Working at Australia Zoo

Wenlock Trip

As I emerge from the crowded station, Chandler is already waiting for me. I pick up my suitcase and hurry over to him.

"Hey Tara."

"Hi Chandler." He takes my bag.

"Here, let me put that in the trunk for you."

This time, I'm just planning to be here for a few days, and I'll be spending most of that time at Khaki's, so I only took a duffel bag. Together, we hop into the car and return to the zoo.

"Robert and Bindi have been waiting all morning for your arrival; it's the only thing they've talked about."

"Well, I've been itching to get here."

Chandler snickers. "Tired of NSW already."

"No, it's just up here; it's completely different than NSW; zoo life is so much different."

Chandler gives a sympathetic nod. "I promise, I totally get it. Although I really enjoyed Florida, there's something really calming about being here among the animals."

Later

When we get to the zoo, Robert is the first person I see waiting for me. He's kicking back on the steps, but as soon as he spots me, he dashes to get me by the feet. Before I can say anything, my lips are shutting me up. Though it appears Robert has grown a little more adventurous over our time apart, his hands go down from my waist to rest on my ass, and a tongue has snuck into my lips, I melt into the kiss, not understanding how much I've needed these kisses. We broke up our reunion due to a cough. Terri and Bindi are out on the terrace. I redden. Chandler is making fun of us.

"Don't make me regret putting the two of you in a tent together." Terri greets me with a loving embrace as she descends the stairs. "Good to have you back, Tara, even if it is just for a few days."

Hugs are exchanged. I felt whole for the first time in a long time.

Wenlock River

Right now, some locals are pushing Bindi and Robert down the stream on a wood platform, and I'm sitting between them. My dread of the car tumbling off the log didn't really go down even though I tried to remind myself that everyone else in the car has done this a bunch of times. Thankfully, we manage to untangle it, but even so, I observe that individuals and tents have already been put up.

"Every year we have volunteers sign up to participate in this trip; these people arrived this morning."

Bindi has spent the entire morning offering me advice and suggestions.

"Just wait till tonight; when the stars come out, it's unbelievable."

Everybody gets out of the car. We have a nice, quiet camping spot with largely sandy land and a few dry plants, which is ideal for crocs.

"Okay, Bindi and Tara, you will be in charge of putting the tents up."

I started working on that straight immediately with Bindi.

"Robert, Chandler, you two get all the tracking equipment out of the car and set it up."

I look up at Bindi.

"Tracking equipment?"

"There have been croc traps set up by the volunteers, and if we get a croc and it has a tracking chip on it, we can take note of its weight, measurements, and other health checks and compare them to previous logs, and if it's a new edition, we can chip it, and then we can name him and put him in the system; it's just so that we can keep an eye on his location and his habitat."