Jul 2006

Australia Diary – May 9 – July 13 – Fifth Week – 2nd week with wallabies.

PHOTOS TO COME

Saturday, June 10 – RAINED ALL DAY!

I took on new pens today, pen 6 with all adult males, pen 7 with adult females and Chatty’s pen, the blind adult grey kangaroo. As it poured for most of the day, all we did in the pens was the feed stations and anything else we could get to between down pours. As I was doing chatty’s pen, I saw a grey kangaroo in the open area that had a very enlarged back right foot. Tina and Pete recognize him as Doc that had been released from the area within the last 5 months. At feeding time, we managed to corner him and Pete caught him and held on until Tina could give him some Valium. He settled pretty well in Pete’s lap and after about 7 mls of Valium he could be carried into the kitchen and put on the table for evaluation. He had some how managed to amputate his largest middle toe and possibly 1-2 additional portions of that toe. The infection was so established that Tina was unable to inject any local anesthetic, so they cleaned as best they could, pumped him full of antibiotics and bandaged him. Tina had hoped to keep him in the hospital all night, but he became so fractious that he ended up in Chatty’s pen.

During the rainy afternoon, I thought I might enjoy a nap with Wiggles. It ended up being a non-nap as she started with every minor noise of gust of wind and about drove me crazy. I understand why new mothers are so sleep deprived!

Sunday, June 11

Overcast all day with winds that at times were extreme. We managed to spend more time in the pens and they were a mess considering the recent days of light cleaning and the extra water.

I found that I love cleaning Chatty’s pen for several reasons. 1 – it does not have very tall grass so the foxtails aren’t too bad. 2 – It is close to the house and you can see what is going on. 3 – there aren’t many shelters to worry about. 4 – Kangaroo poo is much larger and easier to spot. 5 – with the little bit of water we have had over the last few days, the tiniest little wild flowers are coming up. As I would bend down to pick up some poo, I would be greeted with the loveliest tiny flowers of periwinkle blue, lemon yellow or bright fuchsia. Lovely little gifts of color in an otherwise green and brown carpet.

We attempted to capture Doc to re-bandage him and he was not having it. We tried for 20 minutes and Tina finally stopped us and said that if we continued much longer, we might cause him to die of stress. As she really would need to capture him on a daily basis in order to change the bandages and give him more antibiotics, it is not looking good for him. Australia no longer allows people to have guns without registration and therefore, Pete does not have a weapon. The farm also does not have a blowgun that would allow us to dart him with an anesthetic. The blowgun might be able to be borrowed from the zoo and providing they can find the right drug, he may be able to be sedated to retreat or possibly euthanasia. Not a very happy ending to our day. We will see if we can catch him tomorrow.

Monday, June 12
The day began as normal and I began in pen 7, the females. As it had been a hugely windy night, most of the animals had stayed put and therefore, the poo was not very evident. As I was finishing the pen and picking up my rake in the food station, I stooped to look into the individual animal shelter. I saw what appeared to be a reclining nailtail. Upon closer inspection, I found that she was dead. I carried her to the main area and Pete and Tina came out. She was an older animal and Tina said she had a hard life. She did not appear to have been bitten by a snake, which is one common cause of death in the pens. Tina is suspecting malnourishment and has decided that from now on we will only be feeding sweet potato and not the corn nuggets.

As I returned from my second pen, Tina said that she and Pete had to make an emergency trip to Brisbane to collect their daughter and granddaughter from an abusive relationship. This left Matt, Sophie and I with Jessica to hold the fort.

We have fallen into a routine with the boys and they are a scream. Bernie only wants his pieces of sweet potato without rind and takes one small bite and then throws it over his shoulder. I love to hear the contented little crunching as they hold the potato in their little hands and munch away. I ADORE FEEDING ANIMALS!

When any of the animals gets the hiccups, their entire body shakes. They get the hiccups
whenever they are stressed, which happens any time the guinea fowl approach Bruce. Wiggles with hiccups is a hoot.

Sophie cooked tonight for the four of us and we had the most delightful chicken and bacon fried rice. YUM. We thought there might be some left over of Matt’s breakfast, but by the end of dinner, we had eaten it all away.

Tuesday, June 13 – Martina and the Baby are home

We had massive winds with lots of gusts all day and the shade sail over the porch let go and waved dangerously in the breeze. As I cleaned pen 2, I found one of the sails down in two of the four places and where it touched the ground, the girls had used it as a potty. At least it was easy to see. As I was in the pen, I kept hearing a loud banging and the roofing for the feed shed in pen 4 was very loose and in danger of flying off at any moment.

With Tina gone, Wiggles had to be fed. Tina had said earlier that Wiggles eats for no one but her. Jessie had fed her the night before, so I held out some hope of feeding her. I GOT HER TO FEED TWICE TODAY. YAAAH!

The day was quiet, other than the wind, and the pens went as normal. The family arrived home in stages with Pete staggering in with a blinding migraine at about 3:30 and the other car with Tina, Martina and the baby at 5:00.

With the family arriving home after 10 hours of driving, Sophie and I coordinated dinner. Tina had a stuffed chicken roll in the freezer, which we thawed and then fried in the electric fry pan with potatoes. Also yummy. Frankly, I am normally so hungry by the time that dinner is ready, not because there is no food but from the physical work, that almost anything tastes yummy.

Wednesday, June 14 –

Martina and Jessie went into Rocky to try and get some answers for Martina’s upcoming custody hearing and to shop for Tina’s birthday gift.

After pen cleaning, Sophie and I spent most of our time working on the logo and t-shirt quotes for AACE. Sophie has developed a logo for the group that incorporates a line drawing of a wallaby and the name. We found a reasonable source for the shirts out of New South Wales and if they sell the shirts for $20, they can make almost $10 in profits for the agency.

Poor Cody, our little wallaroo, appears to have diarrhea and possibly e coli. It is not uncommon with the change of schedule and with several different people preparing milk and bottles. We will wait and see what happens.

Tina has been catching a one-eyed girl wallaby that had recently had her damaged eye removed by the vet. For the past 5 nights, Tina has repacked her eye with medicinal honey (which is doing an amazing job of cleaning up the infections) and shots with three antibiotics. She also wanted to try again to catch Doc again. I requested that she forego that this night as everyone was exhausted and frankly, Pete is the only one who is strong enough in the group to grab and hold on to him. I admit it. I feel really bad at bringing him into this situation if he will only end of being euthanized. I realize if he is really sick, it is for the best, especially as he is almost impossible to catch, and catching him can lead to exacerbating the injury and stressing him tremendously. I just don’t want him caught while I am still there if at all possible.

Thursday, June 15 – Tina’s Birthday

We presented Tina with her birthday gifts before Pete went to work, which meant we were up and on deck before 7am. Pete gave her some lovely crystal with gold figurines of a wombat, platypus and a kangaroo. The girls gave her lovely flannel pjs and slippers and I had found a welcome sign made out of wood at the Rocky fair with a wombat on it. She was very pleased with her gifts.

I finally cleaned the intensive pens today along with the first pen I ever cleaned, Pen 1 with the boys. The intensives are 10 small pens that line the bigger pens and they are close to the house. They all have shade sails, and some small shelters and at least some vegetation in them but no automatic waterers yet. These pens are used for injured wallabies that need to be caught repeatedly for medication, those that are not getting enough feed in the larger enclosures and for the elderly. There are also the two Bettongs from the zoo. Molly, the recovering carnivorous bridle and the one-eyed girl are in these pens. These pens are much faster to clean as you are only dealing with poo from 1-2 animals, but they are fiddly, as you have to clean water dishes daily. Pen 1 was fun to go back to and remember how I approached it the first time and how much easier it was today. Two of the boys met me at the gate hoping for sweet potato and Tina says they were probably Jack and one-eyed Boy. I said goodbye to them and thanked them for letting me assist them.

Tina and the girls went to town for food shopping and it piddled rain all day. I was trying to get my last bit of laundry done so that I could leave with most of my clothes cleaned and the sun appeared as I used the open air dryer.

Sophie and I continued to refine the logo and we downloaded each of our pictures on to Tina’s computer and I loaded Sophie’s on to mine.

While the family was away, I fed wiggles and we found that Cody with major diarrhea. For the 5pm feed, we called them on the road and were given directions for bentonite solution being added to the bottle. Hard to believe the clay that causes such problems in Colorado for building foundations is a wonderful binding agent for toxins in animals. One of the things I have been doing in the past few days, with the help of Karen Stickland in Colorado, was to locate suppliers who would ship the liquid form of the clay to Australia. We found one and Tina is emailing all her caregiver to see how many bottles they each want.

Once everyone was finally home, off we went to the pub for a dinner to say good-bye to me and Happy Birthday to Tina. I had wonderful fish and chips and a cider. YUM. I do love hard cider!

Friday, June 16 – Last day with the wallabies and Miss Wiggles the wombat

This was my last day and I felt the entire morning that I was racing from one thing to the other.

I again did the intensive pens and Chatty, as those were the fastest pens to do. At 9:30, Tina and I had an appointment to call Lee, the grant writer for AACE, and give her an update on our grant research. Then Simon was scheduled to arrive at 11 with the sweet potatoes, so I had to be packed and ready to go as soon as we had finished unloading the potatoes.

During the pen cleaning, little Molly came out and said good-bye. I told her how glad we were that she was feeling better and was on the mend. She really is sweet. I will always remember her little face. As I went into Duke’s pen, I had a bit of a surprise. Duke is young male and he is a successful 6-foot fence jumper. He is in this pen because there is a female in this pen and he wanted to be with her. Yesterday, as I was cleaning, as I finished, Duke was going through the motions to become a father. As he is rather young, I am not sure if he was accomplishing his mission. Today, they did not wait for me to leave, but continued. As I did my circuit they separated and finally Duke was right in front of me. He seemed curious and friendly, until I turned around and he attacked the back of my right leg. I pushed him off and from then on, I faced him and kept the bucket between us. VERY IMPORTANT LESSON TO BE REMINDED OF - THEY ARE WILD ANIMALS – EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE SMALL, NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THEM! THANKS FOR THE REMINDER. I now have a small hole in the back of my leg that Tina says will remain. My goal is that this is my first and only scar from a wild animal.

Tina and I spoke to Lee about the logo and the grant situation. AACE is considering a grant from Australian Geographic, but if they grant it, they will insist on exclusivity in coverage and they are not sure if that is the best thing for the agency at this time. They will apply for an I-to I grant again, and Sophie will get some quotes on industrial strength vegetable slicer and 4 more two-way radios for the volunteers to use. Lee is pessimistic about the chances for the slicer, but it sure would make a huge difference to future volunteers.

