Day One of School

5.30am starts are NOT fun! especially when school starts at 8:10am. The only good thing about that is that it is finished by 2:20pm. Today was okay for my first day. I took a lesson that I had planned which linked myself and my family to the children and their family. How did I do this? I presented a powerpoint all about my family and what we do, where we live etc. After that we made a class mural using calico squares, oil pastels and edicol dye. I was left with almost all 27 children on my first day, so as you could imagine, they were running feral.

At one point, I had

• x1 child throwing Monopoly money all over the classroom
• x1 child kicking a football inside
• x3 children playing soccer inside
• x2 kids punching each other up

But then again, I can't really expect much from a rural school in the Australian Outback.

By about 11am I was ready for bed! The days are so damn long and tiring. I hope tomorrow will be a better day

Pretty Pool

Greetings for Port Hedland! What can I say? Port Hedland is such a beautiful place; no, not like Bali or the Whitsundays, but beautiful as in peaceful and warm! There’s nothing more exciting, than stepping off the plane at 8:30 in the morning and the temperature being hotter than the maximum for Perth that day! We appear to be drawing alot of attention as you could imagine- being a mining town and all, and six females. I think the men think it’s Christmas! Nah it’s great, all the locals are very friendly and keen to know why we are here and what we are doing, which is great!.

The most exciting thing we have done so far, is making the trek out to Pretty Pool situated in Port Hedland. Did you know that Port and South Hedland are two completely different places? Pretty Pool is this amazing strip of ocean, and when the tide goes out, you can walk out up to 4km off shore. There are so many sea creatures and corals and shells, that is shits all over Perth’s beaches any day. We were also fortunate enough to go at the end of the day to watch the sun set, which in South Hedland, is such an amazing experience! Red dirt and a dusky pink and red sky is just insane.

The biggest downfall of South Hedland, is that it heats up very early in the morning. 6am and its already like 18 or 19 degrees and humid. I don’t mind, but it just means that I am awake early! Tomorrow I start prac at my school which is fantastic.. The teachers have already invited us to their “choir practice” A.K.A drinks at school on Fridays, and this afternoon we are meeting them back in Port Hedland to watch the sunset over the ocean and drink and be merry! What sort of events come up in life where you are offered the experience to take up an opportunity like this?

Post Packing Stress

Who ever would have thunk that packing a suitcase for 5 weeks would be so damn difficult? Me being slightly OCD made a list and checked it twice, cos you never know what items may be forgotten. After my first inital pack and then repack, my suitcase weighed 36 kg! The maximum limit on Qantas including excess is only 32kg.

Thus, the packing process begins again. Weighing every single cluster of items plus the suitcase just to make sure, still didn't seem to make a difference. The suitcase alone weighs almost 6kg- and that is 6kg less clothes and resources I can bring.

Anyhow, 5 hours later, and copious amounts of packing, repacking, weighing and culling of clothes, I think I have found my happy medium. 5 kg in excess isn't too bad.. and as my friend suggested, instead of bringing it back in a suitcase, post the things you dont need back home. Hopefully that will save in excess baggage costs not to mention reduce the strain on my back after wheeling almost 30kg worth of crap around.

The best packing tips I can offer is:

• use a space saver bag to suck the air out, that way your luggage will be compact to fit more in
• leave skirts and pants folded in half only as it distributes the weight more evenly
• buy travel bottles of toiletries (which Idid- I just packed two of every kind- just like Noah's Arc did)
• roll your jocks into sausages and stuff them in your shoes. ( my shoes are brand new)
• keep a list, and check it twice, and cull it when nothing fits
• opt for a light suitcase- 6kg of suitcase is wasted travel allowance especially in my circumstances
• and when all else fails, I'm sure you can purchase alot of stuff when you get there!

choosing the right suitcase

Two weeks today til I venture out of my comfort zone and take a step into a newfound life living in the red dirt. I'm desperately trying to be organised before I fly off, which requires purchasing a whole new wardrobe AND a huge suitcase. This is where my story begins...

My "wise" mother suggested I take her suitcase which she took to Singapore for two weeks. Sheepishly I agreed and thought that whatever doesn't fit into it, I'll pay for in excess luggage. After much research searching Qantas, Virgin and Sky West I came to the conclusion that it is not worth it. It was going to cost me $10 per 1kg of luggage that is excess.

I have come to a thoughtful and practical solution for choosing the right suitcase. Basically, if I can't fit myself into it, it's too small. I was not game to test this theory in the shopping centre. Can you imagine.. Mall rat employee: " Hi, are you okay there? do you need some help with that?".. Me.. " I just need to check if I can fit in it".. Mall rat employee: " what do you mean? you need to check if you can fit in it?" Me: unzips suitcase and climbs in... Mall rat employee: "we need security" .. Infact, I'm sure I might just try that one day and see how far I can get.

The suitcase that I looked at was huge, and seemed to fit the dimensions I was looking for (even if I was imagining me lying inside it) and best of all it looks like it would easily cost abou $200 just for its size. Lucky for me, the SALE sign was plastered everywhere and I got it for a steal.. $94.85... Best choice ever!