RED CLIFF-MONKEY MIA: PART OF RICHARD ALLEN'S OFFICE AS A TECHNICAL OFFICER AT CARNARVON AG DEPT'S RESEARCH STATION. HE & HIS TEAM OF OFFICERS RAN A 10 YEAR STUDY AT BOOLA-TH-AN-A; A 500,000 ACRE SHEEP STATION MUSTERING SHEEP, MONITORING CONSUMPTION OF VEGETATION & PLANT LIFE-CYCLES TO RE-EDUCATE PASTORALISTS ON LAND MANAGEMENT. ONE DAY HE ASKED ME IF I'D COLLECT "SAMPLES" FOR HIM. I SAID "WHAT SORT OF SAMPLES?" HE CASUALLY REPLIED "DUNG, BUT ITS DRY! WE'LL PAY YOU $15 AN HOUR". I'D TAKEN 12 MONTHS LEAVE WITHOUT PAY FROM QLD DISABILITY SERVICES PAID $10 AN HOUR TO CARE FOR INCONTINENT CLIENTS & AGREED. HE SHOWED ME WHAT TO DO AT 5 SEPARATE WORKSITES & DROVE TO CAMP TO MEET HIS TEAM & BOIL THE BILLY FOR SMOKO. THEN HE GAVE ME A SATELLITE MAP & THE KEYS TO HIS 4WD WHICH I'D NEVER USED. HIS MATES PROTESTED "GEEZ RICHARD! THAT'S A BIT ROUGH!" BUT HE SAID "WE'LL SEE". SO I FOUND THE 1ST SITE, GOT THE SAMPLES, FOUND MY WAY BACK & FOUND A GREAT PART-TIME JOB, A SOUL-MATE & A NEW WAY OF LIFE.