Just as Tina and I were sitting down for more discussions on what needs to happen when for them to receive their non-profit status, Simon arrives with the sweet potatoes. It is amazing how many potatoes you can get in the back of the Utility truck (Ute in Australian).

Then it was time for goodbyes and a few tears from me. I will miss the farm and the physical work and the temporary isolation. It was pretty easy to be comfortable staying put and having limited access to the modern world. I know I would quickly become tired of the monotony and the every-dayed-ness of it pretty quickly, the truly, every day was different with new joeys arriving, old one’s leaving and the ever changing pace of life on the farm. I really did come in the right season for me, because the heat, dryness and the flies during the summer would quickly drive me to distraction.

Saying goodbye to Wiggles stared the tears and they increased when I got to Bernie, Bruce, Martina and the baby, Sophie and Matt and then finally Tina. I am so pleased that I had a chance to get to know all of them.

Just as I was leaving, Tina got a call from the local health department that there had been a complaint lodged against her from a former I to I volunteer. During my stay, Tina had been dealing with I to I on a complaint from a 19-year-old girl who left after 3 days. Her main complaint was that Tina would not drive her 3 hours round trip into Rocky each day to visit with her parents who were staying there. Tina indicated that she was not a taxi service and that would not be possible. She also said the place was dirty and animals were always in the kitchen. Bottom line, this was not her cup of tea and she had not read the information sent prior to the placement.

This new complaint was most likely lodged by two other I-to-I volunteers who also left early. Tina is fit to be tied and feels that the health department will shut them down from accepting other volunteers. This is really too bad as they really need the volunteers on the premises if Tina and Pete are going to have to work off site to make ends meet.

After a ride with Simon and his son, Riley, we were back in Rocky at the zoo. I managed to find the cards with the Bridle Nailtiail and the children’s books on wombats and wallaby’s. I also photocopied the new flyers that Sophie designed to be put in YHA’s and backpacker travel agents. I will take some with me to Adelaide and Sophie will take hers to Sydney.

For lunch at the zoo, I had a meat pie with a black and white Magpie, gorgeous colored Lorikeets and interesting bird of olive, white, black and brilliant blue plumaged around he eyes. Then I sat updating this entry and fed the mosquitos outside the Cassowray’s pen. Ah Wild life in Australia.

Final analysis – This was a very fun placement. I did not find the close proximity to so many people too bad, but by the end of my time, I admit I was longing for some peace and quiet. At times, my attitude was not the sunniest and by the end, there was some make wrong going on.

I found it enjoyable to be isolated for a while and to be out of touch with the real world, mainly no tv or newspapers. If it did not have to do with the animals, it was not on the radar.

The animals were the best and to have a chance to feed them, touch them and to get to meet so many of the different wildlife of Australia was a true honor. I kept telling Tina that Wiggles would be coming with me. I guess I will have to come back and meet her babies. Tina says that will be in two years.

26A - Australia Diary – Hospital #2 May 9 – July 13 – Twelfth Week

PHOTOS TO COME

Saturday, July 29 – Day off

Up as early as possible to get the day started. By the time I joined Ruth, she had finished everything except two watering duties.

I asked Harry for the car registration and a letter authorizing me to drive the car, which he said was not needed, as he was not the owner. I met the owner yesterday, Jacko, a man who came to visit just at dinnertime.

Off we went in a 20 year old Holden with 190,000 miles. Oil was full, gas was full, water was full and I kept forgetting and trying to shift with my right hand. Co-pilot Ruth was good, but her hat kept getting in the way. The shift was a tradition modified H with reverse up high on the left. The H was very close together I kept going from 1 to 3. The ballet moves it took to get the car in reverse were considerable, so I got very good a making U turns whenever I could.

We traveled over very twisty roads that were very narrow but we made it to Atherton within one hour having traveled 50 km. First stop was at the information center for maps, then to a coffee shop for a lovely coffee and nougat. Mine was pretty good, but the others were not as pleased with theirs. We did lots of window-shopping and ended up at Brumby’s Bakery, a chain in Australia, for lunch. Yummy flakey pastries and breads. I finally got to the internet and made my flight reservations for South Africa. Within one week, the price had increased $170. We stopped at a liquor store to pick up champagne, as both Melody and I will celebrate birthdays at the hospital, her 21st and my 47th. This is the second birthday I will have celebrated in Australia. (the first one was my 12th.) As we were paying for the bottles, a young man of aboriginal descent chatted up Melody. That should be quite a journal entry for her.

We are in an area called the Atherton Table lands that are high roads that fall quickly into verdant farm valleys with dairy farms and a sprinkling of sections of rain forest full of water falls. We are here during the winter, which should be the dry season, so the waterfalls aren’t at their peak. Considering how dry most of the continent is, I was amazed they even have waterfalls.

Our first stop after Atherton was to see the Curtain Fig Tree. The most amazing thing about these trees is that a bird deposits a fig seed high on a branch. The seed sprouts and then sends roots both into the tree and then down to the ground forming almost a ladder with anchor roots to the trunk of the host tree. Finally, the fig is so large and has a strangle hold on the host tree and the host tree eventually dies, leaving the fig tree still standing. Absolutely amazing.

PHOTO – 3 at the fig

Next, on to Youngaburra, a charming little town where we were one week late for their famous market. Quaint, but not much open at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. We were in search of waterfalls.

On the way to the first water fall, Ruth had expressed an interest in seeing the swamp listed on the map. We turned off and again, were heading along a high ridge. Just as we past the overlook for the swamp, I spotted the sign. We were on a ridge on a ramp that looked down into a pasture with cows and white birds at the bottom and several patches of water surrounded by green grass. Not what any of us at expected as a swamp, but I guess it qualified.

Off to the Malanda Falls, which to my amazement had cement sides and terraces, a concrete walkway over the narrowest part and a ladder for you to enter the water from the side. It looked rather inviting and Ruth hopes that we have another day off where we can use the car so that she can return and swim. Across the road from the parking lot was a conservation trail that was paved and track going into the woods with interpretive signs along the river. We spied lots of water turtles that were hoping for handouts, but no platypus. Maybe the next water fall.

Back in the car and a short side trip up the wrong road to Willa Willa. Harry had told us to take the bus ramp to the parking lot and this delivered us to the base of the waterfalls. This was a lovely waterfall, high off a cliff into a pool. A knowledgeable photographer who was patiently waiting for people to get out of the way of his shots laughed about the signs warning bathers about the germs in the water. He wondered why they weren’t mentioning the leeches that would be more of a concern to most people, especially in the summer season. Glad I left my swimming suit at home, thank you very much!

Another short detour up the wrong stretch of road, when we finally located the scenic drive back to Ravenshoe. As we turned on the road, a sign said would be 24 km of twisty roads again. It was 5pm and the light begins to fade by 6:15, so I was intent on getting back before the dark. The roads in this area had a tendency to become very narrow (really only one lane), although there was a single lane of cars going in each direction. I got very good at hugging the left side of the road. The angels were flying with us all the way.

As we got closer to Ravenshoe, we were on the backside of the wind farm that we had passed this morning to the way to Atherton. They are amazing looking, but a little weird. For whatever reason, they remind me of a scene in the Planet of the Apes movies from the 60’s with Roddy McDowell.

We were glad to be home and as I was pulling down the back driveway and around the corner to the caravans, I scrapped the left side of the car on the large landscaping rocks. SIGH! 170 km with no problems, and I scrape the car in the driveway. Harry was very nice about it.

Melody and Ruth go to the markets tomorrow and have to be at the gate waiting for their ride at 5:30. I will stay home and take on a little more work, but I must admit, I am looking forward to a little solitude while I work. Maybe some more gardening or mulching, which does not need two people for the task.

Off to bed with a new magazine.

Sunday, July 30

Ruth and Melody had to rise at 5 to be ready at 5:30 for their rides to the markets. I must admit, I was pleased not be going and looked forward to a productive day at the hospital.
As I began my day, I went off with 5 bottles to feed 4 joeys by myself. I had found that at least one of the recipients was slow to come, so I figured, by the time I had the first two done, I could do the last two. NOPE! All 4, plus an interloper decided they all needed their bottles simultaneous. First was Mr. Greedy (Seddy), who normally gets 1.5 bottles. I got him started on his half bottle, got Skippy’s bottle going for him and tried to rest it on the other stool, while I fed Roy his bottle. It worked for about 1.5 seconds and then Skippy’s bottle fell and Roy needed assistance. Add to this, Skye, who had not appeared for days for her bottle, and usually had to be coerced to take it in the field, was in the group demanding hers and trying to steal someone else’s. Last but not least, the swamp wallaby that does not get a bottle, decided today he needed one. I finally had Seddy’s bottle between my knees, my right hand feeding Skippy under my left arm and my left hand feeding Roy under my right arm. Once Roy had had some, I disconnected him and let Skye have the rest of his bottle. I figured I would give Skye’s bottle to Roy later. Roy was very patient and waited for someone to stop so he could have some. About this time, Seddy was bored sucking on an empty bottle so I had to let go of one bottle in order to hook him up with his larger bottle. Well, long story short, everybody got some milk, not necessarily from the correct numbered bottle, but in the end, everyone had a full stomach and was happy.

When I had finished with the joeys, I found that Harry and Karin had already done all my other feeding jobs for me. HMMM? They are very efficient. I had hoped to do the rabbits by myself and to get to spend some time with them.

I did need to add hay to the rabbits so Karin and I went into the roo pen to get the last of the hay before Tuesday to see how far it would go. As she began moving they hay into a wheelbarrow, she found a large nest of wild rats. She began picking them up by their tails and putting them in a large feed barrel. She was not able to collect all of them, but did end up with 9 from large to pinkies that will be fed to the raptors. We moved the hay to the rabbit area, and I began to fill in the gaps of the cages. Some of cages have nesting mom’s so I had to be careful around the little piles of fur where the tiny bunnies are. Most of the rabbits loved the hay and began munching it right away. I did dig out completely a few of the pens and they were awfully soggy. Amazing as they had only been done 6 days ago. We will do a thorough cleaning of these when the hay arrives.

After that, I watered the clippings I had planted and not much life to be seen from the pumpkins yet. About 75% of the sweet potatoes seem to be holding on, but several look very wilted. We will see. I then followed Harry around with the wheelbarrow as he pruned all the bushes. I would then take the load to the burning pit that he had started. In it was the poor eagle that had not made it. Back to the ashes.

