Day at the Barn.

Start of my second week here at Lone Pine, almost half way done my time in Brisbane now!

I got assigned to the barn today, which I was especially happy about because everyone says it is very relaxing.  I was paired up with another volunteer named Bruna from Brazil, she has worked in barn before so it was easy to follow her around and find jobs. 

We began by cleaning the guinea pig enclosures and refilling their water, and then it was off to clean the chook (chicken) enclosure.  It was really simple and the chooks didn’t even seem to care that we were there.

Gemma, the keeper, wasn’t around so Bruna said we could sweep up the droppings from the sheep and goats in the area.  It wasn’t too bad of a job, until you go back to a spot you had just cleaned and find it freshly dirtied but the animals are so cute you can’t blame them.

At 10:30 there is a guinea pig and chick holding for children… that also included me.  I got to catch furry little guinea pigs and hand them to kids as well as hold as many chicks as I wanted to.  Holding a chick puts me in absolute heaven and I never want to put them down… eventually I had to but I held them whenever I could.

To the mulch pile we went so we could finish our job on the chook coop and begin with a new task!  When we got back to the chook coop with the mulch a funny lamb named Albert kept sticking his head in the wheelbarrow and eating it, at one point he was biting the metal wheelbarrow!  What a silly lamb.

This is Albert.

Reminds me of my dog Nana.

 Our only big job of the day was to clean out one of the Guinea pig areas and then just chill out for a while.

In my free time I discovered a favorite chick of mine and where they like to be touched; they fall asleep almost instantly if you stroke the back of their neck down between their wings.  To be honest I almost fell asleep doing this as well, its pretty much a therapy for me.

 There was a storm rolling in so a quick sweep of the area for droppings was necessary before I left for home.  It felt like I had done nothing all day and I was happy about that.

The only sad thing is, is that the chicks are 2 weeks old… today they get gassed and then will be fed to the other animals once dead.  I spent, as much time with them as possible to make them feel loved before they went away… sad day for everyone.

This one is just sleeping but you get the idea...

I figured out what I am making for Christmas gifts so Jess and I went to Queens street once we got home to find an arts and crafts store.  On the way there it finally started pouring rain and Jess and I became soaked in a matter of seconds.  

Got to learn to love the rainy days!

We found a store that sells everything for $2.80; pretty much their version of a dollar store and bought what we needed.  Then we went for a very early dinner, I wanted Mexican and Jess wanted sushi, and thank god there are both in the mall. I got a vegetarian burrito that look very promising but ended up not being, will I ever find a place as good as Chipotle!?  I ended up getting nachos as well just to feel satisfied for the night, Jess got frozen yogurt and ridiculed me that I should have gone with her choice instead.

At 7:45 I headed to Jess’s hostel to watch a movie with her, it ended up being a movie called Van Wilder, which I absolutely love.  Within 30 minutes Jess was too tired and went to bed while I stayed and watched it.

I got to bed at a very decent time tonight and couldn’t be more proud of myself.