We finally managed to locate most people’s email details. If you think anyone else might be interested in hearing our news, please forward the email on. We have lost several addresses from people who wanted to stay in
touch.
As you would have worked out by now, we no longer have a mobile phone and making phone calls is not that easy. You can email or find us on Skype, which also doesn’t work all the time. We just go with the flow. Email
or snail mail are the most reliable communication options on Tiwi.
We survived our first cyclone, rather a fizzer - not much happened, just lots of rain, rain, rain, rain....RAIN and no internet, tv or phones for two days. The students have had a week off school and they might be back next week if the police give the all clear for the roads. Also, all our food is ordered from Coles online and delivered on the Friday plane, but the plane can't land because the runway is too wet. We really are having an Outback Jack adventure and loving it!!!
WOW! What an amazing road trip from Cairns to Geelong to Darwin we had. QLD, NSW, VIC, SA and NT- Just beautiful!
The family survived the very tiny tiny plane flight to Tiwi. It wasn’t as bad as we thought. (You can see how worried Heidi was in the attached photo) Our house is beautiful and VERY BIG. It is set in bushland and we have horses, buffalo, wallabies, birds and all sorts of animals visiting. The children love waking up in the morning to look out the window and see what is grazing in our yard. I can honestly say the sunset from our lounge is the best I have ever seen in my life. The sky was so red we thought there was a bushfire the first time we saw it.
School is wonderful and I love my senior young women. We feel we are making a real difference here. Nico is enjoying teaching VET IT to Senior and Middle School and Coordinating the VET Program. Jonas and Heidi have settled into Junior School. They are both working from the NT Remote School’s Curriculum which covers yrs4-7, so they are in the same class. There are about 15 students in their class. Eight indigenous kids who are the principal’s, called The Clancy Mob. The rest are made up of teacher and support staff children. Not your traditional class at all. Jonas was voted Junior School Captain the other day. He is growing up and, as a yr 7, he definitely has lots to say so he looks forward to learning from the Senior and Middle School Captains. He is really shining and growing into a confident young man.
Jonas is in his element here. He said he is happy to stay on the island indefinitely. We really have to push the snake dangers as there are many poisonous ones on Tiwi. His friend in the photos was bitten by a brown snake the week before we arrived. There was a snake outside the classroom on the first day of school!!
Life here is relaxed and people love their footy. The funniest thing at this school is the timetable. Our first break is called Quarter Time then lunch is Half Time then we have a small afternoon break called Three Quarter Time and the end session is Game Over. We kid you not!!! This is what is written on the timetables! We couldn’t stop laughing the first time we saw the timetable. We don’t start teaching until 11am on Mondays as students are being picked up from the communities. Fridays we finish at 1pm so students can be driven back to their communities. This means we use all the time we have with students to do as much as possible.
The staff, students and people of Tiwi are very friendly and we have been made to feel wanted and welcome. Every Thursday all students and staff eat dinner together and the kids play until sunset. The lifestyle is wonderful. Everyone is welcome to visit. We will update our news next term.
Take care
Love
The Drijvers
