T.I.A

Day 18-20: Banora Point to Sunshine Coast. Our new home.

2012-01-07T19:42:00.000+09:30

Simple. Our final pack. Notice the draws, blue esky, bags of clothes to the right, plastic tub, red pillows just tucked in the left corner, 2 suitcases and a pram. 203km trek via Harbourtown for some school joggers and leather shoes for the boys for their new school. Travel through 4 states and 1 territory. 4 different time zones. Total kilometres: 5126km. whew. Need probably 2 or 3 new tyres, topped up with 1 litre of oil and 500ml of coolant, the Challenger was a legend of a car. Sorry I forgot to calculate how much fuel we used or how much we spent. Something for next time? Thanks for following the journey. Will update this blog periodically over the next month or so with some more reflections and photos from our time in Alice Springs, but I will finish this very soon, please keep checking and reminding me for some old stuff or questions. Thanks and God Bless.

Day 17: Coffs Harbour to Banora Point

2012-01-07T19:14:00.000+09:30

We are getting closer I can just see the Sunshine Coast over the horizon. We finally see family! We are staying at Banora Point (near Tweed Heads) with the Dowlings (Belinda's sister's family). Belinda's other sister (the Browns) drove down from Brisbane to have a Freeman Christmas. We had Christmas Day festivities at Fingal Head. Lovely place, lovely food, lovely company. Had my usual Christmas Day nap (funny how the body can adjust so many days after the real deal) under the tree. It does feel weird because now the realisation is setting in that we are nearly at our new home. 298km today, but the Pacific Highway was full of holiday travellers, road works and soon to be bypass roads. After nearly 4500km, numerous speed cameras, red light cameras, radars and highway patrol cars, careful monitoring of speed and noticing roadwork and speed signs, I got pulled over for "speeding". In the NT we don't muck around when there is injustice. I was clocked at 99km in an 80 AHEAD zone, not an 80 zone. I politely told the officer this and we had a standoff. He took my licence, checked the car and went back to his vehicle. 5 minutes later he comes back and hands back my licence and says "Here is your licence sir, I just need to check your story." He walks back to the car and speeds off. What are we to do? He didn't say to stay, but he didn't say we could go. No ticket either. After 15 minutes by the side of the road we decide to leave the scene and retrace our steps for 10 minutes, taking photos of the signs just in case we did the wrong thing. Funnily enough, Homer Simpson directed us to take a turnoff 25km before Grafton. I guess if we were in trouble, we lost him as we were taken on a lovely country road, saving us 50km and time by not going through Grafton.

Day 15 and 16: Newcastle to Coffs Harbour

2012-01-03T19:14:00.000+09:30

367km today to Coffs Harbour. We would have left earlier but me and the boys have been captivated by the journey of Simon "The Wizard" Whitlock's incredible run in the World Championship of Darts on FoxSport. The semi final the other day was gripping TV and had all three boys screaming "180"! at the appropriate moments. If you watched it, you know exactly what I mean.

I know we are heading back to the Sunshine Coast and we will see this EVERY day, but for us, it is building the excitement. I hope you enjoy the photos of the view we had from our motel room at Coffs.

My bad, this was the view we had of Coffs from our motel room. The previous images were our view from atop Muttonbird Island. A leisurely stroll up the mountain to see Coffs. Not a muttonbird to see.

Played tourist on day 2 in Coffs and relented and went to The Big Banana. The prices caused Belinda to call it "The Big Rip", but we did enjoy our toboggan rides and our chocolate coated banana- basically our meal for the day as our food stocks are getting low.

Good on ya Mum. The 30 second ride only took "Driving Miss Daisy" 90 seconds.

Joseph asked for this shot below to be taken- EXACTLY the way it was taken. Anyone who knows Joseph knows what I mean and it was totally wrong of me to ask him to take out the banana lolly from his mouth.

It had to happen sooner or later. Surely we would have to run into someone from Alice Springs. This is Kurtis' friend Rafiki all the way from Alice Springs. Ok, as we were driving into Coffs Harbour Kurtis says "Where are we?"
We say "Coffs Harbour."
"Coffs Harbour? I think Rafiki's family come here for holidays."
We send 1000s of texts and Kurtis anxiously waited by Belinda's phone and we were able to catch up with his good mate at Jetty Beach. One happy lad.

What do good mates do in Coffs? They run along the jetty and they JUMP off the side. Another thing it is lucky grandparents don't know what their son lets their grandkids do....did I just write that out loud?

"Hi there. I am his friend. Elijah, is that your Dad?"
"Yes it is."
"So, where are you from?"
"I'm from Newcastle on holidays. Where are you from?"
"We're from Alice Springs driving..."
"Holy Cow! [runs from water] Hey everybody! These people are from Outback Australia!!!!"
"Dad, can you play with me?...I don't want to play with him anymore."

Get used to it Kurtis.

Alright Elijah, we'll bury YOU now, but not all the way to your neck.

Day 13 and 14: Dubbo to Newcastle

2012-01-01T18:51:00.000+09:30

387km to Newcastle and we have just tripped over to 4000km for the trip thus far. To put it into a little perspective, I usually do about 2000-2500km a term (10 weeks) in Alice Springs. We arrive in Newcastle and are staying at the Charlestown Executive Apartments, 10km to the beach. Finally, a little bit of luxury for fraction of the cost. Oh, Happy New Year to everybody. We spent New Years Eve down on the foreshore of Newcastle and enjoyed the fireworks at 9pm and took 3 tired boys home to bed. How are the boys going after such a long trip. We have named Kurtis second Dad as he has stepped up and looked after Joseph quite a bit. He does also try to pull him into line which is quite amusing at times. Elijah still needs his hugs, but also his space and sleep. He is always first into the car, buckled up and ready to go, regardless of the time to the next destination. He can't wait to get to the coast though. The best thing we do for Elijah is print up the itinerary. Joseph has gone through long thumb sucking sessions, screaming and hitting but seems to think the whole trip and the whole world is his audience. He is 3 going on 13. Kurtis is his hero, Elijah his best mate. Daylight saving is great, but try getting a 3 year old to bed in full sunlight at 8:30...it is starting to have an effect on him.

We caught up with some old friends from Northside Christian College days. Kellie and Michael Ross. Always good to catch up with people around this great country of ours. Since Port Augusta, we have not seen one NT number plate, so the stares and conversations with people are getting longer. I will miss the novelty of the number plates on the car as my rego runs out in February. Quote of the trip from someone at Forbes. "Alice Springs hey? Always wanted to go there, I bet the barra fishing is excellent." I politely told him we lived in the middle of the desert and I have seen the river flow about 10 times in four years.

This was the park we discovered at Speers Point. Now this was a park! Yes Grandad and Grandma, Joseph (and Dad!) made it to the top and slid down. Joseph 5, Dad 1.

The Newcastle Ocean baths were a fantastic way to end our time in Newcastle. Warmer in the water than out, but a beautiful back drop.

A new year and our trip is nearly over. I am looking forward to reflecting on my time in Alice and putting even more photos and stories up on the blog as they come back to memory. I do need to finish this time and look forward to the next chapter on my journey. I am really hopeful of finding the best job I can, but also the right job as I settle back into life on the east coast. I really want to work hard on maintaining my fitness and being as healthy as possible. Getting pneumonia on the very day of my 40th birthday was a bit of a shock to the system, but I think I have recovered really well and after my usual indulgences over Christmas and New Year, I am ready to get back into the beach runs, surfing and helping Kurtis learn what doing a preseason is all about! Great to have Belinda's blessing to continue my football career in the Masters, but I loved playing a game of 7 a side soccer with Yirara and having Kurtis play as well. A dream to play a competitive sport as father and son. Off to Coffs Harbour tomorrow for another 2 night stay.

Day 12: Dubbo

2011-12-30T18:47:00.000+09:30

Day 12 started early with a rush to Dubbo Zoo to secure an electric cart for our trip around the Western Plains Zoo. This actually became a highlight for the boys who would look at animals and then rush back to get the best seat. Amazingly, I did not get to drive this all that much, someone seemed to enjoy driving this and being in charge of the tour.

After being disappointed yesterday with the non compliance of some animals who seemed to wander away from the viewing areas or were asleep (is it worth putting lions and tigers in a zoo where they sleep for 20 hours a day?), many animals were much more compliant and awake this morning. These are magnificent creatures and majestic up close.

Love these Zebras.

Boys, I don't think the elephant appreciates being woken up. Elijah, it is not interested in your Nintendo 3DS.

Fighting for the back seat.

Are those boys playing with the baby rhinos again?

Kurtis' favourite animal...the North American bison. Elijah's favourite....the otter and his recently purchased toy tiger "Softy". Joseph's favourite...the lion.

Oh look, a caged emu. The dozen emus we saw scamper across the road in the middle of nowhere near Woomera would be SOOOO jealous of the easy life.

Kurtis, could you please get off the galapagos turtle.

Dropping Belinda off at her night accommodation.

We certainly have tried to keep costs down on this trip. Here are the boys in our luxury accommodation in Dubbo. It is Joseph's turn to sleep on the floor tonight.

The gallows.

Anyone who knows Kurtis knows he does need disciplining at times.

Day 11: Forbes to Dubbo

2011-12-30T18:28:00.000+09:30

153km to Dubbo seems like a day cruise now. Didn't even need a coffee from our well packed coffee machine that is travelling very well from Alice Springs. Kurtis is pleased he no longer has it at his feet. We decided to stop by at Parkes to see "The Dish". We thought it would be more impressive, but this is why they have the best cafe we have been to. We would travel 40km from Forbes any day of the week to have a cuppa and scone there.

Finally have reached Dubbo and we headed to the zoo as quickly as possible. We were warned that it was a hot day (32 degrees!) and we didn't have the heart to tell them we were missing the 38 degree day Alice was experiencing. We decided to do an hour walking tour before we tackle a longer Dubbo Zoo day the next day.

People looked at me strangely when I stood at the fence with the boys and booed the camel exhibit. See these all the time and they are a Central Australian pest. Better to eat than keep alive I think. Ok, I did enjoy riding one and they did help open up Central Australia to the explorers, but they do need to be managed.

The father always looks out for his kids.

The boys just wanted to hear them sing "I like to move it, move it"

Day 10: Melbourne to Forbes

2011-12-30T18:17:00.000+09:30

Our longest day on the road. We have now travelled over 3000km to this point. We are still amazed that after and hour on the road, we were still technically in the Melbourne region. We set off early for our trip to the Big 4 in Forbes. 724km later we were there and Elijah (bless his heart) offered to pay for the boys to hire these buggies. We cooked a BBQ and had an early night before we have our shortest trip tomorrow to Dubbo.

I don't think this is the main street of Forbes. Sorry Forbes, wasn't clear where the main centre of town was.

Day 6 - 9: Melbourne

2011-12-30T18:04:00.000+09:30

Time for a little rest on the journey. Christmas Day with our old friends the Careys. We have known them since our Mackay days and we were extremely delighted and appreciative to have a place to stay over Christmas. Christmas Day was a smorgasboard of prawns, mussels, salmon, pork, beef, four or five desserts and a couple of homebrews and red wine. Thanks to the Careys for the spread, friendship and some new memories.

Bec and Belinda. Old friends from College days and the 2 best English teachers I have ever had!

Headed down to trendy St Kilda and caught up with one of my ex-students Dave Williams. While being in the Territory for 4 years, for us to both travel 40 minutes to meet up in the middle of Melbourne was crazy, but well worth it. I am not sure we are city people anymore, but are becoming more thankful to the GPS for helping us around the place. Having just done a tick under 2000km so far, we have not yet got sick of listening to directions from Homer Simpson.

We still look like a happy couple. Photo by Joseph.

Day 6: Port Fairy to Melbourne via The Great Ocean Road

2011-12-27T19:36:00.000+09:30

This day has been the highlight of the trip. Only around 400km for the day, but we couldn't help ourselves and kept stopping to view the magnificent coastline. And talking about spontaneity, we decided to take the boys up in a helicopter to view the Twelve Apostles. Amazing and breathtaking. The boys loved it and the photos do not do this trip any justice. We have video as well of the chopper flight and it is just spectacular. I have watched it twice already. The travellers and the car didn't know what hit it with the winding roads. Quite a contrast where we were fearful of falling asleep on the 100s of kilometres of straight roads to the tight corners and speeding traffic coming right at us. The little seaside towns along the way captured our attention and if it wasn't for being Christmas Eve, we might just have stayed somewhere along here.

