Gallery

Kirra the Koala will be the Goodwill Ambassador of our Winter School. She will be there to make sure you are enjoying the winter school, and to help with the daily newsletters.

The koala is the official animal emblem of Queensland.

The name ‘koala’ originates from an indigenous word meaning ‘no drink’, since they rarely drink water, usually gaining adequate moisture from dew and oily eucalyptus leaves.

Koalas were listed as endangered in Queensland in 2022.

The Foundation Building was built in 1897 to house the first 23 students at the Gatton College, as it was known then. Classes were held on the verandas.

It is a fine example of a Queenslander – a wooden house built on stumps (stilts) to allow air to circulate around the building. The stumps are topped with tin caps to help save the house from wood-eating termites (white ants), which are a constant threat to wooden buildings in tropical Australia. Tin caps don’t stop the termites, but they increase the likelihood of detection before the termites cause too much damage.

All of Queensland’s old wooden buildings are on stumps. An added advantage is that the space under the house is cooler than the house itself during our hot, humid summers.