Off Grid!! AND I almost forgot my pillow!!

Over the weekend of August 24th and 25th a group of 10 lucky students got to join MUWA (Murdoch University Wildlife Association) on a wildlife camping trip! We went to Manjimup and stayed at Maroo Wildlife Refuge :) Where we were an hour and a half from cell phone signal! IT WAS GREAT!!

A fellow first year vet student, picked me up around 730am saturday morning and our adventure began. We met up at the Vet buildings on campus where we rearranged all our bags into three cars and off we went. We made it after some very interesting potty breaks:

1st - stop in the tiniest little town, pull into what appears to be a "petrol" station but turns out to be a antique store that never took out the pumps. Next we run over to a little cafe and ask the twelve year old behind the counter for a bathroom and get looked at super weird and tells us they do not have one. Run over to the next building called the Quirky Den or something close to that and it was FREAKY WEIRD. I cannot even BEGIN to describe what that place was... but we asked that lady for a bathroom and she said she only had her private one BUT  thankfully told us where a public bathroom was at, at a community park. RELIEVED AND ON OUR WAY

2nd - a little gas station where we had no cell signal already and the only one for the next 40km which is where our destination lie. Another first year and I took the break as a photo op, while the other first year driver found the bathroom. Upon return, she still had to urinate she tells us how the lady at the counter yelled at her about not having a key because no matter what she attatches to the key (AKA bricks) people still steal her key for the only bathroom. She also proceeded to yell at her about how she had lost seven keys that week. Next attempt was the woods, where relief was unfound due to the biggest swarm of mossies (australian slang for mosquitos)!! After a good laugh and one painful bladder we were on our way with no means of communication!

Getting passed by one of the cars in our group while our driver searched for her bathroom!

I've never seen a street with the name like BRAIN! (no, not Brian... BRAINS! The things zombies like to eat) and there was also Rae street like my middle name :) LOVE IT!

A little scenery:

And lots of cows to remind me of home ( I know you can't see them in the photos)

 My nickname as Krazy Kat Lady (AKA: Kit Kat) might get me a job here!

 WHY IS THERE ALWAYS ONE TREE IN THE WAY OF WHAT I AM TRYING TO PHOTOGRAPH?!?!?! Its Guatemala and trees blocking the volcanoes all over again!!

 its hard to see how tiny the lanes got, but Granny Winfield OH DEAR did the roads remind me of the rollercoaster ride to your house! UP, DOWN, and LOTS OF CURVES! OH and No shoulder just like Missouri driving! :) <3

 The driveway into the Refuge. They own lots of property intermixed with state forest/reserve. And they own a Blue Gum Tree plantation at the start of their property. The back 110 acres of forest/australian Bush is where they release rehab'd animals. The middle 50 acres is there house and the rehab cages.

 Their house, a few cages, their organic garden and aquaponics set up (I WAS IN ABSOLUTE HEAVEN WITH THE AQUAPONICS!! I ASKED SOO MANY QUESTIONS!!!) and their solar panels - They are completely electrically self-sufficient! They also collect their rain water and have more than enough to live normally. They also had a wood-heated shower!! That would have been an experience if we stayed more than one night! :)

 The education room which became our home after a fiasco with trying to put up a 6 person tent from the 60s in the dark! Thank you to my  brothers being boyscouts I was able to direct the group on how to get the legs of the tent up, but there was WAAAY to many poles than we had places for and so we gave up. We did have two smaller two person tents and one girl and I were going to be the only ones who came all this way to camp, we were going to camp! however it started raining and we too, succumbed to sleeping in the education room. Only one of the males in our group toughed it out in the tent! :)

OH and that particular individual was from second year and he WEARS VIBRAMS!!! (my toe shoes) He wore one of his pairs all weekend, and this was seriously my first time NOT bringing them with me in australia!! How ironic?!?! out of 10 people to go on a trip and for 2 of us to own funky toe shoes that barely anyone in australia has?!?! :) #TrendSetting!

 Campfire area and Outhouse! No wasting precious water on toilet flushing! :)





After arriving, signing in, and signing volunteer forms, and having lunch it was time for some learning! from around 12:30/1 -5pm with afternoon tea at 3, we learnt about how to capture birds, handle birds in the vet clinic, how to open the box if presented with a bird at the vet clinic, and the importance of giving all wildlife a 20min dark and QUITE time before doing anything. Stressed out wildlife = Your going to have a bad time! ha :D

We then moved onto marsupial/mammal handling skills. We did reptiles in the morning after breakfast.

