07.10.2018

07.10.2018 5days at billabong sanctuary

Reptiles

When my alarm went off and I started to get ready I noticed something. It was still dark outside. Usually when I got up the sun was already shining. My phone said it was 6am as it should. But everyone in my room was still sleeping as well.

So after a while of trying to wrap my head around it, I realized it! The Winter time change was today. So I set my alarm for the next hour and went back to sleep. But then I realized that I actually didn't know if the time changed in Australia. So I got up again, left the room, walked to the wifi area and googled it. And Australia indeed has the winter and summer time change. But then Kim would have probably said something about it right?

I searched for the time in Townsville and on the website it said that it was still 5am. So it probably didn't change everywhere in Australia. Maybe? After a while I went back to bed but there were like 10 minutes left until 6am.

Thankfully Kim showed up as expected and she told me that they didn't have the 'daylight saving' in Queensland, so Townsville. Now I just gotta change the time on my phone.

I started helping with cleaning and raking and later was part of the reptile show. There the visitors could pet and hold snakes, baby crocodiles, and the bluetongue lizard 'Kevin'. Kevin was my responsibility. I had to hold him on my arm or with my hands just as long as he had a flat surface and his entire body weight was supported. That was a little difficult since he was pretty active and kept walking around on my arm. The Rangers kept telling me: 'you make it look so awkward' or 'why don't you just hold him?' And 'oh but watch to not squeeze him though'

It took me a while to figure out but then I was able to hold him. So I passed him to visitors and kids and asked them 'why do you make it look so awkward, just hold him'

I fed the paddymelons, which is a name for an actual animal. Though they are usually called Wallabies so just smaller, cuter kangaroos. The male wallaby 'Stewie' is pretty used to humans and while I was trying to put food in his bowl he constantly tried to rip it out of my hands. Just like Minka at home but with the difference that he had hands to grab it. So I had to take his bowl away and then fill it to keep him from throwing it all to the ground.

After Lunch, I cleaned the chicken enclosure, sending them into panic again. Later I walked with Kim to the crocodile feeding show, which I hadn't seen yet.

And indeed, just like promised, there was a giant crocodile floating in the water while Ranger Dave, with balls of steel, stood in the enclosure next to it and was holding a stick with a dead chicken tied to it. While he was talking, he kept showing the chicken to it and pulled away before the crocodile could reach it. At the end, he let him have the chicken and then quickly made his way out of there.

A bit more cleaning and feeding, where we went to an enclosure with, thankfully, a lot fewer and bigger lizards in it. And then the day was already over, today we actually went home at 4pm. And tomorrow is not looking any different since Kim got a short shift and we only have to stay until 2pm. Then it's Weekend!

/My blog didn't post yesterday, so I will post it now/