Bella

Sunday
Yesterday was amazing! My first time on a plane was amazing! Most of all I loved the view from the window.  When we left Hobart the weather was horrible! On the plane to Melbourne it was very scary during take off because at one stage we were going really fast but when we got above the clouds it seemed really calm. When we landed in Melbourne  the weather was much better than I thought it would be. I now know that Melbourne airport is huge! Some of the shops in Melbourne airport like Sports Girl are really great and also the Australian shops even though they were expensive.  For lunch, Sophia, Demi and I had McDonalds.

The Darwin flight was very long but watching TV and ‘Diary Of A Wimpy Kid’. Then we caught a shuttle bus to the Botanic Garden Apartments and then we put our bags in our room and had a look around. For tea, we walked to a near-by rooftop restaurant. I CANNOT BELIEVE MR DWYER SPENT $250 ON TEA!!! When we walked back to our apartment we got changed and went for a swim. 

Monday
This morning we had to get up at 5:30!! Everyone got ready quickly and there was a taxi waiting for us out side our apartment. When we arrived at the wharf we saw three small sharks. The ferry was a lot bigger than I thought and there was a lot more people than I thought. I thought the food on the ferry was a little bit expensive but it was nice. The view from the ferry was amazing!! The people were very friendly and we met one of the students mothers and her younger sister. When we got to the Tiwi Islands it was so hot! 





Tuesday

Tuesday morning we got up, got ready and headed to school. When we got to the school and everyone was there, Jane put a movie on, “10 Canoes”. It was about the Aboriginals life and culture, I thought it was a very good movie. Then when Jane had packed up the trailer and the troopies, we got into the troopies and headed to Pitjamirra where we were going to camp that night.

The drive to Pitjamirra wasn’t very long but it was very hot and the roads were really bumpy! When we arrived, we unpacked the tents and the other things off the trailer. When everything was unpacked we started to set up the tent and unpack our things  and when all that was finished we grabbed our hats, sunscreen and water bottle and headed to the ‘Love Shack’.

When we arrived at the ‘Love Shack’ it was different than what I had thought it would be, it was a shelter and it had an amazing view of the beach! Everyone had hopped out of the troopies and ran to the beach! Not long after we had arrived some people had gone up the beach and and found a hole where a turtle had been trying to lay eggs. Some of us who had not gone on the beach (because the sand was really hot!) had a booklet of activities to do. Some of the boys who had been using the spears and handlines had caught a shark.

After the ‘Love Shack’ we headed back to camp and lounged around the camp for a bit and then we headed to another beach “Wulawunga’ which is a campsite that was given to the stolen generation. At Wulawunga  we had some rockmelon and some of the Pularumpi kids were showing us their oysters which are very different to our oysters.

When we got back we had a treasure hunt where you had to find things like different leaves and write down some different birds that we had seen on camp. We also had to make a person out of bush materials so Shania and I were having some fun on the beach and we used one of her bracelets as a head and we used shells to make eyes, nose and a mouth and then we just drew the body in the sand.

That night we had a campfire on the beach and the Tiwi kids showed us their traditional dances, they have different tribes such as buffalo and jungle fowl. Some of the kids were a bit shy to show us their dances but the boys sure weren’t! We also did some other songs like clap your hands.

After learning the dances we headed back to the campsite and while I was walking, Home Alone jumped out and scared me! When everyone was back at the campsite we sat under the shade and had some damper and some milo.

Tuesday was a great day and I learned a lot about Tiwi Culture.

Wednesday

On Wednesday morning everyone took some time waking up but then everyone was up and we packed up all our stuff and the tents. Then everyone got breakfast and we made sure everything was packed into the troopies and the trailer.

When everything was packed up, we all went down to the beach and went for a walk. On the walk, Bradley showed us some crabs. Some of the crabs we saw were pretty big.

Then there was a sand sculpture competition, Sophia and I stayed at the campsite for most of the time but then we went down to the beach and took some pictures of all the sand sculptures.

After the sand sculpture competition, we went to another beach and that’s where they showed us their oysters, which are a lot different to ours. None of us Tassie mob tried the oysters but we had some rockmelon that Jane had cut up with a pocketknife because she had forgotten the knife!  On our way to our next stop we saw some Pukamani poles, which are big poles that symbolise someone has died.

