Walcha Preschool started the performance and gave the audience a demonstration of the Australian-wide dream-time story of the rainbow serpent who went underground at the site of Apsley Gorge. They also finished the program with a wonderful dramatisation of  Walcha’s outdoor sculpture gallery.

St Patrick’s Primary School told the story of John Oxley’s exploration and arrival in Walcha, and Walcha Central School gave a brief history of Walcha during wartime.

Unable to attend owing to a clash of dates, Niangala School sent in a recording of an amusing ballard about Oxley to be played  during the morning.

Noticeably absent were Yarrowitch, Nowendoc and Woolbrook Primary Schools who were each supposed to stage a brief act on Farming and Timber, Bushrangers and the Northern Rail Line respectively.

However, the three schools left to carry the morning did a wonderful job due to the efforts and commitment of the teachers and students involved. 

And their reward is to be part of a one-off historical event.

The morning was the final event of the weekend. On Saturday the Apsley Gorge tours were well attended by about 60 visitors. The Show and Shine and live music event on Saturday afternoon resulted in a full-house at the Walcha Royal Cafe, while later that evening at the local Sports Club sixty diners listened to guest speaker John Atchison OAM talk about Oxley and the value local knowledge adds to historical records.

If you missed it – leave a note in your will instructing the next generation to get themselves to the tricentenary celebrations.