Assessment Resource Centre (ARC)

Water Scapes

Descriptive Writing Year 6

This waterscape is of a billabong in the middle of a very dry area. All is peaceful and seems eventless. The billabong in the landscape is very beautiful and even an angry person will calm, just sitting by it. It is the site of regeneration. The surrounding landscapes are also quite calm, with the mountain-like hills towaring over the whole countryside, but it is a great contrast if we compare it with the beautiful billabong. It is as if there is a imaginary line cutting the water with the land.

There are not many wildlife in this scene. The few birds in the area are all around this creek. Many cockatoos and crows are drinking by the billabong and some of them are on the branches of the trees which are growing from the bed of the billabong. This is the paradise for birds. The cows in the surrounding landscape are fenced in by fences eating brown grass.

This billabong is a very good example of an Australian oasis although it is not a complete desert. The tree is reflected on the waters surface. Every single piece of bark shows on the water. The water is clear as crystal and reflective as a mirror. There is not a single ripple on the surface. The colour of the water is reddish brown – the colour of the earth around the billabong. But underneath that colour is the lovely light blue colour of unpolluted water. This billabong is guiltless from any source of pollution. It stands out, as if it is sunshine pouring into a pitch dark cave from a small hole in the roof.

It is quite amazing how a little billabong like this can change a never-ending, semi arid landscape into something with a little bit more life. Trees and yellowish green grass grow just around this area, bringing life into lifelessness. I chose this picture because it is so calm and peaceful; it is not polluted so it is a very beautiful site. Also it is quite unusual to have a billabong in the middle of such a place, which gives us a magical feeling.

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