MONKEY MIA FROM RED CLIFF, PERON PENINSULA. FOR 50 YEARS, DOLPHINS, SYMBOLS OF THE OAK & TOTEM OF CLAN KENNEDY (AVIS LA FIN) HAVE COME HERE CLOSE TO SHORE TO BE FED BY HUMANS.

MY BEST FRIEND RICHARD ALLEN, ORIGINALLY FROM RED HILL IN SURREY, ENGLAND, SUPERVISED A 10 YEAR TRIAL ON A 500,000 ACRE SHEEP STATION 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 WAS ON 12 MONTHS LEAVE WITHOUT PAY FROM QLD INTELLECTUAL DISABILITY SERVICES, PAID $10 AN HOUR TO CARE FOR INCONTINENT CLIENTS & AGREED. HE SHOWED ME WHAT TO DO AT 5 SEPARATE SITES BEFORE MEETING HIS TEAM TO BOIL THE BILLY FOR SMOKO. THEN HE GAVE ME A SATELLITE MAP & KEYS TO HIS 4WD WHICH I'D NEVER USED BEFORE. HIS MATES PROTESTED "GEEZ RICHARD THAT'S A BIT ROUGH!" BUT HE SAID "WE'LL SEE"; SO I FOUND EACH SITE, GOT THE SAMPLES, FOUND MY WAY BACK TO CAMP & A GREAT PART-TIME JOB.