Rain

For the last week, I haven't been out of the office that much because it's been raining a lot - I mean, really torrential electric storms. Main camp had 152mm over a four day period. This is very good news for the reserve, but not such good news for me, as having come from the wettest year England has on record, I'm not quite as excited as the locals. Also, I've found that there is absolutely no way of driving my quad bike through a puddle without getting soaked with muddy water- and there are very, very many puddles, as the roads here are not built for rain!

Examples of the puddles I have to negotiate- and these are far from the worst

Last week I went along to watch Wayne dart Penta- it has been decided that she and her cubs will be released here, as we cannot find anywhere else for them to go. She therefore needed a collar putting on, and we took some blood samples whilst she was unconscious.

On Friday, I went for my first bare-back horse ride, which was actually not as wobbly as I feared. Hopefully by the time I leave, I will be fairly proficient!

As yesterday was Easter, I got up very early, at 5.30, to help set up an Easter egg hunt for the Hanssen children. It was pouring with rain, so I commandeered a four-wheel-drive car and made my way up to their house. The children were so excited when they woke up, and ran out into the rain with no qualms at all. After a breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs, the sun had come out and we took advantage of the recent rainfall, driving down to a beautiful waterfall that only runs after heavy rain. The children swam in the pool at the bottom of the waterfall and jumped off the top, and after some coaxing I jumped in in my jeans and t-shirt.