Mount Allan

On leaving Haasts Bluff, we ventured back into Alice Springs for the weekend to restock our supplies and enjoy all that Alice offers.

Our next teaching stint was in the community of Yuelamu, 330kms North West of Alice Springs. It is located on a former cattle station called Mount Allan, that was transferred to Native Title in 1990. The school is referred to as Mount Allan.

It was another two week stint, with Robyn taking the Transition to Grade 4 in the first week and Music in the second week and Rob having the senior class (Grade 5 to Year 10) both weeks. This time we enjoyed the comforts of living in a two bedroom fully equipped house……luxury after many nights in the van. And very welcome too as the nights are becoming very cool (-2) but warming up during the day (20).

Here we met two special people, Phil (Principal) and John (senior’s teacher) who made us feel so welcome and kept us entertained. These two are working so hard in making the school as functional as possible and encouraging the children to attend. John (originally from Stawell) prepares breakfast for his charges every morning and bakes cakes with them after school so that they’ve had something to eat before heading home. Phil drives the bus around the community several times during the morning collecting kids to bring to school (if he can find them!) and uses the school P.A. that can be heard throughout the community, alerting families that school has commenced and children should be on their way to school. The mornings are very cold this time of year and understandably, kids are reluctant to get up!  John and Phil also open up the school on Sunday afternoons for the kids to use the computers and musical equipment. We felt so privileged to spend time there.

While there we went to a nearby waterhole called Centipede Dam and witnessed a mob of wild horses coming down to drink. Pretty breathtaking!

As part of Robyn’s music program, the kids performed a concert on our last day. Although naturally very shy, they did a great job and we were all very proud of their efforts. We left on a high!

 

ALICE SPRINGS

On the way back to Alice we shouted ourselves a night and meal with a few drinks at Tilmouth Well. If ever coming this way I recommend the scotch fillet with mushroom sauce!

We made our base at Jake and Gemma’s and enjoyed a great long weekend with them. We even learnt how to make Sushi rolls under Gemma’s tutorage. On Sunday we witnessed a leg of the renowned Finke River Race managing to get ourselves covered in dust! A must see thing to do though.

That night we took Geoff and his wife Jenny out for dinner to thank him for his efforts in finding us teaching placements throughout the term and being mindful of how suitable schools would be for us and especially Gracie. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed every experience.

 

HASSTS BLUFF

After an enjoyable teaching stint at Kintore, we travelled back into Alice Springs (8 hour drive!) for green grass, fresh bread, coffee and a beer/cider!

Our next appointment was to Hassts Bluff, this time only 240kms from Alice. Here though, we had to take our van as accommodation wasn’t available so we camped inside the school grounds. This quiet community, a remnant of a Lutheran Mission contains a much acclaimed Art Centre with Robyn & Rob unable to resist purchasing some amazing art pieces.

Gracie made some strong friendships with several girls around her age group…..beautiful kids!

On the first Saturday we were there, the kids took us on a walk out to the airstrip and back along the dry creek bed. We received an in-depth education about the landscape and hunting and gathering from the local kids, including catching lizards and looking for signs of life in the bush.

Below is a link to an Animoto of this adventure.

Haasts Bluff Airport Walk

On Sunday we had the pleasure of attending an outside church service spoken and sung in the native tongue Luritja. Even more impressive was the use of a green wheelie bin as an alter!!!

We had two weeks working at Hassts Bluff and Gracie was excited to learn that we’re going back there to have our final two weeks teaching.

KINTORE…VIA PAPUNYAH.

It was with great excitement that we received the news that Kintore required us to teach there for two weeks. It was a chance for us to renew our friendship with our desert family (a term used by the locals) and especially for Gracie to meet up again with Vivica, a little girl whom she got on so well with in 2015.

Kintore (540kms north west of Alice) holds a very special place in our hearts. These people, the Pintupi were the last tribe to come in off the desert and have contact with white people so are still well entrenched in their traditions and beliefs. In fact in 1984, a group of 9 were discovered and were still living the traditional nomadic life, oblivious to white people and settlements.

An account of their discovery and adaption to western ways can be gained by following this link, 

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30500591

However heavy rains around Kintore meant being delayed at Papunya and saw us doing three days of eye opening teaching at the local school (…ask Rob about Alvin.)