After lunch I decided to spend some time with eagles. Harry had said that I would be able to get closer to them if I remained outside the cage. I have had to enter the cage daily to add water to the pens, and had no fear of them. They avoid us and try and stay as far away as possible. I have not been around when Harry feeds them, so I don’t know if they ever approach a human. I sat outside in the shade of a little tree and with my binoculars. I was able to see all 5 of them at least part of the time. These magnificent eagles can be up to 3 feet tall, between 5-10 kilos (12-25 pds) and are generally dark brown/black with some copper colored feathers in different locations. I noticed that 4 of the 5 had copper colored feathers at the back of the head that swung like long hair when they moved their heads. One of them did not have the copper head feathers and seems more of a dark, smooth head. I could not discern any difference in their beaks or talons.

PHOTO – Eagle

There was a pair of eagles, one of the copper headed and the smooth dark head and seemed to be buds. Harry told me later that these were Freida and Freddy Kruger. Freida can fly, but I am not sure about the rest of the group. They sat in such a way that if one was looking forward the other was looking back, so that they had a view of the entire cage between them. They were lovely and stayed put the entire time I was with them.

Next are the two who couldn’t decide if I was a friend or a foe. Butch, (or the one eyed eagle) walked up a ramp made of a log to a higher vantage point and again, kept his good eye to me, as well as the rest of the cage.

Eddie as I arrived was trying his best to get on the same perch that Frieda and Freddy had. There was plenty of room and it was only about 4 feet high, but he was having some difficulty flying even that small distance. I watched him make several attempts and then finally in frustration (my words) disappeared behind a bush where I could not see him. Finally, after I had spent some time admiring Frieda and Freddy, I looked around at Eddie was on the other side of the pen and working his way up the log ramp that also housed Butch.

Harry had told us that in the wild, male eagles are very territorial and would not spend time with each other. In captivity with adequate space and housing and nesting spaces, they quickly become comfortable with the other’s presence and don’t seem to worry each other. Eddie got right up next to Butch and Butch sort of tried to let him pass to an even higher perch, but Eddie stayed put.

Within the eagle enclosure, about 1/5 of it has been sectioned off with a half wall and gate to allow injured eagles a little privacy. This is were the not-name eagle has been housed and even though he can get on the perch and is doing much better with very short distances, he stays in his little area even with the gate open. This was the area that Harry had put Captain, the eagle that did not make it, and it was where I found him. At one point, not-named had managed to get into the other side of the pen when the gate was closed. Poor Captain, no one wanted to be with him.

I had a wonderful hour and half with the eagles and will go back at different times of the day to see if there are doing other things. I had taken off my glasses to look through the binos and as I got up the leave, found that grass had been in front of my graying lenses and had formed a pattern on my right lens. I hoped it was not permanent as I would have had to look through this strange set of lines. Luckily, once I went back in, they readjusted and gave me no problems.

PHOTO – eagles
Ruth and Melody returned from their markets and the attendance was underwhelming at Ruth’s, only 9 tables and $55 for donations. Melody’s was larger and farther away and she went with a tremendous volunteer who is very voluble and great at getting donations. No final numbers from that one at this writing.

During the day, Harry had several visitors and one left $20 as a donation, which is always nice. He usually spends upwards of an hour per visitor.

Around dinnertime, it was time for Harry to force-feed the Little Sooty Owl who is now in it’s own cage. I got to hold her again, and she is so soft Harry fed the baby pinkie rats to her and we found that they went down better dipped in water. We also found out that she was very thirsty and took dropper after dropper full of water. We hope that this shows she is still interested in eating. We will feed her daily now and see how she goes.

After dinner, Melody finally made good contact with Raja, so now the kitty has two friends. I am pleased that happened, as I did not want her to become dependent on me, and if she accepts Melody, then maybe, other volunteers will visit her when I am gone.

I finished another mystery which was mediocre and started My Sister’s Keeper, a book I had seen in NZ and wanted, but did not want the extra weight at the time. It is a story about a younger sister who was conceived because her older sister had leukemia and needed a close family donor. When I finally picked it up, I thought it was non-fiction, but it is fiction. When I first heard about it, I thought I knew how I felt about the topic. I am only half way through and each chapter is told by a different character, child, mom, dad, sister, outcast brother, child’s attorney, child advocate, etc. I will let you know what I find at the end of the book.

Light off late, could not sleep and took a pill at 11.

Monday, July 31 – HOT HOT HOT today!

My tasks today was watering and I ended up doing the rabbits with Ruth. This is our first day back after three partial days off. Ruth and I are wondering how it will go.

New tasks today included cleaning the feathers out of the eagles enclosure, out of the falcon pens, collecting dried cow pies for compost and the ever popular and back challenging, breaking up the garden and weeding the beds.

Ruth took the eagles, I took the falcons and Melody took the weeding. I had three enclosures with falcons and kites to clean. The first pen had only one falcon and it was hard to pick up all the little feathers. What amazed me was how few bones were left after they had eaten. They obviously are very efficient eaters. My second pen had two falcons, one high and one constantly skipping about on the ground. This pen had twice the number of feathers and it was even harder to get it clean. The hardest part was coming across the little numbered bands that would have been on the pigeons. Well, raptors don’t eat at McDonalds. My third pen had a kite, a smaller raptor. No feathers at all only a partially eaten rat. I asked Harry and he said that the kites don’t get the larger birds, only the young chicks and obviously their feathers go down okay. I must admit, I was a bit queasy after the first pen, but I think it was partially due to not enough water and too much sun.

Ruth had the same experience, both on finding bits of things in her pens and also the heat. We have discussed it with Harry, and if it is hot again in future days, we will rest between noon and two and then work form two to four in the afternoon.

As I mentioned before, I had somehow forgotten that wild animals eat live prey. As I work with them and clean up after them and daily feed, water and clean up after their prey animals, I am thankful for the seminar I took with Terri O’Hara and her discussion about the agreement between animals and their prey animals. On one hand, it is still hard for me to look at the cute little things and realize their destiny. On the other hand, I feel I have a better understanding of the dynamics of nature and the wonderful cycle that all life has. It is not right, it is not wrong, it is what it is. Mind you, I am not cuddling the rabbits, playing with the guinea pigs or making friends with the mice and rats. But I do give them my care and attention and make sure that they are fed and comfortable as I can make them.

The final project for the day was cow pie collection to add to the newly created compost pile in my garden plot. As we clean out the rabbit cages, all the stray, excess food and little rabbit pellets go into one of the numerous garden beds of border areas. Nothing is wasted and everything, with the exception of plastic is recycled or reused.

Bindi, the little cow I think I mentioned before, loves to eat vines and so in addition to the cow pies, I also sent all the stems back over the fence to be burned in the pit. My mother would be shocked to hear that I willingly picked up dried cow pies and put them in a wheelbarrow for the compost. By the time that Ruth and I had sod busted and weeded the last bed, it was too hot to continue.

Melody had been put on caravan painting and we joined her for the rest of the afternoon.

The hay arrived a day early and we expect tomorrow to be a massive cleaning day in the roos, rabbits, and guinea pigs area.

Dinner was a stir-fry by Karin and we all retired early.

Tuesday, Aug 1 - + two wwoofers arrived today

With the hay delivered yesterday, we knew it would be a big day of heavy cleaning. Luckily, we were expecting two additional people to show up. They are WWOOF’ers ( Willing Workers On Organic Farms) and normally, they work in return for meals. It is an organization that is active in Europe, Australia, NZ, Canada and growing in many other countries.

Harry had asked me today to assist with the daily assignments and co-direct the team. Melody, when done with her standard am tasks of bottle feeding, bird island and the water in the roo pens, was to report to either Harry or I for other assignments. One task that Melody will take on by herself will be all the dishes during our stay and has an ongoing assignment to paint the outside of the caravans when no other areas need extra assistance.

Ruth was still not feeling well but we went off together to bottom out the rabbits. I had developed what in my mind was a fantastic plan of how to clean all the cages efficiently with two people, but it ended up that one of us stood around while the other worked. HMMMM? Not my best plan. Normally one person does the rabbits and it usually takes all morning. As the hospital had not had hay for some time, most of the cages were at least 3 inches deep in matted straw and poo pellets. Once the wheelbarrow was full, one of us would take it to the new compost bin in the garden plot I am watering daily. Two of the beds are very hard and need lots of mulch and constant working to keep them workable. Needless to say, by the end of our rabbit and composting exercise, we needed a bath. We constantly have to move the rabbits around as several pens of Mrs. Rabbit present us with 1-4 little guys. Most of the pens are overcrowded now, so it looks like rabbit will be on the menu for the raptors a lot this week.

Adam and Janet, from Holland, arrived just as Ruth and I were ready to take our am break. They are in their 50’s, have two grown daughters in Holland and they have quit their jobs, come to Australia for a year, bought a mobile home and are wwoofing around OZ. He was in construction so Harry is very excited to have his help on numerous building projects. Janet is very willing to help and was using wheelbarrows and driving huge bales of straw all over the compound. I found at one point I was starting to direct them at work, which was not appropriate. Luckily, I caught myself early and realized, it was not mine to do. What a relief!

My last task for the am was to clean out the guinea pigs pen. What a mess. They were very cute and so wanted to get out of my way. They kept up constant communication between the groups and ran hither and thither as I tried to pry up the matted, wet straw from the far end of the cage under a very short roof. I wish Ruth had been there with my camera. They loved it when I added the straw and they all immediately hid under the mound.

It was a long exhausting morning and I know I looked a mess, but it was a big accomplishment and good to get it done. With the new hay, the pens should not get that dirty again.

After lunch, I watered my garden and the pumpkins are still being elusive. Not one up yet. The sweet potatoes are holding their own, but I will water them daily. I then picked some beans that Harry will use for new plants, tidied the garden area, and watered everything including the beds that needed work and the new compost pile. I forked through some of the bed, but Harry said to call it a day.

I arrived back at the caravans to find Melody not very far along. Ruth had excused herself and was taking a rest, so I helped Melody with the painting and showed her Dad’s techniques for even painting, proper use and storage of paint and brush cleaning. Thanks Dad!

My shower was wonderful and I rested for the rest of the afternoon.

For the last three nights, Harry has been force-feeding the Little Sooty Owl and it was my turn to hold her. 4 little ratlettes tonight and more water. She is really catching on. Harry says her one eye is permanently damaged, but it is too early to decide if she will be releasable or not.

I find I am in the routine here now and feel pretty comfortable. This placement is another one with more work to do to support the animals rather than working with them directly. I find I really appreciate the time that I do get to spend with them, and prefer the jobs like gardening for the food source over the enclosure maintenance and construction. As with so many animal jobs, there is nothing glamorous about moving hay, scrubbing out water containers or taking the wet and smelly straw to the compost bin. But it is what needs to be done for their care.

