Day 6

Amanda

The first thing that we did today was go to the Mt. Difficult Quarry. We saw stone houses that the miners lived in, the sites that they mined and how they split the rock. They took two bits of iron (called feathers) and placed an iron pin in the middle, then hit the pin until the rock split. We also saw the powerstation and the layout of a town called Heatherlie, that never really came to be. Our walk through 'Heatherlie' was really a walk through paths in the bush.

After that, we went to the Cultural Centre. We expected to learn something about the Koori Aborigines, but instead all we found was a big political statement. When we went upstairs to the 'Bush Tucker' Cafe, they only sold burgers made of emu, kangaroo, and stuff. So we ordered damper, expecting real bush damper. It wasn't real at all. It was only the size of a bun, and had all sorts of fancy seeds in it. Damper is made of salt, flour and water.

Well, to make Adam happy, he had to have his kangaroo steak. So we went to 'Suzy's Hall's Gap Tavern'. We had the cutest waiter : ) and I even got to have a beer (legally!!) with dinner. It turns out that if you're with your guardian(s), you can have alcohol even if you are underage! So I got a Melbourne Bitter with my dinner!

(Note from Sue: I had the most wonderful day! I could not believe the walk through the bush. Here we were, doing a 4 km walk through the deep Aussie bush ... following a small walking trail, not another person for at least 10 miles and we all enjoyed every second. We looked at the different types of gum trees, watched the animals play, hear the birds sing and we got healthy on good clean Aussie fresh air. I can't even remember how many kangaroos and wallabies we saw!

After our 4 km walk we headed back to Hall's Gap to do a little bit of souvenier shopping. We browsed the little shops, bought lots of postcards, flags and Adam found gifts for his friends. The news agent gave us a binder with all the restaurants in town in it and we searched for one that served real kangaroo meat. Adam had roo for tea and absolutely loved it. It didn't bother him a bit to watch the live ones hopping through the fields just outside the tavern. A half dozen cockies fought over the bird seed providing additional dinner time entertainment. Amanda loved her beer and giggled all the way back to the campground! She thinks Canadian beer is better though.

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