By Olivia Shears

1. The Legend Of The Three Sisters.Australian Legends By Olivia Shears

2. In Australia, the three blue mountains are high above the rain forests and deep valleys. In the area where the Gundungurra people lived , there are these three tall rocky formations known as The Three Sisters.

3. Long long ago, the land of Gondwana was beautiful, peaceful and untouched. Tyawan, a clever man of the Gundungurra people, lived here. He had three daughters called Meenhi, Wimlah and Gunnedo. He loved them a lot.

4. In a deep hole in the valley there was a Bunyip. A huge evil creature who loved to eat human flesh, particularly young girls and women. It has a horrible cry and if you heard it, the only safe thing you could do was run away very fast. Every one feared it.

5. If you needed to pass its hole, it was important to creep very quietly so that you didn’t wake it up or make him notice you. When Tyawan had to pass the hole, he would leave his children safe on the cliff above and behind a rocky wall.

6. The stone missed the centipede, but rolled over the edge of the cliff and picked up speed into the valley below. The sound echoed all around the mountains. The birds, animals even fairies stopped still as the rocks behind the three sisters, shock and split open, leaving them perched together on a thin ledge.

7. The Bunyipwas angry at being woken up. He roared and pulled himself through the split to see the terrified sisters cowering on the ledge. He eyes widened delight at the ‘food’ in front of him.

8. Tyawan looked up and say him reaching for his daughters, so he pointed his magic bone at the girls and turned them to stone. He knew that they were safe but he had to wait until the bunyip had gone, so he could change them back to themselves again.

9. The Bunyip was angry at him for turning his prey into stone, so he chased Tyawan through the forest and up a mountain, he had himself trapped. So he turned himself into a Lyre Bird and flew away. Everyone was safe, but then he realised that he had dropped his bone when he changed.

10. After the Bunyip had gone back to his dark pool, Tyawan glided down to the forest floor and looked and looked for his magic bone… where he can still be seen today in the shape of a Lyre bird, scratching and looking along the forest floors of the blue mountains, calling to his daughters above and feeding on insects while he searches.

11. The Three Sisters stand silently watching him from their ledge, hoping and hoping that one day their father will find his magic bone and turn them back into Aboriginal girls.