Ducks on Lake Alexandra
Jellore State Forest Trip
12th November 2016
A special report prepared for us by some of our youngest TRAX members….
We started our day at Alexandra Lake at Mittagong and met up with the group there. We had never been there before so we were excited to see how big the lake was. We saw six cute ducklings with their mum and dad. In the lake we saw some big fish too.
After Laurie prayed we all set off. The first point of interest was the monument of the Fitzroy Iron works. We discovered that the Fitzroy Iron Works was the first Iron works in Australia and was named after Governor Fitzroy. Iron ore, limestone and coal were mined in this area.The scenery was pretty and green as we drove towards the forest. We drove past an alpaca farm. We learnt that the male alpaca is called a macho. He is a great defender and is known to protect sheep by scaring off dingoes and foxes.
We stopped for morning tea and shared our homemade cookies with the group. Isabel,
Joel and Olivia had a busy time looking at bull ants and the patterns that formed in the dirt after the recent rain. Then it was time to move on. It was very hot in the car but we enjoyed spotting some interesting things. We saw big termite nests, hollow logs, plants with tiny purple flowers and plants with small white flowers. Along the way we tackled some rough tracks and steep hills. As we looked to the left was saw Jellore Mountain. It was a beautiful sight as it stood out amongst the forest. We found out that Jellore Mountain is a hemisphere in shape.
The convoy of cars came to a sudden stop as a goanna decided to sunbake on the road. What a silly spot to sunbake! However we all got to have a close up look at it and take some photos. The goanna slowly moved off the road when Neil beeped the horn.
We continued to drive through the thick forest and then came to a steep decline. Dad put the car into low gear and we got down with no trouble. We came to a clearing which was to be our lunch stop. We were quick to set up our shade tent, chairs and gas cooker. Other members of the group made an open fire to cook their lunch. We couldn’t believe how hot the day turned out to be. Mum had packed our gumboots and spray jackets thinking it was going to rain but it turned out to be the opposite. While our lunch was nice we didn’t like the swarm of pesty flies. There were thousands of them. Olivia, Joel and Isabel sat in the car trying to escape them.
After lunch dad took us to look at the cliff. It was a beautiful sight looking over the Three Way Valley but it was dangerous too as it was a steep drop below. After lunch we left the forest and drove along Wombeyan Caves Road and came to Bullio Tunnel. As we drove through we could see where the drills had cut into the earth to make the tunnel. Dad tooted the car horn as we drove though it and mum stood on the other side taking photos of us.
As the day came to an end we drove back to Lake Alexandra for a quick play in the park and an easy afternoon tea. The adults stood around talking about how great the day had been. We gave thanks to the Lord for the wonderful day that we had all shared.
Thank-you to Neil and TRAX for organising the day.
We are looking forward to the next TRAX trip.
Report by:
Olivia, Joel and Isabel.
And a very big “thank you” to our young reporters: Olivia, Joel and Isabel. We look forward to more of your clear and helpful reports.