I took a little time today to review the current member/donation brochure for the hospital and will offer my suggestions to Karin and Harry. They have a committee meeting on site on Sunday and they can bring it forward if they choose.

Tomorrow, with the extra people around, we will most likely reposition one of the cages that has not been wired yet and try and get the mesh netting up over three aviary cages for more raptors.

I better get my sleep!

Wednesday, Aug 2

I am finding that I am getting through a book every two days. My read list will expand considerably by the time I update my list. They are mainly novels, but sometimes, I find a real peach.

Today was a pretty normal day, with the exception of moving a frame of huge cage from one location to another. A snap when you have good directions and 5 people working together.

My day was spent wiring doors for the cages we finished last week. Janet and Adam are great and work solidly along moving rock, digging trenches and otherwise doing a lot of the heavy work. Harry was so sweet, as Ruth and I were doing doors, he rigged a shade for us. I think I might have seen the first hint of a pumpkin coming up. I keep my figures crossed and wished I knew who is the patron saint of gardeners. I will email David Maurek and find out.

It is getting hotter and hotter and it is not even close to spring here. I cannot imagine being in OZ in the true heat. My arms are very brown, my face is spotty red and my legs are very white. The only way I could catch my tan up would be to wear elbow length gloves and nothing else. As you can imagine, something will freeze over before that happens!

Ruth is feeling better which is great for both her and all of us. We worked today on my computer on suggested revisions for the hospital’s brochure and sponsorship information.

Melody’s painting continues and today Harry worked with her on the table and chairs outside of our caravans.

Thursday, Aug 3 – Doors, doors and more doors

Today, Ruth and I focused on the doors and also training the wwoofers on the feeding duties. We have a partial day off tomorrow and may need to leave before all the early am feeding was done.

Another hot day and I worked away on finishing my fine mesh door, under my shade umbrella. I ignored a vibe not to cut an overly long piece of wire, and ended up having to patch it back together twice before I had finished my door. I find back to back days of wiring exhausting on my hands and fingers, and as I fatigue, my ability to maintain balance and remember that I am having fun hard to remember. Luckily, Harry understands when we take breaks, and there is normally something else productive I can do during my time away from the wire, such as watering the rabbits or the garden.

Days are running together in the routine and I am usually in my caravan to 7:00 pm for blogging or reading. Tonight, I completed The Loved One by Evelyn Waugh.

It turned out to be a very cold night and I was up numerous times to go to the dunny, and to don more clothes in order to get back to sleep.

Friday, Aug 4 – Day off and off to Cairns for a new volunteer

Up at 6:20 and out the door at 6:35 to begin the am chores. I was freezing by the time we left and had on a long sleeve shirt, fleece vest, fleece jacket, scarf and socks on under my sandals. I KNOW! Soon all the fashion houses will be following my lead! The three of us were looking forward to a day away and me especially, to return to Cairns and have time on the computer. It was a 2.5-hour drive on very curvy roads, but the scenery is interesting and changeable.

We were also dropping off the eagle that had surgery two weeks ago for a broken wing for a check up. Karin was to do some shopping and on the way back home, we were to pick up another volunteer at the airport.

As we arrived, Ruth and I headed off to the computer connection and Melody to the bank and the mall. Lots accomplished, the unhappy part, was that I realized that I had made a wrong flight reservation for South Africa and will now have to change it. Sigh!

Ruth looked at some tour options and when we met Melody and Karin, we found out that the volunteer had missed her connection out of Hong Kong and we were not sure when she would arrive.

Back at ranch, we talked through the plans for the rest of the weekend and projects to accomplish. As we don’t know when the volunteer arrives or how long the wwoofers will stay, Ruth and I have come up with a short list of things that we as a pair want to complete before she leaves.

Not as cold tonight, but I put on an extra blanket just in case.

AUSTRALIAN VOCABULARY

Push Bike – bicycle

Sook – sweet and needy, like a young child who clings to mom, but once comfortable, you can’t get rid of.

ENTRY # 21A - Australia Diary – May 9 – July 13 – Fourth Week – 1st week with wallabies.

Friday, June 2

There were some mysterious bumps on the roof during the night, but Tina had told me they were either Simon or frogs. She said that there was nothing that was going to get me, so I slept pretty well. I had the alarm set for 6:20 but was up before hand. The day would start at around 7:00 am.

Let me tell you about the farm.

The farm is very much a work in progress. Just as with many horse people in the US, the care of the animals is their lives and all the time, energy and resources go into the animal care and housing. I am in a metal, walled and roofed shed, in a very comfortable bed with mosquito netting and my own cupboard. There is room for 3 other people in the shed. Next to the shed is the common kitchen/bathroom, dining room complex. Not all the walls are solid yet, but the weather so far is mild and they have a space heater for the evenings. Peter and Tina live in a temporary house across the way and there is a temporary building, funded by a US Foundation that is currently the infirmary and office. A second building is coming so that the two different areas (office and hospital) will be divided and there is cold room for all the food storage. It is a bit rustic but very functional. Later this winter, they will have additional help to rework all the pens and the feeding sheds so that they will have concrete floors and three walls to keep out the elements.

The water from the pipes is bore water and suitable to washing but not drinking. Rainwater is collected and used for drinking water. The kettle is always on and it is pretty much a self-serve kitchen. There is one refrigerator that is cold. There is another refrigerator that is not cold, but used to store things that need to be sealed. Most of the food is stored in plastic containers as there are all sorts of things that might come in a snack during the night.

There are 8 pens housing anywhere from 1 to 15 wallabies in various age and sex groupings. Each pen has one tent or building for the eating and water station and then several other tented areas of shade. Under some of the awnings are hollow logs or teepees made of branches for little hidey-holes for the wallabies. All the big pens have automatic watering systems in the feeding shed.

There are 10 intensive pens, much smaller pens that house 1-2 animals who are either recovering or for whatever reason, need to be closer to the house. These pens do not have automatic waters yet, but will soon.

On the outside of the pens there are several large macropod animals (macropod = big foot ie. Kangaroos or wallabys) that have been released. These are Agile Wallabies and we see them from time to time. Most of these animals were cruelty cases where they were either overly confined by uninformed owners or grew larger than the owner had thought. Predator, a female Agile Wallaby was confined in such a small cage that she kept beating herself against the wire. She had a permanently split lip.

Daily Schedule

6:30 wake
7:00 breakfast
7:30 – noon - clean pens
12-1 lunch on my own
2:00 sweet potato processing *
4:10 begin evening feeding
- Large pens – luchen (chopped hay), barley, sweet potatoes **
- Intensive pens – above received daily
- Bettongs – cut up fruit, mushrooms, avocados, meal worms, peanuts, grapes
6:30 dinner
10:00 bed

This schedule may change depending on if we have joey’s that need bottles or new incoming animals.

• Sweet potato processing involves cutting off the mold on the outside of the veggies and then cutting them into very thin slices about the size of a small post it note. Some of them are really slimy as we are at the end of the potato load, but more are coming next week. In addition to slim, we sometimes come across worms when we cut them in half. Obviously, they don’t go into the feed bucket.

• * Apparently, the evening meal can change from day to day for the large pen, and therefore, there might be more of less feed and sweet potato to prepare

My assignment for the first week will be pens 1-3. Pen 1 is full of males and has lots of areas denuded of grass. Pen 2 has 15 females and it is quite large. In the corner is a hollow log, which I think, looks like a crocodile. Pen 3 runs across the back of the first two pens and is narrow and very sunny and is full of adult girl wallabies.

Tina told me the following facts about the wallabies - They are nocturnal and generally eat all night long, and lounge in the sun during the day. They have a very large cecum and will regurgitate their partially digested food and then re-eat it. Now that this colony has been established, they will become a breeding facility for them and when proper release sites can be found, they will be released into the wild. What determines a proper release site is a parcel of land, usually privately owned with sufficient acreage and trees for a natural habitat for the wallabies. Their main predators are dogs and cats and the destruction of their habitat.

The Bridled Nailtail Wallabies (Flashjacks) were thought to be extinct until the 1970’s and are now on the endangered list. This colony was taken from a mine site and when they were found, they were malnourished, neglected, had massive parasite infestations and their ears were loaded with ticks. I have seen the pictures and they still have several jars with the ticks that were taken from the ears. These wallabies don’t even reach my knee when they are sitting erect and have a dark and light bridle pattern over their shoulder area. They have the sweetest little faces and dark little front legs with 5 toes with claws. Their hind legs have only four toes, the central one is huge with a claw and the two very small ones on the inside of the large toe (that they are used for grooming) and one very small one on the outside of the large central toe.

Tina took me into Pen 1 and showed me the ropes. Armed with a rake, bucket for poo and rubber gloves, I entered the pen. First, we rake the wallaby poo pellets around the gate into a pile. Then go to the feed shed, empty the feeders (made out of black drainage pipe) into the bucket and rake the poo into the piles for pick up. This is an important area to clean as they tend to spill a lot on the ground and you want it as clean as possible. Put water into the feeders and let them sit for a while. Pour out the water and let the feeder dry in the sun as you do perimeter poo pick up. Peter often tells me to make a game out of things, so I view poo patrol as an extensive easter egg hunt. Wallaby poo resembles little easter eggs without the foil wrappers or little dark almonds. Sometimes you find a little clutch of them, but usually, they are by themselves. That is what you need the gloves for as you pick them up and put them in the bucket. After the perimeter check, there are all the tented areas to look through and also any of the bare patches.
As we entered Pen 2 and were on the way to Pen 3 at the back, we found a connection for the water pipes leaking. Matt and Tina made a quick repair with wire and we were waiting for Pete to return from the zoo to fix it. With the pipe broken, I would need to bring water buckets to each pen for cleaning and filling the water fountain.

Tina usually does a pen in about 40 minutes, Matt an hour and today, it will be interesting to see how long it takes me. I ambled around the first pen and felt that there was no way that I had covered the entire area. Every time I thought I had finished an area, if I approached it from a different direction, I saw all kinds of poo that I missed before. (Tina said this is a common finding, the main thing is to develop a system and follow it.) By the time I was done with Pen 1 (it took me 2 hours), my socks were covered with foxtails. I took my break and pulled most of them out, put on clean socks and my gaters and went into Pen 2. During my break, when I removed my gloves the water just poured out of the glove, as it was very hot. Then I took my pail full of wallaby pellets to the flowerbed and dumped.

