At Billabong, we got to see up close many of the Australian animals. We were surrounded by kangaroos just about everywhere on the grounds. After a quick lunch we went to the crocodile area (I thought we were done with these!) where we watched a "feeding." The reality was that the guide had a piece of meat on a string and teased the croc with it for us to see his moves. After the crocs, we went to the turtles and were able to feed them a snack and then watched a turtle race.
We went next to my favorite part of Billabong - the wombats and koalas. Tonka the wombat and Mac the koala let us hold them and take pictures. A wombat feels like dead weight, he had been handled so much he doesn't mind people at all. His hair is rough and he is also a marsupial. The koala was what you'd expect - she dug her claws in to hold on and gave a great hug!
After Billabong we went out towards Charters Towers to our farm stay. We stopped in town to use the bathroom quick and we all thought the farm would be right down the road. The reality is that we had about 40 minutes on highway followed by 20 minutes down their driveway before we made it to the homestead. We were staying at Wambiana Station with the Lyons family. Wambiana means kangaroo in the Aboriginal language of the area. Station is what they call farms. So you could have a cattle station or a horse station, etc. Stations in the bush are huge and very remote. Being only an hour from town is actually not that bad we learned. Wambiana is 57,000 acres and they typically have 3,300 heads of cattle, but this is their fourth driest year on record so they are under 2,000 this year.
We were greeted on the bus by most of the Lyons family including their dog, Little Dude, who jumped right on our bus upon arrival. Michael and his wife, Michelle, manage the farm with the help of John and Ronda who are still involved in the farm after handing it down to the next generation. Michael and Michelle have four kids, Thomas (almost 13), Conner (11), Sophia (8), and Hugh (5). The only other help they have is their governess "govy" Natalie and an international travel student Chloe from France. If Chloe works on a farm in Australia for 88 days she can stay on her travel visa for an additional year in Australia.
We unloaded the bus and the kids got settled into their "White House." The girls were in one side and the boys in the other. All in bunk beds and sleeping bags. It was a good chance from the hotels we've been in. The leaders got rooms with actual beds, whew! It was almost dinner time when we got there, so once the kids got settled we had a fantastic home cooked dinner.
Following dinner, Conner gave the kids instruction on a few ways to crack a whip. The kids all had a chance to try and some were really good! They then lit a bonfire and we brought out sparklers for the kids to celebrate the Fourth of July.
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