School visitation | Macquarie Fields NSW

Wednesday: 19 March 8:30am – 11:30am 

School visitation | Macquarie Fields NSW

Leaving the College in Doonside by 7:15 a.m., we travelled down to our next college in Macquarie Fields and found a place to park the van along the street for the morning. Then, we brought the car trailer into the parking area where the buses are usually parked, but it was clear during our time there. We carried the bollards and resources down to the area where we would display Bubsie and unloaded her from the trailer.

As the bell went for school to begin, the stage one classes came out to see Bubsie come in the front gate with principal, Sam Lett on board.  Bubsie came into the playground, tooting its horn, and took up its position under cover. The lower classes assembled with their teachers to hear Bubsie’s story.  Pr Bernard Doejee, one of the chaplains, was the host for the classes as they came to listen. Throughout the morning, we had a 15-minute presentation with each of the classes with various members of the team doing the presentation or demonstrating some aspect of the car.  

The children were so well-behaved and attentive as they listened to the story and asked questions.  The two deputy principals, Chantelle Manoe (Secondary) and Fiona Fidow (Primary) assisted in one of the demonstrations on how to work the manual windscreen wipers and use the horn.

After completing the morning sessions, the college supplied us with very nice morning tea, pastries and drinks.  Thank you!  We really appreciated the work of the staff and chaplains at the school in organising the event, with special mention of Alexis Ratu, who was not there on the day due to a school camp, but who had done some of the organising for us and kept us informed of what was happening.  We then made two quick trips to a service station nearby to fill up with fuel without the van or trailer attached, as the entry to the service station would not have accommodated the size of the van or trailer.  Then, we returned to the school to link up the van and trailer and set off down the highway to Wollongong.  We arrived at the pastor’s home at 1.30 pm and set up our caravan for the weekend stay and Glen was able to have a room in the house, which is a bit more comfortable than the swag!  

During the afternoon, we were able to drive into Dapto and pick up some more food for the weekend while Glen assisted one of the children with some homeschooling. In the evening, the Pathfinders were having tea at the pastor’s house, so we unloaded Bubsie for them to view as well. Our team members were all feeling a little weary, so we had an early night and appreciated a good night’s sleep without having to rise early to get somewhere else.  

The property has a magnificent view of the area, which is just what we needed to recharge our batteries before starting a weekend with several events scheduled.