Rain, glorious rain!!

Jeff, the teachers aide!!  On the day before school started I coerced Jeff into coming into my classroom to help.  Little did he know that the list was quite long.  Here Jeff is scratching off some paint from the pencils to write the child's name on each pencil. He looks like he is enjoying this job!!


Day One of school.  The children are cutting out the letters to go onto their pencil cases.  It certainly was a calmer start to the year than it was last year. No one was hiding in cupboards or picking a fight.  I hope this continues for the year!!

Each morning the children line up in their grades and do Breathe, Blow, Cough.  We had a good turnup for day 1......but it has been all downhill from there!!  My class is behind the blue bucket.


Each Thursday afternoon, we cook.  Today was our first attempt.  Jeff came in to help with pancakes.  This was his group for the activity and he kept the kids busy making sure to share the stirring and jobs around.
Unfortunately Jeff would not be available for our second week of cooking as he had started his new job in the clinic.


Friday night cookup at the pool.  Jeff had the job of cooking 200 plus sausages for the community.  A couple of them were quietly donated to some of the camp dogs that gave him 'puppy dog' eyes.!


The production line inside.  The pool is a real community hub for the residents and the Friday night swim and sausage sizzle is very popular.


On our way to visit one of my friends, we had to go through this gate............ but we had to let this little fellow come through the gate first.  It was a bit unnerving when it continued straight for us.  We recognised it as a Black Headed Python, which is not venomous.  Of course that didn't stop us being scared of it. My ATA (Aboriginal Teaching Assistant) was disappointed that we didn't kill  it and eat it!!!!   Certainly not something on our radar!!





We were taking advantage of good rains around Balgo.  We headed out with a big mob to 'Big Dam' for a look and a swim. On the way in one of the troopies became bogged.  Luckily our troopies are prepared and out came the tow rope.  



We also came across one of our Kubota's well and truly bogged. The Kubota's are often stolen from the community and are found in interesting places.  The boys tried lifting it out but it was stuck fast.
This was also towed out, but found to have a flat tyre, so it had to be left there until it could be fixed.




Essential desert wear.  The flies are ridiculous!!!!  They are so sticky and love to try to get into your eyes, ears and any other open orifice!!  We all supplement our protein with a fly or two!!


Big Dam was flooded and the kids enjoyed being able to climb up and jump out of the tree.  This dam was almost empty last year.


Mulan is a small community 45 minutes away.  After another big downpour we headed down the Mulan Rd where the Creek was in flood.  The kids had such a great time floating down the river as well as rolling in the red clay.


In this photo, we are sitting on the road and the water was roaring past.  It was so strong.  It was a very warm afternoon so a dip in the floodwaters was just the thing.


Another site near Balgo is the 'Waterhole'.  This is only 5 minutes from Balgo.  After a lot of rain this becomes a waterfall.  The two people on the rocks are sitting under a very low flow over the waterfall
The 'Rockhole' has such lovely views.  The creek system is lovely.  Jeff and I will go for a wander along this when it cools down a bit.





In the last couple of weeks, the Tanami has been closed on and off.  This meant that our food truck couldn't get through.  We only get a food delivery every 2 weeks so we were a bit concerned when the truck couldn't get through until 3 days later.  The Tanami is the only way out for us.


Here I am in front of the 'shop'.  This is the only shop in Balgo.  It sells everything from washing machines and couches to clothes, food and some hardware.  Note the clean car...… Jeff had just washed off the red dirt from all our visits to flooded areas.


Once a term we have a census day which informs our funding.  On these days we run activities to get the children to school.  The first one was a water play day.  It was 41 degrees and the kids were continually saturated. On this station the kids were playing water limbo and also jumping over the water.  This hose in the wrong hands also made the staff very wet!!

This game was called 'Duck, Duck, Splash'!  Instead of a tap on the head the children squeezed sponges on the children's heads.  They had lots of fun with this one.

The favourite thing by far was the 'Slip and Slide'.



At this station the children sat on water filled balloons until they burst.  They also did a relay where the cup on their head had holes in it.


One of the many amazing stormy skies we have had this year.


Not the best of my sunset pictures, but this is typical of our red sky at sunset.







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