through which a river runs. A ranger drove up and informed us that as it was a National Park we were required Ia pay 20c for the privilege of seeing it. After a heated discussion we gave in. Again that night the temperature dropped below 0oC. Much to our dismay as there were not enough tents and we were momentarily busless. But we managed somehow. From here on the countryside was a mass of yellow and white wildflowers'

Ayers' Rock was our next stop with its deceptive climb. It looks so simple. We started off fit and fresh but stumbled back fighting the harsh winds. The climb proved to be exhausting taking from IIL to 3 hours' Afterwards some of the few with any money left went on a plane flight over the Rock, while the rest of us enjoyed the unique amenities block. The shower doors covered barely from knee to neck, and it was too bad if you weren't an average height. That night after the inevitable sunset photos there was a dance at the hotel for all strong enough to stay awake. At Coober Pedy two days later we saw opal mines and underground houses. We decided against any sort of washing as water was 60c for 10 gallons (on the side of the road we saw clusters of Desert Peas). Iater on that night it began to pour with rain. We had a routine stop at Kingoonijah. We were hungry, cold and wet and the bus had broken down. We bought hamburgers as there was nowhere to cook in the rain. We then helped push the bus with additional help from a landrover as a result it was decided to travel through the night in case we got bogged in the mud. Just about everyone was asleep and the radio was softly playing, but we didn't seem to be moving.

JJ