Joey Rescue

Between training in Sydney, a variety of illnesses, flight delays resulting in an unsuccessful trip to Western Australia and the usual craziness of daily life at Lake Cowal, time certainly has been flying. The highlight of my work week was this:

A baby kangaroo!! This 6-month old little guy was found by CGM employees on the road to Forbes early yesterday morning. I was called in to do the rescue, but he was picked up by the kindly folks driving to site in front of me. I spent the morning trying to track down a wildlife carer to take the joey in, nurse him back to health and release him to the wild. Fortunately a woman in Quandialla was able to help us out. So I hopped in the car with the joey and drove him to Quandi. He was a very sleepy boy and didn’t fuss at all during our hour long drive. In fact, he was quite content to sleep in his make-shift pouch the entire time. What a sweetie.

Phil and I have decided that we need to go on a snowboarding trip. We’ve been weighing the pros and cons of New Zealand versus New South Wales for the past week and have to make a decision tomorrow. We have the first week of September penciled in for a trip so we need to make plans ASAP. I can’t wait for a vacation!

Cocktail Night 2008 & Birthday Season

I find it hard to believe it’s August already. For some reason no matter what season it is or what country we’re in July and August are always very busy. This year is no exception despite the fact that it’s the middle of the Aussie winter and is supposed to be the quietest time of the year.

Last weekend the rugby club held their annual Cocktail Night at the club house. The theme for the evening was Olympics which left a lot of room for interpretation for those of us that planned to don costumes. Feeling a little nostalgic for Canada, Phil and I decided to dust off our curling gear and introduce the Aussies to a great winter sport. The ‘costumes’ were a tremendous success (and very practical considering it was quite chilly that evening) and we even came home with second prize for best costume. More people knew about the sport than I expected and the curling brooms were a big hit. No one seemed to believe that we actually knew how to curl, and a number of people committed to coming to Canada for curling lessons some day. What a riot. Below are a few pictures of the rugby boys entertaining themselves with Phil’s broom as well as shots of the ‘Olympic torch’ kicking off the party:

On another note, Phil and have seen our birthdays come and go with little fuss once again. I was surprised by a card and cake from coworkers on Thursday which was really sweet. Both Phil and I came home early on Friday and were happy to enjoy some R&R. We had big plans to go out for dinner on Friday night but were both too exhausted to bother. I picked up a pretty nasty cold at work and haven’t been doing much except sleeping in my free time. Phil went to Parkes for rugby yesterday and I stayed home as I had to judge a music and performance arts competition in Forbes last night. Today should be equally quiet although I might head down to the soccer pitch to watch Phil play.