Episode 6 Kangaroo Dundee


Episode 6

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Transcript


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COME ON!

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Deep in the heart of central Australia lives

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a family like no other.

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This is Brolga,

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a man who has sacrificed everything to give orphaned kangaroos

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a second chance at life.

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Some people, they think that's a bit strange,

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a bloke being a mum to an orphaned kangaroo.

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But I do it because I see what other people don't see.

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I see that little joey call out for help.

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From his tin shack hidden in the bush,

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Brolga raises his babies until they're ready to be released.

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And, as with any family, each new day brings fresh challenges.

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Tonight, Roger's feeling cagey.

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Don't like having to lock Roger away, but it's a bit of a necessity.

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Rex and Ruby learn about mob politics.

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Are they going to be accepted,

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or are they going to get a slap in the face,

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and say, "Hey, learn your place!"

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And wild child Rocky is finally set free.

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This is your country. Do us proud. Best of luck to you, my little mate.

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Welcome to the world of Kangaroo Dundee.

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It's morning in the outback and for Kangaroo Mum Brolga,

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it's not just the start of a new day.

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It's the start of a new life.

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After four years living in a tin shack

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without running water or electricity,

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Brolga is moving into a house with his girlfriend, Tahnee.

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Hello? Morning!

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-Ah, you're here.

-Hey, hello.

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-Come in.

-Thank you. It's great to be here. So looking forward to this.

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Wow, this is fantastic.

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Moving into a warm, dry house is a big change, and not just for Brolga.

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Rex, Ruby and newest arrival Bluey are keen to explore...

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...at least, until it's time for dinner.

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It's beautiful to be next to the fire.

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Nothing like having a fire, to hear it crackle, and you can take

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the man out of the bush, but you can't take the bush out of the man.

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It's going to be great, isn't it?

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I'm really glad you're here.

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Thanks, it's like a dream.

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And to be sharing it with you, too.

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I can think of no other person I'd like to be with.

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Someone who loves the joeys as much as I do.

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Maybe I love the joeys more than you!

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-No, they're gorgeous. Little Rexy's just gorgeous.

-Yes, he is.

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You're doing very well too.

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-Yeah...is that the right way?

-Yep, that's the right way.

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Hey, going down for a hop?

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It's the end of a big day.

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And although Brolga's home life may have changed,

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he has no intention of giving up his work at the sanctuary.

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So, life goes on as normal for his family of roos.

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Brolga's new house is only half a mile away,

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so it's a short walk back to work.

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Today marks a big step forward in Rex, Ruby and Bluey's training.

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To start getting them ready for release,

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Brolga's taking them for a hop in the sanctuary.

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Sometimes it can be too much routine in a back yard.

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They know where everything is, everything's flat.

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They've jumped over anything that they've had to jump over before.

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Taking them out where there's a termite mound

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hidden in the grass, or a log,

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things they're going to have to adjust to and that are unexpected,

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that's the beauty of taking the joeys out into the bush now.

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This is all a part of leading them towards independence.

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It's their first taste of it.

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It's training them for when the big day comes later on when I'm going to

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put them out into the sanctuary so they can be part of the mob.

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Rex, Ruby and Bluey are coping well.

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So, Brolga decides to up the pace.

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Come on!

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The joeys take to their new-found freedom in different ways.

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Come on!

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You can really see the characters coming out in the three joeys.

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Little Ruby is right behind.

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She doesn't miss a trick.

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If I decide to run off, sort of change direction,

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she'll always be there.

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Come on!

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Little Bluey, he's generally next. He's half into it.

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Come on!

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He tries to keep up but things often distract him.

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BIRDS CAW

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Come on!

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He'll see a spider or a beetle, and he just totally loses it!

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And then there's Rex. He's often down the back.

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Rex is a bit slow. He's, er... He's not switched on half the time.

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Come on! Keep up! Come on!

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I love going out there,

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running through the bush with the joeys following me. What a thrill!

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There are no short cuts when raising the orphans.

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It takes time, and daily dedication.

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From teaching them to run, to preparing their milk.

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You can't afford any lumps in the milk, in case

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they choke on it when they're drinking.

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As the weeks pass, the young roos grow, moving towards the day

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when they'll leave their life with Brolga and Tahnee behind.

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And it's not just the joeys who are adjusting

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to new ways of doing things.

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Oh, wow, what a relief.

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You turn it on and it does it itself.

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No more doing it out of a bucket.

