22. The one when we were on a break... from our break

Total distance travelled: 18,556km (+1,413km)

Carolyn's reflections:
Nhulunbuy - what a place! It’s not hard to see why so many people we've met have spent a season here. Being a transient place, the people are very used to welcoming and farewelling people into and from their community. We were very quickly embraced by both the school and wider Nhulunbuy community, which made our transition smoother than we could have hoped for.

The kids adjusted to school life at Nhulunbuy Christian College with ease, making friends before the term even started, with our friendly De Zwart neighbours introducing themselves and inviting Acacia and Josh over for a play on just our second day in town. This was the beginning of a beautiful family friendship, with the kids spending every spare minute at one of the 2 houses. In fact, we soon discovered that many of the kids from the school lived in our neighbourhood, with many of them frequenting our home outside of school hours. I would often come home from work to find Matt with his headphones on trying to work, with 7+ kids playing handball (downball) in our living room! We wouldn’t have changed it though, as it was so nice that they wanted to spend time with us and so great for our kids, who had very little to play with, due to the limitations imposed by coming with only what we could fit in our car.

Teaching in Nhulunbuy, especially as a Primary School teacher, was very different to anything I have ever experienced. I had a class of 27, with vast needs (some students even having intellectual disabilities). There was minimal additional classroom support, due to the challenges associated with staffing in a remote community, and throwing a vaccine mandate in there, just for good measure, certainly complicated matters further! Once I wrapped my head around the curriculum and how things were done though, I soon found my groove and grew to love my class dearly. Yard duty with ocean views was also a memorable experience, which would have been more enjoyable if it weren’t for the extreme heat and humidity! I also inherited a fish tank with 3 fish as class pets… I was terrified of killing them, but actually the opposite happened… they multiplied and by the end of the term, there were at least 15 fish in a very small tank. Thankfully, they are someone else’s responsibility now!!

Teaching Acacia went more smoothly than I anticipated. She was (mostly) the model student and I found myself really enjoying getting to spend my days with her and seeing her strengths as a student first hand. She is a gifted writer and hard worker, and I couldn’t be more proud of her. Writing her report was a rather peculiar experience, but I feel incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity, if only for a term.

The staff of Nhulunbuy Christian College quickly became our ‘family’ while we were there. They are an inspirational team of teachers of an incredibly high calibre, which is amazing, given the school’s remote location. We quickly found ourselves spending our weekends with them, exploring the beaches, fishing, swimming at the local pool and dining at one of the 4 restaurants, affectionately called ‘The Walkie’ (Walkabout Tavern), ‘The Boatie’ (Boat Club), ‘The Surfie’ (Surf Club) and ‘The Golfie’ (Golf Club). It was definitely one of the most dynamic and special teams I have ever worked with, and led by the capable Tanya (Principal) and Andy (Assistant Principal) - 2 people whose hearts for the community they serve could not be faulted, and whom I deeply respect.

While I could go on and on about the pristine, secluded beaches, the wonderful community and relaxed life style of Nhulunbuy, there were also some negatives…

In Nhulunbuy, everything is bigger. The fish are bigger, the beaches are bigger, and unfortunately, so too are the germs and bugs. The humidity creates the optimum environment for the festering of germs and bugs… Josh experienced 2 infections in our short 3 months and I got some super bug, which saw me out of action for 11 days. As doctors appointments are impossible to get, every illness means a trip to Emergency, so we spent more that our fair share of time waiting to be seen in ED. The Hospital staff there were incredible though, but also appeared to be plagued by the staffing crisis experienced by many industries in such a remote community.

Yirrkala is the closest indigenous community to Nhulunbuy, home to approximately 800 people. It is surrounded by beautiful beaches and contains an arts centre which features incredible works by indigenous

artists. Acacia and I each purchased a pair of woven earrings as a keepsake of our time in East Arnhem Land. Acacia and I visited a church there one Sunday, which sadly is going through a rough patch at present due to disputes over leadership. Despite this, we were warmly welcomed by the small congregation and were thankful to have had the opportunity to attend.

Matt's reflections:
While the majority of my (Matt's) time in Nhulunbuy was spent facing a laptop screen (working remotely during school hours), it only served to make the weekends more enjoyable with new places to explore and new friends to share them with. In many ways, life in Arnhem Land reminded me of my childhood in Healesville during the 1980's and 90's, where you can lead a simple yet full life, see unaccompanied kids riding their bikes across town, agree on a 'home time' before your kids dissapear for the next few hours, be guaranteed of meeting a friend when grocery shopping, turn-up unannounced to a friend's house, and start the weekend with no plans only for it to fill-up spontaneously.

