Elizabeth Farm Excursion

On Monday we went on an excursion to Elizabeth Farm. We all had to get to school early
because we had to travel a long way. Some children fell asleep on the bus while other
children played games such as noughts and crosses.
When we got there, we had a quick snack before going to the toilet. We left our bags in a
room and broke up into three groups. Our guide was Louise.
The first place we visited was the kitchen garden. All kinds of
vegetables were growing such as kale and spinach. There were
even some banana trees but we couldnt see any bananas growing
on them.
After that, we went into the kitchen. There was lots of old
stuff and there were Christmas puddings hanging from the ceiling. Louise told us that
there were no fridges in the olden days so they kept their food cool in a cellar underneath
the kitchen. She showed us the hole in the ground that the servants used to call down
when they needed some food. It was dark inside the kitchen because they didnt have
electricity either. There was no sink to wash the dishes and certainly no dishwasher!
We walked around to the front of house and scraped the mud off our
shoes before entering the foyer. Louise put a bonnet on one of our
students head. The ladies wore these to protect their skin from the sun.
We looked for clues in the lounge room that told us how they spent their
time resting. They had a bell which they used to call the servants when
they needed them.
The main bedroom had an enormous bed with curtains around it. There were three
mattresses. The one on the bottom was the hardest and the one on the top was the
softest. It had ducks feathers. Underneath the bed was a chamber pot which the
servants had to empty in the morning before Elizabeth and her husband woke up.
We went outside to play some games that their children would have played
such as hoops and sticks, skittles, cup and ball and quoits. We used soap
and river water to wash some clothes in buckets and
then we used a quill and ink to write our names on a
book plate. Finally we looked at the bells that rang
when Elizabeth and John wanted the servants to
come.
After lunch and a play in the park, we hopped on the bus and
returned to school. Our excursion to Elizabeth Farm was very exciting and fun because we
learnt more about the olden days and we saw lots of artefacts.