It's our last night in Melbourne and there's a mix of sadness that the trip is nearly over, and anticipation of getting home to familiar beds and showers that don't have to be shared with 16 people in the queue.
The Box Forest students came back to school today for the start of their third term which gave a different feel to the day. Two lots of kids had to move their beds and belongings out of class rooms that were going to be used for teaching. A group of us were introduced to the staff at their Monday morning briefing and the principal, Paul Dingle, brother of noted environmentalist and healthy house expert Peter Dingle, welcomed us and expressed his enthusiasm for our visit. We offered an open invitation to the staff and students at Box Forest if they ever want to come for a visit to WA and promised that Busselton would return the favour of hospitality and welcome that we have received.
These boys like to shop so we headed off for one more expedition in consumption, to the Direct Factory Outlet at Airport West near Essendon. They emerged with hoodies and shoes and shirts and footies, all very pleased with themselves. They had spent a very productive hour at the Queen Victoria Markets on Sunday morning prior to the Hawthorn v Sydney game. Brightly coloured and patterned hoodies are all the rage over here and the boys now look like a fashion parade as they walk down the street decked out in their new gear.
After plundering DFO we returned toi the school for the big interstate basketball game between WA and Vic. The kids were apprehensive about it, bemoaning the fact we couldn't play footy, but actually gave quite a good account of themselves, with Sean landing the first three-pointer of the game and earning a $5 bonus from Robbie as a result. The Box Forest team were better, they looked as if they had some sense of system and tactics, and won by 28-18. Not a thrashing, and certainly not a pantsing.
Lunch and a few errands held us up for a while in the afternoon so we were a bit late getting away and thus only ended up with 20 minutes at the National Gallery of Victoria, just long enough for the boys to declare, "That's not art, a 2 year old could do that"! They were only occasionally impressed, even though the display included works by such renowned artists as Matisse, Rodin, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, Picasso, Manet, and Van Gogh.
I could have spent a couple of hours there but 20 minutes of culture was in the end about all they could handle, their conversation with the gallery attendant being more focused on the number of cameras and the relative monetary value of the paintings than of any appreciation of artistic merit. I'll go back for a visit on my own and take my time.
Next stop was the Myer Music Bowl, an iconic structure in Melbourne that has played host to many concerts and performers. Pearl Jam and REM have played their but my memory of the venue is seeing Skyhooks play there in 1981. What a great band Skyhooks were, so much better than those namby pamby long haired boys in Sherbert but I digress. They kicked the footy on the grassy hill, just as they have kicked the football on every flat or green surface they've traversed for the last week. They've kicked them in the class/bed room, the corridor, the gym, the basketball court, the MCG car park,the streets of Glenroy etc etc.
With the light fading we re-boarded the bus and headed for famous Lygon St Carlton to meet up with Chris and have dinner. The boys were happy with the first place we showed them, Threshermans, a slightly upmarket food hall.
This was our culmination dinner of the trip so I footed the bill from trip funds which the kids enjoyed. Ahmed, one of the Box Forest kids who came to the footy with us yesterday and played in the basketball game today joined us for dinner. Chris told me a little bit about his background and story and we both agreed it was great that he had connected with the Busselton kids and were especially pleased that he was able to join us for our night out.
I got the group to all sit around one table and had a bit of a debrief and feedback time about the trip, asking them about the good and bad things, their most memorable moment and a rating out of 10. The comments were over-whelmingly positive and the ratings hovered between 8-9, with Robbie giving it the perfect 10. I gave each of the group a small footy gift, wrist bands or model cars in their club colours. We also gave Chris a gift of some Jenny Taylor placemats as a thank you for all the work he's done to make our visit successful, not least picking us up from the airport on Tuesday night. I've enjoyed getting to know Chris a bit more on this trip and further strengthening the relationship between the two schools.
After dinner and the debrief we walked into the city and went to the movies, watching Will Smith in Hancock which everyone seemed to enjoy. Then it was a tram back to the bus and the drive back to the school for the last time.
The boys were still awake and making a noise when I left them to come and blog, but it's 1.30 now so I really hope they'll be asleep by the time I get back there.
Tomorrow we have an assembly before packing up and departing for the airport.
My apologies for the lack of pictures from Sunday, our day at the Queen Vic markets and the Hawthorn/Sydney game but I forgot to get my camera battery out of the charger so wasn't able to take any pictures that day.
Blair enjoyed seeing the Hawks beat the Swans. Aprt for the Dockers fans all the kids teams have won their games over the weekend.
By this time tomorrow night they'll be well and truly home and probably tucked up in bed getting their first snoreing/sleep walking/talking in their sleep-free, uninterrupted sleep in a week.
Troy went sleep walking last night, wandering around the room saying "What is it? What is it? before heading out the door. I got up to follow him and when I called out he woke up and turned around wondering what he was doing in the middle of the corridor.