Over the weekend we ventured back into Alice for supplies and waited for the track into Kintore to dry out. We did a day’s teaching at a small community 13kms out of Alice called Amoonguna which was a sharp contrast to our Papunya experience. A most enjoyable day!

We then got the all clear to take the 7 hour trip out to Kintore. We ended up teaching here for two and a half weeks and renewed our acquaintances with Gabby who is now Principal and the Indigenous support staff. We also met new staff members David and Sarah who are making a real impact on life at the school.

We also met Ralph and Kaylene from Echuca who were there as Read Tutors. Ralph and Kaylene have been instrumental in setting up a scheme whereby volunteers from all walks of life come into a remote school over a 4 week period and hear the children read daily one on one. This is allowing the children to make great strides in their reading abilities and giving the volunteers a firsthand experience of community life.

While in Kintore we camped under the desert stars at an amazing rock formation, ventured into W.A. and visited a body of water formed from the major floods that occurred at the beginning of the year and devastated much of Kintore.

On our return from camping under the stars, I (Robyn) noticed that church was in progress as we drove back into town.  Rob and Gracie dropped me off and I joined the family groups sitting outside on the red sand.  It was some time before the service got underway but well worth the wait as I witnessed 7 babies being baptised!  It was wonderful.

Rob made a slide show of the Kintore school kids and it can be viewed by following this link.

Kintore Kids

NORTHERN TERRITORY

2017

At long last we have got around to adding to our blog and recording our trip to the Northern Territory during second term 2017. This trip has been on our bucket list since our adventures and experiences in 2015 in the Territory. That time we were away for 6 months, teaching around the Red Centre and the Top End.

This year we decided to work solely around the Centre and do only 3 months (second term of school year) due to Gracie being in Year 6. We were really looking forward to renewing our acquaintance with friends we made in 2015.

So, sorry about the delay in adding to our blog, but we’ll claim being very busy as our excuse. We have worked nearly every day since arriving for the beginning of the Territory’s second term in a multitude of places and have been captivated by the many amazing experiences we have encountered.

WANGARATTA TO ALICE SPRINGS

We set off on our adventure on Saturday 8^th April saying goodbye to Wally and Jack ( our house/dog sitter from Mind A Home) and travelled along the Murray to our first overnight stop, Mildura. A quick pack up in the morning and we were off with Port Augusta in our sights. But what was more in Rob’s and Gracie’s sights was a Burra Pie for lunch. This pie was voted the best pie during our 2015 trip….and we sampled quite a few!

We got to Burra (a very historic South Australian town) around lunchtime and straight to the bakery. And what a disappointment! The bakery was closed on a Sunday!!!!!

However our disappointment was soon replaced by elation as on our way out of Burra we received a phone call from Jake to say that he and Gemma had just announced their engagement. Fantastic news from a couple so ideally suited to each other!

Following our overnight stop at Port Augusta (no stolen bikes this time, as we only had one on board...Rob’s, which they probably recognised as  the one they wrecked in 2015), we headed up the Stuart H’way bound for Alice Springs.

A highlight was our chance to sleep underground in our swags in Coober Pedy.

We crossed the NT border after a long days travelling and decided to pull up stumps at Stuart’s Well just short of Alice for the night.

At 11am on Wednesday we arrived in a sunny, warm and spectacular Alice Springs.

We set up base at the Big 4 MacDonnell Range Caravan Park much to the delight of Gracie with her fond memories of this park with its Jumping Pillow, swimming pool (& water slide! - a new addition since 2015) and chances to meet other kids.

Over the next few days relaxing, we caught up with Jake and Gemma and celebrated their engagement at the Overland Steak House. A lovely night!

We celebrated Easter and Anzac Day in the Alice, in between the many swims, slides and bounces that Gracie enjoyed!

We touched base with our friend Geoff Hobson from the Education Department Regional Office in Alice Springs who was so kind to us last time and organised our teaching appointments. We also met up with our previous Principal from Kintore, Nick Richardson who has now got a position in the Regional Office with remote schools as his responsibility alongside Geoff. Both great men for the role!