Our next stop before stopping at school was a swimming hole, we couldn’t swim in the swimming hole because there is a chance that a croc could have been hiding in the reeds!

When we finally got back to the school, most of the kids went home because they were really tired! Us Tassie mob went back to Jane’s house and Mr D took a picture of us because we were really dirty! We all put most of our clothes in the wash. Later on, Demi and I went over to the pool because it was so hot!

When we were at the pool, all the younger kids were all calling out our names and coming to say hello. There was one little girl who came over and started playing with Demi’s hair and mine, she was really sweet. =)

After Demi and I had gotten out of the pool, we went back to Jane’s house to ask if we could go for a walk. When we went on the walk, we went to the shop and then we sat at the park with Shania and Annie.

Thursday

Thursday morning, we got up, got ready and headed to the school. When we had gotten to the school, Jane explained to the kids what we were going to do.

Firstly we all walked over to the women’s centre and had a look around. We watched how they did the prints on the fabric, and at the same time there was a lady who was engraving patterns into a tile with a knife. While we were there, I brought two tops, one for my sister and just another one that I can give to someone for a present.

After the women’s centre, we headed over to the Munipi Art Centre. At the Art Centre, there was all different things like small totem poles and all different paintings. Kate showed me a painting that had dragonflies on it. In the end Mr D brought that! We also had the chance to do our own paintings, we were put into groups to share the paint, and I was in a group with Bobette, Jasmine, Steve and home alone.

Before we could start our paintings we headed back to the school for smoko (Recess). After smoko we went back over to the Women Centre.

When we were back over at the Art Centre I started my painting. I asked one of the men from the art centre to draw me a crocodile and he did which was very nice.

I think the best part of the day was when one of the ladies from the art centre made a song request on the radio and she also asked them to mention us so the man on the radio said ‘I hope you Tassie mob who are in Pularumpi are having a great time at the Munipi Arts Centre’

After school had finished, Demi and I went over to the pool again and had a great time! All the kids were asking us when we were going back and were we going to come over again. After the pool, Sophia, Demi and I walked to the shop and got some snacks, and then we all sat at the park.

That night, Jane had a sort of goodbye party for us, which was very kind of her. Patrick came and he was singing some songs for us, which was very friendly, and he also sands a goodbye song.


Friday… The day we had to leave… =((

That morning we had to get up and head to the school.

When we arrived at school, all the kids were saying goodbye. The school had an assembly that morning so Patrick stood up and asked the kids to come up and do their traditional dances. Most of the kids were a bit embarrassed.

After the assembly, Sean, Sophia, Demi and I jumped in the troopy and headed to the airport. When we were at the airport we got all of our bags out of the car. Except Demi.  Mr D had gotten her bag and put it on the ground for her to collect, but she didn’t. We didn’t find that out until after the troopy ran over it! All the Pularumpi kids had walked up from the school and said goodbye. All the girls gave us a hug, which was really sweet.

The plane was tiny! It could only fit about 10 people in it and it was really wobbly! It didn’t take very long to get from the Tiwi Islands to Darwin. But when we took off it was really wobbly and it was a bit scary!

When we arrived in Darwin, we caught a taxi to the Botanic Gardens and we had 3 minutes to get our bathers and other things before we had to get back in the taxi. The taxi took us into town.

Firstly we went to the wave pool, which was awesome! Except when the waves were really big and you ‘accidentally’ squashed people! Apart from that it was really fun because there was big floating ring things and boogey boards that you could use.

After that we walked to Crocodylus Cove. When we got there, Mr D paid for the entry and we started walking through the entry. The first thing we saw was something that looked like a fish tank that was being projected on the floor and it looked pretty cool. The other things we got to do was watch Mr D and Miss Cane swim in a tank that was in with the crocs and also hold a baby croc.

After Crocodylus Cove, we walked back to the Wave Pool and had another swim.

For tea that night we walked from the wave pool to a place on the wharf. It was sort of like an ‘All You Can Eat Buffet’. The food was really nice and it was a pretty good night . =)