Meet Our Volunteers
Volunteers are special people. They donate their time and talents in so many ways to make the world a better place. Over the years we have welcomed hundreds of volunteers, both locals and world travellers. We’ll be featuring some of them on this page, and we thank each one of them for their generosity and dedication.Real Gap Experience
Billabong Sanctuary is fortunate to be affiliated with Real Gap Experience
This UK-based company facilitates volunteer placements in community and conservation projects around the world. For a small fee, clients choose from a range of experiences—anything from building houses in Guatemala to tracking cheetahs in Namibia. Real Gap makes all the arrangements and provides accommodation, some meals and local transportation.
Carina is our Volunteer Coordinator, working with Real Gap to place 2 volunteers at a time for a 4 week shift. Most are gap-year students taking time off to work and travel before continuing their studies.
Others, like Nadeem Arshad, are career-break workers, looking for a change from their regular jobs. Nadeem, who grew up in London, has a degree in Marketing and had been working at a bank in the middle of the city. He decided it was time for a change of pace, some fresh air, and especially for close contact with some of the exotic animals of the world, so he set off on a round-the-world adventure.
 |
First stop was South Africa, where he worked as a volunteer coach for children’s soccer teams, and had a chance to climb Table Mountain in Cape Town and go on safari in Botswana.
Here at Billabong Sanctuary Nadeem was tickled pink by his daily close encounters with all our native animals. Working in the fresh air and sunshine of north Queensland, he was overwhelmed by the cheerful welcome of Billabong staff and visitors.
He cautioned that it’s also hard work. Starting at 7:00 every morning, he did everything from food prep to raking pathways and cleaning cages. The fun part was helping with the daily shows, bringing koalas, wombats and snakes down to meet our visitors, helping with photography, enjoying the delighted reactions as others get up close and personal with our friendly animals. By mid-afternoon he was free to explore all the other attractions in this beautiful part of the world.
After his 4-week stint here, Nadeem travelled on to New Zealand and Fiji before a tour of southeast Asia, culminating in a trek to Base Camp Everest.
Our February 2010 Real Gap volunteers were Sally Worsley and Rebecca Kelleher. May volunteers are Sarah Pomfret and Amy Littlewood.
Bringing in volunteers such as those in the Real Gap programme takes some of the workload off our rangers. It gives volunteers a chance to see first-hand our amazing Australian wildlife and to make a direct contribution to our ongoing commitment to education and conservation. It’s great for us to have such well-travelled and dedicated people interacting with our visitors and bringing fresh ideas to the park.
So if you see any of our Real Gap or other volunteers about the park, stop and have a chat, and thank them for the gift of their time. They are special people.
Fantastic tour guide and shows. Couldn’t ask for any better, thanks – Janai Trotter, Melbourne We love Ranger Dan – Col and Dan Haynes, NSW |