This post about Vision Walks was originally published in 2008. It has since been updated for accuracy of links and content.
“I hope you don’t mind having a corpse in the back of the van,” Wendy said in her ever-cheerful demeanour. She was loading the body of a pademelon (a small kangaroo from the looks of it) wrapped in her raincoat onto the back seat. It had been hit by a car, and when we came upon it the body was still warm and there appeared to be a joey (baby pademelon) in the pouch. We were going to try to save the baby’s life.
Such are the twists and turns of life with Wendy at Vision Walks, if you come along for the ride.
After being picked up at Ballina (on the east coast near Byron Bay), we chatted with Wendy at length about anything and everything while we traveled to the next pick-up location.
Conversation was easy, and Wendy’s story was enthralling – probably because it’s not dissimilar to our own story; getting tired of the rat race and hanging it all out there to chase down a dream. In Wendy’s case, the dream is to bring the gift of nature and its critters to people…at night.
Vision Walks is the first and only company of its kind to do what they do: guided walks through national parks with the aid of night vision goggles. Since so many of Australia’s interesting furry critters are nocturnal, this is a unique opportunity to see animals in their habitat, without startling them with spotlights.
We jumped at the opportunity to join in for an evening of fun – me because I wanted to see the animals, and Kelly because he wanted to play with night vision goggles and pretend he was in a video game. (He says he just wanted to see the animals, but I knew better: he was hiding behind trees and aiming an imaginary gun the entire time).
What did we see on our night vision journey? And what happened with the pademelon? Read on at World Nomads…
And if you’re in the market for travel insurance, read this jam-packed Travel Insurance post with all the info you need, including a glossary of terms, tips for making a claim, and more!
so many of Australian’s fuzzy, dangerous, kill you with one bite are nocturnal too!!!!
What happened with the joey? 🙁
@The Countess: Wendy actually left a comment the other day with the joey update over at the full article at World Nomads.
And sadly, the little joey didn’t make it. But we were still happy to have tried, and are all the more aware of how to help a little roo should we find them in distress again. (Which we hope not to!)