Published on: 3 May 2023





This week, four Christ Church students and four MLC students from Year 11 travelled to the remote community of Nullagine as part of our Service in Action program (SIA).

The isolated town of Nullagine is located 200km north of Newman on the edge of the Great Sandy Desert. The majority of the town’s 150 residents are Aboriginal members of the Irrungadji Community. Visiting Nullagine is not always an easy task – access roads are partly unsealed and flooding from wet weather can make the town completely inaccessible. Fortunately, there were no weather disruptions and our students enjoyed soaking up the Pilbara sunshine.

The students spent most of their time acting as teachers’ aids in the classroom at Nullagine Primary School, which allowed the teachers to do lots of different learning activities. They also enjoyed playing with the students after school.

Students were taken for a refreshing dip at a local water hole and treated to some cooking and cultural activities. Nullagine students helped them dig up a local delicacy called Lungi, which are grubs that live in the roots of a particular tree. Opinions on the taste were divided, with some boys commenting that they tasted ‘smoky’ and others ‘like egg yolk’. Watch the boys enjoy Lungi here.

The SIA program holds an important place in our co-curricular offering – it offers our boys insight into life in a remote community, indigenous culture, and a way of life centred around family and community. They also learn a great deal about themselves, while serving others.

We look forward to welcoming the students home from Nullagine tomorrow.