The Marathon Trip Into Balgo

Hello again! 

The marathon trip began not long after my last post. We had an early rise waking up before dawns but crack even thought of getting up. Our flight to Perth left at 6am and we endured a long and tedious 5 hour flight. I should probably mention that i don't like flying! I hate not being able to move around freely and have to put up with awkward apologies when i need to use the toilets! I digress. We landed in Perth at 8am due to the 3 hour time difference between the states. We than sat around for 2 more hours until we were back on another plane, this time our destination was Broome. Two hours later we were in Broome. We were picked up by Brother Rick(the Principal of Luurnpa Catholic School), Darren Perrett(Trade Training Centre Boss and resident thug) and Anthony 'AJ' Cormick (STM volunteer at Balgo in 2011 and reoccurring volunteer at the school). We were under the impression that we would be making the twelve hour drive to Balgo as soon as we landed but to our relief we were staying the night in Broome.

We had a meeting with Rick, Darren and Anthony about some of the rules and things to expect when we get to Balgo which was rather insightful. Brother Rick then had to depart for Perth so we were left with Darren and Anthony. We had Dinner at the Rowie which was pretty damned expensive for someone on Volunteer wages! We then went back to the hotel, got our bags packed and went to bed.

We were able to sleep in a bit the next day because Darren needed to get the cars windshield fixed which would take up some of the morning. By the time he finished it was about 10:30 and we got the cars loaded up. We then went to the store to buy some extra things and Anthony needed to buy a Foxtel HD box thingo. Then we went maccas and by the time we were done from there it was about 12:00! 

Just a picture of our noble steed all loaded up and ready to go! 

About 15 minutes into the trip to Balgo we had the front left tyre blow which meant that we had to use our only spare to replace it. We then had to turn back to Broome and get a new spare because driving all the way to Balgo without a spare is very risky business! 

Our Lovely blown tyre!! :)

Luke giving it his expert opinion! 

Eventually we got a new spare tyre and had once again departed from Broome. However due to the time in the day and our possible very late arrival into Balgo, Darren decided that we would stay the night in Halls Creek, which is about a four hour drive from Balgo. So we spent eight hours cooped up in the back of the Land Cruiser!
We also picked up one of the Trade Training Centre(TTC) students from his home town which took forever because we kept getting sent back and forth from top camp to bottom camp. Eventually we did find him and he came with us to Halls Creek. Darren also picked up another student of the TTC in Halls Creek and they were both very lucky to have have there own rooms paid for by the school. 

Then this morning we all woke up, had breakfast and left Halls Creek at about 8:30am. It was a very long and uncomfortable ride today because once we reached the Tanami it was all a bumpy dirt road. So for three hours we bounced around and a little bit after 1 o'clock we finally laid eyes on the town of Balgo.

The Turn-off to Balgo. So excited when i saw this sign. Had to post it up on Instagram! 

Anthony took us around on a tour of the school and we got introduced to the classes and staff we may be working with during the year. Everyone was so friendly and the children were very welcoming to us strangers. After that we unloaded the Land Cruiser and began getting settled into our new homes for the next 10 months. I'm very happy with my new bedroom! THERE'S SO MUCH ROOM FOR ACTIVITIES!! 

Later that night we went over to Anthony's for dinner. He was very kind to invite us over and the food was surprisingly good seeing as he told us he hated cooking! We also had a meeting while we were there with Darren on what we were going to be doing in the next couple of days. Tomorrow morning i will be helping out Darren at TTC and later on helping in Primary B and D. I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow as it will be our official full day in Balgo!

Stay tuned for more! :)