As Term 3 draws to a close, Nullagine Primary spent today busily preparing for their final assembly. The SIA group were privileged to be invited to participate. Certificates were awarded to some of the children and the staff spoke about highlights of the term. The whole group took part in a short dance item with the children before George and Kailee reflected on their time in Nullagine and thanked the school on our behalf for hosting us for the week.

After the assembly it was time to tuck into a BBQ lunch generously supplied by Roy Hill (Rinehart Prospecting). We then spread out a large tarp and set up a water slide for some afternoon entertainment. Lots of fun!

Off to the town dam for our last swim in the beautiful clear waters – we’re certainly going to miss the dam.

On the way back to school we visited the Nullagine Airstrip where, a rather forlorn Royal Flying Doctor Service Pilatus PC12 aircraft, was sitting.

It had struck a cow on landing in the dark and suffered severe damage (not as much as the cow!). Fortunately the pilot and crew were uninjured.

The group finished the evening cooking chicken curry and playing games.

Today we started with a four station STEM/Robotics activity which was lots of fun but got the grey matter working! It was great to see the local children getting involved in STEM activities.

We then broke into three groups to help with activities until lunchtime, including completing the artwork started yesterday, working with the younger children in their classroom and also preparing a big kangaroo tail stew with damper!

Everyone agreed it was very nice. A favourite amongst the locals!

After a bit of down time and a walk to the General Store for an ice-cream or a cold drink, we headed to our favourite waterhole for a refreshing swim and chill. We managed to catch a wonderful sunset AND an amazing moon rise! Absolutely stunning!

We have been very fortunate with the weather (not too hot) and the conditions, so that we could experience sights like those above.

The group came together to cook a big dinner of spaghetti bolognaise and after doing the dishes and cleaning up, sat around the communal table for an evening of card games. Another great day!

Up nice and early to prepare ourselves for another busy day. The mornings before school starts are usually spent waking up in our uniquely different ways. Some faster than others. Then we tend to chill and chat with staff and students as they have breakfast. There’s always a bit of basketball happening as well.

Once any announcements have been made we move off to the three teaching areas: Lower and upper primary and secondary. Our students pair up and then swap between classes and pairs throughout the day to broaden their experience.

After school today we visited the Police Station to get a feel for remote policing. There are many rewards for working in a remote location in such a varied and important role. Many thanks to Damian for chatting to us and answering a lot of questions.

We then went to the dam for a swim which was refreshing after a warmer day and chilled on the bank to watch the sunset.

The day finished with a dinner of burgers on the BBQ and a relaxed evening of UNO and other card games.

The group had a busy day today. We met a very excited group of children from the school and the staff first up this morning where an outline of what was happening for the week was discussed. We then broke into pairs and moved into the classrooms to help the teachers.

Our group played lots of basketball and kicked a footy around with the children at recess and lunch.

School finishes at 2:00pm, so after a bit of down time we walked up to Lynas lookout that has 360 degree panoramic views across Nullagine and surrounds.

After we scaled back down to the school we jumped in the cars and drove out to the Town Dam. It used to supply water to the town, but has been replaced by other sources. It is a fabulous place for a dip!

We all got changed quickly and drove back up to Lynas Lookout to take in the sunset.

A beautiful end to the day!

It was time to prepare dinner, so half the group cooked up a storm and we had a very nice dinner of chicken pesto with pasta. The other half of the group then did the dishes and cleaned up. A great team effort!

After an uneventful flight from Perth to Newman – although we did have to circle the airport waiting for a Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft to take off – we headed into town to pick up our groceries for the week and stopped at Subway for lunch before heading up the track to Nullagine.

Nullagine is 191 KM from Newman on a mostly bituminised road with the last 50-60 KM being good quality dirt. Currently the population is around 150 with about 20-25 children attending school. Known for a gold rush from 1895 – 1914 it is said that diamonds were first discovered in Australia here!

We were warmly welcomed into the school by the Principal Greg Yeo and then unpacked the Tetris puzzle we had created in Newman and settled in for our first night in the peaceful town.

Our group enjoyed a BBQ dinner of sausages, potato salad made from scratch and salad.

Administration out of the way, we chatted around the table for a while and then off to bed ready for a busy day on Monday.