06.10.2018

06.10.2018 4 days at Billabong Sanctuary

New things

My throat now is just a constant itch so I am having a light cough. However, I figured out one reason that made me sick. Last night, I woke up freezing because my bed is in the direct line of the air conditioning which runs extra powerful at night. So, I am going to try to move my bed around a bit.

In the car, I talked to Ranger Kim and she got me into a different part. 👍

I still started with raking, but this time I had to do some bird enclosures. One of them had a green parrot that was raised by hand, meaning he was very friendly and again didn't take long to land on my shoulder. I really like the birds here; they are so much nicer than the ones at Lone Pine.

Next, we cleaned the dingo enclosure. I am more of a cat person than a dog person, but I love these dingos. They are so fluffy, friendly, and curious. They are completely quiet and don't bark at all. Of course, this is only because they have been raised in captivity.

Then I returned to food preparation. I met volunteer Saskia; she's from Norway and also half Dutch. I worked with her mostly for the rest of the day. During 'morning tea,' I preordered a little something for lunch.

We cleaned the chicken cage. The chickens are not on display since their only purpose is crocodile food. So, they are very scared whenever a human enters their cage.

After that, we did some more bird enclosures. The little rainbow lorikeet jumped on my shoulder again and enjoyed my hat.

For lunch, we got sandwiches from the cafeteria and also an Australian beef burger! It cost 9.50, and for staff members, it was 8.50, so it's not really a big difference, and I'm probably not going to spend that amount of money every day. But it was nice for once, and everyone at lunch was very jealous.

I did some dishes and was able to change the leaves in the koala enclosures. Something that would have been impossible at Lone Pine. I could just climb into the enclosure next to the koalas, take their leaves out, give them a little pat, and put some new ones in.

It continued with the turtle feeding. There are a bunch of wild turtles at Billabong Sanctuary. We feed them with pieces of fish and also give some pieces to the visitors, not to eat, but to also feed the turtles. Then we do the 'turtle race.' Two turtles are caught from the lake and brought to a line. Then, there are 2 groups made with the visitors. Each group can name their turtle, and then they are both released at 1...2...3! The turtle that makes it back to the water first wins.

We named our turtle Rainbow Dash, and she had to race against Kiki. The turtles were released, and Rainbow Dash sprinted forward with impressive speed but came completely off course. She made it to the water first but sadly got disqualified.

Towards the end, I was able to bring Ash in again. Today, it was already a little more difficult. She 'fake' bit me a few times and didn't want to get on. She seemed to not have a good day or maybe it was my hat. However, after some time, she climbed on.

I did the dishes, fed the kangaroos, and then Kim brought me back to the hostel.

I went to the Empire Arcade again, played a few free games, and then headed back towards the late evening. It was a fun day today.