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Life is moving on for Brolga and his family.

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Come on!

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It's five weeks later, and Rex, Ruby

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and Bluey are on the way to becoming fully grown kangaroos.

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Their coats are thicker, they've gained knowledge of the bush

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and all three have become more confident.

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But before they can be released into the sanctuary,

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there's one hurdle left to overcome, and it's the biggest yet.

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It's time to meet the mob.

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Hello.

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It's all right, it's all right.

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This short trial run will be the first time

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the joeys have moved freely amongst older kangaroos

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and it's nerve-racking for everyone.

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When I let the orphans out into the bush like this,

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I'm always on the edge of my seat.

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They sort of look at the bigger kangaroos to say,

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"Is that what I am?"

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And they'll go up to the older kangaroos saying,

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"Hey, let's be friends."

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And like smelling the older ones, and the older ones smelling them.

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What's going to happen?

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Is that joey going to be accepted,

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or are they going to get a slap in the face

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and say, "Hey, learn your place!"

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They're going to learn that there's a pecking order out here.

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They are the smallest, and they are at the bottom of the pecking order.

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It's a steep learning curve for the joeys,

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but after a while they begin to find their place in the group.

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It gives me a lot of enjoyment to see the joeys becoming kangaroos.

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The difficult first meeting with the mob has gone well.

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So, while the joeys have a well-earned rest,

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Brolga heads out to see Ella.

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She's had a new pinky in her pouch for three months

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and Brolga wants to check on the progress of mother and baby.

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It's heart-warming to look into Ella's pouch

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and see this little bloke, see him developing.

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In the next month or so, this baby's eyes will open for the first time.

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It'll look out of the pouch and it will see other members

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of the mob and the other members of the mob will see it

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and hopefully, they'll welcome it, as they've welcomed Ella's other babies.

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This is the start of new life.

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It is the future.

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It's the future for my sanctuary.

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And the future of the sanctuary is never far from Brolga's thoughts.

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He wants to make sure that what he's built here will last

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and thinks he's found the answer

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running tours for paying guests.

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To open up the sanctuary to visitors is a great way

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of getting revenue, and getting it in a fun way,

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and it's the only way to make the sanctuary sustainable.

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People have always visited, keen to see the kangaroos,

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but now Brolga wants to increase the numbers

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and turn the sanctuary into a must-see destination.

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So, he's teamed up with Australia's original kangaroo experts.

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I set up the Kangaroo Sanctuary up with this in mind,

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that one day, I'd be able to employ my Aboriginal friends.

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Brolga's known these women for years,

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and wants to involve them in his guided tours.

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These Aboriginal ladies have grown-up in nature.

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They were born in the nature, they live their life by the nature,

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they take me out bush and teach me some of the old ways.

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Wow! That is amazing.

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So, I'm hoping when the tourists come along,

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that they will explain how they live traditionally

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and how they see the kangaroo as an important animal to them.

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It's the big day, but before the visitors arrive for their tour,

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there's one last job to do.

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Brolga must round up and lock down mob boss Roger.

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Roger and visitors don't mix.

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Roger will attack any man he sees.

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So, basically I've got trap him in the enclosure,

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and the best way to lure him back is to get bait...

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and the best bait to get Roger... back to his enclosure...is me.

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Not far away from getting Roger back home. I'm exhausted!

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Come on, old mate! Whoa, whoa, whoa!

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Here we are. Here we are.

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With Roger safely locked away, it's time for the tour.

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-G'day, mate, how are you?

-Pleased to meet ya.

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If today goes well, Brolga hopes that the word will spread

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and he'll attract more visitors.

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Hello.

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Well, welcome to the Kangaroo Sanctuary.

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I built it as a refuge for kangaroos.

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And like some others here, some of them have a joey in the pouch.

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-How far away?

-A week away.

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One week, wow.

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-Yeah, I'll become a mum like you!

-ALL LAUGH

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Yeah, well, I'm up around the 200 mark. I've had 200 kids so far.

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I might forget that and just have one!

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First, Brolga introduces the visitors to his friend Pamela.

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The kangaroo, what do you call him?

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We call it "Malu", and "Wawarri".

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-Warraway?

-Wawarri.

-Wawarri.

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Kangaroos have always played a key part in Aboriginal culture.

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Traditionally, they're hunted as food,

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but are important in other ways too.

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The kangaroo is an animal you can follow, and he leads you to water?