Pen 2 is the largest pen, almost a square with 15 immature females. They are the friendliest pen, and although they ran from me today, I was told that the next few days they would come out and watch me work. On this pen, I decided to do the gate, the feed station, walk the perimeter in both directions and then do the middle sections. Easter egg hunting began and it was more fun, but still took 2 hours for me to finish this pen. After each pen, I went back to the house, had a drink, a potty break and a little snack. It was getting hotter, so on went the sunscreen and the off went the fleece vest, also covered in foxtails.

This was the day that Sugar, the grey kangaroo, was going back to his foster mom for more care before he was released. I had hoped to give him another bottle, but time was of the essence and I was in the pen cleaning.

Pen 3 was the pen that spanned the backside of the other two pens. It was filled with more mature females and they were very wild. This pen had the most sun by the time I got to it and my back was hurting. Tomorrow, I plan to do this pen first. I also decided to start earlier so that I could be done before noon and the hottest sun. I finally finished at about 3pm and was pooped. I had missed helping get the sweet potatoes ready for the wallabies for dinner. At 4:15, Matt and I began feeding the pens.

Matt is a semi-permanent Australian volunteer. He travels around Oz on a bike (called a push bike by Tina). Matt is instrumental for Tina and Pete as he has a tree nursery and has taken over most of the landscaping and tree planting in the pens.

Today, the wallabies received a mixture of chopped alfalfa hay, barley and sliced sweet potatoes. I took my bucket into my three pens and spread them evenly in the number of feeders. If I spilled, I would have more cleaning to do in the morning. After I had delivered my three buckets, I assisted Matt as he had all the other pens, both large and small to do. The intensive pens, with only one or two animals, received handfuls of feed. There are two Bettongs (sort of large hopping rats) and I watched as he prepared their special food. Bettong mix includes muesli, 5 peanuts in their shells, 5 grapes, 2 slices of banana, 2 slices of kiwi, ½ of a large mushroom, ¼ of an avocado, 2 inches of corn on the cob and the icing on the cake, 5 meal worms. YUK! The last pen that we fed was a large pen with a single, blind, female red kangaroo, named Chatty. She knows every inch of her pen and is very sweet.

As we were cleaning up the pails, there were some loose agile wallabies in the yard helping themselves to the outer feeding station. Predator was one of them, but there is also Baxter, Thelma (large Red roo with joey in the pouch), Delilah (large red roo with nasty attitude) and several others.

We had roasted chicken sandwiches for dinner. Yum.

Tina had a call from Pete that he was bringing home an injured grey kangaroo with pinkie (hairless, eyes-still-closed-roo in her pouch about 3 months old) home for doctoring. The mom had received her tetanus shot the other day, and when she came out of anesthetic, panicked and ran into a wall injuring her mouth. She subsequently developed tetanus and had not been able to deal with the joey for three days. By the time they decided to move her, her joey was covered in excrement and her pouch reeked.

As Pete pulled up in the truck, I helped carry the roo into the hospital. Tina had a bed made up on the floor and the incubator set up ready to receive the newly cleaned joey. The roo had been sedated and had Valium. She had urinated and it had a little blood in it. As Tina would have to be up all night monitoring the roo and feeding the pinkie, I volunteered to watch them as she had dinner with her friend and daughter who had come to visit the new baby. The female roo was fairly quiet, and yet kept stretching. I was warned to watch if she was seizing, which is common with tetanus. Tina left me with a two-way radio. When I used it just trying to say that the pinkie was very active and needed a feed, Tina appeared at the door like a shot.

I went to bed and asked Francis and Lilith to send the best to every one who was involved.

Saturday, June 3

When I woke up this morning, I was told that the grey roo died overnight. She started to seize, so Tina euthanized. The hope is that the pinkie survives. The pinkie joey, a little female, is still going and getting very active but is not drinking enough consistently.

Today, I did the pens in a different order and kept telling the inhabitants that I was just the maid cleaning up after the party. For whatever reason, I kept hearing Cleaning Women from Working going through my head.

As I was doing pen 2, full of juvenile females, I met Molly, a little girl wallaby, who appears sweet but apparently has quite an attitude. Tina had mentioned that she wanted to bring her in for a bowl of milk last night, but we had forgotten when the ill roo and joey arrived. As I went to work on the feed shed, a little wallaby came through the bush, appeared unstable on her feet and fell over on her side. Marty came out and picked her up and said that she might have had snakebite. By the time I was back in the house, Tina had determined that it was Molly and that she had secondary pneumonia. Tina started antibiotics and had put her in a sack to keep her warm.

Later in the day, Tina asked me to try and offer her some solid food. I sat with her on my lap and she took one piece of sweet potatoes and began to eat, but then stopped. Not much going into her. When Tina came, she was trying to give her electrolytes or bowl of milk and Molly latched on to her top lip and bite her three time through the upper lip. Tina was in shock for a bit, but recovered and we betadined her lip. Tina also noticed that Molly had a collection of fluid under her skin near her pouch. As we watched her over the next day, the swelling enlarged to the point where her entire chest had fluid.

The entire family and the friends from the south went to visit a neighbor. As the pinkie needed to be feed every two to three hours, they packed all the supplies and took the pinkie with them in a specially made cooler that can be plugged into the cars heater.

Matt and I stayed home and ate roasted chicken sandwiches and I spent an evening in front of the space heater with a book and Wiggles asleep on my lap.

Sunday, June 4

Before I went off to do my pens, I had Wiggles on my lap who was rooting around and waiting for her bottle. Suddenly, my leg was getting warm and Wiggles had begun to pee on me. As I moved her she stopped. I have been christened now by a koala, a sugar glider and a wombat. Tina says that wombats tend to pee on their mothers and eventually learn to pee by themselves. Tina is usually wet at least once a day.

The cast has come off of Coopers leg and he is a different dog. Frankly, I wish they would put the cast back on him, as he was much nicer with the cast. Now he is a little monster.

As I did my pens today, I went through all the different marketing and fundraising ideas I could come up with, mainly with school kids and partner school projects. Tina is going to put me in touch with the woman, Lee, who writes most to the agencies grants so we can brain storm with other options.

I had hoped to say goodbye to Marty and Kasia before they left, but they had to leave while I was still in the pens. Marty had a 7-hour drive back to Brisbane and we heard later that the baby had screamed and acted up the entire journey. What should have taken her 7 hours was closer to 9.

Out in the yard as we were feeding, I noticed animals that appeared much larger than the wallabies. They were female Grey Kangaroos who were helping themselves to the sweet potatoes peelings in the garden. They had been released from the farm and come back to visit occasionally. One of them was Thelma and she had a large joey in her pouch. She let me get quite close and I hope I have some good shots of them.

As it was Sunday, Pete spent a lot of time catching up with chores that don’t get done during the week, like cleaning the rat cages, making chaff for the wallabies. He also cooked a marvelous dinner of steak and gravy and veggies.

The nights have been very cold and I have three wool blankets and two sleeping bags to cover me. Tonight, I finally had the system down where I had all of them tucked in and I entered the nest from one side. I also wore my fleece to bed and slept very well.

Monday, June 5

Regular day with only Tina, Matt and I on the farm. The pens went fine, but I find that my back is hurting by my third pen. I came across another female down in pen 2 and as I couldn’t tell if she was sick or simply sunbathing, I asked Tina to have a look. By the time she arrived, the wallaby was gone and from now on, if I find somebody, I will disturb him or her to see if they can still hop. In my last pen, I came across a male with only one eye. He had lost it when he was very young. Also in the male pen, there was a conversation going on through the fence to the next isolation pen. The male hopped in front of me, finally got around me and kept up his conversation. Love is in the air! The song that kept running through my head during my pens today was “Everybody ought to have a maid” from Forum.

I had a restful afternoon with a shower, laundry, cuddle and reading with Wiggles and then Tina and I made a rush to town before the store closed. The Town of Marlborough is very small, 50 people and only three streets. It has a hotel, pub, post office, shop, elementary school, church, museum and a few other public service offices. Very sweet and quiet. The town was relocated to be closer to the rail line, but they don’t have a depot and the train never stops. At the old site of the town, which is now a pasture, you can still see the old street signs. We went to the Shell station which recently changed owners. They have been open for 3 months and they still don’t have any gas or diesel.

Tonight was homemade pumpkin soup for dinner.

I have completed 5 days of work with the wallabies and evaluated today if this is the work for me. What came to me is that I don’t mind the physical work for a while, but after a time, the every-day-edness of the work would wear on me. I watch Tina and Pete and see these people making such an effort and they obviously love the animals, but still need to bring in more money for the farm, so they have to work outside. Rockhampton is 1.5 hours away from them, so the commute is long and uses lots of fuel. Even though the town is really not that far, it appears to be too far for the scouts or school groups to come for tours or days on the farm that might help to increase their donations or awareness.

Pete is currently working at the Rocky Zoo 5 days a week, but he will go back to part time at the zoo, and Tina will begin working at the zoo 5 days a week. Their need for volunteers is huge, for the daily cleaning and the need will only increase in a few months when they add the additional cages, take on an additional 100 animals and finish the breeding pens and begin the real breeding program. That is just the general daily needs and the workload increases tremendously when they have sick, orphaned, abuse cases or pinkies that need around the clock care. Tina said that they receive volunteers from I to I, Green volunteers

The farm and the agency AACE – Australian Animals Care and Education is under the jurisdiction of a bevy of federal and state agencies that all have a say in what they can do, but leave them with no power or say on how the animals are released and the conditions for their relocation. It sound like some of the previous releases were on land that had promised resources and protection of the animals, but that did not come to pass. They released 56 animals, but within 4 months, only 4 of the animals could be found.

APACT – Australian Plants Animals Conservation Trust will be the new non-profit that will allow them to continue their work and allow them to receive tax-deductible donations. They have begun all the necessary paperwork but as they submit things they are told that new things are missing. Like so many small agencies, they are taken up with the daily running of the facility and at times aren’t able to continue with all the follow up needed to get things ironed out. How I wish they were able to find someone who would work in the office for a short time to help catch up with all the necessary paperwork and follow up in order to ease their minds and pocket book for a while.

I asked Tina and Pete what keeps them going. They could not really answer me other than to say that they will keep doing it as long as they can and help as many animals as they can. They are good people.

I have learned from Tina that she only receives $20 a day ($280 total) to feed me with no additional funding from the agency that placed me at the farm. Apparently, they can apply for an additional $1500 grant, but once received, the likelihood of every receiving it again is slim. As I reread my literature, they say that 1/3 of the money that I paid should go to the project or the helping hand foundation. I can also apply to encourage more funding for them, which I will do.

Tuesday, June 6

Quiet day with only Tina and I. Matt went into town with Pete and Jessica was working at the fair in Rocky.

Molly appears to be better and the swelling is going down. We put her out in a small cage today to get some air and sun. She is still a little pissy when you try and touch her back, but allows Tina to feel her stomach. YAAH!