Day 5: Adelaide to Port Fairy

2011-12-27T19:23:00.000+09:30

After 2 nights in Adelaide it is off to Port Fairy, Victoria, some 589 km away. Heading into our third time zone for the trip is a little confusing and at least gives us something to try and explain to the boys why this happens. Port Fairy is a sleepy little place that comes alive over summer. Beautiful and peaceful, it has a rustic charm which the locals are very proud of. All the buildings are old and sometimes we wish we had extended our trip a little longer to make the most of a peaceful place like this. Staying in the good ol' Big 4 helps a lot and this has been the nicest one we have stayed in thus far. We loved the lollies when we arrived and when we left.

Day 3: Port Augusta to Adelaide

2011-12-22T18:29:00.000+09:30

333km to Adelaide. A Capital City. Traffic, road works, people everywhere. And it is Christmas as well. We settled in and headed to the shops for some supplies and Christmas shopping. We have stayed 2 days in Adelaide and have braved public transport. Caught the bus to Westfield Marion and the tram on the morning of Day 4 to Glenelg.

A beach!! We worship the beach. Thanks Kurtis and Elijah for working with me on this one.

My highlight thus far..an old carnival toy called the SS Homebrew. No, Elijah has not got into my homebrew.

Day 2: Coober Pedy to Port Augusta

2011-12-22T18:26:00.000+09:30

540km to Port Augusta from Coober Pedy and we find water...wonderful, blue, clean water....I think they call it the Ocean.

We didn't find much to do in Port Augusta.

Road Trip 2011/12. Day 1 Alice Springs to Coober Pedy

2011-12-22T18:06:00.000+09:30

Things will be out of place because I will add some more photos of our time in Alice Springs, but as we have already started our trip home, this will be the focus of my posts. I still feel I need to reflect on some things and discuss as much as I can about our time there and my reflections. Belinda will hopefully begin her "Watercloset Chronicles". Something a little light hearted.

On the road to new beginnings. At least we are happy there. 30 minutes before this I couldn't fit everything in the Challenger and I was STRESSED.

First stop, after waving goodbye to Alice Springs, was Kulgera. The last and first hotel in the Northern Territory.

274km from Alice Springs and we run into someone we know! Paul and Teresa Imms and their wonderful daughters. Small world.

688km to Coober Pedy. Where were in car DVDs in my younger days. The road remained unsealed to Coober Pedy until 1987. It is the Opal capital of the world and virtually every shop sells them. No bargains though. Interesting place. You actually feel like you are inside the mines themselves. Thanks to Big 4 Coober Pedy, Johns Pizza and the Druces from Alice Springs who we ran into in the middle of nowhere.

Heading down one of the mines in Coober Pedy that has now been turned into a tourist attraction. We also go through living quarters. Lots of people and hotels are built underground. It is a once in a lifetime experience, I am not really interested in visiting the place again...except for a pizza.

Belinda made it down the mine and caught up with this fellow...Hey, what is he looking at?

This is a hand dug mine shaft. They litter the landscape and some are not covered. They tell you not to walk backwards or walk forwards with a video camera.

Why would I take this photo? This what it looked like for 540km from Coober Pedy to Port Augusta (Day 2)

New Beginnings, Old Things to Catch up on

2011-12-22T17:04:00.000+09:30

So much has happened since the last time I entered. Belinda is also going to write up some stuff as well. Look out for "THE WATERCLOSET CHRONICLES". Riveting reading I am sure. I turned 40 in September and within the week I had torn my groin badly playing my last game of football for the mighty South Alice Springs Kangaroos. The previous week we had beaten the highly fancied Santa Teresa Saints by 3 points. I know I played pretty well, along with many other blokes and it was a fantastic game to be a part of. We eventually lost to Federals who won their 1st flag for 40 years so losing to the eventual winners is small consolation. I have retired and Belinda is happy, but I look forward to playing Super Rules (Masters) next year and purposely having excuses to be slow. During this week after I played my last game of footy, turned 40 and eaten a plate full of pancakes to celebrate my birthday, the VERY day of my 40th I experienced incredible chest pains and pain up my left arm. A great birthday present...no, not a heart attack, but pneumonia. I then had 2 weeks off work.

I at least got a chance to celebrate my birthday with my boys (above) and my class (below). They did get sick of me telling them it was my birthday, but we had a fantastic day together. As I wrote above, by the afternoon I was in intense pain. Hard to believe even now as I write how bad I felt. Joseph loved having me at home and he really has a compassionate heart and would sleep with me during the day and even come into my bed at night to put me to bed. We really bonded, so it was very hard for him for me to go back to work.

To make me feel even worse I had my brother and his family and my Mum and Dad surprise me for my 40th and come to Alice Springs for the week. I saw them for a day and spent the rest of the week in bed and went out to tea to the "Barra on Todd" one night, and then had another week off.

I guess some of the experiences we/I had caused me to evaluate where we were going as family. We decided that it was time to leave Alice Springs after 4 years. My job has taken a huge toll on my family life. I have loved working with the kids at Yirara and many of the things I did with the kids there at night I chose to do. It was my ministry and I loved the support my family gave me. But getting sick, having 3, sometimes 4 nights out per week, being tired and worn out all the time can take its toll. You will see some of the end of year activities I took part in, but also a number of activities I missed out on- most of them involved me missing my family stuff.

One last trip to Uluru was magical and a sad moment. Belinda's mum came out and we took her there to wonder at the majesty of the place. We were going to climb it, but I ran out of breath andcould not go on and it was just not worth the risk. I had been "well" for a week and I did not want to regress.

Another visit to the the rock wallabies was magical and they were feisty and came to the party and were easy to feed. Joseph still tried to catch them.

At Yirara this year I co-ran a program for the fellas called "Strong Way". Basically a course that looked at the tranisition from childhood to adulthood. We tried to look at this in a way that looked at the good things in aboriginal and western culture, but challenged ourselves on what was not so good in both. We then tried to balance that out by looking at "Kingdom Culture"- How does God want us to live in this world as followers of Him? not as aborigines or whitefellas, but as Christians. We had a formal dinner with the girls of the "Strong Way" and also had a end of year trip with the Clontarf football academy to the Sunshine Coast (coincidentally, this is where we are now moving to in 2012).

Movember came and went. Love the "Mo", but gee I look tired.

The Desert Knowledge Australia Youth Leadership Group had their graduation in November. I am very proud of these 3 who stuck it out with me till the end. I missed their trip to Melbourne due to sickness, but all 3 have grown this year.

Movember! Need I say more!

We visited the Henbury Meteorite Crate one weekend on the way to our last visit to King's Canyon. We arrived at King's Canyon, went for a swim in the resort pool and then it rained all afternoon and night and we didn't get a chance to see the canyon again. Good bonding time for us all though.

Things are a bit out of sync, but I want to catalogue everything. This is my, before I got all choked up, saying goodbye to Yirara. It has been hard to leave, but necessary for me and my family. A good decision. I have no job at writing, but I think God really does want me to spend more time with my boys. But, who knows what will come. Teaching? Something else? Let's wait and see.

Kurtis "graduated" from Grade 6 and had a special dinner for the occasion. A night I missed, but apparently he busted a move on the dancefloor that night. Don't know where he got the dancing gene from- certainly wasn't me

Joseph's first Christmas concert at kindy. Another night I missed and at writing I have still not watched the video.

My cricket team for the first half of the season. Yes, only 5 players, but at least the morning goes very quickly.

Something I did make it to- Kurtis' Grade 6 closing service. Joseph fell asleep during the service.

Alcohol in Alice Springs

2011-10-05T11:02:00.000+09:30

A story worth listening to.

April - September 2011

2011-09-14T14:56:00.000+09:30

ANZAC Day on ANZAC Hill. Shoulder room only. Cool and crisp morning. Awesome to take Kurtis and Elijah with me on this day.

Joseph's first foray into Soccer. He was ok until he realised people were watching him. We haven't been back since.

Took the "Strong Way" fellas up to ANZAC Hill one night to talk about the "inner wolf".

I still got it!! Even if the hoop "appears" to be under regulation height.

Desert Knowledge Australia have started a Youth Leadership Program for the 4 Senior High Schools in Alice Spings. I am one of the teacher mentors. This is the group at the retreat we had at Hamilton Downs Station. We are planning a trip to Melbourne in September.

Kurtis' Desert Rebels Soccer team. They finished 4th this season. He played very well.

Kurtis made the Desert Storm (Alice Springs) Under 12 representative side this year and travelled to Darwin.

At the Heavitree Outback Lodge we can feed the Yellow Footed Rock Wallabies. The boys love it and the wallabies love it as well. Nothing like hand feeding nature. You have to learn patience as you compete for the attention of the wallabies and Joseph trying to touch them.

Another weekend in Alice, another festival and parade. This time the Bangtail Muster with Elijah's class on the back of a truck.

Another visit to Standley Chasm.

We have been getting visits from the navy 2 or 3 times a year at Yirara. A really good relationship developing between us and them. The main thing we stress to many visitors is to come back. This is one of the only ways to gain respect and to be listened to by the kids. Belinda was doing relief work this day and was very excited to meet some real life "Sea Patrol" people. And she was amazed that these people were nothing like the people on the TV show.

Albrecht Man made an appearance on Athletics Day this year. And won his race!

Albrecht Boy, Albrecht Man's offsider also made an appearance. He also won his race on Athletics Day.

Little Albrecht wanted to race, but was confined to the sidelines.

Finke Desert Race was on again. This time we decided to find a vantage point somewhere up the track where we could get up close and personal. The photos don't do it a lot of justice, but we were very close to the road. Again. the boys loved every minute of it. It was freezing.

All the fun of the Alice Springs Show. We had a great day as a family and spent up big. The boys' showbags lasted at least a week before things broke.

Joseph's 3rd birthday party at Araluen Park.

The Yirara Lions Girls AFL team I coached. We lost our game, but are hungry for more!

We are stil here

2011-09-14T11:09:00.001+09:30

Not sure how many people do actually take the time to read up on the Modlins in Alice, but I have been struck down with pneumonia and this is as good as time as any to show you all what we have been up to. It has been a lot. The slow internet out here has seemed to have slowed down even more and so this could be brief or it might be a long winded showing of the many things we have done.
Firstly,
I have been writing a once a month article for Christian Today Australia. Here are the links to some of the articles I have written.
Ghost Gum Walk
Where is your Peace?
Sense of Community Alive and Well in Central Australia
Muffins

I have been busy, and the articles give a little insight into some of our adventures. The Christian Today Australia website is very good and details many world events and perspectives. Enjoy. Next post will be all about pictures. Oh, by the way, I have turned 40. My parents, my brother and his wife turned up on the doorstep. Totally blown away...and then I got sick. I have officially retired from playing Australian Rules football. The Masters await now. I had a great season, played every game, our team went from 10th to 4th...and I ripped the groin in the first 5 minutes of our 2nd semi final. It was just not meant to be.

A couple more of my articles posted on Christian Today Australia

2011-04-15T09:13:00.000+09:30

February 2011 - Junior http://au.christiantoday.com/article/junior/10406.htm
March - Everywhere you go you always take the weather with you
http://au.christiantoday.com/article/everywhere-you-go-you-always-take-the-weather-with-you/10724.htm

A few photos...A few updates

2011-03-22T21:17:00.000+09:30

A photo from Movember 2010 with my other son Joseph.

West Cricket Club Division 3

Home brewing is still such a big part of Modlin family life

Another visit from a former Brisbane Bullets legend- Andre Moore.

Not a photo from Alice Springs, but Belinda and I celebrated our 15th Wedding Anniversary on the Sunshine Coast. A whole day out without kids. Breakfast, movies, lunch, shopping and dinner and latin dancing....what a night!

Albrecht House Vice-Captain Kurtis Modlin

Oh look, it's raining in Alice again and the river is flowing again.

Manny, Joseph (buried), Rioli and Eugene. 4 of the fellas I took away on "Strong Way" camp recently to Simpsons Gap for 2 nights. A good break and some tough times, but enjoyable.

