Week 9 – Visiting the RFD service and School of the Air

Royal Flying Doctors Sevice - inside plane

Replica of original planes

Overtons & Cliffs - Inside watching a lesson at the School of the Air - Alice Springs

Cliff girls - RFD service

Today began with a fews showers so we decided to visit a few sites in Alice Springs and get orientated. It is a little refreshing as yesterday the kids were in the pool as it was around 29 degrees. The Overton and Cliffs travelled the Alice together!

The Royal Flying Dr Service was extremely interesting and I have a newfound respect for the whole organisation. I did not know about the history of Rev.John Flynn and he is on our $20 note.

Next stop was the School of the Air. We were introduced with a video and talk about the system. The actual lessons conducted by the teacher were using internet technology with web cams. Gone are the days of radio. Teacher and students could see each other and we watched Yr2/3 tell their news. One child was very cute saying that his Dad had finally come home from the Birdsville Races and given him a T-shirt. The races were cancelled due to rain. There was a large gap between students, some 1500km apart, all participating in the same lesson. Our kids really enjoyed the whole thing and some were a little homesick for their own school.

That night we all enjoyed a joint BBQ in camp kitchen!