30 January 2007
Dear Marcus and parents
Thanks for your attendance at our last Mapoon meeting, with James Hughes. I hope you came away feeling excited at the opportunities the trip will provide to experience a variety of cultures, lifestyles and of course the native wildlife of the far North of Queensland.
Flight Details:
Cheapest available as of today:
Flying Virgin Blue return Brisbane to Cairns - $129 Each way = $258
Flying Qantas (because they are the only ones who do)
Weipa – Cairns $168 ($2 each person for credit card booking)
Total flights $426
Please can you deposit this amount of money per person, into the account on the attached, separate page by Thursday so that flights can be booked. Please then destroy account details page by either shredding or tearing into little pieces if you make a hard copy, deleting if only email!
The urgency is so that we can make sure we can get seats on these flights or we will have to pay more. Flight times I am planning on booking are as follows:
Flying Virgin Blue from Brisbane to Cairns: 5.15pm 20 June ’07
Flight No. DJ 783 Price quoted = Blue Saver fare
Flying Qantas Weipa to Cairns: 1.10pm 3 July ‘07
Flight No. QF2481 (no seats available the next day in time to make Cairns – Brisbane connection)
Flying Virgin Blue from Cairns to Brisbane: 1.25pm 4 July ‘07
I am hoping to speak with UC minister in Cairns about us staying in church/hall/etc for both our first night, and our last night.
Other budget considerations:
Food - $200 ($14-$15 / day / person)
Fuel – exact cost unknown, depending on Weipa and Cairns diesel prices at the time. Allow $150 max. – I would hope this has some fat in it. We will however be doing a lot of miles.
Accomodation – Cairns : I would expect to at least pay a donation to a church if they were able to put us up. Other options could be a youth hostel.
Laura : There is a fee to stay overnight at the Laura Festival, unfortunately the website is not up yet but you can register for newsletters. I haven’t received one yet. This will not be a huge cost. I hope to find a phone number to investigate this week.
Weipa : James and Michelle are happy to host us in their house and yard, and will provide tents. This means access to cooking facilities, bathroom etc.
Mapoon : James has accommodation in Mapoon, this will be a similar arrangement to Weipa as above.
Spending Money – Parents and participants own discretion.
Other items discussed at the meeting, to remind you, were the expectation that all participants would do some research on the area. To this end, check out the Mapoon website at www.mapoon.com and your first task is, after reading the info available on the website, what did you find most surprising about the Mapoon community? Question 2 – see if you can track down a map area of Nth Qld, and plot our route from Cairns to the Daintree Rainforest – if you are extra tricky, jot down how many kms.
From the Daintree to Laura, Laura to Weipa and into Mapoon, then back to Weipa. Can you get a total of the kms we will travel?
As a final note, now that a costing of sorts is available, it is abundantly clear we need to get on with our fundraising. At the meeting, I asked for each family to take responsibility for a fundraising event ie to organize that event, expecting participation from others. Some ideas for events given were:
A white elephant stall held at the church
BBQ’s outside Oxley Foodstore (or anywhere else we can get a date)
Selling chocolates or something similar
A bus trip where we might cater lunch as well
Some people discussed car washes (not sure on water restrictions details)
Slave auction where young people do yardwork etc for a fee
Could each family let me know what fundraising event (either from above or other idea) they would like to take charge of, and when they would like to hold it?
If there are any further questions that I haven’t addressed, please contact me, by phone will get you the quickest response, on 3201 8378.
NEXT MEETING 18 FEBRUARY 11AM (AFTER MORNING CHURCH) TO DISCUSS FUNDRAISING, AND INFO GATHERED FROM WEBSITES.
Current Itinerary:
Wednesday 20 June Fly out Brisbane – Cairns.
Meet up with James Hughes.
Stay o/night in Cairns
Thursday 21 June
Travel to the Daintree Rainforest in James’ car.
Meet the Wujal Wujal community. Stay o/night - tents.
Friday 22 June
Travel to the Laura Festival with James.
Experience indigenous culture, meet friends of James. Stay o/night at Festival – camping out or in tents.
Saturday 23 June
Continue at Laura Festival. Stay o/night.
Sunday 24 June – Tuesday 26 June
Travel to Weipa with James. Stay at Weipa at James and Michelle’s place. Explore Weipa, meet the aboriginal community, Napranum.
Wednesday 27 June – Monday July 2
Travel to Mapoon. Stay at James’ house. Visit Janie Crk Turtle protection project. Participate in local children’s program. Visit Pennefather (coastal spot – maybe camp – croc proof fence). Meet Tjunganji community, spend time with elders. Participate in, prepare and help lead worship times where appropriate.
Tuesday 3 July (or maybe Monday afternoon)
Travel to Weipa, fly to Cairns.
Stay o/night in Cairns.
Wednesday 4 July
Fly home to Brisbane
There will be a debriefing session held later this week, and also discussion on how to share what we’ve experienced with the congregation and others.
