There and Back Again ... by Tom and James

We didn't have much internet in the desert so we're doing a recount now that we're home. We went to four remote area schools on the Ngaanyatjarra Lands: Warakurna, Blackstone (Papulankutja), Warburton Ranges and Jameson (Mantamaru).

 First stop was Warakurna, near Giles Weather Station:
http://www.abc.net.au/site-archive/rural/content/2013/s3741438.htm
Our teacher was Miss Jenny and we were in the Grade 1-3 class for two days. We got a present there for coming to school and being good: Tom a small football and James a sticky mouse (which ended up in the rubbish because it kept getting stuck everywhere). The Principal of Warakurna School comes all the way from Ireland! (Mum had a shock when a huge black pig got into the yard while she was hanging out the washing one evening. We never found out where it came from. )

Then we went to Blackstone. It was a very hot day (over 40 degrees) but we went for a picnic with the other schoolkids to watch some ladies make baskets from spinifex grass. They also told us a story and sang a song. We found some camel bones, including a skull. We stayed for two days again and had Miss Catherine. Mum helped in the classroom for a while on the second day. A friendly dog came to visit. The teachers named him 'Skinny Dog' but he's not so skinny anymore! There was a big storm and it was much cooler. They have lunch at school there - James tried some sausage stew but Tom just said 'no thanks' and stayed hungry!

On Friday, we packed up again and went on to Warburton. The teachers were happy to see us again when we went to school in the afternoon. This was the only school we were in separate classes (Miss Kate's and Miss Katie's). We stayed at the old police station and there were very noisy peacocks close by! On the weekend we went for a drive to the creek. We saw some horses which are much less common than camels out there. On Sunday they have 'coffee club' at the Tjulyuru Cultural Centre so Mum had coffee and we had cake! Some kids broke into the school on the weekend so when we turned up on Monday it was closed. We hid in the library while the community had a meeting and ended up having a day off. It was back to normal on Tuesday though and our teachers were very impressed with our reading. They were a bit sad when we left to go to Jameson.

Jameson is a very small school with only two classes, junior and senior. Our teacher was Miss Jill and the kids were very friendly. Most of the boys wore shorts with no shirt and we were the only ones with hats! There was a movie, pizza and popcorn night for kids who went to school and we got tickets to go. Our class made the popcorn. The other kids came to collect us and the movie was Monsters University. A boy tried to sneak in without a ticket but he hadn't been to school so was sent home.

It was a long drive to Yulara Resort near Ayers Rock (Uluru). When we got there we had a swim in the pool and dinner at a restaurant. The next day we went on to Alice Springs and another resort with a pool! On the plane home we watched a movie and had a rest. It was a bit of a shock to feel cold again!

Blackstone and Warburton Ranges

Saying goodbye to our new friends by Tom and James

We went to three schools in the desert, Warburton (5 days), Jameson (1 morning) and Blackstone  (2 days). We made quite a few new friends. Stephanie and Amber from Blackstone wanted to take us to the oval after school but it was getting late and Mum was a bit worried about all the dogs. We had dinner at Miss Catherine's house which was a stew cooked on the fire in a camp oven. They do a Montessori program at Blackstone with kinder to grade 2 in one class. We made a chocolate cake with blue icing for afternoon tea. Kids also get breakfast and lunch at school to stop them going home. You also get a pass for the pool and shop if you stay all day. There is lots of football, just like at Warburton. No one worries when the ball gets kicked on the roof - the kids just climb up and get it! It was a very long drive back to Alice Springs so we stopped at Yulara for a night and had pizza. We're looking forward to seeing our teachers and friends at Sacred Heart again but we hope to go back to the desert again soon.

At the creek and on the road

Camp dogs and toasted marshmallows by Tom

We've been toasting marshmallows on the fire here. There are a lot of funny-looking dogs, a bit like in Hairy Maclary. I've been practising footy a lot at lunchtime. My new friends are called Jakoby and Keathan. Miss Katie is a nice teacher and I've been helping the other kids with reading and writing. There are usually about 8 kids in the class but less by the end of the day because some of them forget to come back after lunch! We had an enormous bonfire last night.

Miss Priscilla by James

I've been going to school at Warburton in the Gibson Desert. My teacher is Miss Priscilla. On Friday there were four kids in my class in the morning, six a bit later and two at the end of the day. A lady read a story in a different language called Ngaanyatjarra but my teacher speaks English. I'm the only kid who can count to 100 but the abacus is broken and only goes to 90! Miss Priscilla has been trying to trick me with some hard sums and has been teaching me 'groups of' (multiplication). A cafe is open on Sunday morning so we had coffee (Mum) and cake (Tom and me). Tomorrow we might try a different school at Mantamaru or Papulankutja.

A weekend at Warburton

What lurks below? And a desert school day.

We found a waterhole at Alice Springs airport but there were no fish to be found. Then we flew over Uluru and Kata Tjuta. Then we drove 500 kilometres on a dirt road. We fell into bed at Warburton but thanks to a two hour time difference we were ready for school today. We had fun at school and went for an excursion to the police station! Tom pressed the siren in the police car and some people thought it was a real emergency! Lots of kids don't wear shoes, even for playing footy! You are allowed to tackle here. Our teachers, Miss Katie and Miss Priscilla are very nice but not as lovely as Miss Browne and Miss Wirth. School finishes at 2.30 here which is lucky because we are very tired now...