Big Sister Kate comes to Visit

2011-03-20T21:15:00.001+09:30

I seem to start all these posts now with "Gee it's been a long time". Not sure why. I have been watching too much TV again and been very tired coming home at night. I have now been doing some night work at Yirara, coaching Basketball, football training, running a transition to adulthood course (more on that later) for some 13/14 year old "fellas" and just trying to make the most out of the year. Big sister Kate Fraser came for a visit. This excited the boys immensely and after Joseph's extremely tearful goodbye to Kate and Christmas time. It did take him awhile to warm to her again. He had another tearful performance at the airport when she left Alice Springs 10 days later. We love having her around and she certainly is becoming a Modlin more and more....poor thing. She photographs everything, but we have loved having the photos. As you can see, it rained and rained and rained out here in the desert. Not very brown at all and the photos are quite stunning. We actually couldn't take her very far, most of the roads were cut and the rain just did not stop.

Red mud! Lovely to play in...harsh on the clothes! I don't do the washing so it doesn't faze me that much.

Spectacular sunsets over Alice

Kate grew to about 10 foot tall while she was in Alice Springs.

A link to Christian Today- I am published!

2011-02-07T15:58:00.000+09:30

Article published on Christian Today

Interesting Start to Term 4

2010-10-30T21:28:00.000+09:30

It has been awhile since I have had to work really hard at Yirara. The kids have come back quite unsettled and it certainly has been a testing time. This does not mean I don't enjoy what I am doing, I have just been taken out of my comfort zone and had to again rely on being well prepared, consistent and really live by the saying "firm, fair and friendly". The quality of relationships I have established with many of the students is still there, I just have to work harder to keep their focus on what I am trying to achieve in my lessons, and to maintain their interest. I won't give up, I have been having some good night sleeps though and been praying a lot more, which is not necessarily a bad thing. I have picked up a Grade 10 English class and had to get my mind back to being inside the classroom. I tried to get out of teaching it by saying "Well, if i have to lose a PE class to teach English, I will teach them Shakespeare!" Everyone thought that was a wonderful idea, so it teaches me it is sometimes better to keep my mouth shut.

Headed out to Titjikala (Maryvale) to pick up three students (came home with one, the other two eventually made it in...they ran away from school this weekend), with Harry from Ossies Outback Tours in his white Toyota Landcruiser. We have had over 10 times more rain this year than last year. The temperatures are still cool, which is good for the comfort of all, but not for my swimming program. I am supposed to be running a Swimming Carnival postponed from Term1..it needs to get hot soon. The wildflowers are amazing and many of the flowers have not been seen round these parts for many years. Great for photographers, terrible for hayfever sufferers like me and Kurtis.

We headed out to Kings Canyon (Watarrka) for a weekend. Kurtis and I completed the 6km Rim walk and the 2.6km Kings Creek walk. We both did our best Man V Wild impersonations and found some refreshing water stops along the way. We sneezed most of the afternoon away.

Hopefully you can see Kurtis and me up the top of the canyon.

The view from our Deluxe Spa at Kings Canyon Resort

Father's Day 2010

2010-10-24T20:11:00.000+09:30

I had the opportunity to speak at church again (twice in 3 years!!) and it was Father's Day. Due to mine and Belinda's involvement in Sunday School, we decided to do a kid's service. Here is the text of my message (excuse the note form in some places...this allowed me to go with the flow so to speak):

Fatherhood: The Best Job in the World

I have had a great Father’s Day with my three boys…

Despite the mess of the world, I am feeling very happy and blessed, just by the opportunity to be their dad. Of all the things I have done, this really is the thing I like the best, and have come to regard as the most important.

The United States have Father’s Day on a different day than us (June 20th this year), and I came across a speech given by President Obama on that day. Sometimes the most important things are not at the top of the news headlines. I didn’t see much discussion on the news channels about this particular speech of his. And I found myself quite moved by the president's words about being a father.

Obama posed a simple question: "How can we as a nation -- not just the government, but businesses, community groups, and concerned citizens (and I think we should include churches) -- how can we all come together to help fathers meet their responsibilities to our families and communities?"

He spoke honestly about all the problems caused by the absence of fathers in children's lives, and spoke personally about his own absent father: "I say all this as someone who grew up without a father in my own life. He left my family when I was two years old. And while I was lucky to have a wonderful mother and loving grandparents who poured everything they had into me and my sister, I still felt the weight of that absence. It’s something that leaves a hole in a child’s life that no government can fill." Barack Obama’s own life experience is a big part of why this issue is so important to him, and why his two little girls are so central in his life.

He said: "We can talk all we want here about issues like education and health care and crime; we can build good schools; we can put money into creating good jobs; we can do everything we can to keep our streets safe -- but government (and maybe we should add as well here the church or the church youth group or the church’s kids program!!) can’t keep our kids from looking for trouble on those streets. Government can’t force a kid to pick up a book or make sure that the homework gets done. Government (or the church!! Or your kids school!!!) can’t be there day in, day out, to provide discipline and guidance and the love that it takes to raise a child. That’s our job as fathers, as mothers, as guardians for our children."

And, as Obama often does, he spoke about the difference in having a kid and being a father: "The fact is, it’s easy to become a father, technically -- any guy can do that. It’s hard to live up to the lifelong responsibilities that come with fatherhood. And it’s a challenge even in good times, when our families are doing well. It’s especially difficult when times are tough, families are straining just to keep everything together."

Obama zeroed in on the heart of his message for Father’s Day: "Here’s the key message I think all of us want to send today to fathers all across the country: Our children don’t need us to be superheroes. They don’t need us to be perfect. They do need us to be present. They need us to show up and give it our best shot, no matter what else is going on in our lives. They need us to show them -- not just with words, but with deeds -- that they, those kids, are always our first priority. Those family meals, afternoons in the park, bedtime stories; the encouragement we give, the questions we answer, the limits we set, the example we set of persistence in the face of difficulty and hardship -- those things add up over time, and they shape a child’s character, build their core, teach them to trust in life and to enter into it with confidence and with hope and with determination.”

Then the president said something that I know he truly believes, and made me feel very grateful that he does. He said, "The work of raising our children is the most important job in this country, and it’s all of our responsibilities -- mothers and fathers."

He then went on to say, "Now, I can’t legislate fatherhood -- I can’t force anybody to love a child. But what we can do is send a clear message to our fathers that there is no excuse for failing to meet their obligations. (NUDGE) What we can do is make it easier for fathers who make responsible choices and harder for those who avoid those choices. (NUDGE, NUDGE) What we can do is come together and support fathers who are willing to step up and be good partners and parents and providers ... But ultimately, we know that the decision to be a good father -- that’s up to us, each of us, as individuals. It’s one that men across this country are making every single day -- attending those school events; parent-teacher conferences; coaching sporting teams, scrimping and saving, or working overtime to provide for their family.”

I think it is both rare and significant when a political leader gets personal in an authentic way. To admit mistakes and failures is not something politicians normally do, and this president has been criticized for it. But when he spoke of his own struggles and joys as a parent, every dad who heard him could easily identify.

Even when we give it our best efforts, there will still be plenty of days of struggle and heartache when we don’t quite measure up. Even with all the good fortune and support Belinda and I have had in our lives, I’ve made plenty of mistakes as a parent. I’ve lost count of all the times when the demands of work or my love of sport and TV have taken me from the duties of fatherhood. And I know I’ve missed out on moments in my sons’ lives that I’ll never get back. But I also know the feeling that one author described when she wrote that ‘to have a child ... is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.’

I don't think I have ever heard a better description of what it feels like to be a parent -- to have a child is to have your heart walking around outside your body. In the future, how will your family be seen by those you come into contact with? How will your sons or daughters be characterized?

All the president of the United States wants to be is to be the best Dad he can be to the 2 girls in his life. And I believe he means that.

When Obama talked about his own deepest feelings about his girls, he was getting to the hearts of every dad who was listening and that is what I am trying to do today.

I’m sure a lot of fathers here know that same memory that I have, of driving home with their son or daughter from the hospital. Your emotions swinging between unadulterated joy and sheer terror.

Yet in the end, all I can really think about at times is if I could be anything in life, is that I would be a good father. And like a lot of the men here, since that time I’ve found there’s nothing else in my life that compares to the pleasures I take in spending time with my boys.

Nothing else comes close to the pride I feel in their achievement and the satisfaction I get in watching them grow into strong, confident, God loving, young men who might just want to be like their Dad who is striving every day to be like Jesus.

Over the course of my life, I have been a student, worked in the Myer Sporting Department, finished 3 degrees, worked as a teacher in 3 different schools and held down a vast number of roles and management positions, played Australian Football for 5 different clubs and played football in 4 different states, been on mission trips to Torres Strait over the last 5 years, been a teacher in Sunday school and I am sure I could go on about the Russell Modlin story forever.

But of all the things I have ever done, being a good father and husband is the job that now feels like the most important one to me. It's also the greatest privilege, honour and blessing I've ever had. But I can say without hesitation that the most challenging, most fulfilling, most important job I will have during my time on this Earth is to be Kurtis’, Elijah’s and Joseph’s dad.

Vulnerable and exposed!!

I want all boys/sons, fathers, husbands, uncles, grandfathers to listen carefully now…if you feel the same way as I do, if you feel something I have said today has stirred your heart, come join me now up here on stage. To show this group of believers today, to stand before God together as brothers in Christ, that you are ready to tackle the most important job in the world today, whether now or into the future.

Modlin Family Road Trip - Day 11 - Tennant Creek to Alice Springs - The End

2010-10-02T21:15:00.000+09:30

We are home. Rather than giving a standard Russell summary, I will hand over to Belinda to give the final summary of the trip and her reflections of our time away. Enjoy.

Hello fellow blog readers. I thought it was time I added my two cents worth to this blog thing. It sure has been an adventure for us all and we have more than thoroughly enjoyed our road trip. Today was a great day because it meant we could get home to our own beds, but it was also a sad day because arriving home signalled the end of our holiday, plus a truck load of washing and unpacking for me!!

We left our very average accomodation in Tennant Creek to begin our journey to Modlin Motel. Today our travels took to the Devil's Marbles, Wauchope and Ti Tree. It was more of a quick stop at each place to take pictures, get fuel or go to the loo!! We did run into a native at the Devil's Marbles...a snake. We have yet to identify what types it was.

It was an awesome experience exploring the territory with my wonderful family. The scenery and landscape is wonderfully breathtaking and makes you appreciate what an incredible creation we are a part of. Interesting rock formations, interesting little creatures that make the desert their home, beautiful birdlife and surprising little pockets of paradise...just amazing. Also, so nice to be building special memories together with the boys. We shared lots of fun and laughs. The boys are now looking forward to going tthrough all the photos again and talking about the things we did. For Elijah, it's talking about all the different places we stayed and which one he liked the best!! Thanks to everyone who followed us on our road trip. Watch this space for the next Modlin family adventure.

Another well trained tourist.

Modlin Family Road Trip - Day 10 - Mataranka to Tennant Creek 566km

2010-10-01T20:27:00.000+09:30

The boys and I finally succumbed to an early morning swim at the famous Thermal Pools. Walked through the forest of flying foxes (Elijah found it freaky) and had a swim with the boys in the 32 degrees pool. Rushed home for the Barra feeding demonstration and took my brother's advice and stopped for a famous Mataranka pie- "Sorry. They're not hot enough yet, we only just put them on." - Welcome to theTerritory.

One of the easy to catch barras here in Mataranka.

Kurtis hand feed ing a barramundi. You might be able to make it out under the water.

Even Elijah could catch them.

Keeps me up all night and look at him- big showoff.

Threeways Roadhouse. North to Darwin, South to Alice Springs or Adelaide or East to Mt Isa.

Another place we took a photo of Kurtis- at the Threeways.

We will be nudging the Tuscon as close as we can to this speed to get home tomorrow in time for the Grand Final.

The welcoming committee at Tennant Creek.

Day 9 - Kakadu to Mataranka 407km

2010-10-01T20:00:00.000+09:30

Our last day in the magnificent Kakadu National Park and we now begin our journey home retracing many of our steps. We went to Bowali Visitor Centre, Nourlangie and Waradjan Cultural Centre. I loved the cultural centre and caught up on some information some of my students often share about life in the Top End and some of the bush tucker they love to eat. We headed to another favourite place of ours when we last visited 9 years ago- Mataranka, staying at the Territory Manor Motel and Caravan Park. This place was mentioned in the novel "We of the Never Never". Instead of going for a swim at the famous and tourist driven Thermal Pools, we went to the rival, and local suggested Bitter Springs for an afternoon swim. Cooked a BBQ tea with one of Joseph's forks and bedded down together after watching the return of the "Amazing Race". I think Joseph loved staying up till after 9:30. We went to sleep to the roar of the air conditioner and the piercing screams of the 4 peacocks. Had to pray for Elijah as he was again,"A little freaked out".

