Alpaca Pregnancy Test

As I mentioned on Friday, I spent the weekend in the country. I had absolutely no idea where I would be going in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, just that I was paired with my friend Sara. We arrived at the train station, and there was a representative from each farm to pick up their students. It seemed like everyone had already found their ride, and finally Sara and I were approached. The man was named Ian, and the ride was about 30 minutes. I don't think he told us exactly what their farm entailed right away. It turns out, he and his wife, Fiona, are Alpaca farmers! We pulled up to their house and I was shocked. It was HUGE, and very modern. It was amazing inside as well. (I took pictures throughout the house...they'll be on Facebook.) We put our stuff down, met Fiona, and then went out to feed some Alpacas. They were adorable, and some would eat out of your hand. They're pretty skittish, especially around people they don't know. The farm is 100 acres, and we did a lot of walking over the course of the weekend. It had also been raining consistently there for about 2 weeks, so the ground was waterlogged, and their ponds were all flooded. The good news is they had extra rubber boots (gum boots, as they are called here) for Sara and I to wear. Luckily, the few days that we were there were beautiful.

After feeding the Alpacas, we sat on the deck and talked for a while. And then...the first meal. Dinner was amazing. Fiona made honey and lemon chicken, potatoes, and peas and carrots, and Ian made some sort of non-alcoholic mixed drink with bitters and apple juice and various other ingredients. Dessert was an apple tart. Some of you may know that I'm not a big fan of 'cooked fruit.' Especially apples. I may be one of the minority of Americans who don't like apple pie. But I thought it would be rude not to eat it, and I figured I should try it anyway. Best move ever. It was AMAZING. After dinner, Ian and Fiona took us for a drive to see if we could find any kangaroos! Yes, over the weekend I saw my first (and second, and third, and fortieth...) kangaroo in the wild! We saw a lot of them that night.

Sara and I are early risers, so we were up at about 7:45 on Saturday, to Ian and Fiona's surprise/delight. We had told them the night before that we usually get up early, but they told us there was no pressure. Since we were up early enough, we got to go around for the morning feedings (after our morning feeding, of course). We also got to watch Ian and Fiona cut the nails of some Alpacas, and then, most interestingly, the Alpaca pregnancy test. So, one male escaped from his paddock and managed to get out and all the way across the road into a paddock with some females. There were three that he may have mated, and they were all past their prime...aka it would've been a pain if they were pregnant. Anyway, a female Alpaca knows she's pregnant about two weeks after mating. So to find out, you put a female with a male (any male, not just the one that mated her) in a closed space, and if she spits at him and fights with him, she's pregnant. It's as if she's telling him to stay away because it's no use trying to mate with her. If she isn't pregnant, she will lay down, giving him permission. It turns out that the three older females were not pregnant, but we also got to witness a positive pregnancy test of a female who they were trying to get pregnant. After all of that, we had a cuppa. (Cup of tea/coffee...Australians have the best words/sayings.)

After our cuppa, we got to do some halter training. One young female, Beba, is very well-trained already, so Sara led her and Fiona switched between two that she was training for the first time. They were very stubborn and would just lie down and not move. Beba is VERY talkative. It was adorable. The Alpaca sound is very low, it kind of sounds like saying, "Hmmm," from your throat. Anyway, she would "Hmmm" at us and Sara and I would have conversations with her. She was a funny one. After halter training, we had lunch. There was homemade bread, brie cheese, cheddar cheese, various meats, Indian wedding chutney, peach relish, and extra delicious cherry tomatoes. I believe we did a little more halter training after that, maybe... And at 4:30 there was a farm tour, with people from our program who were staying at farms without animals. Dinner that night was a barbecue at another 'farm' there. We brought salad and lamb, and when I was dishing myself up, Ian says, "Would you like to try the Alpaca meat?" I said there's no way, but then he had almost convinced me, and says, "It tastes a lot like lamb." Fiona laughed and said, "That's because it is." Oh yeah, I also don't normally like lamb... Once again, I figured I would try it. I actually enjoyed it! My family is going to be so proud of me. On the way home from the barbecue, we saw more kangaroos.

Sunday morning, Sara and I were up around 8 again, ate breakfast, and fed the Alpacas. We did more halter training, and this time I lead Beba and she lead Russlana, another who was already halter trained. We would lead them ahead of whichever stubborn one Fiona was working with, but it still didn't encourage them much. We had another cuppa, and then went on a hiking/slight rock-climbing expedition on the steep hills/cliffs of their property. We found some caves that animals live in, but didn't see any animals. We had the same lunch, then put some Alpacas back in their paddock. And then it was time to go... We were SO sad to leave. We are hoping to plan a weekend later in the semester to go back. Fiona and Ian were like our parents for the weekend, and they were great. Working with the Alpacas was also really fun, and being away from my computer (and also having no cell phone service...they're in a valley) was nice. They also have an adorable, sweet, and crazy intelligent Border Collie named Trema. I MISS DOGS. It was great to have one around.

Other things:
Their locality (sort of like a town...) is called Canyonleigh. There isn't a hospital there, and ambulances can't access the area easily. The solution to this problem: there are four trained and certified couples, and one emergency vehicle that rotates between them. Each week, starting on Friday, one of the couples has the vehicle and all the equipment, including a pager and a phone. It was their week, so it was possible that Fiona and Ian would get a page and have to leave us at any time, but no calls came in.
We got to see kangaroos, as I said... We didn't see any wombats, koalas, goannas, or (thankfully) snakes, though all of them are present in the area. We saw some lizards (skinks), and another lizard...I forget the name, but it's the type that runs on its back legs...and terrapins (like turtles). We saw lots of birds, and got to hear the kookaburras, which sort of sound like crazy laughter and/or monkey noises.
I probably forgot a lot of things...but I'm exhausted so that's that. And now I will be uploading the pictures from the weekend to Facebook. Good night!