Mt Eccles The Home Of Koala And Roo Poem by Francis Duggan

Mt Eccles the home of koala and roo
Of wallaby, magpie and sulphur crested cockatoo
Where the shrike thrush whistle and the shy bronzewing coo
And the wooded gully echoes to the call of the weerloo
In the bosom of Mt Eccles is old Lake Surprise
To myth and to legend it has given rise
By the wooded cliffs in the shade of the trees
Australia's first people danced their corroborees
From the bosom of Mt Eccles many centuries ago
A river of fire in hot lava did flow
Proof of volcanic eruptions in the paddocks around
Where volcanic rocks in great numbers abound
In ancient Mt Eccles in the freshening breeze
The koalas can be heard grunting high on the trees.