I thought that Wallabies only lived in Australia so imagine my delight when I learned there is also a population a few kilometres from where we spent New Year's. In 1870 Captain Thompson brought a few over from Tasmania and within a few years the population exploded, they are largely considered pests in the area since that time many people have come to hunt them. However, there is a sanctuary in the area called EnkleDooVery Korna in Waimate. The eccentric Gwen Dempster Schouten started her wallaby refuge in 1977 to house orphaned wallabies and doesn't have any aspirations of giving it up anytime soon.
She spouts out about a million rules and random facts as she shoves willow branches in your hands and releases you to feed/pet/ogle and love the wallabies at your own pace. From there you are left alone to navigate through her maze of pens housing over 60 wallabies.
They are soft like rabbits and playful like puppies. They grab the willow out of your hands and clasp it into theirs as they greedily chomp down on the leaves. The babies peek their heads and gigantic feet from the mother's pouches and some even dare to hop out and grab a leaf or two of their own. Strangely, peacocks coexist with wallabies and are seemingly extremely jealous of all the attention paid to the marsupials, one in particular kept fanning out his feathers demanding to be photographed.
After the wallaby/peacock extravaganza you get to see fuzzy bizarro-world chickens and Muffin the miniature pony with spinal bifida. At the end Gwen lets you nestle an orphaned wallaby baby in your arms and tour her house which is more like a deranged curio shop and exhibition of taxidermic wonders than a home.
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