Sacred Heart Catholic Primary School Westmead students inside classroom

Stage 3 Camp/Bathurst - 23rd and 24th May 2019

19 Sep 2019

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Day 1: We left school at about 7:45 in the morning and drove for a few hours before stopping at the Three Sisters for morning tea. We then got back on the bus for another hour or so before getting off to see the old Courtroom and Cells. The class split into two groups and our tour guides showed us around, letting us participate through role plays and dress up.

We also went to see the chapel across the road from the Courtroom, a small building that only did weddings, funerals and baptisms due to the fact that there was a much larger church nearby. We then ate lunch and got back on the bus.

We arrived at the accommodation about an hour later, and our tour guide Sarah showed us around the grounds. The first thing we saw was the Whim, a machine that the miners used to transfer the rocks and minerals they had found. Horses would be attached to it and forced to walk in circles in order to move the machine.

We then saw a machine that crushed the quartz in order to find gold that was powered by steam. Sarah told us that the machine we were seeing was actually a very small version of it compared to others. We then saw the blacksmith, where Sarah bent some metal and got a few students to pump the machine for her in order to heat up the metal.

We then went into the museum, which had three rooms, each with different information and purposes. The first room was one that the mines had used to gather before going into the mine shafts. The third showcased the many different rocks that had been discovered at Bathurst, including a replica of the biggest single piece of gold ever found.

The third showed the many tools and household objects that miners back in those days would have had to use. We went into the building again to eat some dinner. After supper, we did some line dancing with another tour guide named Chris. By the end of it, we were tired and went to bed. Day 2: In the morning after we had our breakfast we went down to the campfire to talk with our instructors Brian and Chris.

They told us about their experiences in the gold rush and what it was like for them. They told us what it was like and how Brian struggled through the gold rush. After that we did some activities such olden day games, cooking damper and making mud bricks. The olden day games we played were called bocce, horseshoe and tug of war. The made the materials used in the games. After that we participated in a girls vs boys tent making competition.

The teachers judged and they decided that the girls won. Then it was time to do what we had all been waiting for, gold panning! We panned for gold and used little tubes filled with water to keep it. We used pans/bowls and searched through the water and rocks with our pans. The gold was very small but we managed to get quite a bit. Then sadly it was time to head off back to school.

Written by Annie & Emily Yr6

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