Sleeping koala from Koala Park Sanctuary in West Pennant Hills, NSW.
This weekend, I met up with Cheryl and some American exchange students from W’gong in the city. Went to Sydney Harbour, the Rocks, and a pub in the evening. While I was at the harbour, a Qantas passenger recognised Buster and I from our flight and said hello! Also had an interesting conversation with an Australian fellow about dogs and deafness. The highlight of the weekend was when Cheryl and I went to a Koala park sanctuary on Sunday in Castle Hill. We were able to pat and get photo ops with the cute little koalas. The koalas lead quite a lazy life sleeping 18-19 hours a day! We also had a blast feeding the kangaroos, wallabies, and wallaroos. And, to my surprise, the treats that we fed them were cinnamon cheerios. (I verified this by sampling them—mmm…tasty!) We topped off the evening by sharing an expired ham sandwich and attending mass in Castle Hill. It was a pleasant weekend.
Well, I’m officially back in Sydney. Got back yesterday morning with no problems! Breezed through customs and quarantine. (Buster will not have to be quarantined this time because he has Australian residency…woo hoo!) The only mishap was when I accidentally shut Buster’s tail in the lavatory door. (He’s ok though.) Buster and I had a nice flight with plenty of leg room and got tons of attention from the flight attendants. They came and chatted with us on several occasions. They even gave us a free bottle of wine at the end of the flight! Turns out, one of them has a deaf sister and another had a family of deaf in-laws whose last name was also “Walker!”
Well, I leave for Sydney in 8 days! My summer break here in Texas sure has flown by! It’s been hectic, but fun! In January, I spent a week working at dairy farm in La Grange. Had a fantastic experience milking cows, bottle feeding calves, and witnessed a calving! I also worked at a chicken farm and a Braham cattle ranch in Boling during February. I’ve never seen so many chickens and eggs in my entire life! One of the houses that I worked in houses 240,000 chickens! Learned how to trim beaks and do blood draws. At the Brahman ranch, I’ve learned a lot about the wonders of breeding and surrogacy. It’s pretty strange when you see a big black Angus Mom with a baby that is a pure-bred Brahman calf! At the cattle place, I spend most of my time grooming prized show bulls, heifers, and cows to get them ready for the Houston livestock show. I’ve grown attached to 1 particular heifer. When I enquired about her cost, I can own half of her for a mere $30,000. I also discovered that this small quiet country town of Boling has 2 nudist communities. (I saw the signs, but didn’t see anything though.) On the weekends, I’ve been working with an Arabian horse breeder. These horses are incredible and fun to watch. They all have unique personalities. One horse is a liar and another horse, a stallion, loves to play with traffic cones and barrels!
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