 MEET THE WOYLIE or the brush-tailed bettong, an adorable little marsupial!

 feeding time with a syringe! Very careful to just fill the nipple and let them suckle it out because if you try to squirt it in their mouth they are guaranteed to get the fluid into their lungs!

 MEET THE BOBTAIL!

 look at his cool coloring! Apparently the can have different appearances depending on where they are in WA

I dont remember what type of bird this is!! BUT HE WAS THE CUTEST THING EVER!!

AND I JUST ORDER A JACKET LIKE THE ONE ABOVE WITH THE SCHOOL MVSA (Murdoch Veterinary Student Association) LOGO ON IT!! :)

 VEGGIE GARDEN!! Organic and I think all were connected to the aquaponics tanks!

 Rehab cages


Another pretty bird - but unreleasable so he lives there

FISHIES FOR THE AQUAPONICS!! And after the fish grow to full size you have another source of food, or you can sell the fishes! I CANNOT WAIT TO SET UP OUR APARTMENT STYLE VERSION!! Plans are a work in progress but the owner was impressed with my aquaponic knowledge! :)

This poor male kangaroo had come to the refuge with a brain injury and is no longer releasable because of his injury has led him to losing all sense of fright. He is no longer scared of people or any loud noises and would not be frightened by a danger in the wild nor would he fight a danger. He has also been castrated and for lack of subtlety - he would get raped by other intact males in the wild because he does not produce enough testosterone to defend himself. So he remains at the refuge and teaches other young orphaned kanga's how to do other normal behavoir and the rehabers do an amazing job at making the young kanga's people shy by the time they are released! :) It is a really neat process! (BUT VERY LONG)

exploring the rehab cages

inside a newly built rehab cage

same cage

CAMPFIRE!! OH HAVE I MISSED YOU!!!! Going from Wisconsin winter to Aussie winter and vet school I have been having campfire withdrawls... feel bad Brian couldn't get the campfire fix like I did!

However, since we only had one true australian on our trip and then the two owners of the refuge who are australian we had a blast explaining word differences and culture differences. It was an amazing time. We had me from Wisconsin, one from Canada, one from Montana, one from michigan, one girl from long island a few people from singapore I believe, one person from Brazil, and then one girl from Australia. AND one person was pre-vet with guaranteed entry into the vet program next year, one was animal science i think,  6 from first year vet I believe, one from 2nd year and one from 3rd year! It was a very interesting diverse yet not diverse group of 10 students!
Biscuit - is a cookie in australian so trying to explain biscuits and gravy was too much fun
flashlight = torch
lightbulb = globe
suspect/suspicious = "Thats so sus" in australian
eggs in Australia are rarely in the refrigerator
Shopping carts = trolleys and they have 4 independent wheels so the carts spin in any crazy direction they feel like it
Bell Peppers = Capsicum
Sucker = strictly called a Lollipop here
Candy bar = strictly chocolate bar
Candy = Lollies   (AND THEY DO NOT HAVE JOLLY RANCHERS AND ITS KILLING ME!! I at least found gobstoppers which sort of do the trick while I am studying)
Bacon = Any form of ham... almost never like american bacon or so I have noticed
Tea Time in australia is SUPER important and NEVER skipped
Everything in Australia is miniture compared to the OBESE nature of EVERYTHING In the states:
cars are tiny (a hummer dealership would NEVER make it here), road lanes are tiny, parking lots and spaces are tiny, everything is just TINY
Gas Station = Petrol station
Mosquitos = Mossies
Gas Station = Petrol station
and just pretty much change every ER ending to an A and you will be alright.. people giggle when I annunciate words like SOCCER and not SOCA...

I am sure I will think of more hahahaha

Banana, Chocolate, Marshmallows wrapped in foil and put into the coals!

Momma Kanga that has also lost most of her fear of humans (obviously for how close we are) and she still goes up to the rehabers front lawn to graze on the grass and the Joey at her foot was spooked by humans at first, but has recently lost most of his timidness because his mother has. This mother also has a baby in her pouch as you can see it is very distended in the region by her back leg and base of tail! :)

A walk in the bush on a rainy winter australian day! LOVED IT!!

And to end the trip with finding bones from a kanga forearm and paw! I left it to rest in peace but upon reflection, wild kanga bones would have been kind of a neat treasure! Oh well, nature can continue to run its course without my human intervention.

So overall timeline:
Arrived, Learnt about wildlife (mammals and birds) handling, quick tour of rehab area, attempt at tent building and failing, campfire and dinner, sleep, breakfast and morning tea, learnt about reptile handling, and then a walk in the australian bush! then pack up/lunch and head home!

Here are some videos and I hope they work! PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF THEY DON"T!!