22 Oct 2019
The Maclean High School Central Australia Geography Excursion for Year 9 students recently returned from a 19 day tour of Central Australia. The group travelled just over 8,000 km in 19 days through western NSW, South Australia, Northern Territory and western QLD. The excursion has been running at the school since 2008 with the support of Maclean High School staff and Simes Bros Coaches Lismore.
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This year was a contrast of weather and unusual climatic conditions. Coonabarabran usually sets the tone for what camping conditions that lie ahead will be like. Unusually warm for that time of year, the Clarence Valley campers were quite proud that they only needed light clothing covering their summer attire. However, over the next few nights at Cobar and Broken Hill, when temperatures plummeted to singles figures, it sent the campers scurrying into their tents for tracksuit pants, beanies, and multiple jumpers.
On reaching South Australia the itinerary needed to be modified due to Defence Force rocket testing in the (WPA) Woomera Prohibited Area. The entire area was subject to road closures between September and October. This meant we stayed at an isolated roadhouse and accommodation at Glendambo instead of Roxby Downs.
Sleeping underground in a bunk bed at Coober Pedy also proved to be a novel experience along with digging through an old mullock heap in pursuit of our national gemstone.
The Centre was unusually cool. The Uluru base walk was quite windy and fresh at times. Later that day whilst doing the Valley of the Winds Walk at Kata Tjuta jumpers finally came off. The next morning for the first time in the history of the trip, we had a wet pack up as there had been light rain falling since 3 am. The cool conditions proved to be advantageous for the 3 and a half hour walk through Kings Canyon where all campers marvelled at the rim walk and the initial ascent.
At Alice Springs, the Camel ride at Pyndan Farm was a real highlight particularly for those students who were allocated Pixie, Cookie or Sparky. The visit to the Royal Flying Doctor’s Service was also a rewarding experience as students could see in real time where each RFDS flight was being conducted throughout Australia. The $197 raised on the trip through small fines was very much appreciated by the RFDS staff.
After two days at Alice Springs we headed north having lunch at the Devil’s Marbles (Karl Karlu) where students were required to draw the marbles with just the material around them which included charcoal, sand and some vegetation. Our last night in the Northern Territory was spent at Barkly Homestead watching a movie under the stars and asking fellow campers if they knew the score between the Bunnies and the Raiders.
The journey continued into QLD with the students acclimatising to the warmer weather at Winton whilst on the Dinosaur Canyon Tour. This year the group was invited by Edwina and Ray Cameron (whose four children have all done the excursion) to stay the night on their family property Darriveen Station north of Longreach. It was a fantastic experience for the group to be served stews and roast lamb from camp ovens, to put their tents on the lush lawn outside the homestead and to be given a guided tour by Ray. The next day students were taken to a shearing shed to watch sheep being shorn as well as seeing first-hand how an artesian bore sustains these types of properties and keeps communities in these areas going. From Longreach we ventured east to Sapphire where the students were shown how to fossick for sapphires using wash and a sieve. The next day we turned south and headed towards the Central Queensland Highlands staying at the Wallaroo Outback Retreat before taking on the 21 km trek through Carnarvon Gorge.
The next day we continued to Roma where the students were given a tour of the Roma Saleyards and experienced an auction in the sale ring.
The final day of the tour the students were taken to the Japanese Gardens in Toowoomba and then to the Cobb and Co Museum.
Such a trip cannot occur without the support and generosity of many people. A huge thank you to Tony, Jan, Edwina and Ray of Darriveen Station who opened up their home and provided such exceptional hospitality to our students and staff. The staff at Maclean High School who taught extra lessons on behalf of their colleagues who were on the road for the last two weeks of the term. The staff who volunteered their time to supervise the students during the excursion; thank you to Ben Patch, Danielle Hollis, Donna Watts and Dave Innes. A special thanks to Wayne Rice, who although retired, came on the excursion as a volunteer, giving up sunny Yamba and his beloved golf course for 19 days. Our chief logistical director and executive chef, Jacelyn Bebb, we would all starve without her, impressed us with her new menu consisting of Singapore Noodles and Thai Beef Curry. Thank you to Simes Bros Coaches who have been with us since 2010, we could not do it without you or our coach captain Newie- Mark New.
Above all, a big thank you to the Year 9 tour group, their manners, ability to take on new challenges and understanding sometimes complicated instructions was fantastic. This outweighed the amount of junk food that was consumed and the staff having to stay up late at night to charge their phones. Like all previous tour groups they have been tremendous ambassadors for our school and the Lower Clarence. Well done.