Just another day in the office!

We continue to both experience amazing days up here. Sean arrived home last night at 2am having spent the day several hours north of here on a beach. May sound like heaven and I am sure part of it was, although the bone jarring trip in our old beast which has no aircon, no suspension and no radio, would have been challenging.

He had gone up here to do a recce with some indigenous friends from Hope Vale who run a project for the Hope Vale school kids during the Sept holidays. There will be weaving, spear making, painting and dance workshops and a lovely boat which will take the kids out on trips including visits to Lizard island to do turtle tagging and seagrass monitoring. As this is part of Sean's work we will also be attending these special few days, camping on the beach up there and sharing in the expererience with our kids. More to come when we get back from that.

He then drove back to near Cooktown and then doublebacked onto a rd north to get to Normanby Station. The next set of Secondees, from Westpac arrived on Fri evening and were invited to Normanby station, to meet the TO Ronnie Harrigan and his sons. Some of them are going to do work up there over the next month. Ron and his wife Rosie are amazing people and instilled in their young sons the importance of learning a musical instrument. The result 20 years later is a very popular local aboriginal band called Black Image who played at the closing of our Discovery Festival in June and are just fantastic.

So Sean rocks up, BBQ going, has a chat etc and suddenly two utes turn up with some of the boys - out come the speakers, sound desk and instruments and suddenly in the paddock of the house there is a full on Black Image concert. Sean hopes the secondees, fresh out of their city lives, realise how amazing it is to have that kind of session. They were ofcourse forced to get and dance with Cocky, one of the old giys that helps on the station an good fun was had by all. I wish I had been there!

But more to come from Normanby as they are holding Ronie's 60th Birthday at the station with a concert and ground oven to feed 200 people! I have a sneaking suspicion that some of their good friends, other country music talents, will also be joining in the concert. Looking forward to the 18th Sept!