Old Gippstown Excursion

By Robbie K 5-20

On Monday, 4 August, the Year 5s went on an excursion to the historic town of Old Gippstown, which is located on the outskirts of Moe. We departed from school at 8:30 am. It was an hour-and-20-minute journey to Moe.

When we got there, we were greeted with an introduction about the activities while we ate our scrumptious morning tea. Our first activity was seeing how kids used to go to school in the ancient 19th century. We learnt that kids had to sit up straight, got punished when they didn’t follow the rules, and were forced to write with their right hand (unlucky for me). We even got to see an old piano from 1906!

After our first activity, we headed to the fancy part of Old Gippstown to see how people worked at home. We learnt how they ironed, cooked, and used oil lamps. We also got to see the intricate homestead, which was made of wood. It had a spacious dining room, two bedrooms, and a wooden kitchen.

We then trudged towards the 150-year-old General Store, which was still in good condition. We learnt how the milkman travelled long distances to transport dairy to stores, how they scooped and weighed the food, and how they made simple hand machines and indestructible metal.

Our last rotation was about how kids used to entertain themselves with old-fashioned games that were usually played outdoors. The games included bowling with a wooden ball and pins, bean bag toss, ring toss, and horseshoe toss.

We were then sent back to the main building to have our delectable lunch. Afterwards, we walked to the General Store to buy lollies to enjoy at home. We even got to walk around the whole town, looking at old structures and seeing cars from the late 1890s and the early 1900s. We saw banks, plumbing shops, stores, homesteads, and many more buildings. We even got to see a WWI ambulance from 1917!

Afterwards, we came back on our buses and drove back to school. It was surely the GREATEST excursion of my primary school life.

Kind Regards, 

Karla Conlon

Year 5 Learning Leader