Today, Alice (one of Tina’s rehabilitators) arrived bringing to stay with us Bruce (grey kangaroo), Bernie (red kangaroo) and Abby (a striped wallaby) all in bags. As she arrived the dogs went ballistic. Alice is on her way to Sydney as her mother-in-law is dying. So we will have three babies to give bottles to at least three times a day. Bruce arrived with a leg bandage as he had a broken back leg that had been set. Alice had said when she removed the bandage, Bruce was not able to use the leg. We removed the bandage and the leg had not set properly, but Bruce used it with no apparent problem.

The landscape around the farm is lovely. Gently rolling paddocks with hills in the distance, Eucalyptus trees and tall yellow grass and lots of brahma cross cattle in the neighboring farms. I awake to crows and magpies calling and the guinea fowl moving about as a unit. The guinea fowl are funny, grey and white speckles and naked heads and very herd bound. As I was waking up this morning, I heard the sound of twigs snapping and couldn’t figure out what it was. As I was cleaning pen 1, I saw what made the sound. The guinea fowl had all flown up and landed on the top of the gate into pen 2. They were then using the same technique to exit pen 2. When I finished pen 1, about have the group was still in pen 2 and not sure what to do. I opened the gate and got around behind them and shooed them out. Silly birds!

Wednesday, June 7 – My day at the fair

Today, Sophie from England arrived to help us. She is 24, has done lots of animal volunteer work in Thailand and found out about this placement from the Green Volunteers. She is very nice.

Tonight we went to the Marlborough Fair, with the pinkie in a pouch that we carried with us and had to stop twice to give her medicine and syringes of milk. We went for several reasons; to see Simon, Pete’ boss ride in the camel races, to eat fair food, to check out the livestock exhibits and to buy wonderful candy that you can only get in Australia. The camel races were something to behold. Three single hump camels were saddled with that appeared to be a two-seater saddle, but the jockey rode the back saddle. They were lead ¾ of the way around the track and then released and the galloped for home. Nobody fell off and Simon won his qualifying heat. We had to leave because the pinkie needed feeding. Fair food – much the same as our county and state fairs, including Dagwood Dogs (our corn dog but dipped in ketchup). I prefer mustard that is not a standard request, but they managed to find it for me. I also ate French fries that were okay, a waffle cylinder that they normally fill with cream (I had mine plane) and some wonderful curried peanuts from the hot nut man. We searched and searched for the Australia candy, but the booth had sold out before we got there. We went to another booth to look for honeycomb and I bought some. I had always thought it was honey that had been spun into candy, but it turns out it is corn syrup and baking soda. Hmmmmm? A bit of disappointment and the candy I bought had way too much baking soda. Oh well. The livestock exhibit was as expected, but there were some interesting short stature cattle called Square Meaters! Apparently there is a drive to go back to the shorter stature cattle that mature a little faster.

Thursday, June 8 – I smell Poo

Today we took on another foster baby, a Wallaroo called Cody. Wallaroos are between the wallaby and the kangaroo in size and are a distinct breed in and of themselves. Cody is on four bottles a day and needs to have her toileting done for her, as she is still little. She is medium grey all over with bright black eyes and when she is out of her bag, she had one speed – full on. She is a hoot. She adjusted to us feeding her within one day and soon Sophie and I were swapping feedings so that she became accustomed to different people feeding her. After feeding, you open the other side of the pouch and get lots of tissues ready. You gently stroke her coacha to stimulate the flow of both urine and poo from almost the same aperture. Their pee is very strong smelling and the poo is nuggets. Jessica called them moaning mertles because as you are toileting them, they give off a high-pitched moan.

We went into Marlborough today to go to the post office and the little museum. Just inside the door was a huge English Bull dog named Big Girl. She was lovely and very friendly. The museum was very cute and small and showed us the local history including the local Bush Ranger (outlaw) who ended up going to California and was killed in the early 1900’s.

Tina and Jessica were working on Jessica’s assignments for her student work program at the zoo. As Tina was attempting to make sure that everything was in place and Jessica would pause in the conversation not interested in look around and say, “I smell poo”. I couldn’t help but laugh as the sugar glider had just arrived and peed, Wiggles had pee’d on the lounge, the roos and wallaroo where usually in slightly smelly bags. Who wouldn’t have smelt poo?

Friday, June 9

Today Sophie wasn’t feeling great so I took on Cody and the bottles and toileting. She really is very cute. Sophie and I are also changing every feeding with Bruce and Bernie. Bruce is able to stand when he is fed, but you have to hold his little hands to steady him. Bernie is our high maintenance red, who prefers to be fed in his bag, does not want to be touched, sucks one of his testicles for comfort and prefers to be hand fed bits of sweet potato without any rind. After we have bottled the boys, we try and get them outside so that they can toilet and run around in the sun. As soon as they are finished, they hop back into the kitchen and want to be let back into their bags. As I was heading back to finish one of my pens, Bernie came around the corner and was barking at me. I couldn’t’ figure out what he wanted until I went into the kitchen and found that Bruce had loaded himself into Bernie’s bag. The affront of it! We offered Bernie Bruce’s bag, but he wanted his old bag. We offered Bernie a new bag, but he wanted his old bag. So we had to oust Bruce by pouring him onto the floor, and then loaded Bruce back into his first bag. Oh, the drama’s of being a red kangaroo!

Jessica was going away for the weekend to spend it with a friend as we very excited. It must be hard for kids who live on the outlying farms to have a social life and I am pleased she will have a weekend away.

Friday, May 26 – Mackay – Airlee Beach – boat

I got up and got ready to leave McKay. It was a lovely rest stop and I left feeling that I could have used at least one more day to really relax. I guess I still have that lesson to learn.

I took a cab to the bus station and had time to go find a cup of tea and a cookie for the ride. Greyhound bus, I haven’t been on one of these for years. During the ride, the bus driver put in the movie “How to loose a guy in 10 days”. I didn’t plan to watch it, but I was so close it was hard to miss. Any time the bus went over a large bump in the road, the VHS stopped and the girl sitting under the player had to restart the machine. She had to get up a lot.

Two hours of a ride and I arrived in Airlee Beach right on the water. The bus terminus was in a parking lot and when I asked directions of a backpacker van, they indicated a convoluted route with me going up and over a hill and then around. I knew they were pulling my leg, and it turned out to be a mere 200 meters down the sidewalk. I left my big piece of luggage in storage and went to check in for my 3pm departure to the boat. Upon registration of the office, it was obvious that I had way too much luggage in the wrong type of bag. They gave me a little synthetic bag for some of my stuff and I went back to the hostel to repack, drop off my computer and pick up my towel. I also stopped and picked up a beach towel, new sun hat and a beach wrap. Caught a quick lunch and then went to the bus stop. There was a collection of people already waiting. By the time the bus arrived, most of the group was assembled. Early research showed guests from Canada, US, the UK, and Australia. We were to be a total of 20 guests on a boat that can hold 24.

We were delivered to the wharf and were told that no alcohol would be supplied and if we wanted any, we could buy it at the marina but it must be in plastic or boxes, no glass. I bought a few more bottles of water and a little chocolate. It was low tide, so the vessel was moored out in the harbor. Before we got on the boat, we rented our stinger suits, basically medium thick wet suite for two reasons – it is the end of stinger (jellyfish season) and the water is a bit cold. We were “tendered” out to the ship 6 at a time and most of us had soggy bums by the time we arrived at the boat. Up the ladder and surrender your shoes into a large sack. YAH no shoes!

The ship/boat/vessel was called the Spank Me. It has the unique honor of being the only sailing vessel from Australia that has won the America’s Cup for Australia. (This fact needs to be validated) Originally built by Alan Bond from Aust in 1989, it is a 25M craft and is now owned by an American Company. At the back (stern) of the ship on the top deck were the air cylinders for diving. Immediately in front of that were two wheels so that the skipper can stand and sail on either side depending on how the boat is leaning. Next to the wheels were two metal triangular steps. They are in place so that when the boat is leaning all the way over, the skipper has a stable platform to balance on. In front of both wheels are dual controls and gauges along with the deck that runs from the back to the middle of the ship and the steps that go down into the hold. On this part of the deck, we spent most of our time talking and watching things go by. In the aisle way between the benches, were 5 different cranks that the guests and the crew used to raise different sails. It took 8 of us to raise the mail sail with 4 grinders in use and a pair of people facing each other. One person would be grinding overhand or forward and the facing person would be grinding underhand or backwards. ¾ of the way to the top, the crewmember would say, stop and reverse and then the team would reverse their hand movements. With the reverse, the gears were changed and it became an easier task. After the main sail was up, 4 people would help to raise the fore sail. Same technique and frankly a harder task. Just in front of the steps into the hold was the main mast. In front of the mast heading to the bow of the boat, the deck came to a point. On the way to the point, there were two panels that could slide back and let air into the forward cabin where 8 people were sleeping.

The crew was Dave as skipper (who I called Mr. Skipper Sir, until I could remember his name. He said he preferred Dave!), Murray as deck hand and tender driver, Brice our dive master who also helped with the sailing, and Adam, our chef and host. Adam was low man on the totem pole and had all the menial tasks. He would like one day to be skipper, if for no other reason that he would not have to handle the toilets when they clog up. During our trip, none of the crew drank any alcohol, as they could be fired if reported. Nice men, all of them.

We were told that were not enough single berths for all of us, so they asked couples and people traveling together to come forward. That left about 5 of us. I located a lower single bunk across from the galley and Carl (37 yr old Brit) took the double above me. Kate from Perth/Sydney on the other side of the galley and Lucy and Marie in the very narrow doubles directly behind the galley. The crew had the stern of the boat for quarters and writing area. The other couple that shared our hallway was a pair of African-American sisters, Tavia and Leah from Iowa. They were a stitch and when one was out of eyesight of the other and she wanted her attention, you would hear “SISTER” at the top of her lungs. They were darling!

On the side of the galley just at the bottom of the stair, was the engine and the cover that was used to serve us our meals. There was a semi circular bench and the two heads (bathrooms) that also doubled as our showers. We had detailed directions on how to use the head. 1. Do what you do and only three things go down the very narrow pipe – 2 from us and paper. 2. All other things go into the rubbish bin. 3. When done, turn on the salt-water tap. 4. Turn on the 15-second masticator that sucks down the stuff and grinds it up. 5. When the timer is done, turn off the salt-water tap. ALWAYS REMEMBER TO TURN OFF THE TAP OR YOU WILL FLOOD THE BOAT. When you want a shower, there was a faucet on the sink (only 1 temperature) and fresh water came out of the hose. There were 4 cabinets in the closet sized room where you could hide your dry clothes in hopes they would stay dry during your shower. If we clogged the toilets where they could not be used, we would have to return to shore. If we used up all the fresh/drinkable water, we would have to return to shore. Therefore, with everyone listening and taking care with only 1 short daily shower, we should be okay. In front of that area, at the bow of the ship, was a compartment that had 4 double bunks for 8 with the two panels above the closest bunks for air circulation and stargazing.

