Sorry folks, I swear I had posted this a week ago but apparently not!
The morning I put
up my last post was also the morning we were supposed to leave
Carnarvon and head to Emerald for 'mini-school'. This is where all
the distance ed. Families come into town and the kids get to go to
'real school' for a week, usually once a term.
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| Random Photo: Teaching the importance of punctuation. |
Now there were some
pretty strong wills built up prior to this event. On the human side,
some of us were pretty excited to go into town. We weren't sick of
Carnarvon by any means, but we had mostly run out of groceries (some
food, mostly insect repellent), were in desperate need to talk to a
bank person face-to-face, and needed a good shop for some 'bush
clothes' because everything I own is developing a layer of dusty
debris.
On the nature side,
after months of drought in what should be 'The Wet' season, Carnarvon
finally got some rain. A nice big storm that lasted about two days –
130 ml at the homestead if anyone is keeping track. It was amazing,
immediately everything on the station came a bit more to life. The
stream rose, at least a dozen birds showed up I hadn't seen before,
and the mud. The glorious mud. So much of it. Every step forward
was like taking two back. When heading to the schoolroom in the
morning, I had to bring my things to shower at the family house
because I'd be so dirty by the time I walked up there that I'd have
to have a rinse.
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| Bush high heels. After the rain, there is about 5 lbs. or 3 inches of mud being carried by my boots by the time I get from the cottage to the schoolroom. |
However, being a
nature reserve, the mud causes some problems. We can't just
four-wheel it into town like crazy folks. If the mud is too deep and
driving will ruin the roads or the terrain...we can't go. This was
the threat the few days leading up to our departure.
The good news is
that we did get the green light (and left within an hour of it). The
odd news is that we couldn't drive the usual way to town. The normal
drive takes us to Emerald in about 4 hours. Due to road conditions,
the only way off the station was a three hour drive to a town called
Injune, and then another 3.5 to Emerald. We stayed the night at a
lovely little motel (conveniently owned by a family member of the
Watson's) called Injune Haven, which is also for sale if anyone is
looking for some business.
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| Wild Brumbies at Digga Digga Digga (Doologarah Station) |
The week at
mini-school was its own adventure entirely. We stayed at the
'Outstation' which is hard to describe because I doubt things like
this exist in other parts of the world. Its essentially a giant one
room building used for camping on the school property. There are
showers/toilets at one end, and the rest is a big room where everyone
who is staying for mini-school 'rolls out their swags' and 'camps'
for the week. And by everyone I mean about 60 people, mostly
children all cozied up for the week. That sounds like a recipe for
disaster, but it really was great and you get to meet all the other
kids and parents and govies that do distance ed.
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| The "Your going to be in trouble when Mom gets here and she sees what you got for me" face. |
Part of my time was
at the school but I also had a bit of free time to enjoy the
amenities of town life. I really thought that after so long at the
station I'd be dying for civilization, and was absolutely shocked to
find that after a few days I was actually eager to get back to
Carnarvon. The best part of the week was that I literally got to run
all my errands – get things sorted at the bank, go on a bit of a
shopping spree, pick up a few cases of beer and cider.
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| The metropolis of Emerald has Rekorderlig! Landstuhl doesn't even have that! I didn't get a case because that stuff is too cray for everyday. I went with the one next to it, an Australian cider which I actually really like, 5 Seeds. |
But after all that...I'm not sure, I
might just be going through a hermit phase or something. Do you ever
get the feeling that you know something is changing, you're just not
sure how or what or from where or what will happen? That's how I'm feeling.
Our return from
Emerald was great, we got to go the regular 'short way' (4 hours) and
it was amazing how green and lush the property had become since that
little spot of rain!
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| One rain storm makes a big difference out here! |
We also had a chance to meet one of the station locals...I think I'll be okay if we don't see each other for a while!
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| Pretty big fella welcoming us home... |
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| Black Headed Python |
