About the Main Characters

Mr Mac

He was really old, with silvery-grey, curly hair that grew out of his head like saggy coils on an old mattress. He had wrinkles all over his brown arms and face and he wore thick, coke-bottle glasses on his nose. He was the legend teacher at Coolongawong Public School. His real name was Mr McIlquham.

Matt

Matt was tall and thin, with short curly hair and soft grey eyes. He’d look at you with those eyes and you could just tell sometimes that he was far away in his own thoughts. He was good at sports without being outstanding and was good at his schoolwork without being a nerd. He was very popular. Matt’s parents were Michael and Kate Roberts and he had two younger sisters, Olivia and Megan.

Ben

Ben was small and tough with black hair and flashing, dark brown eyes. He was a doer, not a thinker. He didn’t like school much. He only went because his best friends went, and because he had to. He was a champion at all sports. It didn’t matter which one. Even if Ben had never played a game before, he’d pick it up really quickly and soon be the best in the class. Ben had a mum, Linda Harrow, but his dad never contacted him which made him very sad.

Nicky

Nicky was an Aboriginal girl. Her eyes were dark brown. Her real name was Nicole but nobody ever called her that. Unless her dad got really mad at her, but that rarely happened. She had curly brown hair and a wide flat nose. She never needed sunscreen and could stay out in the sun all day long and not burn. Nicky was a great mate too. She was fun to be around and the boys found it hard to remember sometimes that she was only a girl. She could run and swim and tackle as hard as any bloke in a game of footy. Nicky’s mum had died soon after she was born so her dad, Paul Maher, was raising her. He worked under Mrs Foster at the Wollendidgee National Park.

Kris

She had long blonde hair and blue eyes. She only joined Coolongawong School at the beginning of Year 5. At first she was shy and unsure of herself but she grew more confident in her abilities as time went on. She became the fourth friend in the adventures back in time. Her mother was Alison Foster who was boss at the Wollendidgee National Park. Her Dad lived in Sydney with his new partner, Jo.

Jesse

He joined Mr Mac’s class halfway through the year and he wasn’t very nice. Everyone soon found out that Jesse thought he was pretty cool. But nobody else shared his opinion. Jesse was taller than most of the kids in the class. Only Matt was about the same height. But Jesse was heavier. Not exactly fat, but big and solid. He’d go well in the front row of the footy team. Trouble was, he didn’t play football. He didn’t seem to do much really except cause trouble and pick on the other kids from day one. He was trouble.

Olivia

Livvy, as she preferred to be called, was Matt’s younger sister. Livvy was tall and fair, like her older brother. Her hair had an auburn tinge to it and she had intelligent, hazel eyes. She was a very popular girl and made friends easily. Livvy liked sport but she wasn’t as keen as Grace. Like her older brother, she loved reading and learning about stories from the past. She also loved the computer, spending hours on it, not just playing games but watching video clips and also writing creative stories of her own.

Grace

Grace was grateful to have Livvy as her best friend as she generally found it much harder to make friends. This wasn’t because she was unpopular but just because she was a bit quiet. Though once she got to know you, the quiet disappeared. She was also a bit like Livvy’s older brother, Matt, because she liked spending time by herself. Grace was small, with an athlete’s body. She had skin that tanned easily and had big blue eyes. Once you got to know her, she was great fun to be around and she was always the one who led Livvy into mischief. They both enjoyed playing tricks on each other and their families. Grace had a mum and a dad, Peter and Sandy Stevens. She also had twin younger brothers called Jason and David. Her dad and mum ran the local deli in town.

Jack

Jack was short and stocky, with olive-skin and soft blue eyes. He loved computer games and reading. He was really enjoying school this year and loved having Mr Mac as his teacher. He wasn’t the smartest kid in the class but he was by no means the slowest either. If the truth was known, he could easily have been the smartest, but he just didn’t bother. He was quite content to do just enough to get by. He loved sport and put his name down for every team going. He also liked playing practical jokes on his mates and having fun. He was a bit like Grace in this way. Jack was tough but at the same time gentle and caring and would never intentionally hurt anyone. Everyone loved him. Will talked him into joining the choir. His mum and dad were Bob and Jenny Wilson and he had a younger sister called Emily.

Will

Will was tall and thin, with fair skin and big green eyes. He liked playing sport and worked out what to do on the sporting field far more easily than Jack. But he wasn’t as committed as Jack. He loved computer games and reading too. Everyone was a bit in awe of him. He was so smart. He easily topped the class in everything. He caught on to maths stuff the instant Mr Mac explained it and he seemed to know instinctively what was going to happen in any science experiment before they did it. But he was really nice. He didn’t show off or brag about his abilities. In fact, it was usually the opposite. Sometimes Mr Mac would ask him to help someone or other in the class, mostly with maths problems. He’d always do this willingly and he was really good at explaining things in a simple way that made it easy to understand. The other kids really liked him. Will had been the first boy to join the choir. He loved music and singing and was learning to play the guitar. He could already play the keyboard. Will only has a mother. She’s called Cathy Anderson and she works in the public library.