December 1950 School Magazine

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School Magazine ·

December, 1950

· B~isbane• Girls'! Grammar School Magazine

area; with its beautiful gardens, and.: the br1llJc;rpt . colo1;1rs ._of the trees and flowers . . The .island itself .consists of a range .of. volcanic .hills, the chief .one · .~f. which .is. . nain~o ' ' 'The Mol+ntairi'' Qf ;Hell' · .:r,r,is~p.q­ to a height of 12, l 52 feet - the highe~t vo1ccin,o in ' the>world and sometimes said to be the Mount Atlas of mythology. . .- Th~ p~opl.e a~e, fo.r ~h~m?st ~art, ~Y,l[~~ql~Y:· Sp~uiish . . . Th? hfe of the average peasant 18 shll pnm1hve, but the ncher inhabitants. live in luxury i·n their beautiful villas. The perfect climate ·contributes to the island's prosperity ' by attracting many tourists. Rising in terraces in the siopes of the hills are vine-yards and banana plantations, the crops of ,;Which are largely 'exported: The scarcity of rain is clearly. illustrated by the almost total absence of grass meadows ·and •lavy:-ns. At Laguna, a small village in the hills, in one of its two cathedrals, we were shown some relics of the Spanish Inquisi- tion. One of these was an exquisitely carved 15th Century altar of solid silver. ' · · As we slid out of the now silent harbour, the •twinkling lights - from the spore ::;eemed to be bidding us o . fond farewelL -D. Hyland, IIIB: A JOURNEY ACROSS THE WO-RLD IN THReE DAYS Onthe 24th December, 1946, my motfier ~~~ - i~foq::ned that there-were two cancellations .on a 'plane' bound f~r Aust~~liCJ;: At last, our opportunity had come. The seats were booked immediately for us and we were informed that the 'plane was to leave on Boxing Day. Two days . only for ·preparation:! As innoculation against smallpox was essential, we hasten" ed to the doctor. After the injections, he gave us each a c~ttificate.j' Now, we had the dreaded job of - pac~ing, which we accomplished on Christma s Day 'i::lmid scanty celebratioils of 'Yuletide . · ·- · · · ,,,_., '·.., .·· · · · : Next morning we reached the ~ii~ort by ,7 . ' ~·clock . :It was -not very long .before we were high aboye London, with the .aerodrome a mere speck below. . . .. We' passed over ;many European ·countries 'c±n'd the Medic terranean Sea and on that same evening touched down at Lydda, in' Palestine. Here ·the passeng~rs >wei:~ ' tbk-en !to a rest-house· in order to have a wash 'i::md a meal. 'l was rath~r puizled to . see d guard, patrolling hp' ahd d'dwri . a cortidor: l?~t _ I was later told that it wa.s a precaution they had to take, because' ofi·ecent riots in that part of Palestine. In the dining

FULL MOON (Tuesday, 29th •August, 1950) The full moon glimmered through the trees As they rus tled and whispered; A lantern gold, a clear-cut orb Against black heavens. And on the ground, on leaves sher'. thick 'Neath the moving 1 .eaves 'abci~·e, The shadows moved and . tremb led; Lest the moon, searching, Should, by her clear gaze, discover thEOm. In regal state; in ha ughty pomp She sailed · the heavens, And shiv'ring still in night's cool breeze, The trees stood gilded. Each · leaf a molten edge Possessed- the golden fi re Leapt, shook and shifted through the foliage; Falling on thG son beneath .. With undiminished brilliance. Cascades of silver and of gold Piercing the blackness of the breezy night. A fantasy- unreal yet real - of black and gold.

-JUDITH GREEN, lii A

IN BY-GONE TIMES

In times gone by

When men were none,

As now, earth flew Around the sun; Where land there wa~ Now sea appears, For earth doth change

With the passing y ears.

And in the forests of that time Undaunted by the filthy slime Lived on herbivorous dinosauri The ancestors of "chiens" a nd "tauri" While the thorny Triceratops ' Tracked his p rey with starts e nd s tops And in the lake lhe Zeuglodon Stared .::r t the great Iguanodon Who slithered to the edge to drink

And, pulled in by his flippered friend, would sink.

-JUDITH GREEN, III A

A DAY AT TENERIFFE It was early morning when we _kailed into the man 7 made harbour of Santa Cruz, capital of Teneriffe, which is one of the islands of the Canary group, own8d by Spain. The town itself slopes steeply upwards from the . harbour, and the first impressions of a visitor are ·the narrowness of th~ streets, the v.:ell-stqcked_ : shops,. _and, further up the slope, the residential 44