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Day 11 - Saturday 12th August - THIS IS IT!

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KALA! After not much sleep from late night banter last night, we dragged ourselves back up the hill to watch the sun rise over the scenic community for one last time. (ohh the serenity, so much serenity). We spent our morning cleaning up our accommodation, ready for the next Immersion group from Ashgrove arriving this afternoon. We said our final goodbyes to Sister Liz and received some last words of wisdom before venturing back to Alice Springs for our journey back to Sale. While on our way, we listened to the ABC radio patiently waiting for Chloe, Tahlia and Ben’s interview. After being told it would be on between 9-10am, our ears were instead blessed with the sounds of book reading and smooth  jazz. We had a quick pit stop in Alice Springs at the Epilogue Lounge where we enjoyed amazing coffees and great company. Next stop, the airport which was smooth sailing. Fortunately, Clay didn’t have any more screwdrivers or centre punches. Our flight home went by super quickl
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Day 10 - Friday 11th August

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Kuminjay This morning began with a 7 o’clock wake up to go help JP with breakfast in the canteen at school, which half of us helped out in making wraps, while the other half played outside with the kids. What happened in the next few moments was something none of us never wanted to have to do. It was a heartbreaking moment for all, and a few tears were shed. We said our farewells to our dear brother/son/beloved friend Pablo as he relocated to the school canteen, where he is now destined to become pumpkin soup. JP has vowed to plant Pablo’s seeds in the schools veggie garden so next year’s immersion group can live out the legacy of Pablo through his children. Adopting principles of the Arrernte people, we now know our precious boy as Kuminjay L After saying our farewells, we were fortunately given the opportunity of a smoking ceremony, which Sister Liz was kind enough to lead for us. This was a very personal experience for all,  with each gaining something different from it. It
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Day 9 - Thursday 10th August

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WHERE IS PABLO?? Another stunning walk up to the cross is how we started our day this morning, followed by a beaut breaky before our last day of volunteer work. Clay and Georgie were off to the community centre; Milan headed to the crèche; Steph, Ben, Tahlia and Tim all went to the spirituality centre while Chloe and Teresa floated between each of the activities. We made up some beauty care for some of the ladies in the community, which they were very grateful for and they loved. Ben and Chloe were excited to see the finished product of their candle holders that Claire had kindly painted for them the night before. Ben’s was a mix of red, black, yellow, orange and white paints. Chloe’s was a mix of dark blue, light blue, and white, all uniquely designed by Claire herself. We all met up for an early lunch so that we could go down and spend some time with the school kids during their lunch break. We shot some hoops and kicked the footy around, making sure to get Pablo in
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Day 8 - Wednesday 9th August

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WAKEY WAKEY This morning was a 6:30am wake up for the daily sunrise walk. After breakfast, Georgie and Milan headed off to the spirituality centre where they spent time with the ladies learning about them and their community, as well assisting them in making scarves. Much of this time was spent silently observing Georgina, Claire, Gertie and Cheryl as they painted, which was peaceful and artistically inspiring. The women opened up at different rates and all were lovely to talk and listen to. They gave us an insight into the community and their own lives, which we were grateful to learn about. Tahlia and Tim spent the morning in the community centre where they prepared sandwiches, collected dirty washing from the community as well as delivering lunch around. The duo found this quite confronting, going into people’s houses and seeing how different they are to ours, the sights and smells, the lives they live so far outside our own expectations.. Despite this, they enjoyed dri
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Day 7 - Tuesday 8th August

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Work work work work work! After waking up from a beautiful meal last night by the chef, Senor Woolworths, we were excited for our first day of activities. Steph and Milan headed off to the community centre, Georgie and Tahlia went to the crèche, Tim and Ben were at the men’s shed and Clay, Teresa and Chloe went to the spirituality centre. At the men’s shed, Tim and Ben began work on candle holders that Sister Liz had asked to be made. After much drilling, sanding and cutting, the holders were really beginning to take shape and would be completed the following day. Tahlia and Georgie spent this morning at the crèche (a child care centre) where they got to hang out with a few toddlers from the community. Again, Tahlia’s maternal instincts came into play and she was naturally drawn to the kids. That afternoon we attended another mass. However this one was different from the others as it was a home mass to bless one of the new houses in the community. The lady who owned the hous
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Day 6 - Monday 7th August

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Marshmallow Madness We woke up to a brilliant bright red moon setting on the horizon, and the sun rising in the east. Some of us were able to tick ‘seeing two sunrises in one morning’ off the bucket list with Brother Paul telling us that we could see the first sun rise by watching it come over the top of the horizon from the hill we had climbed the previous night and then climbing down the hill in time to see the sun rise over the top of it. We then feasted on fire-cooked toast that we cooked using a clever roasting contraption that Clay twisted together and a small metal cooking rack. Around mid-morning we rolled up the swags and headed back to the community. The community was quiet with today being a public holiday for the Northern Territory due to a rodeo and races being held down in Harts Range that attracted a lot of people. This evening we attended another mass at the church, and then attended dinner at the Brothers house where we were shown an interesting video
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Day 5 - Sunday 6th August

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Desert Critters or City Slickers Sunday morning started off with a walk up the hill to admire the sunrise from the cross. We were able to view the whole of Santa Teresa from above, including spotting a few mobs of brumbies. Then it was a trip back down the hill to get our Sunday best on for mass. First look in the church took our breath away. We were all mesmerised by the murals painted from floor to ceiling along the walls. Each telling a story which we later discovered from Sister Liz.  We met the priest, Father Bosco, who we all quickly grew to love with his fun sense of humour and acceptance of everyone no matter who they are. Father Bosco wasn’t the only one we all soon came to love with Chloe, Steph, Georgie, Ben, Clay and Tahlia running with open arms to his little sidekick Lyabo. By his wagging tail and big grin we knew the love was mutual. We also went and had a lovely morning tea at the Brothers house and introduced ourselves to some of the locals in the community.
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