Pressure Cooker

Dear All,

Tomorrow is the last day of August and then I go at 1.45 am on 10th September, so there are only 10 days left to do so many things. Packing up will have to start soon - but I am working this week. There is a lot of paper-work to get done. I am still doing Certificate IV work, and of course, the study of THEL continues with a 2000 word essay due on 'Friday 9th September'???? Did the lecturer mean Fri 11th or Wed 9th?????. (I am TRYING n...o....t.... to PANIC!... like the birds on the top of the page)

Not much for this week's blog. I taught my six ladies from Numbulwar last week and they worked very hard and are such a lovely lot of people. I will put in a photo of when they were standing around ready to start a role play of a Biblical story. They have their Nungalinya 'dog tags' around their necks. This week someone else is teaching them and there are 18 students altogether with 10 from Nugkurr and 2 from Warriwi. Lorraine taught the larger group because she is more experienced.

A volunteer Librarian (Janet) has been here for a couple of months and she left yesterday. It is the second or third time she has been here to do her little bit to help the place and it has been wonderful. She and Lyn (who left 3 weeks ago) lived in a house on site and the curlews laid eggs near their carport. I missed that photo, but one of the eggs hatched and they abandoned the other egg and last week I got a few good photos of Mum & Dad & Junior Curlew. Janet wanted a picture to send Lyn. What you can't see in the pictures is the menacing hissing noises made by the parents as they head away from me in full flight with Junior obediently following.

The other morning when I went for my early walk there was considerable drama down on the Esplanade - three Fire rescue trucks, 2 or 3 police cars, and an ambulance. I rightly deduced that someone had fallen over the cliffs and that alcohol was 'maybe' involved! It was all in the paper next day - a 24-year-old visitor, who had been drinking, got over the safety fence and ....... ! He was unconscious at first but when he became conscious he was apparently very vocal because of pain. I don't think his injuries were life-threatening, but they were painful. He was wedged between a tree and a rock. Made for a more interesting walk than usual. The emergency services had quite a job retrieving him. You can add your own comments!

You would be interested to know that the car I was using at Rochedale (and had been for a few years) is being 'retrieved' from Sydney and returned to Corinda for my use at Runaway Bay. I will examine it carefully and see if it has received good care down south! I arrive at 9.35 am on 10th September after flying via Sydney on one of the Red-eye specials in the middle of the wee small hours in Darwin. My friend who arrived at 1.05 am a couple of weeks ago was amazed that the airport was fully engaged, with people everywhere. It is almost peak hour there between midnight and 3 am. No curfew in Darwin.

We are not quite up to the build up (I will avoid that neatly) but the humidity is higher than it was and the night temperatures could not be called 'cool'. However, the days seem very pleasant to me except when you go out in the midday sun.

Must get back to that reading for the Essay. Sigh!

Lots of love from Rita.