Day One - An early start meant that we were well and truly on time at our first stop in Glenbrook. We had morning tea and met up with with Paul - our very knowledgeable guide. He sat us down in the park and told us all about the areas over the mountains that the early inland explorers, Blaxland, Lawson and Wentworth travailed on their journey. He shared with us about the three different indigenous tribes who inhabited the lands that they crossed. They were the Dharug, the Burragorang and the Wiradjuri. He then talked us through what the explorers would have seen on their journey, discussing such aspects of colonial life as wearing the one set of clothes for weeks, thinking that the Australian birds were all yelling at each other, and the pitch black of night time in the bush with only a candle or campfire for light. He gave us background about the three explorers which gave us an insight into their motivations. He also referred regularly to Primary Historical Sources of diaries written by the explorers themselves and also of some women of the time who traveled across the mountains soon after the explorers, but described their trip with a lot more detail than that of the men. As we began our journey up to Katoomba, he continued to tell us details of the story of their journey.
The next stop was the Scenic Railway - what an amazing journey into our Coal Mining history. The amount of scattered old machinery and tools is incredible, and how they managed to use that railway to get the coal out of the valley was amazing. It was lovely to take the time to consider the beauty and diversity of the rain forest as well.
From there we drove to Hartley where we stopped for lunch and then were treated to a tour of both the courthouse and the church. Our National Park guides were very knowledgeable and shared some stark realities about life as a convict in the early settlement. We learnt about the Cat-o-nine-tails and the use of the stocks for punishment. Needless to say most of the students were rightly outraged when they discovered that the convicts were not even allowed to speak to defend themselves at trial, and that the town considered the courthouse as a form of entertainment. We also learnt about the church and how the bell in the church of the town was an indication of how wealthy the town was - the bigger the bell, the wealthier the town.
We continued down the road to the fabulous Heritage Park Homestead where we would be staying for the next two nights. There we were able to take some time to run around and play after a long day on the bus, and were later treated to a delicious dinner. Bush dancing was the evening's activity and the students went to bed soon after that.
Day Two - We woke early and soon after breakfast started the day with a Sheep and Cattle show, during which Jake had to 'cut the tail off a sheep' (not really), and Tia nearly had her nose taken off by a whip (also not really). Ask your children about those funny tricks and the many clever sheep and cattle (amongst other animals) that we met that morning.
We made our way to the Bathurst Goldfields and there we had Barry guide us around the 'Diggings'. He demonstrated the use of many different types of mining equipment, scared the daylights out of some of us when he let off the steam whistle, and spun many a yarn about the many accidents that other students had had at the venue whilst warning us about staying back for safety. It took a few students a little while to cotton onto the fact that he was joking, and the looks on their faces were priceless. The museum there was full of interesting artifacts such as an ice box, a meat locker and mining licenses. He taught us a lot about the lives of the diggers and the incredible ingenuity of the early settlers in how they managed to dig shafts and operate machinery making the most of the limited resources that they had. Later that day after lunch, we met his lovely wife 'Deb' and they told us the story of their Gold Rush experience. Ask your child to tell you the story of Barry and Deb and their 11 children travelling to the goldfields on foot. We then learnt to make damper, mud bricks and how to play some colonial games with horseshoes and cannonballs. And last but not least, we panned for gold!
We finished the day with a round of ten pin bowling and a fun trivia night after dinner.
Day Three - we spent the morning packing up our rooms, then went on a hay ride around the property where the true effects of the drought were evident in the dry and crackly paddocks. We saw many a lamb, and a highland cow called 'Hilary'.
From there we left our lovely accommodation and drove the windy road down to the Jenolan Caves. With all students extremely relieved to alight at the bottom of the drive into the fresh air and luckily holding only empty sick bags - hooray! The tour of the caves was enthralling - what an amazing place and what in credible history it has. Ask your child to tell you about the slide in one of the caverns that used to end at 'Full Stop Rock' and why it was called that. We also saw incredible formations such as the lace curtains, cave bacon and the unicorn horn. People in the 1800s who traveled to the caves used to write their names on the roof with charcoal and snap off pieces of stalagmite to take home as souvenirs. Needless to say we did not get to do either.
Then we were on the long journey home.
I hope your child has shared some of our adventure with you, but I know they can be tired and a little grumpy on their return, so I hope this may help you start a meaningful conversation with them about what they learnt whilst they were away. Some photos of our experiences are included below for your enjoyment.
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