Term 2 underway

CAMPING AT BIG DAM (CREATIVE NAME!!)

One weekend during ‘isolation’ we headed out to Big Dam.  This is about 10 minutes or so out of the community.  It is a place we often take the kids on ‘trips to country’.  Another teacher couple and Jeff and I headed out for one night of camping and solitude !!!!!.

The sun sets on a lovely day of chatting, eating and swimming.  The leeches put a sudden end to the wish to be cool!

Yes, there were leeches in here, but I didn’t wait around too long to see if they preferred my blood to Jeff’s.

Rusty lovingly looks up at Jeff while we wait for some coals to cook our tea.  No kangaroo tails in sight at this cook up!!!  We did try to make damper but it was an epic fail…..

It was a beautiful starry night and we were lucky to be sharing our camping adventure with an expert photographer.  He was able to get the night sky with time lapse which also captured a plane in flight.  At the time we were trying to work out where this plane was going as it wasn’t one of our little light planes.  In the time of COVID not many flights were in the air.

Those stars…….so many.  There is no light for miles so the Milky Way is sooooo milky!

SAND HILLS 

This is the sand hills just out of Balgo…. In this blog there are pictures from the North, South, East and West.  The kids love these sand hills as they run, roll and slide down them.  The sand is so soft and soooooo hard to walk up.  Two stops forward and one back.

Its amazing how much red dirt can find itself into everything.  I was wearing runners, so they were full and then I made the mistake of sitting down!!!!

I’M SUCH A LUCKY GIRL

Most ladies get taken to some romantic location to watch the sunset, but not me.  I was taken to the car tip.  I must say that it is quite a sight.

Only this week a front end loader with forks was taking more cars to the tip.  Many ‘dead’ cars sit outside houses, often without wheels and certainly without windows.  These cars head to the tip and will eventually be set on fire by the local kids which is a shame as many of them would have useful spare parts.

This dam is about 10 minutes out of the community on the way to Mulan.  It is still quite full after our big rain from Cyclone Esther in March. It’s a popular swimming spot.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY FUN

On the holidays we of course had a staycation.  I got sick of looking at the mess at the house (or what once was a house) next door.  The ‘house’ was removed from under the roof and all the insulation made it all around the yard over the last couple of years.  Ever since we moved into a different house in a different location I had planned to clean it up.  I was waiting for a coolish day but that wasn’t going to happen. I used a stick to lift the insulation off the ground as I was aware that a snake may be living a lovely life under the insulation.  Fortunately, I didn’t see any.

Lucky for me, Jeff offered to mow the grass. Once again we were on high alert for our slithery friends.  We have actually met  a Black Headed Python here earlier in the year.  There is a photo of it on a previous blog.

OUT AND ABOUT IN COMMUNITY

This is the welcome sign when you fly into Balgo.  Wirrimanu is the name of the area.

One of our nightly walks and one of our many gorgeous photos of ‘my girls’.  These girls are either in my grade this year or were in there last year. Whenever they see us, they run to see us and of course Rusty.  They are so lovely and always so happy.

Jeff is standing by the Woggala centre.  This building houses our historical items including photos, videos, books, tools and many other things.  We take the children over there many times a year.  In the past the Elders have worked very hard to store the history and most importantly their language.

Jeff Rusty and I out at the lookout.  Rusty loves a photo!!

This lady Sei is in charge of the Women’s Group and she asked me to teach her to sew.  We made this tote bag that she is going to teach the ladies.  Hopefully, they paint the calico with their lovely dot pictures.

SCHOOLS BACK

These are the kids that came back on day 1 of 2^nd Term.  We started back face to face on the first day of term.  Fortunately for us, the virus has not made it to our community and hope it doesn’t.

The kids are showing the ingredients for the Lemon Slice we were making that day.  We were cooking this for their mothers (or special person in their life) for Mothers Day……I was not so silly in thinking it would all make it home!!!! We all went to the store in the morning to buy the ingredients.

Back at work after a long break for the kids.  They were off for 4 weeks which included 2 weeks of the school holidays.  They were happy to be back.

EXPLORING THE DESERT

We travelled about 5 minutes out of Balgo for this adventure.  During rain events (which are rare)  there is a small waterfall here.  I have put this in a blog in the past.  We decided after the rain that we would like to investigate the creek a little bit when it got cooler…..so now was as good a time as any.  Of course it was a beautiful blue sky to welcome us.  This rock formation took my interest so off I went to climb up for this photo. Of course this is the ridge above the dry creek.

On the ridge looking down to the dry creek system below.  We walked along the ridge and then found a way down through the spiky spinifex to the creek.

SOME OF THE WILDLIFE ALONG THE CREEK

We had never seen a grasshopper this colour.  It was quite large as far as grasshoppers go.

This one caught our eye, it was so shiny both on its front and back.

Not quite a creature but not an unusual sight.  Wheelchairs, prams and crutches are found in the funniest places!!

This is where the waterfall is when it is raining.  A very rare event as you can imagine.  We never tire of the beautiful colours of our world.

Our walk took us back toward Balgo and the pound where we often go on trips and look at the sunsets like below. 

Job Pathways group have put some seats at the lookout.  Jeff is enjoying the changing colours of the country as the sun sets.

Looking out to the pound and the beautiful colours of approaching sunset.

JUST SOME SUNSETS TO END THE DAY