The more we got to know Bronwyn and Dave, the more we loved being there. Dave was a proper country Aussie, he had travelled all over Australia always working with his hands and had a million and one stories to tell about everything (even more than Day would you believe)!? His views were sometimes hard to swallow but his disarming smile and country accent always got him out of trouble, and the truth is you couldnt meet a kinder person. We both loved hearing about that time when he tickled an alligator's throat to get it to eat, his aboriginal friend who went walkabout and the 24 hour non stop journey he had to do with cattle in the back of his truck. He wore a cowboy hat everyday and worked the hardest of anyone I have ever met with no expectations of a thank you. He was also in charge of the lion feeding at the fence. He'd stand up close to the lions and held their meat so high the lions would stand on their hind legs with their big paws on the fence and grab the food through the fence whilst growling. If that wasn't crazy enough to watch, he'd then start tugging at their whiskers and putting his tough fingers into their mouth whilst tickling their paws as though they were little cats!
After a full day out on the zoo welding a new monkey enclosure or putting together the new lions den or building a staircase onto the food shed, he would then cook a delicious meal for everyone and share his stories inbetween hurling abuse at whoever was on tv at the time. Almost everyone to him was a b****** of some sort! Then there was Bronwyn, the owner of the zoo who at first wasn't interested in us at all, but after a few days of us getting stuck in was really lovely and friendly and seemed to value our help a lot. After asking what we did back home, we set to work doing something we were more comfortable with, marketing and promoting the zoo! We realised they didn't have any souvenirs and the website and leaflet was missing some key info, so our first task was to get some postcards designed and ordered. They arrived quite quickly and were an instant hit with the visitors, so next we started designing a new brochure and even got to take pictures of the animals on our new camera to feature in it!

In the evenings we watched tv with everyone before dinner. Because of the location in the mountains, bizarrely we picked up Alice Springs tv signal which showed the weirdest bunch of adverts we have ever seen. Half of them looked like they had been shot and edited by a teenager. They aired a bizarre series of promotional adverts about places to visit in Australia that were the worst promotions ever. They were shot on cloudy days and showed the least attractive attributes about the place, like a deserted street, all that was missing was a tumble weed! I don't know how much localised advertising costs but judging these, it must have been cheap as they'd spend about 3 minutes panning out from a dismal looking lake with a dreary soundtrack to go with it! We did start to get into our Aussie tv shows though, in particular The Block - a renovation game show where 5 couples compete against each other, each renovating an entire floor of a highrise in Melbourne, trying to win money for the best room each week and the overall auction at the end of the series. Addictive tv, and a firm favourite of ours ever since!

We absolutely loved getting to know Bronwyn, Dave and all the animals and hope our little mark has been left there. Here are some highlights of our timr at the zoo;

1. The hour between 4-5pm each day when the sun was setting and the pink sky reflected off Mt Buller and the hills surrounding the zoo
2. Seeing a Joey in the pouch - which wriggled around and we were able to handfeed, along with the mother
3. Befriending Angel the dingo
4. The pets - Gizmo, who followed us around the zoo each day, his mum Molly who curled up next to us on the sofa each evening, and Simotei, Dave's loyal 13 year old best friend who wasn't allowed in the house and is the first dog we have ever seen actually tiptoe as he sneaked past us in the lounge one afternoon. Not to mention Honey, the worst chook guard ever!
5. Dave and Bronwyn - for welcoming us into their home, amazing us with their passion and enthusiasm for animals and trusting us with the keys to their zoo. An unforgettable 3 weeks!