sheep and kangaroos!

I am currently in Keith, South Australia WWOOFing on a sheep and mixed crop farm with Dean and Adair, the couple who own it. Lots of exciting things have been happening here! Kristen, Erika and I got here right in the middle of lambing so there are babies everywhere. Every morning we go through all the paddocks and check on the ewes and help the ones who are having trouble give birth. Now, some of you who have spent a lot of time with me may wonder about how I did in those situations as I have a very strong fear of childbirth (or anything giving birth for that matter). I am proud to tell you all that I did quite well and even pulled a lamb out myself one morning. I almost hyperventilated and had several minor heart attacks but I feel like I'm making progress.

After my last update we went to another WWOOF host near Bega and stayed there for a week and then went back north to Sydney, exchanged rental cars, went straight west to Broken Hill and then south to Keith where we have been for the past week. We are heading into Adelaide tomorrow and then north up the center of the country to Alice Springs to see Uluru. From there we are going north a bit and then back east to the Great Barrier Reef and then down the east coast to Sydney where we will fly out late August. Well that's the Grand Plan at least!

I thought this might just be a cliche but there are seriously kangaroos everywhere. Everywhere. You cannot get away from them. There are roughly 60 million or so. We have also seen wallabys (little kangaroos), wombats, emus, parrots, cockotoos, and kookaburas. No sign yet of the elusive koala bear but I am constantly vigilant in hopes of spotting one.

It's really beautiful, the outback. There's nothing there but red dirt and scrub for miles and miles and miles. Open sky and lots of space, I really like it. The closer you get to the coast the bigger the trees get. I have never seen eucalyptus trees like here in Aussie. They are absolutely fantastic.

final note: I'm not sure when I'll be able to write next. We don't have any other farms lined up and we're headed into the middle of nowhere for the next month or so. I will hopefully have many wonderful stories and pictures to share soon though. Love to you all.