LILY PAY

My name is Lily Pay and I am currently a year thirteen student at Waimate High School. I have never really had a clear idea on what I wanted to do once I left school but by being given the opportunity to explore my options and interests it has helped me narrow down some options. Through opportunities provided by the Gateway programme, dual enrolment and taster days at Ara, I have discovered more about my preferred career choices and I have learned a lot. 

On Wednesday 19th July, I started my first day of work experience at Tame Wallabies EnkleDoovery Korna Wallaby Park in Waimate. I am very interested in wildlife and animal welfare and this was my first experience venturing into this field. The friendly and welcoming Gwen Dempster-Schouten also known as 'the Wallaby lady' has been hand-rearing orphaned young wallabies since 1977 and opened EnkleDooVery Korna to the paying public in October 1999.

Being able to help Gwen take care of all her animals and learn about what she has done with the wallabies was amazing. I even got to see what she does with the people who come in for the wallaby experience and it was so much fun. I got to meet her newest addition, a baby wallaby given to her by a hunter. She was spending time training it and very happy to introduce the new baby to someone other than herself. This meant she was able to socialise it and get it used to people. All of Gwen’s wallabies are friendly, not scared of people and some will happily come right up to you hoping for a feed. I was able to experience what Gwen does daily and learn how to care for the animals she looks after, learning a little about their needs, their personalities and behaviours.