Took a photo here 9 years ago with Kurtis. This is at the Gagudju Holiday Inn- this is the Crocodile shaped hotel.

Joseph taking the Ranger's troopie for spin.

Nourlangie- Spectacular.

Leave him alone Belinda, it's only a 50m drop.

Doing a touch of rock climbing with the boys.

We didn't make it.

This is Nabulwinjbulwinj. He is a dangerous spirit who eats females after hitting them over the head with a yam.

Living Room, Lounge Room and Kitchen.

Belinda beside one of the small termite or ant mounds. We argued over this endlessly in the car whether these were termites or ants.

Tranquil Bitter Springs.

Another packed tourist spot.

Territory Manor.

Modlin Family Road Trip- Day 8- Darwin to Kakadu 255km

2010-09-29T22:06:00.000+09:30

We have bid adieu to Darwin. We did have to make a stop at Spotlight for Belinda and the Darwin Showgrounds Rip Curl sale. An easy drive to Kakadu today. We arrived late in the afternoon and hastily arranged a 2 hour boat cruise on Yellow Waters. We did find it a tad expensive, but thoroughly enjoyed the cruise. Amazing wildlife and we actually got tired of seeing the crocs- too many to count. What an amazing country we live in. I just sat back and enjoyed creation. Not too many photos for you. I forgot to put the memory card into the camera. All these photos were taken on Belinda's iphone and they are not too shabby I might add. Contrasting weather conditions confronted us. Humid, hot (39 degrees) and a pre-monsoon season shower all on the cruise. An amazing light show at night.

King of the cruise.

A great scene. You have to be here to really appreciate the scenery but also thousands upon thousands of magpie geese coming home to roost for the night. Apparently, very tasty.

Maybe someone can explain to me why these 2 photos, taken a minute apart, have this incredible colour difference. If it is just the effect of the natural light, then this is exactly what we thought we saw. If I had just remembered that memory card!!

Day 7 - Last Day in Darwin

2010-09-28T21:13:00.000+09:30

Headed out this morning to the Smith Street Mall for a bit of cafe coffee and a look at the souvenir shops- of which there are plenty. Hard to buy much made in Australia and things that aren't novelty...kangaroo scrotum lighter anybody? Kurtis chuckled to himself for ages with that one (he is growing up!!) and we had a hard time trying to explain this to Elijah. Yelling out in frustration, "Listen Elijah, it's a ball bag of a kangaroo!!" is not very tasteful at 9:30 in the morning. After buying the boys a key ring each, and again averted their gaze from the upteenth pair of Snapper G-strings (if you don't know what these are then you will never know anything- every shop in Darwin has these!!), we headed off for a teacher-led excursion to the Darwin Military Museum. A side point here while I remember. Elijah got freaked out last night after the Cyclone Tracy exhibition at the NT museum. He couldn't sleep last night and we now get numerous questions as how you can escape them, what are they like, can you die in them and do they really sound like they did in the darkened simulation room at the museum (an actual tape recording by a priest during the cyclone. I found it freaky as well).
After lunch, and a nap, it was off to look at how the other 5% live at Cullen Bay. Nice area, but we probably don't look rich enough in the Hyundai. Then a quick ice cream stop at Stokes Hill Wharf. This is the wharf where part of the movie "Australia" was filmed. Those of you who know me will know how excited I would have been when the ice cream shop has 5 posters up advertising the "Ice Cream Burger"...2 sponge cakes with jam and cream and ice cream and topping in a burger style. I was looking forward to showing you this masterpiece and my attempt to eat it..."Sorry, we are out of sponge." Enough said. Welcome to the Territory. Finally, gave the boys a number of parent decided choices and then the last (and made out to be the not so interesting) choice, was a revisit to the waterslides. Back to the waterslides and water park we went. At least the boys are in bed earlier tonight. Off to Kakadu tomorrow.

A chip off the ol' block. I have taught him well my young padawan.

Elijah and Joseph had an absolute ball climbing over the military equipment and hardware...until we informed them not to climb on the military equipment and hardware. Signs everywhere, we just somehow missed them.

I do promise the first person to tell me what this is, I will take out for a feed. Multiple entries accepted.

The 9.2 inch gun emplacements at East Point. Please allow me to give you a history lesson. Darwin endured some 64 raids by the Japanese with the first being on February 19th, 1942. 188 Japanese planes flew over Bathurst and Melville Islands on the way to bomb the ships in Darwin Harbour. The Catholic missionaries radioed ahead and they were ignored. We had no planes at the ready and Darwin was decimated as well as a number of American and Australian ships. 2 of these guns were built to withstand the Japanese navy. They had 2 practice fires and were never used in combat. Not much use against the continuing raids of Japanese zeros. Sold off for scrap about 20 years later to...the Japanese who had come to retrieve some of their debris left behind. Most of Darwin was evacuated and some 500 000 Australian and American troops settled in Darwin, began the upgrade of the Stuart Highway from Darwin to Alice and built numerous air strips so the Spitfires could finally arrive and fight the battle in the skies, not in the sea as first thought. I can't remember the final death tally from the raids, but I do know the government fudged the figures so panic would not set in around Australia.

No climbing trees in Cullen Bay, but the boys found a climbing rock.

This ws one of the parent-decided options for this afternoon. A Darwin Harbour ferry ride...declined.

The shops at Stokes Hill Wharf. Home of the not so famous "Ice Cream Burger". May it melt as fast as the ice cream cone I held in its stead.

Stokes Hill Wharf.

Day 6 - Darwin - Elijah's 7th Birthday

2010-09-27T20:33:00.001+09:30

The day finally arrived. Elijah's pent up excitement for the last 6 days has finally reached its climax. He has turned 7...if you can believe that! Kurtis and Joseph look just as excited as him. Joseph up at 4:30 and Elijah up at 5:00 this morning. Suffice to say, they are wasted tonight.

Elijah's choice today. Swim at the Darwin Waterfront Wave Pool. Lunch at McDonalds. Visit to the NT Museum and Art Gallery. Buffet dinner at Skycity Casino.

A great family photo. Time to update the Facebook profile picture. Each of us got extremely burnt today. We used Cancer Council sunscreen. The only one who didn't get burnt was...Joseph, using his baby suncream. We even reapplied!! Not happy to have the heat of red raw skin as well to contend with along with the heat of the day. A good shot though don't you reckon?

Sweetheart, or what remains of the 750kg croc that terrorised NT waters. Worth a read of the story. http://www.nt.gov.au/nreta/museums/sweetheart/index.html

The birthday boy with his proud parents. We devoured everything in sight tonight at the buffet. A great night out with the boys. Food and fellowship...you could even call it "church".

Day 5 - Darwin - Crocosaurus Cove, Mindal Beach Markets

2010-09-26T21:51:00.004+09:30

I write this today with a heavy heart. About 1km away Jet and Powderfinger are playing up here in Darwin. I can just hear them. Kurtis has enjoyed trying to name the songs he knows. So close, yet so far. We had another fantastic day with the family. We headed out early for Crocosaurus Cove in town. All 3 of the boys could not wait to explore and divulge most of their already wide reptile knowledge learnt from their many Desert Park and Reptile Centre visits in Alice. We caught up today with our old ex-neighbours from Brisbane (Antony, Emma and their 3 kids) and ran into (yes, ran into) my old principal from Yirara at the markets. We braved the crowds at Mindal Beach Markets and were overwhelmed by the crowds and the smells of the food. I had too many choices. I basically had to eat what the boys didn't like and only had a calamari on a stick (Japanese style), leftover prawn cocktail, a few mouthfuls of mango sorbet, a couple of dutch pancakes and a mango and banana smoothie...I feel like a garbage disposal.

Mmmmmmmm Barra.

I am the snake whisperer.

Yes, this is getting a little corny. These things are everywhere. Elijah even wanted me to take one of him at Coles. They have one of these for the Sport for Schools promotion.

Christina the croc. This would have cost us $25 and then $15 for each subsequent photo the photographer took.

Yes, a croc named after Wendell Sailor.

The Croc Cage is just behind the boys.

We were the first 3 selected for the Fishing for Crocs show. Mum will say "That always happened to Russell when he was little. He always got picked for the show." And she'd be right....first picked out of 100 or so people lining up, plus another crowd of 200 or so.

Harry the croc. Made famous for predicting the election result, World Cup and picked Collingwood for the AFL. Gee, I hope he gets it wrong.

A market crowd. Much the same as any market crowd.

Sunsets- over Mindal Beach.

Road Trip Day 4- Darwin - AFL GRAND FINAL DAY 2010

2010-09-26T20:39:00.001+09:30

A quieter day for the Modlins. We needed to rest and so caught up on some much needed sleep and settled into the apartment. We went to Aquascene first thing in the morning to see this very popular attraction. Basically, a fish feeding experience which the boys absolutely loved. The humidity is quite exhausting and Belinda has had to get use to me sweating a bit. We then took Belinda to Casuarina Shopping Centre for some retail therapy and a coffee. She was in her element. Finally stocked up some food and party nibbles for an afternoon watching the AFL Grand Final on our 30cm TV in our unit. A word on the Grand Final. A great game. Hard, fair and a good contest. Unbelievable we have to go through that all again a week later and I am sure the AFL are excited about getting some more money out of the punters and upsetting the lead up to the NRL Grand Final next week. We(I) will be making sure we arrive back in Alice next Saturday in time for another afternoon of four 'n twenty pies, sausage rolls and ice cream. My last rant on the AFL...when will the Brisbane Lions get the respect they deserve for winning 3 premierships in a row? No mention at all of their achievements by Channel 7 (were there any shots or grabs of Brisbane players celebrating, magic moments from their grand finals or interviews with past Brisbane players?) or Channel 10 (does not even make the shortlist for Legendary Moments of the decade!!!?????). I guess that is what you get for beating Essendon and Collingwood- better not upset the powerhouse clubs or Victorians.

Road Trip - Day 3 - Katherine to Darwin 323km

2010-09-24T21:45:00.000+09:30

Nearly at our destination. A shorter trip made longer with a visit to Nitmiluk Gorge. A must do. The 2 Gorge tour was about all we could handle. There are 13 gorges, but 2 was enough. We are starting to struggle with the humidity, but enjoying the change. Travelling to Darwin saw an increase in traffic and road kill. I don't think we will do any driving at night. The size of some of the roos would destroy the car. This is the dry season for Katherine/Darwin, so we don't expect any relieving rain...however much it seems to be forecast. The photos are a little out of sequence. Frustrating night on the net.

Joseph thoroughly enjoyed the 2 Gorge tour.

A lovely meal at Sugarbag Cafe at Nitmiluk interrupted by this bird trying to steal our food and bit Belinda's finger as she tried to defend our last meal before the trek to Darwin.

The Leanyer Recreation Water Park in Darwin. Pretty Busy. You might just make out Elijah amongst the throngs of people in the pool. He was taking a rest from the water park and 3 water slides. How much does this all cost?...FREE!!!

Something Elijah wanted me to do. Unfortunately the other kids had to get in the act!!! My holiday- My photo!!

I won't bore you with too many gorge photos, but it is spectacular and worth a visit.

Jedda's leap. You need to see the movie "Jedda" to recognise this. 35m is the depth of the water below the boat. Sacred area for the local people.

He may be cute, but get some sleep tonight little buddy.

Modlin Family Road Trip 2010 - Day 2 - Tennant Creek to Katherine 673km

2010-09-24T21:13:00.000+09:30

We have been amazed at the vastness of this great country of ours. You can drive for an hour and not see anyone. I would say "not see anything", but we did run into a couple of swarms of locusts and saw plenty of cows and eagles circling. We had a coffee at the Coffee Club in Katherine and everything seemed to be going okay. Our accommodation definitely improved, but not Joseph's sleeping positions. Let's go to bed at 8:30 tonight!!! I was banished to the toilet so I could read. This time we gave Kurtis and Joseph the double bed, Elijah the bunk bed and Belinda and I had the other double bed. Joseph was found sleeping on the floor in the middle of the night and Kurtis said he got very little sleep. Joseph still moved around a bit and gave Kurtis a few good whacks during the night.

