On the 19th of May, 19 Cadets and Juniors from the Cadet Band Division spent the weekend inside the Territory Wildlife Park. They experienced the Park behind-the-scenes, learned all about freshwater systems and had loads of fun.

The first day started at 3PM when we all left St John Ambulance Casuarina Centre in a mixture of vehicles including 'Pat's' Clinic Bus. We arrived about 4PM and after setting up camp and taking care of the usual camp rules and the like, Ranger Brenda appeared to teach everyone how to obtain water and survey samples.

Buckets, magnifying glasses, pipettes and even turtle shells were available for everyone to discover. After a tasty dinner of sausages, steak, salad and bread (thank you Mick for your skills on the BBQ and Wendy and Linda cutting and slicing for one huge salad!) everyone went with Brenda for a night walk to the billabong to experience the sounds of the aquatic life at night.

Then it was off to the aquarium to see if Graham, the resident saltwater crocodile would be more active at night. He certainly knew that we were there watching him and he kept a close eye on us. We shuddered to hear that the big scratch in the glass was caused by his teeth when he went for someone watching him when he was released into his enclosure!

When we returned to camp we had Milo and bikkies around the campfire and I prayed that all would go to bed at a reasonable hour given we had a 0700 start the next day! It was not to be!!!

0645 saw all but three Cadets ready for the start of the day's activities. These three Cadets happened to be the three that insisted on staying awake regardless of our yells of "Be Quiet!" and everyone had great joy in waking them up.

At 0700 Ranger Tess took the group to Goose Lagoon to watch it come alive with the start of a new day. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages, toast and cereal, everyone returned to the billabong to feed the barramundi and whiprays. This was a very hands on and 'wet feet' activity and a great time was had by all. After packing up camp we were able to explore the Park at our leisure until lunchtime. The aquarium and nocturnal house, being the two coolest (temperature wise!) places to be, were top of the list.

On returning to the Main Station for lunch we were just in time to get up close and personal to a snake.

Lunch was a real treat thanks to Narelle and Steve McLaughlin and young Hayley. There were sandwiches galore that were wrapped and labelled like they were prepared by professionals. There was ham and salad, just salad, just ham, chicken, peanut butter, jam and the list goes on!!! The juice was lovely and cold and the chips crispy. We even each had an ice cream which was just wonderful considering the very hot, sunny and humid conditions of this particular day!

The trip home was quieter than the trip out to the Park, funny that! Everyone had a great time. Good friends, good food, a beautiful park to explore and not much sleep! Oh well, you can't have everything!

Article by Kimberlee McKay
Divisional Superintendent
Cadet Band