Before setting off from Sydney, we had heard that Mrs Roberton, one of the teachers from the kids’ school, had taken a break from Gordon West to work in a remote aboriginal community near Broome, and we keen to try and visit her when we were up that way. Now that we were in that part of the world, we called and arranged to swing by for a night on our way down south. It was only an hour out of Broome and about 10km off the main highway along a dirt road, so we arrived around lunch time and tracked Hannah down without too much trouble. We drove into the aptly named teacher street where all the teachers houses were, and after parking outside her house, she took us on a tour of the school. Given it was Sunday, there was no one there so we were able to look in a couple of the classrooms and wander around the grounds. Bidyadanga is the largest remote community in WA with a population of about 750 people, with around 150 kids enrolled at the school, which was made up of both primary and secondary classes. The classrooms and grounds looked just like you would expect a school to look, and there was loads of fabulous art from the kids displayed around the buildings. After the tour, we headed back to Hannah’s house and met her husband Dane, also a teacher at the school who had been out surfing on a local river. We set up the camper outside their house and had a chat with them over afternoon tea before piling into their car for a drive along the local beach which is only accessible to community members and their guests. The kids were amazed at the volume and beauty of shells they found on the beach and made us stop a few times to collect them. We stopped briefly at the river inlet to say hi to some of the local kids and their families who were fishing there. After a while we pulled in behind the dunes to one of the Roberton’s favourite spots to watch the sunset. We set up a picnic and enjoyed nibbles while the kids ran up and down the sand dunes. It was fascinating hearing stories about their experiences living in the community and learning about the contrasts between their lives back home versus here in the community. As the sun fell behind the horizon, we enjoyed a quick game of ‘who can jump the furthest down the sand dune’ (during which I very nearly lost my car keys into the dune) before heading back for a delicious dinner of home made pizza.
Hannah had invited us to spend the next morning at the school, so after breakfast we walked over there, arriving a few minutes before the bell. Oli and I spent the morning in Hannah’s class, which was made up of grades 4, 5 and 6, while Kat and Em went into the year 1 class with another teacher. It was definitely a more flexible teaching environment, with kids coming and going throughout the morning, but both kids enjoyed telling their respective classes where we had been on our holiday so far, as well as participating in the morning lessons. As we rotated through various activities, Oli got to show a few of the boys some magic tricks he had been working on, and Em chose a couple of songs that the whole class danced to which of course she loved. After an unforgettable 24 hours in Bidyadanga, it was time to say thanks and goodbye to Hannah and Dane. Their warm hospitality made us feel so welcome, and we really appreciated the opportunity they gave us to see, even briefly, what life in a remote community was like.
Wide open spaces 