Belinda driving...a very rare sight.

The Daly Waters HiWay Inn. A great country Roadhouse and Pub. Cheap food and not so cheap fuel $1.89.

One of the many, many road trains the Hyundai Tuscon has struggled to overtake... even at 130km/h.

We stopped off before Katherine at Cutta Cutta Caves. 700m down into the earth and Belinda doesn't look freaked out at all. Quite humid down there and the guide found it a bit hard to stray away from his lines with the many thought provoking questions from Kurtis and Elijah.

Joseph also did well, but loved to go ahead of the pack and be in charge rather than get a photo.

Katherine Hot Springs. 32 degrees all year round and fresh running water. We did have to drag the boys here. They wanted to swim at the Knotts Crossing "Resort" pool. Then we had to drag them away from this place.

The Buddies.

Modlin Road Trip- Day 1 - Alice to Tennant Creek 508km

2010-09-24T20:48:00.000+09:30

The day finally arrived. I sat and twiddled my thumbs for a day at work, listened intently to the closing Chapel at school and then rushed out the door to begin our holiday. Enjoy the photos of each day and a short description of our activities. I have not tried to go overboard with Tennant Creek photos and descriptions. Be aware the highlight is usually arriving and then leaving as quick as possible. Although the boys enjoyed staying at the Tennant Creek Caravan Park.

King of the Car. Doing what he does best.

The Happy Couple. One of us anyway.

Put the foot to the floor past Barrow Creek. Infamous last stop of Peter Falconio.

Wycliffe Well- The Alien Capital of the World or Australia. Elijah found it a little freaky...but it might be because he chose the wrong body to have the photo. How is Jospeh up that high?

The three Aliens (in the background if you are not sure).

The boys love their climbing trees. The first highlight for them in Tennant Creek.

The second highlight. Joseph's first night in a bed. We all went to bed at 9pm so Joseph could get to sleep. He walked around, was found checking the toilet out, climbing the ladder and sleeping on the floor. We think he got some sleep.

Watching DVDs keeps us all sane.

July, August, September 2010

2010-09-21T20:56:00.001+09:30

I play basketball with these fellas. We dropped back from A grade to B grade and we seem to be doing much better. Kurtis loves coming to the games and they really look after him.

The first Home Group I have had while at Yirara. 10 Vocational Education Class. Low literacy and numeracy, but preparation for work. I have only had them for one term and I have been moved onto the other Grade 10 class teaching English again. Still doing PE and Health, but had to pick up an English class while the regular teacher is on long service.

Some of the lads. Touch Football team, but probably some of our most talented sportsmen. And they are regular attenders!!

Elijah and his cousin Olive.

On the way to Standley Chasm.

Another visit for 2 weeks from my brother, his wife Erin and the very cute Olive.

Elijah has got much bolder climbing up the climbing tree.

This is "Chiko". He runs our new "church". Apparently, he has been doing this riverbank church for aobut 18 years. He drives round a few of the town camps and brings people into town, He puts on a BBQ, sings a few classics, and preaches up a storm. He just wants to preach "the truth". No lights, no offering, no notices, no programs. Elijah even told him he was running the Sunday School in the dry river with the kids.

Joseph has found his new spot up the climbing tree. He just sits there like a little koala.

Trephina Gorge. Camping Trip with the boys (minus Joseph).

A cold night round the fire. We had a great time. We had the ranger come and give us a fireside chat and some good firewood. The other campers loved the boys sharing the marshmallows and their antics round the fire. Very tired, but we just laughed the night away once we got into the sleeping bags.

Some more of the Modlins

2010-08-10T15:11:00.000+09:30

Kurtis made the Alice Springs (Desert Storm) Under 13 Soccer team. The State Championships were held in Alice and there were three Alice Springs teams. His team won Division 2. The other 2 teams were in Division 1 and Alice Springs won that division as well. Kurtis played pretty well for a 10 year old.

Elijah slipped at the start of his race (apparently) and came second for the second year running in the 70m sprint. We will do some training next year.

Crazy Auntie Kazza has moved in with us for 6 months and is teaching at Living Waters (Kurtis and Elijah's school). Now Belinda has someone to back her up when she is picking on me.

Athletics Day 2010. Elijah and his good mate Ben.

A new sandpit for Joseph...apparently.

Family shot at Kurtis' 10th Birthday.

Kurtis and his 10th Birthday. If you can't believe he is 10, don't worry, either can I. We gave him a surprise party. He didn't know what hit him!! We had computer games, X Box, Table Soccer , Iphones and an old Street Fighter arcade game. Then we had the Brisbane Lions on the big screen....yes, it was a game they actually won... v Collingwood!!

The boys had to put up with a speech by me. It was the story of Kurtis' birth. Joseph enjoyed it!

Back at it

2010-08-04T16:27:00.001+09:30

The Boys at Emily Gap "Beach"

Back at school now after 2 and a half years here. After a great Christmas 2009 and a great break in June/July 2010 (including a trip back to Horn Island- Torres Strait), we have realised how much we love doing what we do as a family. Joseph is now 2, and has recently chipped one of his front teeth...he is not that cute anymore, but I often say he is 2 going on 7. All 3 of the boys love it out here now and Kurtis especially is quite settled and enjoys doing home schooling with Belinda. Having said that, he is looking forward to rejoining mainstream for Term 4.
I have finished my Master of Education after 9 long years and hopefully this blog will get updated regularly. I am doing a lot of reading and thinking about missional church and so grappling with this whole "walking in the spirit" concept, but trying to be aware of the people around me, family, friends, work colleagues, the fellas; all who need me to be the person God has called me to be. I am ready to move beyond just the run of the mill instituionalised and attractional church model and start being the church. An interesting quote to ponder is that the church is not the Body of Christ...the Body of Christ is the church. Enjoy some photos.

The best photo in the world

A man and his rock.

A short email I received from one of our Community Liason Officers detailing some of the issues our students deal with.

2010-07-11T16:26:00.000+09:30

NO NAMES AND IN SOME CASES, PLACES, APPEAR HERE FOR PRIVACY
Firstly from the weekend,

On Monday I returned ******* to ******* for a funeral and he has chosen not to return this year.

I went looking too for ******* and ******** to come in, but they were hiding properly. I enlisted grandmothers and white staff to help me but was told the task was pointless because the family were having a hard time at the moment and that we should abandon the effort. The ‘hard time’ is worth telling here. About 3 years ago ***** and *****’s 14 year old Uncle passed away in his sleep after having a mix of grog and gunja and blame for the lack of care was handed around between the extended family with repercussions to date. Last year the younger brother, one of twins hung himself at *****, from where his father came. The people noted that at the funeral his twin announced that ‘he would see him there’. On Sunday he made an attempt to do so and was air evacuated to Alice with his grandfather. In the meantime another 16 year old member of the family has hung himself at ***** following pressures it seems to do with his new marriage there. All four boys were students at Yirara. These are the issues that our students and their families have to deal with. They need our help, especially our prayers.

I picked up ***** and ***** from Papunya on the way home.

Kintore / Mt Liebig students:: *****and *****are still at large – AWOL form the weekend. ***** is with her father somewhere around town and mostly on foot it seems as I have had no luck door-knocking. As far as I know, ***** is with her.

*****is at Amoonguna with her complete family.

All of these are waiting for royalties to be paid this week. But there is also men’s business at Kintore and two funerals for Mt Liebig people, and the people’s mind’s are occupied in quietness.

2009- A Year in Review

2010-01-19T10:44:00.000+09:30

Most of the photos you see in this post speak for themselves. Enjoy my life, my family and my friends.

Sitting back and reflecting is sometimes what I do best. The Christmas holidays 2009/2010 were fantastic. We sat, chatted, reflected, discerned, advised, listened and considered a range of different people's lives and events over the last 12 months. I cannot get over how blessed I am to have so many people to visit and take the time to get in contact with me to catch up for a chat; whether it is people around my age and life situation, or with ex-students of mine. (Some are 20 years younger than me now, yet some I count as true friends and companions on the journey. It weirds some people out I think, but I thank God for a wonderful wife and family who are just as much a part of this ministry as I am. They keep you accountable) It is not tiring, it is refreshing and encouraging. This is extremely good for the soul and the mind, but important for my faith and the work I continue to do in Alice Springs and beyond.

My ministry has become my life. Yes, the first and most important ministry is my family. They are my life. Every decision I make and every person or situation we encounter as a family is part of my idea of doing church and being the church. We have run a parenting course in 2009 and the biggest revelation to me during this time was the witness of our family to the world. No, we are not becoming the family or parent "police", but the boys are now at an age where I can challenge myself and them to be a witness to the world. Yes, we still go to institutionalised "church" and have not given up on this, but the church is more than this. It is "more than a "Sunday Event"" (Tim Lovell). I want to spend each day at "church" and my family to see this in action.

My time at Yirara has taken on a new challenge. The first year seems like such a blur now and I think that is what it was- a blur. It was a baptism of fire. Things at home were hard and challenging, I was called every name under the sun (by the students that is) and I was playing footy which is just as much for my ego than anything else I think sometimes.

The second year sounds pretty much the same on the surface, but changes at work, home, sport and our social life have made an incredible difference. But I think my relationship with God has changed. It is hard to put into words, but my relationship with God is more like a partnership, with God obviously as the majority shareholder. When I changed my focus from working for Him, but to following Him, transformation occurred. I am trying to follow Jesus and I end up being like one of the disciples. Doing things, debating and discussing with him, doubting him, demanding things from him, being put in my place by him and just sitting and being just blown away by him. Not a pleasant place to be sometimes, but an incredible sense of purpose has overtaken our lives out here.

My family just cannot move back to Brisbane and slip back into what we once had. Where do I go? What do I do? I am enjoying the chance to one day have these questions answered.

What changed at Yirara in 2009. Not much, but I changed. The relationships with the staff have improved. The relationships with kids have definitely improved. I can confidently say that I think the students are seeing Jesus has made a difference in my life and they want what I have. This is a hard thing to achieve, but I now don't see a lot of situations as a "must do NOW" type of scenario. Have I got many success stories? Am I making a difference? (questions I am often asked). I get to run school Chapels, I get to play, coach and swim with the Yirara fellas, and now many are beginning to open up to me about their lives- the good and the bad and the ugly. I am in a very privileged time of growth for these fellas. Please pray they continue to return and respond to the culture Yirara and some very fine leaders and Christian men are trying to incorporate into their lives. The answer is and always be Jesus. Many times I, the church, have not done this very well. The aborigines I have contact with are some of the most wonderful people with an incredible amount of potential. Their lives have been confused with church, government, Western society, and their own culture colliding constantly. The answer is Jesus. As our culture reconciles with Jesus, then we can truly be reconciled with them. As they reconcile their culture with Jesus, then their culture will reconcile with us. We all need to be on God's side. Not try and get them to be on our side.

I am now taking a long term vision and approach to my life. Torres Strait, Alice Springs (and beyond) will be my life for a very long time...Brisbane is there somewhere and so is the Sunshine Coast (I cannot continue to deprive my family on seeing my wonderful sons/nephews/cousins...as my Dad calls them "The New Stolen Generation").

This reflection is shorter than a thought it would be. It might mean my holiday was much better than I thought. I love listening to people. I know I also love talking to people as well(with advice thrown in for free whether some people like it or not). This is my life...this is my ministry...it is the ministry of my family

Yirara Happenings Term 3 2009

2009-10-23T11:40:00.000+09:30

This year, rather than just watching the Henley on Todd (see earlier blogs from last year), Yirara took some fellas down and competed in the event. They built their boat, but then got really excited and entered other events. A good day for all the fellas and great publicity for the school. The single sculls.

Can't remember what this event is called.

Our boat flying along.

The parade through the Todd Street Mall.

The start of the parade with our ferious rivals "The Navy" in from. These blokes are from the ship "Arunta".

Kieran, Jason and Troy (Big St Kilda fan).

These girls were leading the Desert Festival Night Parade for Yirara. All the work done by the students.

A Spider made by the students and teachers. It took a whole term to build. The eyes glowed.

With the Footy Academy, we took 2 of my PE lessons for the term to cut, dice and make some soup. We then delivered to 3 of the Town Camps surrounding Yirara. The people of the camps were very appreciative and very good for the fellas to give something back. Quite confronting for some of them. Unfortunately, some of the conditions in the camps are not something you would expect in Australia and is part of the reason for the government offering to take them over ($110 million). It is not a time to blame (and there are many groups/organisations/people/departments to blame)...I think the problem just needs to be fixed and change the conditions these people are living in.

