Sally Gare’s memoir opens with her arrival in 1956 at the Forrest River Mission School in far north Western Australia. She lives in a ‘modern’ fibro house and teaches Oombulgurri children in a cane-grass-and-chicken-wire classroom. Surrounded by dogs, snakes and saltwater crocodiles, Gare’s initial introduction to teaching is coloured by humidity and homesickness and punctuated by complex dynamics, harsh conditions and splintery longdrop toilets. After a two-year stint at Forrest River and a teaching post at Greenmount, Gare travels to Port Hedland to teach Pindan mob kids in a corrugated iron locomotive shed. Subsequent adventures take Gare as far as Jigalong and Wittenoom, propelling her towards a husband, children and a longstanding career touching countless student’s lives.
Gare’s detailed recollections offer rare glimpses into multiple social contexts unique to their time and place. Gendered divisions of labour and systemic racialisation contrast starkly with modern attitudes, implicitly highlighting issues concerning integration and education. All of this is set against a narrative backdrop of amusing anecdotes, colourful characters and transformative personal experiences. Gare’s distinctive perspective preserves the minutiae of bygone eras with personality, humour and verve.