Back up upstairs we heard about our itinerary and then raised the sails. I was on one crew and I think it would be much easier with a guy as your partner. I will try and arrange that for the next time I help. Then all there was to do was lie on the deck, take pictures and get hungry for dinner, which was very good spaghetti.

img=http://www.travellerspoint.com/photos/36046/THE BOAT1.JPG]

I had not brought any wine and Carl had not brought any chocolate, so we agreed to trade. For most of the time on the boat, there was someone’s ipod connected to the speakers and we had the most eclectic selection of music. I had left my Ipod on land so the group missed the show tunes, ragtime piano, Secret Garden and classical selections. Maybe next time. I will also know in future to bring a lot more quick drying sailing shorts and tops.

It had been a short night the night before and with the cafuffling with the luggage and getting to the boat I was pooped. It was also a cold wind and I already had all my clothes on. I went down to rest for a bit and try and get warm. It was only 8pm and I expected to go back up. I ended up waking up at 2am and found that the radio was still playing softy and there was loud snoring going on around me. I managed to get back to sleep.

Saturday, May 27 – Over the Fringe Reef – Partially cloudy

After breakfast at 7:30, we were tendered to the island to walk around the beach and over the knoll to the backside with the picture postcard waves in the sand. There were two Australian girls who were with the group, Kate and Leanne from Sydney who were very nice and friendly. We had been given our shoes as we entered the tender and upon arrival to the island, Leanne found she had two left-foot brown thongs. She asked Murray to bring the other shoes when he returned with the last group. Over cast and threatening rain, we went and stood at the look out point for a marvelous 360 of the island and then down the backside of the island to the famous beach. At the lookout point, two people from our group finally managed to have one complete set of brown thongs each, 1R and 1L. The sand was the whitest I have ever seen and so powdery, you would swear it was talcum powder. I have a picture to show that my legs are not the whitest things on the planet, the sand on Whitsunday Island is!

The water had receded in places and you could walk quite a ways out on the sand bars. There were also some rocks that Gil (pronounced Z – heel, aged 30 from France) and Carl posed on. Then as we were gathering to go back, we found William (Britain) who was working with a set of poi. Poi are two weighted objects on the end of a chain with finger holes which he was twirling them at his side, eventually in front of him, and then alternating in front of him in a figure 8 pattern. It reminded me of the NZ Maori movements that the women do with the white-feathered balls. I got to try it and had finally managed to use only by wrists to make the motions. It was quite fun.

As we motored and eventually sailed away from Whitsunday Island to the outer reef, we had a lovely day of lying on the deck and hoping that the sun would peak through.

We finally dropped anchor in a bay at Hook Island and had lunch before the first dives. Carl, Katie and I were the only certified divers. Brice checked our cards and took it at face value that we knew what we were doing. Katie opted to go with the beginning group to refresh her skills. (She had certified 2 years ago). Carl had just finished his advanced certificate in Cairns. I had certified over 15 years ago and hadn’t dove in 10+ years. I decided to go with Carl for two reasons – I felt pretty confident from my snorkeling on Cook Islands and if I did not go, Carl would have had to tag with the intro divers too. (NOTE TO SELF – Not good enough reasons for me to not have gone with the intro divers.)

We were put into the tender with our equipment – stinger suits on and mask and fins with us. We were driven out to the reef area and Murray helped us get into our gear. Then we did a back roll entry into the water with me doing a complete summersault from the weight of my tank. We were told we could go along the reef for 20 minutes in one direction and then return. I had the dive watch for time. From the first entry, I could tell that this was not going to be the same experience I had in Mexico or Florida. First, the visibility was only about 25 feet and in overcast skies, not much light from the top. Two, we were in a bay close to an island and there was a lot of silt coming off the mountain into the water. Third, the coral heads were very close together and when we began to descend, the coral was directly beneath us. Still, coral is coral and fish and fish and I could see there were some interesting things to see. Carl quickly went to the bottom and began poking into tiny crevices and looking under ledges. I hovered close to the top and attempted to get my breathing regular and smooth. As I dove, I remembered that this was my preferred position, somewhat closer to the top as you have the best available light as most of the cool stuff that I want to see is found around coral heads. Carl likes to wander and cover as much territory as possible. Looking back as I see it, we might not have been the best buddy pair simply due to a difference of agendas. There was one fish that kept giving me a start, a large batfish. Think of a large square fish of white and black, like an angelfish but no wings. He was very interested in Carl and kept circling him from distance and angling so that one eye was on Carl. He would appear unexpectedly in my field of vision and take my breath away for a moment. I realized I am not as agile as I was 15 years ago and due to that and my nerves, I tend to hold my head in one position and not look around too much. Therefore, if I happened to be swimming close to a wall or coral head, when I shifted my gaze, I am surprised at how close I was. It is considered very un-cool and environmentally unsound to touch the coral even inadvertently so I try as hard as I can to give myself plenty of distance. I did see many old favorites like the colorful parrotfish and the triggerfish. Also the minute-ly aggressive Sergeant Majors and the plentiful yellow fish that I can never remember their names. There was one type of coral that I could not identify but looked like brown fingers with blue fingertips. Close to the end of the dive, Carl disappeared into the depths and that scared me. What I realize now was that I was ascending faster than I had expected and he had remained at the same level. Sigh! He was very generous as I apologized. Carl dove to 10 meters (30 feet). It is safe to say that I probably only got to 15 feet.

As we gathered together, the intro divers were very happy and loved what they had seen. Many people took every opportunity to jump back in and snorkel for a bit.

One of the things that had been discussed with us as we arrived on the boat was that there was to be no plastic on board that might blow over. Cigarette butts were to be properly placed into the trashcans. Any infraction would be met with a Vegemite fine. Tonight, two fines were leveled (the Italian pizza chef, Daniel and one of the young American boys) which meant that the offender was given a tablespoon full of vegemite to eat. Vegemite is an Australian staple and an acquired taste. The best description would be a spoonful of vegetable bullion on a spoon – VERY SALTY!

This night, the music of choice was 50’s music and almost everyone was in a great mood due to the successful day of diving and snorkeling. I shared my chocolate and received a glass of wine and even danced a little on board. The burritos were great. I decided to not chance fate with the possibly phantom snorer again, so with a sleeping pill, I went off to sleep.

Sunday, May 28 – Over the Outer reef – Cloudy and rain

This morning we were going to sail to the outer reef. This meant that we had to be underway around 5:30 in order to get to the reef and then back into the island bay that night.

I joined in at the 5:30 sail hoisting. Luckily, my partner was Podrick (Irish and married to Caroline). It is much easier with a guy as your partner, but it still takes it toll. We stumbled back to bed and rose around 7:00 for breakfast.

This day it pretty much sprinkled or rained all day. Under the main sail were two tent awnings that we opened and tied into position. It did not entirely protect us from the rain if the angle of the boat or the wind shifted, but it was better than all of us stuffed in downstairs.

Today would be the longest dive for the certified and Brice would accompany us. Before I suited up, I managed to clog one of the heads. Adam had to come to my rescue. Not the first time today that one of the crew would help me. With that slight embarrassment to my credit, I went to suit up for our dive.

We were at Bait reef for a 40-minute dive. This time, we tendered out to the site and put our tanks on in the water. I told Brice I was nervous and he said it would be better under the water.
We began the dive and it soon became apparent that we would be doing a wall dive – a dive where the reef is on one side and due to the depth to the bottom, the other side is limitless blue below and to the side. (Not one of my favorite type of dives). We were down about 10 meters and I was feeling pretty good, but again, the group was going much farther and faster than I was comfortable. The visibility was at least twice what we had the previous day. Finally we were going through rather narrow canyons of coral. At this point, I realized that I was hyperventilating. I was still tailing the group so I caught up. Brice was doing a head stand in the water facing me when I gave him the something is the matter signal. He was right side up and over at my like a shot. I signaled I wanted to go up. I couldn’t tell him that I just wanted to rise a little bit. He kept checking in with me and his instruments as we rose a few meters in the water and when I felt okay and he saw that, he tucked my hand under his and we continued. At this point, it became a much better dive for me because we were going slower and I could even see things on the coral heads as we passed. I finally found the coral I had a question about and pointed it out to him. When we finally rose to the surface, we had done a 35-minute dive to about 16 meters (48 feet). Katie said my eyes had been the size of saucers just before Brice came to my assistance. Brice told me that I was looking at Staghorn Coral. This was a good lesson for me to remember my preferences for diving. I had forgotten how I like to dive and therefore, it did not even dawn on me to discuss my preferences before we got into the water. I know now that before I dive again, I will take a refresher course.

The afternoon was mellow with lunch and a rest and there were lots of people who wanted to snorkel over the reef again. I was going back and forth about going snorkeling, and when I checked with vibes, they said go. I had joked with Dave the skipper about the money back guarantee if we did not see a manta ray. A group of us went out off the boat and swam off into a new direction and again, although my breathing was elevated, it was because I was working to get to the reef. We had a lovely 20 minutes over the coral and saw many fish. There was something large and fish shaped to my left, but I could not get a good look at it. Dave was in the tender picking people up and he had previously snorkeled close to where we were. As we approached him he said he had spotted some manta rays so 5 of us piled into the boat. There was still one in the area when we got to the spot, but I couldn’t really see it on the surface. In we went, Carl, Melissa and I and as soon as it was spotted, I grabbed Carl’s hand and Melissa with the other for two reasons; I needed a little reassurance and I didn’t want any of us to scare him away. THE MANTA RAY WAS ABSOLUTELY MAGNIFICENT! He started very far from us, but as our unit stayed still, it circled closer and closer. He would bank to get a good look at us and then as it passed, would turn up and show us it’s belly with the 7 little gleaner fish swimming in perfect precision. Finally it was coming so close that as it would finish the bank and face us, it appeared that it’s horns would be coming right at us. It swam within 5 feet of me, but I did not feel it was my place to reach out and touch it. Finally, it went a little bit away and we headed back to the boat. At this point Lisa and Katie were in the water and wanted to see it. I had Katie on my left when it returned and she squealed with delight. I was the last one in the boat and it did one final pass and very close to me so that I could say goodbye and thank you for sharing it’s magnificence with me. THANK YOU VIBES! I found out later that Katie’s reluctance to enter the water was that she thought that Manta’s had stingers like stingrays and Lisa was not a strong swimmer which is why she held back. I was so jazzed when I got back on the boat, it more than compensated for any bad feelings I had about myself from the morning.

