Back in Kansas!

I would like to make it very clear that I had actually attempted to blog a lot earlier, once actually in Darwin Airport when I made very good use of a five hour wait between flights. Then the Wi-Fi died, the file deleted and I was back to square one, knowing very well it was going to be a long post and quite an effort, therefore I’ve only managed to scrounge up enough energy to compile this recent post for you all now, exactly a week since I left Balgo. And looking back, it certainly has been an epic seven days, going from one place to another, to another, to another and finally arriving back in Perth. The year has gone so quick!

After quite a sleepless night on Tuesday doing last minute packing and cleaning, I didn’t want to get up when the sun shone on Wednesday. Probably because there was still a whole heap more cleaning to actually do and I wasn’t keen on having to say goodbye to everyone, but definitely because of the severe lack of sleep over the past few nights. I hung around the house for a while, ensuring that I had paced every one of my belongings stowed around the house, paranoid I would forget something. I have a tendency to pull my suitcase apart looking for an item I know I’ve packed, but am terrified it has been forgotten. Thankfully, nothing like that this time around!

By the time I got to school, the bell was almost about to ring yet only five kids were in school; Joan, Chris, Antonio, Delwyn and Naiomi, all taking advantage of the abundance of lollies and fun stuff Henry and accumulated over the year and was handing out to the kids. They were all pretty happy but by the end of the morning my ears were willing to murder Henry; Antonio had gotten hold of an annoying whistle and was not holding back on his usage! I helped Jenny up with the last minute cleaning and organising of the classroom over the holidays as more kids trickled in. Sharelle almost made me cry when she told me she’d had a dream about me leaving that night only to wake up crying. Aw!!

I don’t know what it was, but I saw the softer side of a few kids that I had clashed with over the year. Believing them to not like me very much, they were the ones that clung to me the most during my last hours in Balgo telling me how much they’d miss me and asking when I’d come back.  It was really cute and made things so much harder when I actually did have to say goodbye. Every kid in the school got a massive hug from me, some holding on too tight and so long that I had to tell them to let go so I could hug the rest of the kids. I was most unimpressed and a little disheartened when I went into Primary B to hug the committed two; Chenille and Irvin. I jumped into the class and announced in a big voice I was leaving and expected hugs, or at least some expression that would indicate I would be missed. Unfortunately not. They barely even looked up from their colouring and I slunk out of the room feeling rather embarrassed and noting the situation to be rather awkward!

We said goodbye to the staff and I was taken aback by how laid back they were with their farewell. It was almost as if they would see me again! We grabbed our bags from home, cleaned up quickly and headed to the airstrip, the unenthusiastic goodbyes making so much sense when we saw the ENTIRE SCHOOL there to greet us and see us off. Of course, we were so very moved and the kids were so excited to be there, running around, hugging and jumping all over us and enjoying the break in routine. There was already a plane there, a small charter to Broome where Sister Nola was headed and we all got excited when another flew in only to discover this was the clinic plane. The kids got a bit over standing around in the heat (38°C) and by the time our mail plane arrived everyone was chanting ‘Get on the plane!’ I was pleased with the size of our aircraft as the bigger it is, the less airsick I get and as we’d be making numerous stops along the way to pick up people and drop of mail, that was a very good thing. Balgo looked very different from up high and I suppose the flight that made me realise that yes, I was leaving! I knew I’d be back but with so much planned for the next few years, I had no idea when this would be. What would it be like in a few years time? Will the kids remember me? I eventually decided it was pointless pondering these things and set myself up to enjoy whatever the future holds.

Our plane is on the right, thank gosh!

We stopped at Mulan, a station west of Billiluna, Halls Creek and then finally reached Kununurra, just as the sun was setting. The flight was very uncomfortable and I got incredibly hot and clammy, at one point stretching out as much as I could to cool down and prevent some epic air sickness. However, the view was amazing. We saw Lake Gregory from the air, passed over an open mine, Halls Creek and Lake Argyle while viewing some beautiful landscape and cloud formations. As you can see, it was all stunning.

Part of Balgo from the air.

Lake Gregory.

Halls Creek,

It was raining everywhere.

An open mine.

Residential Kununurra.

