Boomers Abroad

Description

Work in a Wildlife Park that has over 60 varieties of Australian native birds and marsupials, located in the beautiful town of Bunbury, just south of Perth. Popular activities in the Park are hand-feeding the free range kangaroos that roam freely around the Park and entering into the large free-flight aviary (for the brave) to hand- feed the parrots!

The park is an asset to Bunbury and the south west as it is a great tourist attraction as well as benefiting the community and schools. The Lonely Planet guide named Western Australia's South West region as one of the TOP TEN most desirable holiday destinations in the world for 2010 saying, "it offers variety in spades!" And it does ... the sheer size, amazing natural wealth, awesome scenery and huge variety of plant and animal life make Australia an essential destination for anyone with a passion for nature and wildlife.

DETAILS:

Available all year round - you can choose your start and finish dates within this period. From 2 weeks to 12 weeks or longer, subject to visa restrictions. No qualifications or experience required, but you should be 18 or over, adaptable, enthusiastic and have lots of initiative. You should also have at least a basic level of English and enjoy talking to people.

WHAT'S INCLUDED:

- Accommodation
- Food
- Meeting you at the Airport in Perth
- Transfer to your project in Bunbury
- Free weekend in Perth during your placement
- Full pre-departure support
- Local in-country team support and backup
- 24-hr emergency support
- 1 free T-shirt

PROJECT OVERVIEW:

You'll work with an organisation that is dedicated to conserving Australia's threatened wildlife and ecosystems - it's an immensely worthwhile project which has a very high level of personal satisfaction! The mission of the Park is to provide a partnership with the community, promoting understanding of the animals and plant life of the South West and an integrated resource centre promoting environmental stewardship and sustainability.

The Wildlife Park is a community-based volunteer-run organisation offering a variety of experiences. They consist of Native Animal based experience, grounds keeping experience, retail/tourism experience, or a combination to suit individual requirements. The Park attracts visitors from all over the world, so by hosting international volunteers they hope to provide an opportunity to enhance their knowledge and awareness of cultural differences, exchange ideas and, in turn, make the place more culturally sensitive and an enjoyable environment in which to work and visit.

The Park also participates in a variety of structured workplace learning programmes including, disability services and other community work programmes.

WORK CONTENT:

This project has a great deal of variety and you'll have lots of opportunity to work hands-on with some of Australians wonderfully unique and diverse native birds and mammal species. Other work activities that you can get involved with include Grounds-keeping, which involves the hands-on care and maintenance of hundreds of native trees and plants. You can also get involved in Retail and Tourism if you want to. This last activity is entirely optional, but is available if you'd like to get tourism experience.

The Wildlife Park is a very friendly place and some of their local Bunbury volunteers have been involved with the Park for many years. They also offer work experience and community services for high school and primary school children.

YOUR WORK RESPONSIBILITIES:

Your main responsibility will fall into one or more of the following three areas at the Park:
- Native animal-based experience,
- Grounds-keeping experience,
- Retail / Tourism experience (optional).

Native Animal based Experience:
This revolves around the daily care and maintenance of the animals and the enclosures they are housed in. This includes routine cleaning, feeding, feed preparation, enclosure maintenance, behaviour observation and environmental enhancement.

The role of volunteer animal attendant is to assist the Wildlife carers employed by the Park with their daily tasks. On a typical day you could do cleaning and maintenance of the animal enclosures and surrounding grounds of the park in the mornings, then stop for lunch at around midday, In the afternoon you'll prepare the food for the animals by cutting up fruit and vegetables, and then you'll feed the animals.

Grounds-keeping Experience:
This involves the maintenance of the Wildlife Park grounds and facilities, including planting, mulching, repairs and general grounds-keeping duties. Instructions are given to volunteers daily, depending on what is required for that day. This activity is ideal for you if you really like to get stuck into things.

Retail / Tourism Experience (optional):
If you'd like to gain some experience in Retail and Tourism while on your project, you'll get the chance to improve communication skills; meet people and gain skills in retail sales as well as basic food preparation and service.

Although many volunteers choose to focus all their efforts on working with the animals, the Park is very happy when volunteers choose to get involved in all areas of running the park, because this not only helps them to sustain their work, it also gives you a broad spectrum of experience and knowledge in what it takes to manage the facility. Thus you can also gain experience in dealing with retail sales, customer liaison, restocking of items, maintenance of the shop area, answering customer queries, answering the telephone and helping with a vast multitude of daily functions required to keep the Park functioning efficiently and well.

You'll be a part of the Park team and they are particularly keen to listen to and discuss any ideas you may have, especially if you have specific skills or experience that might help them, such as in marketing or education, for example.

PROJECT LOCATION - BUNBURY:

This programme is located in Bunbury, the third largest city in Western Australia. Bunbury is about 2½ hrs drive south of Perth on the South West coast of WA and markets itself as the real Australia. It is located on a spectacular peninsular surrounded by blue waters of the Indian Ocean, Koombana Bay and the Leschenault Inlet. A vibrant port city with a strong maritime history, Bunbury is renowned for its quality lifestyle and unique blend of nature surrounds and top quality facilities.

You'll live in a backpackers conveniently located in the heart of Bunbury.

WHAT TO DO NEXT:

Talk to us - We're there to help you. Most of our team are ex Travellers volunteers and are ideally qualified to offer advice and guidance because they know what you're looking for. They'll help you find your perfect project - and then make it all happen!

If you'd like more information about this or any of our projects, please email or call us! If you'd like to apply for this project, please go to our website and complete the application form. As soon as we receive it, we'll liaise with you and then start making your travel adventure happen.

It's as easy as that.