1976 School Magazine

.${XG*gg,EG&{TS OF' T'E{E CEhITRE TR.NF DidAlan, Jarae and Fhitr realiy know wlaat ttrrey were in for on Monday the 9th of Augtlst, when at 7 o'clock 4 i eirls piled onto the bus which was to take thern on the"ir epic.lotlrney throughi ttrre wilderness of Central 'A.ustralia? Our first catastrophe was on our second day out when the bus decided to break down, not once brit six tirnes in an hour', 30 miles outside ef "S36sis" - iimoins into tsarcaldine 2 hours behind schedule OiO"noitling to dampen oun spirits. Futting tents. up in daytirne-is easy ftir beginners iike us, but at night time it's a different story altogether. Mt. trsa rneant a btlsy schedule for us with our shoonins in the n'rorning (niost essential) after a tour of tirb rn'ine. A picnic lutnch that followed at Lake Moondarra: Phil, the coach captain, needed his sleen as that night we drove right through to the Thrbe Ways. As-is custornary, we pushed the coach over the border - but at 9.30 pm it's ridiculous. We made our way from the Three Ways to Alice Sorines. stooping off at the Devil's Marbles like all g6od "tourists'. A whole weekend at 4tic€ gave us time to see the sights - the Camel Farm, Fitchie Richi, Flynn's Grave, and the TelErapfi -Station, and to cafch up on our washing etc. Th-e highlight of the weekend was our corroboree, which even fright- *##ti,l"iti'i;rs we journeyed to the R.ed Centre where we were taught by a bunch of Vic- torians how to play Northern Territory football. Naturally we loit. The rock was even more for- bidding ihan we expected, but most of us managed to climb it. Coober Pedy was a bit of a disappointment for us, where we even had to pay for our water. Here we were taken on a tour of the town, including a visit to the underground church. We travelled down the track leaving the centre behind us, with the prospect of a hot shower in front of us in Adelaide. AFEFKq,Inm\r{ E&it

This leg of the trip was the roughest - trees were sDarse. rabbit holes plentiful and bus seats uncom- ttrtable. Adelaide, as most girls would agree, sumrised us. It was verY clean and trees were every- *fti,.e. Our visit to Adelaide included a trip to Win- dv Point to see the lights at night, and a trip to Glenelg Beach which was followed by a tram trip back to Victoria Flace. We left Adelaide and made our way through to the Barossa Valley, where we were faced with two disaooointments. i ) lt was a Sunday and the win- eriei'were closed and 2) it was raining. We saw a little of the north-west tip of Victoria and camped the night at Mildura. The next day we crossed the VictoriaA'{ew South Wales border and were greeted bY rainY weather' Whlle in N.S.W. we visited the telescope obser- vatory at Parkes. The night before we left for home, we spent at Narrabri. Our coach captain after some smooth talking arranged for us to sleep in the build- ings at the show grournd - we even had tlie added coilfort of cooking on wood stoves. Wednesday, we erossed the border' Farly in the dav we were able to prove our strength when we heiped lift a car out of a ditch and put it back on to the road. 7 prn that night 4l _weary girls, a coach captain and baddv stepped off the bus after a very rnemora- ble n 5 day tripi t"hror"rgh outtraek Australia back into the banana and Peanut state. Anne Har-milton, Macldi Kirkegard & Fiona Scott

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Fage Forty - Six