1979 School Magazine

LATIN POSEIDON TRIP Early in '1978, the then Sth form Latin students, decided that, as in all other subjects, they were entifled to an ex- cursion. Subsequently, they planned to travelto ltaly and nearby areas of Europe to observe the Roman ruins they had learnt so much about. Thus the Poseidon Group was born. Throughout that year and continuing into 1979, the girls and their supporters, arranged countless activities to subsidize the trip. These included the Miss Grammar Quest, dances and a slave auction. They persevered with their struggles, only to find that the entire cost o{ the trip had doubled by June 1979, and so the numbers dwindled, leaving four virtual strangers to undertake the journey together. Thus on the 4th of August, Miss Gibson, Miss Cahill, Chris Woodgate and Lyndal Taylor, embarked upon their four week jaunt. Apart from minor changes to the itinerary and delays en route, the entire trip was a tremendous success. Together with the knowledge, in- sight and thrill of seeing the Roman culture so near to our hearts, the experience gained was invaluable. To describe in detail the trip itself, the sights and the fun we had is impossible in so limited a space, however, I would like to thank my fellow travellers for the trip of a life-time and also the Romans, without whom the trip would never have been possible. Chris Woodgate, 12E

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NOUMEA TRIP On the 1Oth August, after a four hour delay at the Sydney lnternational Airport, we finally arrived dt ttre trtoumei Airporl al 7.21 p.m. We were greeted by a travel representative, clutching a sign which read "Welcome Brisbane Girls' Grammar School". After an hour long ride in a bus (driving on the wrong side of the road!) amid loud and out of tune French songs, we arrived at the Noumea Hotel, at the Baie des Citrons. This night we were greeted by a Melanesian dance group who were performing at the hotel. They made quite a racket but it did not take too long to get to sleep as we were all ex- hausted. For breakfast each morning, we came down expecting a bowl of cereal but each time we ate breadrolls, after which we either lazed about on the beach or went into town on the Baby Buses. ln town we wandered around the streets, looking into many French, Chinese and Polynesian shops which sold literally everything. The irip to the Amedee lighthouse is something to remember. The lighthouse is situated on a coral island and is an impressive structure, offering a magnificent view of the surrounding Pacific. Renee-Jacques, our charming French guide, took us out (on a very choppy sea)to view the corals and fish through the glass-bottom boat. He even dived down for us to feed the fish. The highlight of this boat trip, after a succulent Melanesian lunch, was a Polynesian dance, performed by an expert girl f rom Hawaii, in which we were all allowed to join. We spent most of the day there and returned late in the afternoon with burnt faces and bikini lines. On Saturday, we went on a bus tour across the island, to the village of Yate, where there was a Japanese wedding ceremony to be held in the town hall. We were served a special nalive meal of pig and chicken cooked 'native style', for many hours with local vegetables, in banana leaves, as well as French bread and butter, French wine and strong coffee grown in New Caledonia. lhe scenery and the people there were certainly all delightful and we had a wonderful day, even though the bus ride was a bit bumpy. We all slept soundly with the nickel dust up to our ears. (New Caledonia is one of the mOSt imOOftanl ninkal nroducinn cnr rnf rioq in the worlC \ We would like to thank Mrs. Stenders for making this trip possible and we hope that there will be many more in the f utu re.

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