Dust Storm

2009-10-23T11:34:00.000+09:30

I hope you people on the East Coast enjoyed the Dust Storm we sent over. I haven't had many emails or phone calls for awhile, so this was just to remind you we are still here. Here are some photos from Uluru.

Senior Class Sport and Recreation Camp

2009-10-23T11:26:00.000+09:30

The beautiful surrounds of Hamilton Downs (1 hour from Alice Springs) was the location of the Sport and Recreation Camp I helped organise and run. With the support of Batchelor Institute we took the kids through a Certificate 1 in Sport and Recreation.

This is me "teaching" the girls how to cook Roo tail.

Awesome...nearly ready. Good meat. No vegetarians allowed.

Taking the skin off..indigenous style!

The Senior class with the teachers.

Modlin Tours

2009-08-12T11:44:00.000+09:30

We have been very fortunate to have Jess Smith (ex Northside student) and her boyfriend Colin (affectionately known as Phil by Belinda) come and visit and spend a week with us. Here are just a few photos of their trip, some highlights as they travel around this great land and some things you might do if you come and visit and choose to go on a Modlin tour. No photos, but Colin and Jess also spent 2 days at Yirara, visited the Reptile Centre, had food poisoning from the Erldunda Roadhouse, picked up colds from the Modlin family, visited the Todd Mall markets, saw someone try and steal a bottle of Bundaberg Rum from Woolworths and hung out in the mall and the various shops around Alice. A note, it is important to always go to the toilet before the drive around tour of Alice Springs...it takes longer than 5 minutes.

What better way to start Modlin tours than fly 3 and a half hours from Brisbane, jump in a Mitsubishi Challenger, have a 9 and 5 year old in the car with you, and drive 5 hours to Uluru. You get a driver who is willing to debate you on any topic, 2 boys begging their father to turn on the DVD, and hear the father tell his sons, "I know you are hungry, but you will not die!!!" The two young fellas obviously love having their photo...it only takes about 4 shots to get one that looks anything remotely "normal".

On a Modlin tour, depending on the time of year, you can get caught in a traffic jam at the Old Timers Fete, and fight off the old ladies trying to get their fill of cakes, scones and knitted teapot covers. Your female host, Belinda, obviously looks impressed about the whole adventure, and your 9 year old host, Kurtis, is wondering why he had to pay $2 to have a go of putting balls into the mouths of clowns and only win a 50c slinky, which incidentally was broken only a couple of hours later.

Be impressed by Uluru. You just have to learn to get the famous rock in the background and have your 5 year old host, Elijah, hold the camera steady. We won't say what he had to do in the bushes just to the left of Colin, we will keep that story for his 21st.

A great looking shot of your host of Modlin tours. Drinks and nibbles at sunset. Just make sure you keep your eyes on the 2 creatures who try to steal all the cheese, dip and crackers while you are having photos. Kurtis and Elijah that is, not dingoes.

Should I make a comment about this? I think that is Uluru in the background.

No Modlin tour is complete without a visit to a restaurant (Bluegrass Restaurant- an incredible platter of emu sausage, kangaroo steaks and lamb cutlets is recommended) and arrive back at the Hotel Modlin for a sickly rich chocolate fondue.

Yirara Student makes All Australian Team

2009-08-12T11:10:00.000+09:30

Jake Neade has been selected in the National School Boys football team.

IT is amazing to think that Jake Neade nearly missed out on playing for the Northern Territory at the Australian School Boys Football Competition and the honours that would follow. Following a stand-out performance as part of the Desert Storm team, Neade, 15, missed his flight to Maroochydore.In a frantic hurry a second flight was organised for the talented West junior, ensuring he would compete in what would turn out to be a break-out event for the youngster.Neade was named in the Australian School Boys team after a series of dazzling displays.He said: "It feels great and I'm really proud to be named in the team.''The reserved youngster is a success on and off the field, a pioneer for Yirara students looking to finish high school.Coming from the township of Elliott, 200km north of Tennant Creek, Neade boards at Yirara College, where he attended school until year nine and is heavily involved in the Clontarf program.Deciding to continue with his studies Neade has transferred to Centralian Secondary College, becoming part of growing number of students involved in the Clontarf program at Yirara continuing their education.Clontarf associate director at Centralian College Sean Cusack said Neade and his fellow Yirara classmates have blazed a trail for more students from Clontarf to make the switch.He said: "We've got heaps of guys from Yirara coming through now doing secondary education, which didn't really happen before."Jake's one of the best kids in our academy. He's one of the best footballers in our academy. He gets his school work done, which is half the battle with some of these guys, and he's just a pleasure to have around the academy and school.''Even though he schools in town Neade is still a vital contributor to the Clontarf program at Yirara, still working with many of the younger students after school.Recreation officer at Yirara College Keith Durham said Neade plays a big role in helping the younger students develop and grow on and off the football field.He said: "He's a real leader out there. "He always shares the ball around with the younger kids making sure everyone gets a go."You can just tell he loves being out there.''A member of the PowerWater talent development squad, Neade has set his football goals high, hoping to become involved in the Territory Thunder under-16 and under-18 programs in years to come

Gee...It has been awhile. More photos and stories to be published on Semester break.

2009-06-11T12:09:00.000+09:30

What better way to start my update with Kurtis and Elijah bottling some (non-alcoholic!!!) "Rusty's Ginger Beer". I am the only one in my family who likes it. But, I have had it taste tested by other people and they like it!!

This is an end of Term 1 shot with Nico, Alex and Josiah. The good news is they all returned. Alex (black shirt) is from Mt Isa. A proud Queenslander.

If you don't know the bloke on the right you should hang your head in shame. "LEAPIN' LEROY LOGGINS". He visited Alice Springs and came out to the school. We reminisced about the glory days of the Brisbane Bullets. He is standing here next to my Sport and Rec apprentice, Glen.

Not bad for a 51 year old legend.

Yes, this is an old shot of Elijah at "In2Cricket". Great stance.

A very old shot of Joseph's baby dedication. I need to take the time to view the video. A great message preached by Pastor Mark just for Joseph (and us!!). Joseph is proudly dressed by Frasers of Albany Creek. (This is to check to see if they read my blog!)

Kata Tjuta- The Valley of the Winds

2009-04-11T11:08:00.000+09:30

Start with the best picture. A King Brown (mulga snake). Did a bit of reading after this. These things are poisonous. I did have a go at cropping and making it look like we were closer, but this is definitely close enough. Kurtis froze and told us it was there. He was only a metre away. Elijah and I had already walked past it.
This picture not as good on here. The black dots are flies, but not as clear on this.

Tried to get a perspective shot. Kurtis is very tiny against this backdrop.

All Kurtis wanted to do was climb something. This was steep enough. Again, hard to get a clear perspective, but this was pretty steep.

Family trip to Uluru

2009-04-11T10:55:00.000+09:30

Just enjoy the photos. I have tried not to comment too much....Although I do love having something to say. We took my Mum and Dad with us. I love this place. I can just sit, stare, contemplate and relax here just as much as I do staring out at the sea. I don't catch enough waves and so I do a lot of staring and contemplating out in the surf. Hopefully you will see the various fly nets my family wore. I spent the whole time bagging them for looking like a tourist. The 4 flies I swallowed while I was out here was worth it!

The rock always looks better with a glass of "Rusty's Pale Ale".

The photos that follow were taken over a half hour at sunset. Just thought they looked good with the different colour changes.

Some things I forgot to mention and show from 2008

2009-03-15T15:13:00.000+09:30

Kurtis plays Under 9 cricket for West Cricket Club (The Bloods). Somehow I ended up as coach. I am loving being a PE teacher, but as soon as people know, you end up having to coach your sons cricket team, organise games nights and forever "looking after the kids". I hope I have the umpire stance right. The kids love it when I do my Billy Bowden impressions. I finally got to signal a 6 on Saturday....crooked fingers and all.

Kurtis bowling

We let Elijah play the last game of 2008. He loved it, but has not been back to a game since.

Classic Modlin cover drive. He has not been caught on the boundary as much as his old man. He bowls with as much venom though.

Belinda and I still love to dress up. This is before the staff dinner 08. Not too sure about my receding hairline though....must be the dust.

Ellery Big Hole.
Cool to icy cold the whole year. You don't know where the bottom is and I not sure anyone does. Quite a refreshing dip. The boys love the mud slide in.

Ormiston Gorge. Joseph is in the baby sling. Had a great debate with Belinda, Gregg and Erin on this trip about the difference between a valley, gorge and canyon. Riveting stuff out in the wilderness.

Sorry Gregg and Erin. I know this is from YOUR camera, but I love this shot. It really does look like they are standing in front of a painting, but I can assure you that is the real thing in the background.

The next photos are from our day trip to Palm Valley (our first REAL 4x4 adventure) and the community of Hermannsburg (Ntaria..pronounced Ndaria). Worth a read of the history behind Hermannsburg or a viewing of the episode about Central Australia from the SBS series "First Australians" (I also have the book). Set up by the Lutherans, it is a lovely town and was the home community of Albert Namatjira. A large number of Yirara students use to come from there, but the school on the community has really done a good job and now has most of the kids doing their schooling on the community. Only 20-30 students in 2008 and apparently now up to about 150 students are continuing their schooling. Some say it is a result of the government's intervention, the support of the businesses not serving school age kids during the day and perhaps the linking of trialling Centrelink payments to school attendance. Something is working and it seems to be positive...funny how the media doesn't pick up on it???

The Lutheran Church area in Hermannsburg is now a historical site and museum. Fascinating reading the history all the while the Hermannsburg Church Women's choir CD plays in the background.

Before we went to Hermannsburg we thought we would visit the picturesque Palm Valley. After heavy downfalls in November, the flowing of the Todd River and surrounding areas made many places unreachable...But that is just a challenge for the Modlin brothers! So we headed off with an esky full of food, no real map, borrowed a Yirara troopie and took the Challenger as well (remember Joseph is only about 4 months old). As you can see, Gregg was always willing to give me some advice.

Kurtis and Elijah love the troopie and spent more time in the thing than out of it.

On the way out to the idyllic and picturesque (apparently) Palm Valley, we kinda got.....bogged. Well and truly stuck in jelly like sand at a the very peaceful and quiet Cycad gorge. Yes, with a 4 month old, Kurtis, Elijah, Belinda, Gregg and Erin. Ok, so there had been a bit of rain. Ok, so the road was closed (apparently.) Who moved the "road closed" sign? Who didn't ring the ranger to find out if the road was open? So many questions.Now it is not for me to say whose fault it was, but I was driving. The Ranger said, after Gregg and Erin trekked 2kms back to the Challenger and then drove to the Ranger's office, that we were lucky to get as far as we did. His test for opening and closing the road consists of dropping a 1.5m star picket into the sand to see how far it goes in. The "jelly like" sand enveloped the star picket, therefore, road closed...easy.

Yes Gregg, we are bogged.

Still bogged mate, thanks for the help.

The Ranger saving the day.

Me, Gregg and the boys giving the Ranger some advice on how to get us out.

Just a photo of the boys if you are getting bored of my stories.

Still coaching basketball. Laying down the law. I think they are listening.

"And then, what I do, I take the strong rebound in my rugged manly hands, and put the ball back in the hoop. Easy. Ummm, fellas are you listening?"

Cute photos of Joseph if you are still being bored.

Erin, Gregg's wife, bought us a quad biking adventure tour at Undoolya Station. A massive property(I can't find the actual size of the place, but believe me, it is BIG) just 20 minutes east of the town. Undoolya Station is the oldest working station in The Northern Territory and the buildings themselves are still lived in today. The current owners have lived at the station since 1907, the previous owners having built the property in 1872. An awesome time. We even had a tourist sent back home for unsafe behaviour on the quad. He was given 4 water bottles and told to walk home the 5-10km back to the base. This tourist made one of the girls fall off their bike, so that was the issue. Our guide has had 4 fights over the years with backpackers/tourists. Hasn't lost a fight. He told me and Gregg, "I just take off my helmet, win the fight, and say "Welcome to the Territory"". Enough said.

Back in the Alice- Year 2

2009-02-22T21:20:00.000+09:30

Marshmallows out the back of our place is a delicacy.