Dave relocated to a new island for night dive and berth for the evening. Carl was keen to have a night dive and I already knew before this dive that I would not be going. Luckily Katie wanted to go, but I am sure that Brice would have gone if needed.

Adam made lovely Indian food for dinner and skipper Dave even fried papadoms for us. I had had a sip of my milk coffee drink I had brought with me that I had not refrigerated. It had the consistency of yoghurt, so after a little sip, I pitched it. My stomach was a little iffy at dinner so no papadoms for me.

At 7:30 the night dive was supposed to commence. Just prior to the divers loading into the boat, Murray had put raw chicken into the water next to the boat and it drew a few small sharks. The talk surrounding it was not doing much to calm the two divers, but they loaded into the tender and went over the island. I promised them chocolate when they returned. Gil was surprised that I did not go with them, as I was a certified diver. I told him that I had done them before and that they were okay, but not that interesting to me. You get to see things that you don’t see during the day like crabs, lobsters, octopus and the coral is a lot more active at night. With my anxiety today, I did not feel it was the best use of my diving and my money to do that dive. Brice had said that on our final dive the next day, he would be doing some fish feeding and we would get to meet a huge friendly fish named Elvis. That sounded like more fun to me, especially as it might be in better light and therefore, better visibility and colors under the water.

The night dive was only about 25 minutes because the tanks were pretty low at the start. Katie enjoyed her first night dive and admitted that she held on to Brice the entire time. It really is the way to go as you can focus on what is around you and not your buoyancy and equipment.

With another sleeping pill, off to morpheous' arms I went.

Monday, May 29 – Back to Airlee

I was up early to get on deck to see the sun rise. It looked like another cloudy, overcast day, but there was some hope of clearing. This was our last chance to dive and we were berthed at Blue Pearl Bay. The dive was scheduled for 7:30 and it was a very reduced number of divers, some for monetary reasons and some preferred to snorkel. Brice had 7 of us, 3 certified and 4 intro divers. We tendered to the beach and put on our equipment in waist high water. The rocks and coral were hard on the feet and we were glad to be in our fins. (NOTE TO SELF – if there is any chance I will dive on a trip again, in addition to the dive skin, I will always bring my dive log and booties) As we descended, it was obvious again that we were very close to the coral and there were lots of fish. Not enough sun to really pop the colors, but still better than either of the other days. Almost immediately, a large dark fish appeared and he was Elvis, a bump headed wrasse close to 100 kilo’s or 220 pounds. The intro divers were very excited and had a hard time keeping neutrally buoyant and kept rising and dropping and swimming under me. They all had underwater cameras and wanted a picture of Elvis being fed. Added to this we had Gil who was snorkeling above us and he kept diving down to get a closer look. I kept trying to get far enough a way to watch and yet see what was going on. Way too many people at one time to be diving in such a small area, but I know that we were on a time limitation. Still enjoyable and Elvis passed me several times and let me touch him. He had a bit of a scar on his left side and he was a little slimy. I told him that he was handsome and thanked him for flirting with me. So, now you know, Elvis is alive and well and living off the Whitsunday Islands in Australia. Visibility 15 meters.

We returned to pack our bags and then sail into the marina. We were in medium seas with wind of about 25 knots. The boat was leaning considerably and yet, most of us were on deck sitting and getting soaked by the splash and spray. We had several seasick passengers and it was very hard to stay upright. You tended to go from handhold to handhold and even with this, I scrapped myself going down stairs.

We finally got into the marina and everyone was very pleased that we would berth and not have to be tendered in with our baggage. My sandals were soaked. All of the crew expect Brice had to turn the boat around and go back out that day with the next trip. Brice invited all that wanted to meet him at a bar that evening for drinks.

We all vanned into town (only a ten minute walk from the marina) and I checked into the backpackers. Oh, the joy of a warm shower that you stand upright for and use the toilet without hassle. I took a walk in hopes of buying a t-shirt from the boat, but they were all out except for very small children sizes. I also did laundry, as everything that I had on the boat was soaked and beginning to smell.

As I left the hostel for the bar, I came across Carl and Katie and joined them for a drink. We went to the bar and the entire group was there with the exception of a couple from Germany. At this point, I had one wine in me and the first thing I did was loose a bar game where I inadvertently submerged the glass in the pitcher of beer, which meant I had to drink the glass. Well, I did it, yuck! I don’t like beer. I ordered two appetizers, as I knew that I needed some food in me. The group pooled our money and Brice facilitated reduced cost drinks. There were pitchers of something called snake bite (lager, cider and something else red) and I had a glass of that. After that I ate my appetizers and drank lots of water. I watched some of the group play drinking games and watched the others in this large bar. I ended up leaving at 10, as I knew that I was done and had said goodbye to everyone. They were surprised I left so early, but I told them I had already stayed up two hours later than I had on the boat.

Ah bed without sleeping pills.

Around 2:30 I heard noises in the hall and some one cursing and asking to be let in, and then apologizing for scaring the occupant and finally leaving. Hmmmm?[

Tuesday, May 30 – Bus to Rockhampton

I realized when I unpacked my laundry that I was missing my sleeping tshirt, and I planned to go back to the laundry that was literally right underneath my room in hopes that it was still there. It was and with a tea in my hand, I went back to pack.

Katie had wanted to meet me for breakfast and had asked me to call her when I wanted to meet her. I went to the grocery store to pick up some fruit and cheese for the bus trip today as I felt I had not had enough nutritious food in the last few days and then called Katie. I finally ended up knocking on her door, as the phone was not answered. She indicated that she had gotten in late and would need to catch up with me in Sydney. I left my bags at the hostel and went a little way down the sidewalk to a café. Right next to my table on the ground was what looked to be a young dove that was not well. One of the ladies as the hostel was a wild life rehabilitator, so I went back and caught her eye and between the two of us, we caught the little dove. She was very soft and the woman confirmed it was a broken wing, but would take her back and put her in a box for safety until she could determine how to help her.

Then, along the sidewalk came Katie, who decided to meet me for breaky after all. She was the person who had the unwelcome late night visitor and told me that after that incident, she called another friend that she knew was in town in order to get away from the room for a while.

It was time for me to get to the bus station and I found that I also had Carl on my bus to Rockhampton (Rocky). Carl’s alarm clock was not functioning and he only just made the bus. I offered him a bottle of water and a banana. The bus trip was unremarkable and the movies were not that great, but hard to avoid due to the volume of the soundtrack. Garfield, Dirty Dancing Havana nights and Duma (about a cheetah cub and boy). Needless to say, I spent a quality day with my ipod and enjoyed the scenery.

When we arrived in Rocky, I had to call a cab as my motel that was on the outskirts of the city. I agreed to meet Carl for dinner the next night. The motel is good, just a little removed from the main town, but very close to my travel agent who I will meet tomorrow face to face.

Wednesday, May 31 – Rockhampton

A doodle day – slept late, lunch and a little shopping, bloging, travel agent meeting, cab to dinner with Carl. Carl was going to be over two hours late returning with his tour, so I had a cider at the bar and went back to my hotel. Watched a British movie called Deep Blue that was mainly a documentary with various sea animals. Boy, do I hate watching Killer Whales eat! Their food is always so cute.

Tomorrow I find the Internet café in Rockhampton – Not wireless, so still can’t post, but at least I can check e-mail. Also, need to buy a sleeping bag for the next two placements.

Thursday, June 1 – Rockhampton

This was to be my last day in Rocky before I headed out to the wallabies. I buses into town, always an adventure in a new place and walked to find the internet café. I ended up making an appointment at the library for a free half-hour of connection time. Before that I found a discount place and bought a sleeping bag, foam pad and daypack for $29.99 Aus. Not bad. During my internet session, I finally remembered to pull off the contact number for the wallabies and called Tina. She indicated that I could come today, and it sounded like that would be easier for them as her partner, Pete, works at the Rocky zoo and could pick me up after work. This shifted my plans slightly as now I had to pack and get ready for my two weeks on the farm.

Pete came and got me for our 1.5 hour drive north towards Marlborough. The sun was setting and it was a lovely drive. As soon as I got out of the truck, there was Tina and a young eastern gray kangaroo named Sugar who was sucking on her pants. I was greeted by three barking and very excited dogs, Mini (black wirehair), Cooper (Jack Russell with broken back leg) and Missie (Red Kelpie). Others in the menagerie include guinea fowl, a friendly Plymouth rock hen, 2 Havana Brown cats (Chico and Kitty Cat) and a lavender point Siamese, (Daisy) and a Galah (beautiful bird and sort of a parrot pink, gray and white) named Sport, a brahma heifer, a sugar glider (flying squirrel) named Simon, tons of bridle nail tail wallabies, 2 Bettong’s (sort of a large rat) and the most adorable and cuddly southern hairy nose wombat named Wiggles. I got to hold Wiggles and she is about the size of a hairy, gray bowling ball when she curls over and sucks her hind toe. She is cute as a bug’s ear and I want to bring her home to the cats. I am sure they will all get along splendidly. Next, I got to give Sugar a bottle. Sugar was here to recover as he was weaned too early and they attempted to release him into the wild. Tina put him back on the bottled and got his weight back up. He was a good baby and took his bottle like a pro. Because he was weaned too early, he likes to suck on things, such as your pants, your pillow or anything else in reach. He is very sweet, but I wonder if he will ever really be able to be released.

Late in the evening, I also had an up-close and personal experience with Simon, the sugar glider (flying squirrel). He is very oral and loves to chew on fingers, as he is climbing down your arm to get to your shoulder, he pees the entire way (marking his territory) and finally climbed into my fleece vest, lodged under my left breast and took a wee nap. As I was going to bed, I put him up a tree and he kept trying to get back on me. I found out the next day the territorial brown possum was in the tree and he does not like to go past her. I smell like Eau de Sugar Glider, but they have a washing machine, so I should be right soon.

Pete and Tina’s two daughters and new granddaughter are also in residence and Marty (Martina) and baby Kasia are visiting from the Gold Coast. Jessica is coming up to 18 and is working part-time at the zoo. Also in residence is an Australian man who is a semi-permanent volunteer, Matt, who pretty much stays on the farm unless there are lots of volunteers. When the volunteers leave, he comes back to help.

I was pooped, but there was so much to see and touch that I kept wanting to pet things. Finally, I went to bed and set the alarm