The lovely old Holy Cross Church, with its turreted facade, was our next place to visit and there we were told about the church and the restoration work which has been done on this National Trust building.  Holy Cross, made of local sandstone and with pews of local cedar, is one of the oldest churches in Australia, having been in continuous use for over 160 years. Thanks to the foresight of the early pioneering families who chose sandstone as the building material, it was built to last!   

                 After soaking up so much information, it was time to soak up copious amounts of cream and jam on delicious scones, as we relaxed over morning tea in the St Joseph’s Centre.  There, the tradition of Devonshire teas goes back to 1923 when the Sisters of St Joseph opened refreshment rooms for the growing number of tourists who travelled across Brisbane Water on the ferries run by the Orphanage.   Back then, the scones, jam and cream were all produced on the site which had its own dairy, dairy herds and farm lands for growing crops. At that time, there were about 17 Sisters looking after a group of approx 100 boys and they were helped by 10 or so labourers who were often ‘old boys’.  Not all of these boys were orphans or abandoned children.  Some came from broken homes and some from sole parents unable to care for their children by themselves.  The boys spent most of their days either at school, learning trades or engaged in numerous activities which were aimed at keeping the Orphanage as self-sufficient as possible.