Where the kangaroos are boss...

"Have you seen Joshephine yet?" My boss asked me from her home in Sydney. My 1st group of students and I had arrived at the "Yooka" Sanctuary just an hour earlier, bleary eyed but ecstatic that we arrived at all! (I dont know why but it always seems like a miracle.)

"Who is Josephine?" I asked. So far I had an only met Phil and Mimi, the adorable Aussie couple that run the joint.

"She is the resident kangaroo. She is small, but can pack a punch."

And so I held "ït", it being my bladder, through the long cold night, and into the early hours of dawn, curious but also somewhat terrified to run into "Josie" on the way to the john...

The plane ride from LAX to Melbourne was pretty uneventful. There were the usual "swooping" dips and sways of the big plane as it negotiated with those high pacific winds, but then again, you become so delirious after fifteen hours of sardine-style (good luck finding leg room in economy) plane travel that it all becomes part of a surreal dream.

And it doesn't change once you land either. When you walk out into the rainy overcast Melbourne morning, and begin to swim, on the wrong side of the road, through traffic, with a large 12-person white van and nine students laughing at your every minor mistake (windshield wipers on left! blinker on right!) As you drive along the Stuart Highway north, away from the South Australian capital of Adelaide, toward the Barossa Valley and your home for the next two weeks. And just when you think you can finally yawn and take in all that has happened in the last 24 hours of your life, the sun begins to pass in streaks through the clouds and light up the huge gaping eucalypt branches until long pointed shadows are thrown on the ground. As you stare at the white skin of these giants, a kangaroo crossing sign passes by and then the highway, lit up on both sides now by fields of gold, suddenly seems to extend into forever. You realize that you arent tired anymore. You are on fire.

I love this country. I really do. And the Yookamurra Sanctuary is just one more slice of heaven I am getting the good fortune to see. Since when do I get my own cabin? Come on!

So far the trip has been as epic as I imagined. South Australia, as well as all of OZ, is in the midst of winter so its cool here (50's and 60's) and even downright cold at night. A very stark contrast to the 100 degree heat I escaped in Colorado.

It's Sunday morning now (Saturday night for most back in the States) and I just made a telephone call to my nephew, Joshua, who I'd like to give a shout out to and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY! He just turned six years old and told me about all of his favorite toys he received (of course, I have no idea of the cool toys anymore). My Dad also emailed to alert me of the fact their ARE poisonous snakes in these parts and I should watch it! Thanks Dad! Fortunately (or unfortunately, because it would be an experience to see a Brown Snake) they are pretty sedentary this time of year.

So, that's the update. We thankfully have a free day today so I'll send more news once we start working with the wildlife, or I have a confrontation with Josie, whichever comes first. And, speaking of roos, I'm about to head out into the warming early afternoon and attempt a 20k run around the fenced-in portion (more on this later) of the compound. If I see a male kangaroo rearing on his hind legs and coughing, Phil, one of the resident biologists tells me, I'm to get down on the ground and cough back. This will assure him he's still the boss.

G'day to you all!
laura