A TRIP TO GYMPIE.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 December 1920, Page 3 (Supplement)

A TRIP TO GYMPIE.

SECOND PRIZE.

(Edna Wooldridge, Central School, New Plymouth; aged 10 years.) One day I received a lettur from my uncle, "Mr. Ambrose, asking if mother and I could come from Brisbane to Gympie for the Christmas holidays. It was six o'clock on a bright day in December when I awoke. The first thing I did was to scramble out of bed—l think, on the wrong side —, and running to put on my best dress, I came across a pretty little brooch set with diamonds, and one large ruby. Running out into the garden 1 plucked a lovely, large, red rosebud, which, by the aid of my brooch, I put on my dress. Mother and I set off to Gympie, and arrived there just in time to have dinner, whicli consisted of soup, mutton, French beans, mashed potatoes, and steamed date pudding. Gympie is a gold-mining town. In the afternoon we went to explore the mines, and I sat in the basket while it was being raised and lowered. Soon, however, I became tired of that, and wanted ,to see all through the mine. On every side of us were long, large drives lighted up by torches. The drives were narrow passages along which rails were placed, and on these the trucks ran. It was now nearing sunset, and so we had to make tracks for home.

Next day we stayed at home to go over the land and look at the cows, ducks and fowls, and watch the little ducklings dive, and also turn somersaults in the wafer. W r e really had a most enjoyable time, and so it was no wonder that we went to bed early. Mother stayed in bed for her breakfast, but I was up soon after half-past four. rooster crowed his very loudest, so I thought, the hens cackled, the cows moo-ed, the trees whispered to each other: "Good morning, our work is begun, for God gave us daylight that we might rejoice like the lark and work like the bee," and the brook murmured sweet words which none could understand.

Suddenly, just as we were about to set out for the marble quarry, we saw a flash of lightning, and beard a roar of thunder, with wlfich came floods of rain. Slowly and sadly the sunlight faded, and the dark clouds gathered like the sheep about their shepherd in a thunderstorm.

When the storm had cleared away, which was about nine o'clock, we set

out for the quarry. .Marble grows, and this had in it the patterns of ferns, pieces of trees, and one piece had the seeds of trees. In my uncle's curio box I came across a piece of coal in whlefc you could see" patterns of shells. He afterwards told me that it had been buried under the ocean, and that he had found it on the beach. It was a bright morning when we set off to the woods to go shooting. We lost our way and wandered into the woods still deeper. Uncle watched over na while we had a sleep.

At dawn we set off to try to find our way out. We came soon to an old farm, where we found some pumpkins. We picked out a nice hard one, and cut a slice off the top just about the size of a saucer. A few birds were shot, skinned, cut up, put into the pumpkin, and stewed. It was a good meal, but the only thing was that we had no salt to flavor it.

The way we found our home was that we heard a train whistle, and followed in the direction of the sound. At last we reached home about dinner time, and I can tell you we did justice to a jolly dinner. Slowly as the breath of the wind grew cool and refreshing, and as the evening shadows crept over the sky, the birds no longer sang their sweet hymns of praise, but ceased, and the bees, too, ceased winging over the sweet flowers for prey. So that night, too, we ceased rambling in the grass, as we were to end our happy holidays on the morrow. There aTe many other things I could tell you, but I should need a very large hook, indeed, and the last word I say is an revoir.