Help us care for injured and orphaned Australian wildlife in East Trentham, VIC, Australia

Details

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  Description

  Hello everybody, I'm Manfred. Helen and I operate a licensed Wildlife Shelter where we rehabilitate all types of Australian animals, but we specialise in kangaroos. We look after little joeys in pouches, right through to large adult animals. Our purpose is to rescue sick, injured or orphaned animals and raise them until they are able to return to the wild and live a normal, natural life. It can be heart-breaking work, but it also gives us the most rewarding and satisfying lifestyle imaginable.
  
  I purchased my beautiful 8 Ha (20 acre) forest property in a secluded location especially for this purpose and it is surrounded by the Wombat State Forest on 3 sides. We are located in central Victoria, in southeast Australia, but we are only a one-hour drive from our capital city, Melbourne. We live in a lovely hand-built mudbrick house where our animals often share our home and lay beside our fireplace. We even have a medical triage clinic in our loungeroom.
  
  We have vast experience in the rescue, care, and rehabilitation of many wildlife species, and I'm considered one of Victoria's leading animal rescuers and trainers in this field. Most days include attending an animal rescue, or 2, or more. Every day ends with many of our precious rehabilitated animals coming home for a visit, a treat or two, or to shelter in a familiar shed.
  
  Our property is beautiful and serene. There are bushwalking trails from our back door leading into natural forest, and our area boasts fresh water creeks, valley and mountain terrain, and a wealth of wildlife. There are incredible bird watching opportunities where you'll witness gang-gang cockatoos, king parrots, kookaburras, and rosellas living their best life. We also have periodic visits by koalas, echidnas, and grey-headed flying foxes, and night walks are particularly rewarding when you can observe even more species such as three varieties of possums, the tawny frogmouth, wallabies, and wombats.
  
  We try to minimise negative impacts on this earth, are solar powered, hate waste, love to recycle and reuse, and strive to live a sustainable life. We seek to be inclusive and provide a safe place for animals and people to exist. Therefore, misogynists, trans-bigots, homophobes, racists and hunters are not welcome here. We really enjoy people that are open minded, forward thinking, and adventurous, but most of all, who respect animals. We welcome singles or couples who can join us for a minimum of a week. But, if we're the right fit, we'd love to have you with us for several weeks or even months.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Help with Eco Projects

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house
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  Interests

  

  LGBTQ

  

  Events & social

  

  Vegetarian or vegan

  

  Sustainability

  

  Movies & TV

  

  Politics / Social justice

  

  Plant care

  

  DIY & crafts

  

  Gardening

  

  Cooking & food

  

  Architecture

  

  Drawing & painting

  

  Carpentry

  

  Animals

  

  Camping

  

  Mountain

  

  Nature

  

  Outdoor activities
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  You can learn about our native wildlife, eco-projects, how to rescue animals, and the magic of the Australian flora. We love having conversations about life, culture, and what's going on in the world. We are vegetarian, so you can learn about cooking vegetarian meals or jump in the kitchen and share your cooking skills and ideas with us! We surely don't go hungry in this house lol
  
  In the early evening, we like to enjoy a glass of wine and cheese out in the back of our home as we watch all of our "kids" come home for the night. The kangaroos that we have soft-released come back to visit (and our friendly wombat, too). They return to have a bite to eat, a soothing bottle, or to seek shelter for the night. Many will come up and ask for scratch or a bit of love. This also gives us an opportunity to check on them and make sure they're still healthy and thriving. It's one of the many reasons this property is precious to us.

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  Help

  Most of the help we need relates to looking after the wildlife in our care. This includes the joy of giving bottles of special milk to little joeys in hand-made pouches, or to bigger joeys in our enclosures, and also kangaroo kids that have already been released but come back for nightly visits. I could say that this really isn't work! Their precious little eyes look up at you as they drink from their bottle. It's a truly magical experience no matter how many times we've done it. But work also includes some less pleasant and somewhat dirty duties. We need help washing and sterilising the bottles, preparing special milk formulas and filling the bottles. Bedding straw in the enclosures gets changed regularly and there is always plenty of poo to sweep up, inside and out. Feeders must be washed and sterilised daily. But we try to have two or more WorkAwayers at a time and have many other helpers including daytime local volunteers to share the work and make it more fun.
  
  We could also use help with the everyday household chores like cleaning, cooking and doing the dishes, but again, we try to share the load. You don't have to cook if you don't like. We love providing good high-quality meals and cater for everyone's special needs (except if it is eating meat) - we are strictly vegetarian / preferential vegan. There is much washing to do with animal bedding so there is the task of hanging up and pulling down laundry as well.
  
  There may also be an opportunity for you to join me on rescues or relocations of wild animals if you're up for that. It can be a thrilling experience but could also feel heavy for some especially if the animal is severely injured or we're not able to save them in time.
  
  We work toward living sustainably and have lots of experience in recycling, repurposing, composting, and gardening. We always have several projects around the property and in our home that we could use your skills and ideas to help finish.
  We love our life. We're grateful for our life. We get it all done but keep a fun and relaxed atmosphere at the same time.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  Currently we have a private bungalow with some kitchen items (fridge, kettle, toaster and microwave) that is ideally suited to a couple but is used for single volunteers as well. It contains a queen-sized bed. We also have a huge upstairs bedroom that contains a couple beds for shared accommodation, and sometimes we use a fold-out foam bed that is very comfortable, in a spare room/study when we have short term overlap of multiple volunteers or if this style is preferred (it is directly opposite the bathroom/toilet). We have off-grid power and rainwater in tanks and use solar and generators with all the power you'll need to keep your devices charged. Internet and Wi-Fi is good in the house, and we are in the process of improving the signal into the bungalow and across the property.
  
  The main house, and where we will enjoy our meals together is a place of warmth and openness and is filled with a myriad of unique and interesting artifacts. We include our volunteers in all activities and live like one big family. We also often have friends, colleagues, and daytime local volunteers that come by regularly. Our kitchen is often the hub of good coffee, good food, and great conversation.
  
  We try to have at least two or three WorkAway volunteers at a time to spread the work and make it enjoyable. The downside that we have experienced by having multiple volunteers is water consumption (we are on tank water) so quick showers please, extra use of electricity (we are 100% solar, off grid) and mainly excessive food expenses - we have so far supplied all meals/food/drinks each day, and we like to provide high quality food. We are self-funded and effectively operate as a charity. We rely heavily on donations and have found it difficult to maintain the level of hospitality. We feel the simplest solution is to ask for a contribution of $15 per person per day. Please understand that this is simply to help toward human food expenses, and we will not profit from it. Of course, accommodation is supplied free, and we try to help organise travel for time off and to explore the area.

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  What else ...

  There are fantastic cafes and bakeries within 15 minutes of us and a local pub about 5 minutes away with food trucks every Monday night (with incredible vegan food!). Vineyards, distilleries, and breweries are about 30 minutes away.
  
  The nearest train station is 20 minutes away and we're about an hour from the ocean.
  
  Daylesford, a popular tourist destination in the area is about 30 minutes away. It has numerous spas, restaurants, galleries, natural mineral springs, a cider house, charming gardens, and a popular Sunday Market.
  
  The area we live is known for it's wellness industry with many spas and a focus on natural healing.
  
  There is no shortage of things to do on your days off-- on or off the property!

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  This host has indicated that they love having digital nomads stay.

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  Space for parking camper vans

  This host can provide space for campervans.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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