A Special Weekend

One of the great things about living and working at Daly River is the opportunity to spend every second weekend in Darwin and enjoying the amenities that it provides…..Casuarina Shopping Mall, the Wave Pool, the Harbour, restaurants etc.

It was well organised by Robyn for her to have her birthday on a Saturday so last weekend we ventured into the Big Smoke to enjoy the weekend and celebrate her special day.

We stayed at Josh and Sarah’s unit on Friday night and were thrilled to have Tim and Ali arrive unexpectedly Saturday morning after flying up from Melbourne late Friday night and staying with Gemma (Jake in Alice Springs) before surprising us that morning!

A trip to Casuarina for much needed haircuts, a stroll through Parap markets, laksa from our favourite Asian stall for a picnic lunch at East Point and an afternoon at the Wave Pool filled in the day before heading off to dinner at Crustaceans on the Wharf to celebrate Robyn’s birthday. (By now Jake had flown in from Alice). Very special to have all three boys with Sarah, Gemma and Eli join us!

The following day saw a very competitive tennis competition take place (Nick Kyrgios wouldn’t have felt out of place with the sledging that was occurring!) After the preliminary rounds it was down to Josh and Robyn versus Jake and Gemma to sort out the winning team. Victory went to Jake and Gemma…fighting back from 3/1 down to win 5/3 and the ensuing bragging rights….and probably continuing as I type!

Show Court 1 was indeed a very hot place to be so the swimming pool was a great cooling down spot between sets.  Gracie did a great job as ball girl but due to the heat on court, retired quite early in the proceedings…….swimming in the pool and playing naughts and crosses in the sand, courtside (says a lot for the tennis doesn’t it!) were more attractive options.

After a late lunch and drinks at the Trailer Yacht Club we said our farewells and as Tim and Eli flew back to Melbourne we headed to Daly River for our last week of teaching at St Francis Xavier, Nauiyu. It was great catching up with them and hearing about their recent trip to the U.S.

Special thanks to Josh, Sarah, Jake and Gemma for all the organisation in putting the weekend together…loved every moment of it. Being able to consistently catch up with them during our time in the NT has been great!

Josh

Sarah

Ball Girl Gracie

Jake...wearing all the gear. Must have worked!

Gemma

Robyn

Eli..in her first tennis court appearance

Tim

Rob

Eventual winners..Jake and Gemma. Congrats!

T/1/2 WATERPARK EXCURSION

Last Thursday was a pretty special day as we took Robyn's class into Palmerston/Darwin.

After leaving Naiuyu at 7:30 am with a stop at Adelaide River we arrived at the Palmerston cinema at 11:00 for a screening of the latest Minion movie.  From there we had our lunch  and play at the local Mc Donalds. Then onto the highlight of the day ... the Leanyer Water Park. An amazing facility with pools, waterslides, playgrounds and a huge bucket that tipped over when full of water drenching everyone underneath.

Witnessing the fun and antics that these children got up to on the day made it another amazing experience.
View our day on the link below
T12 WATERPARK EXCURSION

DALY RIVER

An update of our movements since Bali.
Left Bali with lots of fond memories (unfortunately weren't stranded there with volcanic dust activity!) and flew into a very warm Darwin.
We wandered into the Catholic Education Office and were immediately offered two weeks employment out at an aboriginal community called Nauiyu which is situated on the banks of the Daly River...famous for barramundi and mangoes (and crocodiles and water buffalo!)
The school is called St Francis Xavier and has an enrolment of about 60...and an attendance of about 30..on a good day!
Robyn is teaching a lively Transition (prep) to grade 2. Rob provides much needed time release amongst the grades. Gracie is enjoying her time in Robyn's class providing assitance to the energetic bunch!
The two weeks has now turned into five and we will end our teaching here, and in the N.T. on Friday 4th of September,  then head back home via Queensland arriving back in Wangaratta around the start of the Victorian school holidays.
Last Friday Rob had the opportunity to go out with the kids and local women gathering bush plums...very tasty according to Gracie!

bush plum gathering

Essendon very popular....and quite rightly!

Reeds to be used for basket weaving

The Daly near the crossing...cant see any crocs!

Won't be long before ripening! 

Swimming pool at caravan park...someone's swimming everyday!