Settling into Wadeye life

We've been out here for a month now and time is flying by. We managed a trip into "town" (Darwin) to load up on food and get more gear out of storage. Food won on the day so unfortunately the boys' toys remain in the shed!

Moyle Creek- our favourite spot on the drive!

Brahman and buffalos- near our neighbouring community Peppimenarti (about 40km from Wadeye). They have a butcher, so we might be eating one of these guys in the future!

Lots of events happen in Wadye, and apparently if something big is happening our school becomes a bit of a 'rent a crowd'. So a couple of weeks ago we released our students to watch the graduation of about 20 locals graduate from courses offered by the Batchelor Institute of Tafe. Millan and Marcello were sitting with our secondary mob, and as you can see Millan is still a hit with the ladies! They have achieved minor celebrity status out here!

 We went to Mass for the first time last Sunday, and it was like no other Mass we have ever experienced! I will have to ask Father Leo if I can take photos of the church next weekend. The church is situated pretty much in the middle of town, and the bells ring signalling the start of Mass. The windows on the western side of the building are painted in aboriginal art, and glow as the sun sets and the light passes through. The doors are flung wide open, so you can see out into the street as the boys play hide and seek in the Sister's front garden and bomby old cars fart their way past. There are no chairs, expect for benches on the perimeter walls, so everyone sits on the carpet. Camp dogs wander in the door, mangy critters they are, and then wander out when they realise there's not much doing here. Families sit around the floor and their children, aged under two, run in and out of the doors, completely nude. The kids that attend our school and live at the boarding house sit together next to all of the teachers, and they hold onto their baby cousins and play with Millan. Matt, as per usual, spent most of the service outside with Marcello, who hates having to sit still for too long! The majority of the service is in murinpatha, so we get a real feel for what it's like for the kids when they come to school and have to listen to us speak in English all day. When we left church, it was twilight and it is the time that the bats come out. An amazing sight.

Another thing that happens out here is the super fog. It gets up to about 31-32*C here in the day but drops overnight to about 13*C, so this thick pea-soup fog drowns us. It has only just started this week and is amazing to wake up to! Consequently, none of the kids like coming to school early so we have had a slow start with numbers every day this week!

 Looking up our street- the main road of town is at the top of the hill.

 Looking across to "Chicken Oval" (no idea why it is called this, have seen no chickens)

 Our house, the dew is dripping off the roof!

 Front yard- please note distinct green colouration! We almost have grass!

 Looking over to the oval

 Backyard- this road leads to our school

 You can just see the Ranger's building through the fence- that's our school

Walking to school

Millan and Marcello are settling right into life in Wadeye. The other afternoon we had some of the neighbourhood kids over to play on the front driveway. I discovered that chalk is a big hit! Millan is modelling the standard dress code for boys aged 2-10. (Under 2s are naked, over 10s wear footy jerseys)

 Me at work- one of the students took control of my phone!

 We have finally got a permit to visit a few of the local beaches. Matt took us out to Main Beach for a run this afternoon. Beautiful! Is about a 10 minute drive out of town.