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!
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