Mini-School in Emerald

No sooner had we arrived than I was packing my bags and bedroll for mini-school in Emerald.

We had arrived late Sunday and headed straight into the schoolroom, spending all our time there till late each night. When Saturday arrived it was time to finally unpack the van, set up house - what little there was - and pack for mini-school 200kms away.... Such a short distance in comparison to our first post ! 

I left on Sunday morning with the four girls and their mother, who drove a 4wd bursting with swags, bags and school gear. We set off for the two and a half hour drive to school for a week with their on-air teachers and friends. It's always a week full of excitement ! 

Arriving in Emerald we unloaded the car and grabbed our swags to claim our space on the floor in the hall. Next stop was the shopping mall for supplies and then the pool to cool off from the heat and where the girls had a swim with all their friends. I was excited to think we were only two and a half hours from a fully serviced town.

Each School of Distance Education ( School of the Air) is a little different in it's organisation. We are working out of Emerald this year and the whole school attends Mini-School in the one week together, and a cluster is held once a term over two days at the end of term. 

( at Longreach a cluster day was held at the beginning of term, while each grade attended their own separate Mini-School in Longreach at a different time.)

At Emerald the accommodation is in a hall/shed named 'The Outstation' where about 70 children and adults slept in swags on the floor. The children slept in the middle while parents and home tutors slept around the walls. 

Above: my bedroll is against the side wall in the back right hand corner.

They have a kitchen and lounge area named 'The Tuckerbox' and an outdoor eating area. 

School began at 8.30 with assembly, but before that there was breakfast 6.30 - 7.30 and a swag inspection at 8am with a prize for the neatest swag. After school there were activities like football clinics and picture plate making, dinner and night time activities including movie night and a trivia night.

Above: looking from the 'Outstation' , sleeping quarter, past the schoolrooms up towards 'The Tuckerbox'.

 Below: Looking in the same direction as above but the playground is on the right opposite the schoolrooms

While at mini-school I was interviewed by a local journalist about our choice to live and work outback and about our work teaching on the station. The article and this photo ran in the next weeks paper.

After six busy days at Mini-School we headed back to the station Friday afternoon, and were unlucky enough to have a shredded tyre about 20kms from home on the dirt in the heat ! 

Oh well, that's life in the outback !

By Lynne

Central Queensland ... Our new Home for a Year !

We had been home, in Sydney, less than 24 hours when it was time to head off. So leaving our family once more, we traveled 1800kms north west this time to Central Qld. 

Our new position is on a station situated 70kms north of Alpha with only about 30 kms of dirt to the station. We are working on a family-owned property that is one of many managed by the sons who have carried on from their father. 

The drawcard for this property was its proximity to the coast, only 450kms to Rockhampton and Mackay, and only 200kms to the town of Emerald which is a much bigger centre than Longreach. So much so it has 3 reasonable size shopping centres, and a complete range of services. We are very excited to be so much closer to a major centre this year.  As usual the position comes with accommodation, a three bedroom house.

 Below: Our house and the green helicopter shed next door to us. Boss often goes out in the small 2-seater helicopter at sunrise each morning.

Horses in our side yard

We were fortunate that the grading cycle was kind to us !  

... and a good friend, Lance, over Christmas had worked with George to flip our axle on the caravan to enable us to travel on dirt. This gave us another 3 and a half inches of clearance under the van. They had also covered the under body with metal sheets to protect our water tank, pump and wiring from rock damage. (Thank You Lance !!) 

As a result we were able to take the more direct Tambo-Alpha Road, a 170kms of mixed dirt and bitumen that saved us a 450km circuit. Last year on our return home from visiting Alpha, we had to take a circular route west to Barcaldine and then south to home as the road was rough and our van not suited to this type of road. 

What a whirlwind start to our teaching year it has been. Leaving Friday morning late we'd stopped to visit friends in Bathurst for lunch then drove two very long days to arrive at the station on Sunday afternoon. With no time to spare we hit the ground running and organised ourselves and the schoolroom ready to begin teaching Monday morning, already three weeks behind in the teaching program.

Once more our work contract is a little different. We are teaching four girls, a Prep (Kindergarten in NSW), Yr 2, 3 and 5. I am in the schoolroom full time while George is in the schoolroom until lunch. He then does some gardening/handyman work and prepares dinner for the four ringers and ourselves. At times these numbers can grow as tradies, other staff and visitors come and go. The record stands at 17 people for dinner at present. It means late nights for George. So far we've found the days to be quite full on, long and with little time for breaks.
Below: A sunrise shot from our back verandah !

Once more, stand by  ... I will be posting blogs on everyday life for us on the station !

By Lynne