Meeting Bathurst Island for the first time

My introduction to my new home for the next 12 months

Bathurst Island (2,600 km² or 1,000 sq mi,^[1] 11°35′S 130°18′E) is one of the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory off the northern coast of Australia along with Melville Island.

The largest settlement on Bathurst is Wurrumiyanga (known as Nguiu until 2010), in the south-east, with a population of around 1,450.^[2] Located on the south east corner of Bathurst Island, Wurrumiyanga is approximately 70 km (43 mi) north of Darwin. The second largest settlement is Wurakuwu, pop. 50, 60 km (37 mi) northwest of Wurrumiyanga. The third settlement on the island is a small family outstation called 4 Mile Camp, about 6 km (4 mi) west of Wurrumiyanga. (taken from wikipedia)

I flew into Bathurst Island with me as the only passenger in a small 8-12 seat plane. I didn't get a picture of the plane at the time as quite frankly I was worried how I was going to fit in the damned thing. But we got into the air and a short 25 minutes later we were landing safely just outside of Wurrumiyanga the town where I will be teaching for the next 11 or so months. So surreal touching down and going through security on a place like this. Expecting some baggage claim area and security gates only to be met with a bloke and his daughter waiting to get my one bag off the plane and walk me to the car. No security, no lines of passengers waiting for bags just me a bag and a fence.

First impressions are mixed. The island itself is very green at the moment due to the wet season. It rains here almost every second day so far (1 week in) and it is very muggy.

Meeting the principal for the first time was a straight off the bat occurrence as she picked me up from the airstrip (airport is far too big to describe the airstrip) and took me too my new digs. Tess and her husband lance have been very welcoming and supportive giving out crucial information about the island and all the thing we need to know as new teachers. Tess and Lance invited myself and Troy (another new teacher here) over for dinner and made us homemade pizzas which were delicious and the recipe for the dough has been acquired. I was also leant the school Troopcarrier so I could go to the shops. How awesome is that?

The island has 3 shops on it for food and takeaway. These shops are great for when you need small items or those must have things in a pinch, however, after my first encounter with the take away shop I think I won’t be going back for food items in a hurry unless absolutely necessary. The below picture shows my first foray into food on the island and it cost me $56….. A comparison shop with Coles online yielded $21... That’s $35 cheaper than the store. But it is what it is, a convenience. Since this time I have visited the other food store and prices are still inflated but not as quite as much. The process of getting Coles online shopping up and running hasn’t been too hard although the hit to the back pocket was as you need to stock up on all those things that already exist in ones pantry and drawers.

My house looks small but actually is pretty spacious 3 bedroom with open plan living lounge/kitchen area. Only have a quick photo of outside as inside isn’t quite set up just yet. Should also note the entire thing is built of asbestos… every wall, roof panel and room has warning stickers. So caution is to be observed.

Driving into the town itself was eye opening. Google earth and satellite images do not reflect the town at all. Housing is ageing, red dirt everywhere, lawns not mowed, rubbish everywhere, houses fenced off and gates locked. Plenty of dogs without owners and plenty of people on the streets. I had one of those “what have I gotten myself into” moments driving to my house. This lasted a couple of days until I started meeting the people around the town. Most are friendly and the Tiwi people seem very interested and super nice. Everyone waves at each other and once they find out you are a teacher they have plenty of questions.

These last couple of days have been spent getting myself acquainted with the school, getting my timetable sorted as well as barge and food delivery stuff organised. I am still waiting on my belongings to be delivered and I have a sneaky suspicion they won’t be here until I get back from Darwin next week for orientation. It will be much easier to get around once my ute arrives which will hopefully be very early on in Feburary.

So next post will be soon, most likely a bit of a tour around the school and my workshop space.

Until then.

Brad