Henry and I, making the very silly choice not to have breakfast this morning were absolutely starving by the time we arrived at the recently renovated Kununurra Airport. But despite some multi-million renovations, there was nowhere to buy food. Don’t ever make the mistake of skipping brekky before flying; it just makes life a whole lot worse! Our forty minute flight to Darwin not only gave us some sustenance in the form of cheese and crackers and also some in flight entertainment as we flew next to a stunning top end lightning show! The lightning in Darwin is weird in an amazing way. It kind of comes down vertical to the land, goes up half way and then stretches horizontal over the horizon. No wonder people get such amazing photos of the NT storms!

Boarding the plane to Darwin.

As soon as we got into Darwin and got our baggage I brought an incredible ham and salad wrap, enjoying not just the food side of the beverage but the salad part. I have really missed that! We had a lot of time just hanging around the airport with our stuff, unable to check in until two hours before our flight and looking kind of weird as we hung out in front of the arrivals cafe with trolleys of bags surrounding us. Eventually, we got through departures and settled into our six our red eye flight to Sydney, enjoying the extra room on a two thirds full flight.

I made the awful mistake of sending all my jeans and warm shirts home in a postal bag and regretted it as soon as landed in Sydney and I spied the miserable weather engulfing the city I was to spend the next three days in. All of a sudden the whole ‘I like the cold’ attitude I had kind of sucked and I just wanted to get all my boots, jeans, jumpers and scarves from Perth just to be able to endure the time I had in the frigid wannabe capital of Australia. However after a quick bite at Maccas, dropping off our bags at the motel and finding my bearings, I hit the shops to do the next best thing to warm me up; shopping!

I spent AGES just wandering around Bankstown Central enjoying the sights, sounds, smells and of course, the abundance of things to purchase. My main aim was to find something to wear on the debrief dinner the next night and eventually put a cute dress and jacket combination together, hopefully stealing the title from my sister of The Most Fashionable. I never understood why she was awarded that prize.

The rest of the time was spent at the office of the De La Salle Brothers were we had a debrief with the other volunteers. I loved hearing their stories, both good and bad knowing that really, they were the only people that would understand my experiences. Friday night came before we knew it and we all dressed up (me bring the only girl, all dolled up) and partied the night away with family and friends. While my own family couldn’t make it to Sydney from Perth, my stand in Sydney family comprised of Ben, Molly, Julia and Adam celebrated with me, supporting me all the way. That’s truly special and I cannot thank them enough for their love and support.

Each volunteer was presented with a beautiful glass plaque signifying the sacrifice and efforts we had put into the year and it was a lovely gift, now displayed proudly in my lounge room. It was bubble wrapped up nice and tight and survived the journey home in one piece, which was awesome. With my flight at 7.20pm Saturday night, I managed to get the train into the city, sweet talked a hotel concierge into letting me hold my bags for a few hours and trekked it to the harbour, my favourite place in Sydney. There is an amazing bar just across from the bridge and below the Opera House called the Opera Kitchen and I arrived just in time for lunch, enjoying the most amazing parmesan and truffle infused chips across from an incredible view. It really was the life! I wandered amlessley around The Rocks markets and George Street, getting into the Christmas spirit when I saw the biggest Christmas tree ever in Martin Place. Oh so Christmassy!

Oh hey there bridge!

This is why I love Sydney; so many random things around!

Martin Place Christmas Tree

Eventually my energy wore out, my comfy shoes became torture and I made my way to the airport and hung out for a while enjoying the travel atmosphere. I love airports, they signify so much and can either be the beginning or the end of a journey. In this case, they were ending one of the most amazing experiences of my life, a downer of course, but I was been returned home to my loving family and friends who I knew would be super excited to have me back...I hoped! The flight was turbulent and quite scary at times but I was able to spread out along two seats once again (I actually have the best luck on planes) and got into Perth right on schedule, greeted by a lunar eclipse!

Bye bye Sydney!

It was amazing to see my family again and see the changes in our home, our pets, our community and each other. My brother has grown up so much and is amazingly tall, my room is completely different, the house is dowsed in Christmas decorations and change is evident all over the small suburb of High Wycombe. I suppose change is evident and its fun good to see it but it takes a bit of getting used to.  

It has been great being home and I apologie for this post taking forever to get to you. This is where the Balgo story ends, for now but I have a few more things to upload so this isn’t the end of the blog yet!

By the way, this is the hundredth post today. Talk about timing!