We caught the bus to the source of Brookvale creek in the bush at Allenby Park, in the valley between Allambie Heights, Beacon Hill and Brookvale. Sharon Kinnison from Narrabeen Coastal Environment Centre guided us through the bush. Sharon spoke to us about where we were going, and asked us to close our eyes and imagine the creek in the bush - to listen, to smell and to make a picture in our heads. When we opened our eyes we saw many wildflowers of lots of different colours and shapes, trees and lots of bushes, and dogs' droppings.

The creek was flooding because Sydney Water was flushing the bugs out of the system. There was some rubbish in the creek. There was a waterfall which was very steep and scary. We could hear the waterfall really loudly and the water was racing over the rocks. We had to go in single file through the scrub to look at the waterfall.

Sharon led us down a track through the bushes. Some of the bushes were very prickly. We saw some termite nests in trees. We walked down a bush track and saw where the creek flows into a big drain at the back of factories in Clearview Place. We then caught the bus to Kentwell Road, North Manly.

The bus dropped us off near the bridge over Brookvale Creek at the bowling club at Kentwell Road. We stood on the bridge and saw that the water was brown. There was a sign that said - NO SWIMMING, NO FISHING, NO CANOEING. Then we had playlunch at Nolan Reserve and played on the equipment.

After playlunch we read our worksheet. We walked along the bank of the creek where it flows between Nolan Reserve and Warringah Golf Course and answered the questions. On the golf course some workmen were cutting down Coral trees. These are not native trees and the leaves and flowers fall into the creek and clog the waterway. There were storm-water pipes and drains emptying into the creek. We saw 2 gross pollutant traps which stop stormwater rubbish washing into the creek.

We stopped at a bridge and Sharon showed us how to test the water. Then each group tested the water for temperature, turbidity (water clarity), and filtered it for suspended particles. A duck was swimming around in the water. There was another water bird on the grass. We walked along to Riverview Parade and got back on the bus.

The bus drove us to Queenscliff Lagoon Park. We sat under the shade of a tree beside the lagoon and ate our lunches. We had playtime and some people played on the lagoon beach and made a sandcastle with a pool. Some people played in the playground on the equipment.

Sharon tested a sample of lagoon water for salinity by dropping silver nitrate into the tube. The water turned cloudy because it was salty. The other jar with pure water in it stayed clear.

We walked under the bridge to the mouth of the Manly Lagoon at Queenscliff Beach. We walked back to the bus and shook all of the sand off our clothes. We also had to wash our hands because the water in the lagoon is polluted.