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Yeah, we see the kangaroo tracks going up,

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we know there's water somewhere, on top of the hill.

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-Why otherwise would the kangaroo climb?

-Mm-hm.

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Kangaroos are so important to Aborigines,

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they're even depicted in art.

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-So, I can see human footprints here.

-Yeah.

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And then this other one is also recognisable to me.

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-Kangaroo.

-Kangaroo.

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When the day has cooled, it's time for the main attraction,

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the roos themselves.

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If you just come through this way.

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The sanctuary is just open country, all right?

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It's an open savanna,

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an acacia woodland, and it's perfect habitat for red kangaroos.

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It's at this time the red kangaroo starts to wake up.

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The visitors are entranced by the mob

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and the open day is a success.

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Brolga's one step closer to securing a future for the sanctuary,

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so he can keep on helping orphaned kangaroos

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and the occasional wallaby.

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After three months of rehabilitation in his mini mountain range,

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one of Brolga's trickier residents is going home.

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Today is a day I've been waiting for many months,

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and I feel Rocky is ready.

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It's time to catch him, to take him back to the mountains.

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With a piece of string attached to the door of this pet carrier

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I'm going to try and entice Rocky into the cage

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with some apple and sweet potato - his favourite.

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Brolga's trained Rocky to keep away from humans.

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It'll keep him safe in the wild, but makes trapping him a tall order.

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Slowly, slowly.

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Here we go.

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Oh, God, his tail's sticking out.

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Just slowly pull it.

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Yes! Yes!

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Brolga's taking Rocky ten miles out to the MacDonnell Ranges,

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where colonies of black-footed rock wallabies

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live freely up in the hills.

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It's a great feeling to be able to bring Rocky back to the wild.

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Unfortunately, I can't converse with Rocky and tell him everything

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there's going to be to look forward to, but this is Rocky's home,

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this is where he belongs,

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this is where he should have been from the start.

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It's his time to be free.

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It's extremely happy, and the more I talk about it,

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I feel a little bit sad, too.

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He'll probably come out, be a bit bewildered by all the space.

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He's never been away from walls or wire.

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And then I hope he'll get over that

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and run up into the hills where he belongs.

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Here we go.

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There you go, mate, this beautiful country, this is your new home.

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Best of luck to you.

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This is your country. Do us proud.

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Go out and get a girl or two,

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and long live the black-footed rock wallaby.

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Last little glimpse and he's gone.

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Well, that's another chapter closed in my life.

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Good chapter it was, too.

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Brolga's orphans come and go.

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Some, like Rocky, keep their distance,

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but others truly become his family.

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Rex, Ruby and more recently, Bluey,

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have shared their lives with Brolga for months.

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Learning to walk...

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..first hops...

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..pouch practice...

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..and running in the bush.

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The joeys and Brolga have had an amazing journey together.

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But he knows, now is their time to join the mob.

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Having to let go of your children

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when they're ready is better for them.

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You want them to have their independence.

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Your own feelings must be put aside.

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Unceremoniously...!

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Their training has been a success

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and the joeys are now being accepted by the older kangaroos.

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What I've been seeing now is that they actually know that

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there's a pecking order.

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The joeys are a bit conservative as far as approaching other kangaroos,

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they're not just running in there, thinking we're all best mates.

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They're ready.

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I look at little Ruby, and she's cute as a button.

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And I hope in the next few years,

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she's going to grow into as good a mum as Ella.

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And little Rex and Bluey, hopefully will be boxing buddies,

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do what boy kangaroos do

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and get the enjoyment of doing what boy kangaroos do.

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I hope they find relationships, they find love and happiness.

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I'm going to see Rex, Ruby and Bluey every day

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but I won't have that close contact that you do with little babies

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that look up into your eyes and you can see their love

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they have for you as their mum, so I'm going to miss that.

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Rex, Ruby and Bluey are starting a great new adventure with the mob.

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And Brolga's moving forward in his life, too.

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Some things, though, will never change -

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like orphaned joeys needing Brolga's help,

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and his love for these extraordinary creatures.

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Being able to be a foster mum to little orphan kangaroos

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gives me a hell of a lot of satisfaction.

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I can see myself, 50 years from now, still doing this.

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I don't want to do anything else.

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What I DO want to do is inspire other people to get up

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out of the lounge chair and get out there and help wildlife.

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If I can inspire people to do that, and keep on doing it,

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there's nothing more I want to do with my life.

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This is...this is as good as it gets.

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