Bright and early on Thursday morning, Year 5 left Loreto bound for Bathurst to enhance their studies of Australian history. The first stop was the Blue Mountains to see the Three Sisters at Echo Point, a beautiful backdrop for morning tea. The next activity was the Macquarie River Tour, where the girls dressed up and learned about life in colonial Australia and the excitement of mining quartz and grinding it down to discover gold. From all accounts there were quite a few budding actors! The day concluded with some fancy footwork, as the girls took part in a line dancing class.

After a tour of the Bathurst goldfields, it was time for the highly anticipated gold panning activity. The girls took to it with gusto and vial after vial was filled with tiny specks of gold. As one of the girls said, ‘I didn’t find my retirement stash of gold but I had lots of fun, even though the water was freezing!’

Lastly, it was time for a lunchtime sausage sizzle and then home. The girls came back to school weary but happy and into the open arms of their parents. One student was overheard saying, ‘I enjoyed our excursion to Bathurst because I had lots of fun and learned some new and interesting facts about the gold rush.’

Thank you to Ms Best, Mrs Anderson, Mrs Trethewey and Ms Ball for accompanying the girls.

Please enjoy some lovely photos from the trip below.