Bojangles Saloon Bar Bourbon Ribs.

Elijah and one of his pets.

We have settled back into life in Alice very well. A refreshing and at the same time, exhausting Christmas time back in Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast made us feel somewhat relieved to be back "home". Still hard to work out where home is, but Alice does grow on you and we appreciate the slowing down of our pace, the pace of shop assistants, the traffic and people walking around.

What better way than to celebrate "Australia Day" in Alice Springs with your sons...brewing and bottling your first lot of home brew "Rusty's Lager".

It's not camel or roo, but lamb. I learnt how to cook on the Weber we bought for $40 at a Lawn Sale.

Joseph starting his long journey as a flesh eater. Not strong enough to hold a bottle of "Rusty's Lager"

Elijah's first day catching the bus with Kurtis. Elijah is in Transition. Kurtis in Grade 4. Next to them is Jemma, the lovely next door neighbour. I still love wearing the mighty Aspley Hornets shirt.

Is this Elijah? Does anyone remember him as a baby?

Belinda's mum came and stayed with us for 4 weeks. This is out at Ross River Resort, about 7okm from Alice.

Emily's Gap. Beautiful, Peaceful. Only swallowed 4 flies this day.

The fireplace at Ross River Resort.

Kurtis and Elijah with their friend Ethan. Ethan had a birthday party at the Illparpa Clay pans. Muddy, Peaceful. Only 3 flies swallowed and crunched between the teeth.

Being like Jesus- A first year reflection of life at Yirara College and Alice Springs

2009-01-14T13:43:00.000+09:30

I have wanted to do this a bit earlier, but it has been good to talk to a number of people about my first year, rather than do this and then have nothing to say. It has been very beneficial to talk through my reflections. I have even watched the Yirara College DVD about a dozen times as I have shown people where I am and what I have been doing. It is a recruitment DVD, but I haven’t had much luck. Although, we are having a number of people visit us this year, so book in quickly to avoid disappointment!! I have noticed I have not even had much chance to even talk to Belinda about it, so it has been a great opportunity for Belinda to hear what I have to say and then for me to listen to what she has got to say. I could even be bold enough to say we might even be on the same page.

A title is just a title, but then again, it can really sum up what has been on my mind for most of the year. Being like Jesus. It is very easy to say, very hard to put into practice. I don’t think being at Yirara or even living in Alice Springs makes any difference, but with the challenges and the isolation from all that I have ever known, it rings true. It is what I have held onto the whole year. Trying to get close to God, but not really making much of an effort except to learn (...no, learn makes it sound that I have to follow some sort of formula to get close to Jesus...), but accept that God is always with me, not because I pray, read the Bible or do something religious, but accept that I am already in a relationship with Him, learning from Him, getting guidance from Him, and even learning to accept (or just accepting) that I am always in His presence. I am constantly in a state of prayer with Him because He is always with me. Therefore, why set aside a time just to pray or just to read the Bible or just to do a devotion? These are all things I still do, however sporadically, but nonetheless, my attitude is that I want to fit into God’s plan, not fit God into mine. God is not on my side, I am on God’s side. It makes sense to me, I just am not sure if it makes much sense to anyone else. So my journey continues and I have enjoyed the chance to try out my ideas and thoughts with family, friends, ex-students and the new people I have met and talked to these holidays. I have been encouraged to find people who do know what I am trying to say and then move me onto the next issue. It at least changed my perspective for the year and was a great source of comfort when the times were tough.

The tough times came and went very quickly and moved on. I have not needed to do a famous Modlin debrief with anyone, I have let them pass and tried to force myself to believe that God was there already, through the trials and tribulations I was experiencing, maybe fearing for my safety or the safety of others in my care, but also living with a confidence in my own ability, a confidence in my own ability to get out of a dangerous situation, to laugh at myself, the situation, and even just become a bit laid back and calm through it all.

There are 2 ways I have discovered or observed how to deal with situations at Yirara. To be aggressively assertive has its place. To have to learn to raise my voice with authority and clear direction can certainly become an asset. I am not sure I want it to become part of my nature and Kurtis and Elijah have heard me use that voice towards them some times, and I don’t like it when I do. Some of the actions I have taken this year have been out of necessity and fitting in a culture where apparently to “growl” exhibits the seriousness of a situation, but also the fact that so many kids have hearing infections and problems means you just have to make sure they can hear you.

The second aspect to this is the relationships I am hoping to build. It is my strength I think and you never have enough time to get alongside someone and really mentor or disciple them through a learning, teaching, guiding or discipline process. Even catching up and discussing life with ex-students is a hard enough job. A half an hour to hour catch up is never enough. I am blessed by the number of ex-students who make the time to catch up, challenge my thoughts and actions and so willingly share their life with me or just love “hang”. And the fine line is between knowing when to let someone live their life and learn from the choices they make or really try and pick up when they are crying out to be told just what to do, without judgement or a sense of trying to run, rule or lord it over their life. It happens with the ex-students I have taught, and just as much with the Yirara students- another thing that has nothing to do with race. I have often said that despite spending our whole life stretching or defying boundaries, we still love them or know that we need them. The same is for indigenous kids with very little schooling or boundaries themselves. You know they feel much safer and secure within a culture of boundaries, processes, traditions and rituals, but do love breaking them! And not all of these boundaries, processes, traditions and rituals are good for them, and even oppress them to a certain extent. We have a western culture that oppresses the indigenous, there is an aboriginal culture that oppresses and then Christianity is somewhere in the middle of this, offering hope, a way out and a move away from a consumerist, materialistic and individualistic culture (an incredibly selfish, greedy and aggressive culture), but also a way out of a culture where shame, fear and aggression control people. I believe with all my heart that Christianity and following Jesus is the way to go. Unfortunately, the type of Christianity I see, experience and partake in does not effectively deliver the answers to the two worlds I have placed myself and my family in (and it could be argued has oppressed the aborigines as well). I need to be clear on this. God has the answers, we (I) don’t always deliver the way we should. I am prepared to do my bit, and that is all I can do. Building a kingdom culture is a hard thing to do. May the revival come, but it comes when the revival happens in my heart.

It is hard to believe that we have made 1 year already. I now appreciate the time I have spent writing down my thoughts and feelings. I think in years to come it will help my family reflect on what we have done. I am no 10-30 year veteran in Alice Springs. The isolation, the T.I.A moments and also the NT moments (Not Today, Not Tomorrow, Not This week) can get you down, but on the other hand, life in Alice Springs slows down your thinking, your impatience and gives you time to appreciate life. I am someone who thinks he knows about culture shock, but the actual Alice Springs or indigenous culture does not really cause much shock to me; it is coming back to the east coast that causes the most shock.

I miss family and friends more than I let on, but it is the contacts (and at least the promise of visits!!) that keeps us out there and motivated to do what we feel called to do and on our journey as individuals and as a family.

Christmas in Alice

2008-12-12T14:20:00.000+09:30

Merry Christmas from the Modlins in Alice Springs.

Elijah and his mate Cody. His family moved across the road from us and so Elijah loves it. They are at different schools next year, but I am sure will see each other.

The three kings for the Christmas play. Elijah was in line to play Joseph, but was away for the practice.

Christmas and Final Days at Yirara

2008-12-12T13:31:00.000+09:30

Josiah (Male Student of the Year), Ethan (Sportsperson of the term and gave me a big hug and peck on the cheek on the last night), Jake and Ben (brothers). Jake was Male Sportsperson of the year and Ben is currently at Centralian Senior College (Grade 10-12). Both of them play football for West. Jake has the potential to go further. They also play A grade basketball with me. The last 2 games, Gregg (my brother), played with the team. We won the last game by 2 points after being down by 10 in the last quarter...my first win with the A grade basketball.

Lionel and Glenn have both finished Grade 12. Glenn was the best performing indigenous student at Centralian. Also fine sportsmen and A grade basketballers. Lionel is from Doomadgee (it's in Qld for the unaware) and is a Cowboys supporter as well. We had a sad year.

Jerome (above) and Jeffrey (below) made me Christmas cards. The only 2 I got. Justin (above giving the thumbs up), is one of the sons of Sammy (the elder from Uluru I mentioned in an earlier blog). Jerome is orginally from an outstation of Rockhampton. I am not sure if he is there now.

This is Wayne. One of my little mates who was awarded the Principal's award. He is the type of student who you hope comes back.

This is Dylan. Loves to have shows of strength with me. Bumps, arm wrestles, lifts me off the ground and tightly squeezed hugs. A very handy footballer, but only been 1st and 4th term this year. Says he is not coming back and moving to Melbourne with his brother. Wait and see on that one.

Khearnee on the left gave me hell in 3rd term, but now really gets along with me. He comes and chats with me about what he has been doing at school.

Kanen (left) and Stanley (right). Both very handy footballers. Kanen has been there the whole year and is a handful..enough said on him. Stanley has the build and the skills to go all the way. He toured South Africa with the indigenous Under 16 team.

The fellas- My sons

2008-12-12T13:15:00.000+09:30

The four fellas played Under 17 this year for South. They came over to our house for tea before South's presentation night. A very T.I.A affair. It was supposed to start at 7pm. We turned up on time. It did not start till 8:30pm. I got a call from the boarding house asking where the fellas were at about 10pm. Luckily we were there long enough for me to accept the "Best Team Man" trophy. My brother said they gave it to me to keep the whitefella happy. I was happy. Zakk (doing the Westside symbol), Clinton (holding Joseph) and Peter (to my left) were suspended about 2 weeks after this for continual misbehaviour at school....they kept saying they did not want to be there, but I think something else was going on. Corey (black shirt) stayed the whole year and changed over the year in his attitude and ability. He is (hopefully) back next year and may start a traineeship/apprenticeship and still be playing footy for South. I had a minor run in with Corey as well, he was not doing as he was told, i had a pencil and was pointing it in his direction, which I found out is very threatening, like "let's sort this out with our fists or other objects". I backed down very quickly and apologised and basically said to Corey, "I trust you with my own kids, but I can't trust you to do what I ask you to do." Then is was over. Corey, came to me 2 days later and told me he was my son as well.....and that was it. I don't know what that really means, but I guess my boys might have a new big brother.

The many faces of Movember

2008-12-12T13:11:00.000+09:30

Week 1

Week 3 Week 4

Gregg's birthday in Alice Springs

2008-12-12T13:05:00.000+09:30

Gregg (my brother) and his wife Erin paid us a three week visit. It coincided with his birthday (how convenient). We had tea at Keller's Restaurant (Swiss, Indian and Australian cuisine). The picture is of us polishing off the chocolate fondue.

The Reptile Centre

2008-12-12T12:46:00.000+09:30

Apparently it is very good. Everybody went without me. I was still "working" at Yirara. The day they went, a King Brown (Mulga) snake was caught; the largest ever caught in Alice. Just touching the venom can make you sick.

The Todd River in flood..Yes, nearly a local

2008-12-08T13:21:00.000+09:30

We had the most rain on record for November in Alice Springs. These pictures will give you a fair idea of what the Todd River looks like in flood. It truly is a sight to behold. Hopefully you can gauge how big the flood was by the comparison photos I have taken. If you read earlier entries I mentioned the Telegraph Station; that is where I have taken most of the photos. The others are from one of the major roads around Alice; and the iconic Todd River Tavern in the background.

Masters Footy

2008-11-02T12:32:00.000+09:30

It had to come soon. I am now old enough to be playing Masters footy. The Masters Games come to Alice Springs every 2 years and it is BIG. I didn't imagine it could be that big, but when about 4000 people show up in your neighbourhood, you certainly notice it.
The showpiece of the Masters was our footy game versus Darwin. Dawn Fraser also showed up for a swim and Daryl Somers was an official ambassador, fireworks, 2 concerts and lots of parties. These are the only 3 photos taken of me by someone else and they forwarded them to me. There were 1000 people at the game and I was amazed at how people got behind it. We beat Darwin pretty easily and I got quite a few touches. Our captain, 68 year old Dick Kimber, a local historian who also was seen on the SBS documentary series "First Australians" which is a MUST SEE documentary for ALL Australians, was named man of the match.

This is me, with the ball, having just taken a hanger over the Darwin fellas. In the background, you can see a lady in a red shirt and to her right are 2 fellas. One is Joe Clarke who I work with at Yirara and I have a photo of him in an earlier post, but next to him is Gilbert McAdam, ex St Kilda and Brisbane Lions player. Joe said he even mentioned me and was quite impressed i was playing for South in the local comp. The McAdams are all ex South players.

