Accidental education

Any concerns about Molly missing out on a couple of weeks of school during our move were relieved today when she spent the best part of the morning in class at a local primary school while Jake and I met with the principal and had a look round.

When we came out of our meeting we found her engrossed in story time after having shown the class where Alice Springs is on Google Earth! She’d also done a bit of drawing, which clearly shows where her mind was wondering to: lizards, honey-eaters and gumnuts!

So, to get her into the Kiwi spirit, we went down to the beach at Houghton Bay and let the kids potter about collecting stuff. As I write this, they are both sitting in the bath with a pile of shells, pebbles and pumice stones, checking out what sinks and what floats. A great science lesson!


We also visited our favourite cafe from our last visit: the Bach Cafe at Houghton Bay. Given the choice of sitting outside in the sun or inside the cafe, to our horror our Australian desert kids chose to sit inside by the fireplace for the novelty!