Week 44, Coolum Beach, Australia

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,

We are finally back on sacred soil, after a long 5 day journey. We left Pune on Monday afternoon after taking an Auto Rickshaw to the station and catching an overnight train. The train ran remarkably on time. I think it’s the trains in the north that don’t run on time and seem to be dirtier. We had an over night’s stay the following night in Bangalore. While killing time in Bangalore we went to see the movie Slum Dog Millionaire and it seemed to us a credible portrayal of what we saw in India. And well worth seeing.

It also made us think about our time in India. In short we really enjoyed our time in the south, The north is so much busier, dirtier and more crowded, but with so much more visible history and our teaching experience has been a thorough education in education. We enjoyed the whole Indian experience and while there are challenging days, people and places to deal with we realise that these challenges make us better people and travellers.

We intend we rest up for the time being and will apply for some paid overseas work now that we have a bit of experience under our belts. Failing that a camper van and a trip around Australia is on the cards, as we don’t get our house back until November this year.

So until we hit the road again... thanks for reading along with us. I’ll be doing some more video, so don’t forget to have a look at our Youtube site from time to time and I’ll update of Photos as well.

Our Australian Mobile phone number is:
0488 327 329

PS: photos of the puppets that didn’t make it, Customs got them and burnt them. Also a local waiting for me on our return home.

All the best for now
Ric & Louise

Blog web site: http://postcardstoethel.blogspot.com/
Additional Blog: http://www.ric-noble.blogspot.com/
YouTube site: http://www.youtube.com/profile_videos?user=RicusDeVaux
Web Photo Album: http://picasaweb.google.com/ethelink

Week 43, Pune, India

Dear Ethel, Family and friends,


It seems unreal that this time next we will be back in Australia and that the travelling will be over, even if only for a short while. We finished at the School on Friday, and it’s hard to explain to the kids that we won’t be there on Monday. While they are boisterous and naughty at times, their emotions are so genuine and it sneaks up on you and you find you are also genuinely sad at the thought of not seeing them again. The teaching has been a fabulous experience we will not soon forget.

Tomorrow we start our 5 day journey home. We start from the Pune railway station on an overnight train back to Bangalore from where we started our Indian journey. We have two nights before catching a midnight flight to Singapore, 9 hours or so. Then a 9 hour stop over and another flight to Darwin and on to Brisbane. We should arrive Friday morning.

We are looking forward to getting home and enjoying a few home comforts. Our house is still rented at present so we will be staying with friends for the time being until we decide what we will do next. We will apply for some teaching positions and see what is available out there. Firstly we will be fixing up our unit to re-let it, we already have the tenant which is good news, but have to do the work first. We will then be going to Bathurst for a while to see Louise’s Mum. Other options after that include buying a campervan, travelling around Australia and making videos along the way, or heading to New Zealand for 3 or 4 months until our house becomes available in November.

So only a short one today as we are busy packing and getting ready to go.
I have written an essay on our Teaching experience and it is at the following blog site:

http://www.ric-noble.blogspot.com/

All the best Ric & Louise