Return From Melbourne (and then no internet)

Greetings… We apologize for not getting to our blog before this. We arrived back from Melbourne, took a couple of days off and then the internet went down. Well it’s back up so here we go.
The Melbourne trip was quite an experience. I guess the most fun was watching the students experience new things. For the most part they were well behaved but we had our moments of insanity! We made it and we are thankful for that!
The trip from Pickertaramoor started on the road for about 45 minutes as we made our way to a boat called the “Arafura Pearl”. The boat ride was about two hours to Darwin. We then shacked up in a couple of schools till about midnight and left for the airport. We were off to Melbourne just before 3:00 am. Flying a jet was an all new experience for most of the 45 students. One student I was with saw me with my boarding pass as we walked to the terminal. He reacted a bit concerned and asked, “what’s that?” I explained to him that it was my boarding pass which we all need to board the plane. He then said, “oh no, I thought it was rubbish and threw it away!” He then rushed back to where he threw it away and fortunately found it in the can. As we were taking off another student next to me asked, “Bill, how fast are we going?” I explained, he then asked, “How high are we going to go?” I again explained, he then asked, “are we going to be above the clouds?” I said yes. He pondered a brief moment, then seriously looked at me and said, “Bill, this is freaking me out!”
It was also interesting watching the students react to the cold weather being it was winter in southern Australia and few have experienced winter. As they got off plane they enjoyed seeing their breath and some pretended they were smoking. Quite fascinating to watch!
The trip was full-on every day. The zoo, museum, shopping, AFL footy game (they met a lot of the players and also formed the guard of honor as the Melbourne team ran out for the game), the beach, they also played AFL against another school (and won). Our schedule was full!
At times it was difficult keeping 45 students together but we somehow managed our way through it.
Linda and I had a few evenings free which was nice. One night we took a tram downtown. Melbourne is a very big beautiful city with plenty to do.
Now back at the college we have been facing the “after the trip syndrome”. Many of the students have been less than responsive to school work so it’s been a challenge for all of us staff. Tiwi College is on the front lines here to bring education to the Tiwi youth. It is a battle at times and staff can get quite battle weary at times as well. It’s amazing to us to see the staff here continue to press on to see victory in the lives of these Tiwi Boys and girls. Please keep us all in your prayers. Thanks …Bill & Linda