I am sprinting off the mark here, but you can see a Darwin player towards the bottom left who is ex-Essendon player Michael Long. He is not as fit as he use to be, but he still has the skills. It was great to be on the same field as him.

Some more photos of "Hurricane Alice" or "Desert Storm"

2008-10-07T14:57:00.000+09:30

Are we a local yet?

2008-10-02T21:13:00.000+09:30

This one of Belinda's friends who is always in for a pop in visit or text message conversation. Anita (Pathways Coordinator at Yirara; husband Sean is assistant in charge of Boarding House. These are their 2 kids Lachlan and Courtney)
Craig and Sharon Collins "popped in" for a visit. Gave us a ring from Tennant Creek and said they were passing through. A complete surprise, but a welcome one for us. What absolute legends!

Up on ANZAC Hill with the family and sister Karyn.
Lattes at the Flying Doctors.
Beautiful Belinda and serious Joseph.
The Modlin boys.

I didn't get too excited on Elijah's sports day. Until he WON!! First place in the sprint. Look at him proudly wearing his first place ribbon. He got to stay up past 7 o'clock that night!!

Finally I bought a bike. No hills around here. The boys love it!
Elijah's 5th birthday. On AFL Grand Final day. Birthday party was finished by 11am so I could settle down to my four 'n twenty pies, my beer and drumstick.

Belinda is VERY excited....can you see why? (A little too excited for my liking)

Tourist season is mad around here. They take my favourite parking spots and fill up my favourite restaurants and cafes. Being a teacher means I don’t have to rely on them for the majority of my income for the year, so I tend to be much more friendly to people who I can just tell are locals. I like to walk through the mall or shopping centres and say hello to people I know, indigenous kids who I chat with and then realise I should be asking them why they aren’t back at Yirara yet, and just trying to give off that air of “Watch out, I’m a local.” Belinda and I are trying to establish ourselves as local, but most of the word on the street continues to be that you have to see the Todd River flow 3 times to be considered a local. It has been extremely dry out here this year and we are now worried we will not be here long enough to experience the flowing of the Todd River. A teaching colleague of mine at Yirara (Dr K) from Kenya, arrived last year and saw the Todd River flow 3 times in a month. We NEED that to happen or we might have to write a letter to the paper advocating for our criteria to be adopted- at least we seem to visit most of the attractions- surely that counts for something?
We have now slowed down and don’t go to EVERYTHING that happens, but it sure is tempting. We have had our own private boycott of some events thinking that surely they will be on again next year and we’ll just commit to participating in the event and being “seen” at the event some other time. So I am sorry to the tireless workers and promoters of the “Alice Desert Festival”, you will see the Modlins next year.
(I wrote this 3 days ago and since then we have had “Hurricane Alice” or “Desert Storm” (media terms) come through on Monday 22nd September. Winds at 120km/h whipped through the place and brought a big dump of rain and hail. As you can see by the pictures, we had an incredible dust storm as well. Quite a bit of damage and we had water in the Todd...not really flowing, but we might count this as our Todd River flowing thingy.)

Water in the Todd River- How exciting!!

Desert Storm rolls across the Alice.

The Sunday Markets every couple of weeks. The sights, the smells, the frozen mango smoothies!!

A couple of photos of my Mum and Dad with the boys. Just to see if they are still reading the blog!! And letting them know it has been 6 weeks since they have been out here. Must be due for another visit!!

Football news and Football final

2008-10-02T20:58:00.000+09:30

Footy season has come and gone for me yet again. For those in the know, Aspley Hornets Reserves won the flag this year without me. I may be destined never to play in a premiership.

We had our South Alice Springs Under 17s and B Grade make the Grand Final and the 17s lost and the B Grade won. I played A grade this year and we did not make the finals. Looks like ONE more year for me.

The A Grade final was an excellent match between town side Pioneer and community side Yuendemu. It was a battle of structure and strength versus speed, skill and incredible natural ability. Yuendemu Magpies took out the game in emphatic fashion. All square at half time and they just put on the after burners about half way through the 3rd quarter and controlled the game superbly. Some of the Yuendemu players have the ability to play AFL football and one name to possibly to look out for is an ex-Yirara student Liam Jurrah. He went to Collingwood VFL side for 2 months, played four games. He is lean, fit and took an absolute screamer to virtually seal the game for the ‘Pies and is a freak. An AFL club would be silly not to at least try and draft him, and could easily take a few of his mates with him.

For me, footy training has continued as I prepare for the upcoming Masters match for over 35s. I am playing for the Central Australian Legends and we play the Darwin Buffaloes. This match is happening very soon and there are rumours that Michael Long and Michael Mclean will play for Darwin...could be another T.I.A moment though. Report to follow very soon.

Bush Sports 2008

2008-09-29T20:53:00.000+09:30

This is a 2 yearly event Yirara runs to help promote the school. We are possibly going to push for this to be an annual event because the amount of work involved is enormous. We invite communities to bring in the littlies and showcase what Yirara has to offer. I ran the 2 day sporting event- Athletics on 1 day and then Basketball, Soccer and Australian Rules on the other. We had 4 players from Richmond also attend. A big concert on the last night and fireworks for the kids. We involve our 12 and 13 year olds, but we have kids come who are between the ages of 6 – 13 year olds. Very cute to see the little ones playing basketball and mixing it on the footy field with the older kids. I was very tired after the 2 days, but certainly worth the effort and seeing how much the kids enjoy it. We had 2 days in a row of 35 degrees and it sapped all our energy and dried out the skin…need to cleanse and moisturise a bit more.

What a thrill for this kid. Getting his age champion award from me!

The winning Bush Sports team from Areyonga.

Some of the Yirara fellas with Richmond players

I love the sound of my own voice. This is work!!

Kids from Papunya

This lad is from Finke

Richard Tambling with Troy.

Ayer's Rock Footy Academy Trip

2008-09-29T19:49:00.000+09:30

Went on my first trip with the Football Academy out to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). We stayed at Nyangatjatjara College (another one of our remote campuses). You will need to ring me for the pronunciation of this school or talk to Tammy Wolter about her experiences out there. We took out 20 fellas from our school and combined with fellas from Docker River and Imanpa communities. This trip help me see the Footy Academy at work and get to know the guys who run this a bit better. Also, it was invaluable for my relationship with some of these older fellas. They are hard work at times, but footy is a great leveller and common ground which helps. Actually, starting to build some good bonds with some of the fellas and talking to them. Yirara's answer to Buddy Franklin- Junior Doolan. He is quite the character, but unfortunately he is now no longer at the school. He was suspended for Term 2, came back, but just did not toe the line. He has been at the school for awhile, but football was about all he did. Not sure what his future holds.
This is Joe Clarke. He is one of the Footy Academy employees. For more information on the Clontarf program, I would look on the internet for the background and what they do. Joe is a cousin of Darryl White, so we get along very well as Brisbane Lions supporters. He is an incredible ally and friend. He knows many of the kids' families and this can carry a lot of weight around the place. He knows what most of the kids are saying in language, so this is an asset as well.
After a hard game, the fellas love a photo.
This is Mick James who is in charge of football operations at Yirara. An ex-Carlton player, we worked out that we actually played Teal Cup against each other in 1988 in Canberra. Victoria beat us in the wet and slush that day.

Joe and I love this photo of Mick training the fellas. Have a look at the fella yawning. That is Junior who i mentioned earlier.
There I am umpiring.
Great balance and skill.
Franklin is poetry in motion. A beautiful kick, quite quick and a good bloke. Also has picked up basketball very quickly. Very troubled early in the term, but we get on really well....hope he comes back to see out the year.
Michael is a Mutijulu (traditional owners of Uluru) local who is at Yirara. (I have a picture of his Dad down the page). Good footy and basketball player.

Franklin and Q.B (Quinton)
Franklin, Glen and Zephaniah.
Richie is the Recreation Officer at Mutijulu. He interpreted for Sammy (traditional owner) who took us on a tour around the base of the rock. He told us some traditional stories, particularly showed us the boy areas and the men areas. He told us where the women sacred areas were, but he is not allowed to tell us anything about them. He has two sons at Yirara (Michael (photo earlier) and Justin).

All the fellas at the base of the rock. No climbing allowed today...too windy. Sammy referred to the chain that goes up the rock as the "white man's scar". The thing about climbing the rock is quite interesting. They ask you not to climb it because people have died climbing up it and coming down. It is not that death is not handled well by aborigines, but it has quite a spiritual realm to it. Quite spooky i guess. Some of the fellas sleep with the lights on because of certain spirits "out there". It is something that seems to deeply sadden them that people have died on it. The sacred areas are around the rock, not necessarily the rock itself.

This is the cover on our upcoming rap album. MC Sammy and Russ T.
Harold, Clarence, Rodney, Lane, Adam, Quinton.
Some rock art at Ayer's Rock. Sammy told us that Bus Drivers use to bring buckets of water to splash on the rock to bring about a good looking photo. All it did was wipe off the newer work and exposed the older works that could be thousands of years old.
Me with Clarence and Anthony.

Q.B and Michael
I have more photos, but this should give you a bit of an insight into a footy trip. Trying to keep the word count down.

Alice Springs Rodeo

2008-09-25T21:24:00.000+09:30

Apparently has been struggling for the last few years so we decided to support this event. My Mum and Dad arrived the same day and I told Dad we just had to go. We thought this could be a better experience than having to pay an exorbitant price at the Outback Spectacular on the Gold Coast. Unfortunately, the weather took a turn for the worse and I played football that afternoon in about 15 degrees and the night got into single digits...that was without the wind chill factor. I wore a singlet, shirt, long sleeve shirt, jumper, beanie and my big Billabong jacket...and it was still cold. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the events, but it has been a long time since I have experienced such a bitterly cold night. (Memories of -5 skiing in NZ came flooding back to me). They tried to hype up the crowd with loud music and gee ups on the microphone, but the music was songs like “Boys light up”, “Smells like teen spirit” and Shania Twain repeated over and over again. We were there for only a couple of hours, but I am sure we heard the same songs about 5 times.

Henley-on-Todd Regatta

2008-09-25T20:28:00.000+09:30

This was a good afternoon (and it rained!!) The pictures tell most of the story and the boys loved it. Especially the final battle on the sand of the Todd. Big booms and loud cheers from those watching show why this is (supposedly) the only event of its kind in the world.

Territory Day- July 1st

2008-09-25T20:25:00.000+09:30

Hmmm, supposed to be celebrating the advent of the Northern Territory, but I get the feeling it is more an excuse for shops to make some more money. This is the only day you are allowed to buy and let off fireworks in the NT. We just went and sat for an hour at the local park and watched people let off the fireworks. We didn’t have too many just miss us. The official finishing time is 10pm, but you still heard the odd one till 1 or 2 am in the morning and the odd one is let off at night since then.

Elijah makes the back page of the Centralian Advocate.

2008-07-28T21:08:00.000+09:30

Crows star Rhett Biglands with William Kelaart, Tom Kelaart, Coby Reynolds, Lang Hayes, Elijah Modlin, ex-Essendon player Dean Rioli and Hawthorn star Cyril Rioli at the Auskickin’ Around Australia Tour on Sat at Albrecht Oval. Picture: HANNAH MILLERICK

Family Shots

2008-07-28T20:45:00.000+09:30

The highlight for the boys each week is going to soccer. Elijah plays first (usually in his Israeli soccer gear) and Kurtis plays after. Elijah scored 9 goals on the weekend...he is becoming quite the dominant force in the Under 5 age group. Ok, there are some 3 year olds who play as well, but they should toughen up and not cry when he scores!
Kurtis plays Under 9s and loves it. He scores nearly each week and this year has been good for his development playing in an age group where he is the youngest.

The Living Waters Typhoons. They wore black armbands in honour of Kurtis' grandfather (Belinda's Dad) who died early June. His coaches are Coach Chris and Coach Paul. Yes, they are American. Belinda's comment "Why do Kurtis' coaches sound like they know what they are doing?...Is it because they are American?" This is probably not the time to make any political statements about the war in Iraq or the presence of Pine Gap here in Australia.

Can you find Elijah? Can you find the ball?

The boys love to ride the streets. A safe place to play and ride.