So this part of our trip is our part to give something back, so we have decided to volunteer at the Dolphin Discoverry Cenre. I won't go into the technicalities of how we managed to get the position because it is somewhat depressing and embaressing.

We are staying at a place called Wander Inn, it is a family owned hostel by Linda & Barry, a NZ couple. The atmosphere at the hostel is really friendly and we were welcomed by all of the guests, most of whom are long term occupants due to jobs, other volunteering etc...

On our first night of arrival we enjoyed a BBQ cooked by Bazza and then we settled down to enjoy a slab of Tooheys. We learnt that Bunbury is the drug capital of the South West and that gang violence is quite a problem here with a group called the RFC (Random Fight Crew), nice sounding people hey?! Thankfully we didn't see any of this violence.

Our volunteer work at the Dolphin Discovery Centre had its ups and downs, the downs being that as it was still early season and therefore there were only 2 dolphin visits the wholetime we were there! However they were special when they came, often bringing their calves. The mother and baby that came in on both occasions was Shanty (mother) and Calypso (4 month old baby), it was so nice to see.

The day to day work included getting tothe centre for 7.30 where we were split into the rotations, whih inluded the 'Can', the boardwalk and the Centre. When in the can it involved sitting out basically looking for the dolphins, that was where you could chill out and get some rest before heading back into the sun. The Boardwalk involved looking out for Dolphins again but this time interacting with the public, answering questions, providing information et... And finally in the centre it was interacting with the public, answering questions about the exhibits and feeding the turtles.

On my first day I was given the task of gutting the fis and feeding the turtles. Little did I know that the public were going to be watching with such interest. There was a group of about 15 watching me eagerly waiting for me to screw up, and as usual I didn't dissapoint. You feed the turtles with a wooden skewer and put small amounts of fish on the end, however no body told me that they won't let go of the wood unless you twist it. On my first attempt I had a Loggerhead turtle dangling out of the water by the skewer to which I hear a child say, 'Mommy, is that man hurting the turtle?', and then from an older women, 'Your terrorizing the little fella!'. Needless to say I wasn't allowed to feed them for a couple of days.

Inbetween, waiting for dolphins & hurting the turtles we had other tasks to do like shifting sand, cleaning and weeding. The weeding was pretty cool beause we were told that we might come across snakes, gutted that we didn't! The rest of the time we spent out on the boat looking for Dolphins out to sea, needless to say we were not disappointed.