And fill-up they did, with fishing adventures with Josh / being treated to a day on the boat with the De Zwart boys / swimming at the local swimming pool, or in the Latram/Goanna Waterhole with the Smiths / exploring Maccassan and Turtle Beaches with the Nicholls' and Smiths / bike rides with the obligatory cold drink reward at the Refinery Cafe / birthday parties and gatherings at the pool BBQ's, or on Middle Beach / 'beach church' at Cape Wirrawoi facing the sea while the sun sets / watching the final F1 race late at night with the De Zwarts as their countryman Max won / listening to community carols sung in English, Yolngu Mata and Fijian / the community markets / collecting (and eating!) mangoes / bakery treats and coffee with Carolyn / visiting the library ... and so many more.

The stand-out highlight for me was getting to see East Arnhem Land from the air - thanks to a surprise & gracious offer from Marijn at MAF to accompany him on a 25min flight south over the NASA launch site to the homeland of BiranyBirany, and then taking the scenic coastal route home over Barwaka and Cape Arnhem. It's amazing to see the myriad communities that enjoy splendid isolation, yet incredible support, dotted around this country.

Among all this beauty and tranquility though are many tricky & confronting realities - this is a place where a global mining giant's operations have brought essential services to a remote area desperately needing them, yet the mine's origins as a trigger-point in the land rights movement point to the obvious challenges that arise from its presence. Despite this, the comparitive peace of the Yolngu people inhabiting the homelands and communities surrounding Nhulunbuy was immediately apparent to us. Somehow each community is walking the tighrope between maintaining a connection to their country and traditions, while adapting to the best and worst of modern western life afforded them on their own terms. It's complex, it's messy, it's expensive, but there's hope.

Josh's reflections:
Nhulunbuy was so very lovely. I had an amazing time there. I went fishing three times. Two on the rocks and one in a boat. On the boat I was with my best friend Sil. Dad caught a small brown fish and I caught a baby red emporer.

The first time fishing off the rocks I went with a friend called Noah. I had a big fish on my line, but it snapped the line. Dad caught a pretty big fish. The second time I went fishing off the rocks I saw a shark and some dolphins but caught three fish!

I went to a good school. Most people rode to school but I took the bus. I made so so many friends. Some of then lived so close and we'd have them at our house most of the time. Their names are Millie, Jasper, Sil, Sophie, Jesse and Maylea.

On the beach it was always just us. The sand was always hot, the water warm. We could not swim because of crocs and stingers. There is a stinger that is as small as a finger nail. I think I saw a crocodile.

My favourite restaurant was the Boat Club. It had the best climbing tree ever, it had ropes hanging down. In Nhulunbuy there was a pest called the cane toad. The name may sound cute, but boy are they ugly! I do not ever want to see one again! There was a green tree frog living in our toilet. It was super-duper fat, but it was so so cute.

I made a friend called Riley. We were best mates. I went to his house once and he came to my house once. Riley was always so nice to me.

Acacia's reflections:
After many hours of driving, we finally got to our new house - it was way better than I expected! I absolutely loved my room, even though it was tiny! Our backyard was huge though. A lovely family lived across the road and I am friends with Sophie their daughter. I am also friends with Maylea who lived in the street behind us.

The way school is done In Nhulunbuy is very different to how we do it in Victoria. I actually really liked it, although spelling mastery was hard at first. Here prep is called transition and middle school starts in grade 5. So I graduated primary school here then will go back to it in Victoria. Also, having my mum as my teacher wasn't so bad after all!

Graduation was awesome! I had lots of fun and was beginning to feel I fit in with those kids. I felt so happy at graduation. Everyone looked great. I wore a black shirt, dark denim overalls and my hair in one plait. The food was delicious - I had a small quiche, vanilla slice and a cupcake. Mum was still sick when graduation was on but she still came. My other teacher Mrs Knee did the presentations for her though.

During our time in Nhulunbuy we also did a beach church thing which was held once a month. I also went to the Yirrkala church once. It was very different to what I am used to, there was even food after the service. I also went to Yirrkala art centre and got myself a pair of earrings - I love them!

Despite Nhulunbuy being a small town there were countless restaurants. My favourite was the Boat Club. There was a massive climbing tree and was a go-to for families because there were always kids from school there.