“ I grew up in a few different places but my early years were in a very small country town near Newcastle. I have always absolutely loved animals. I loved any human or animal who was the underdog. We used to do gardening at school where I would have to pull out the weeds. I used to think why do these weeds have to die but the other plants get to live so I started up a weed garden at home which I loved. I always felt sad for things that we don’t want or care for including people. ( As we are doing the interview sheep and goats walk in which I get introduced to)
My parents divorced when I was 10 and I took that very hard. I went from being a really good student to running away from home in my teen years. I ended up living on the streets for a couple of years. I felt lost and I felt like I didn’t fit into the world. I was living in squats in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney I had many intense experiences but I was very lucky. A lot of my friends didn’t make it through. I feel very blessed that I did.
When I was 17 and homeless I got pregnant and I knew I had to put my baby first so I moved into a house. The father hung around for 6 months and left. He wasn’t interested. In many ways it’s like having a rescue animal, some people can walk away and some people can’t. My daughter helped me refocus my life. I spent time raising her and she’s a beautiful, wonderful girl.
I went to university and got my Nursing degree. I worked in St Vincents Hospital in Sydney which is in the middle of Kings Cross, Darlinghurst. I started working with patients in the Mental Health Unit. They are the absolute underdogs…homeless with drug addiction and mental health issues. It was an incredible place to work and I stayed there for 10 years. I worked my way up to Nursing management and I was seconded for 3 months to Broken Hill Mental Health Hospital. It was so different from the centre of Sydney. It’s outback Australia surrounded by red dirt for miles and miles. I fell in love with it.
I started fostering Joeys through Wildlife Rescue. I fostered dogs and cats too. One day I got a call that said…’We found a baby goat. She’s been put in a hessian bag and thrown in the Carcass hole at the rubbish tip.’ They were dropping off Greyhound carcasses which get euthanised all the time. He heard a little bleat, went down and there was ‘Sunshine’ He said..’ Do you want to foster her?’ I said No, I know nothing about goats. He said..Well we’ll have to euthanise her as she’s in shock. I went and picked her up and that one decision changed my whole life.
She was just as naughty as all the foster dogs. She had the same needs for cuddles and pats. She would chew my things up like the dogs. I started to read about farm animals, goats, sheep, cows and horses. I had been Vegetarian almost my whole life and I love animals. I had meat when I was younger for about a year. I didn’t want to continue to contribute to them suffering in any way so I went Vegan. I loved Sunshine so much and I knew I could never give her up.
Once you start to rescue one farm animal the others just find you somehow. I realise I couldn’t go back to my flat in Sydney so I quit my job I’d been in for 10 years. I stayed in Broken Hill for 2 years. Sheep would come to me then a pig called Sugars came to me. A woman had a mini pig business which wasn’t making money so she sold the mums and babies for slaughter. I managed to get one and her name is Sugars. I had Sugars the pig, Sunshine the goat and I realised I needed to look after them for the rest of their lives.
My family lives in the Northern Rivers, my dad who I’m really close to and my stepmom who’s amazing. I love this area so much so I bought an 8 acre property here in Wyrallah thinking it would be big enough. I lived in my parents shed for a year to save up. A local farm sanctuary closed down in Kyogle just as I bought my place so I ended up with more goats….Oh, can you take some pigs too? Sure! And suddenly I had a Sanctuary, a totally unplanned one. Sugarshine Sanctuary. Sugars and Sunshine are both still with me 5 years on.
It’s been very hard and I’ve lost 2 relationships directly as a result of having the sanctuary. The first one I had been with for 18 years and he didn’t want to live surrounded by animals and the next one…same thing. I was pretty desperate and dateless and I thought..No-one is ever going to want me, I hate Tinder because Tinder has all these guys holding fish and they’re not wearing shirts. All holding fish or just a photo of their car. I don’t get it. Tinder’s not for me but I love being in a relationship. I love being in love. I’m a true romantic so I contacted Kate at Dusty Attic and said I hate Tinder! Can I do a speed dating event at your place? She said..Yep! This Saturday, you have 4 days to organise it. Everyone had so much fun. There were about 6 matches made and they went out partying afterward.
So the request to take in farm animals has quadrupled since the drought started. We are being asked to take in small herds of cows and horses. We just can’t take them all in. The drought has had a massive impact on us as well. A bale of Lucerne used to cost me $8 and now it’s $39. It’s huge!
(Whoops, Stephen the naughtiest goat decided to try and eat my cane bag and jump on my lap in the shelter we are sitting is which is now full of goats, sheep and a big pig. Every one has a name. The goats are on Kelly’s lap. It’s hysterical). Stephen enjoys the sheep getting shorn. He unplugged the Shearers machine, knocked over his water, ate his towel. He’s such a trouble maker. I got him from the RSPCA. Luckily we have been able to agist some of our animals at a nearby 60 acre property which has made a huge difference. It means we are able to take in adult cows which we couldn’t before. We could only take in bobby calves. We’ve been able to have our animals on pasture which has been amazing. It’s not a permanent home and a property owned by Sugarshine would be ideal.”
My parents divorced when I was 10 and I took that very hard. I went from being a really good student to running away from home in my teen years. I ended up living on the streets for a couple of years. I felt lost and I felt like I didn’t fit into the world. I was living in squats in Melbourne, the Gold Coast and Sydney I had many intense experiences but I was very lucky. A lot of my friends didn’t make it through. I feel very blessed that I did.
When I was 17 and homeless I got pregnant and I knew I had to put my baby first so I moved into a house. The father hung around for 6 months and left. He wasn’t interested. In many ways it’s like having a rescue animal, some people can walk away and some people can’t. My daughter helped me refocus my life. I spent time raising her and she’s a beautiful, wonderful girl.
I went to university and got my Nursing degree. I worked in St Vincents Hospital in Sydney which is in the middle of Kings Cross, Darlinghurst. I started working with patients in the Mental Health Unit. They are the absolute underdogs…homeless with drug addiction and mental health issues. It was an incredible place to work and I stayed there for 10 years. I worked my way up to Nursing management and I was seconded for 3 months to Broken Hill Mental Health Hospital. It was so different from the centre of Sydney. It’s outback Australia surrounded by red dirt for miles and miles. I fell in love with it.
I started fostering Joeys through Wildlife Rescue. I fostered dogs and cats too. One day I got a call that said…’We found a baby goat. She’s been put in a hessian bag and thrown in the Carcass hole at the rubbish tip.’ They were dropping off Greyhound carcasses which get euthanised all the time. He heard a little bleat, went down and there was ‘Sunshine’ He said..’ Do you want to foster her?’ I said No, I know nothing about goats. He said..Well we’ll have to euthanise her as she’s in shock. I went and picked her up and that one decision changed my whole life.
She was just as naughty as all the foster dogs. She had the same needs for cuddles and pats. She would chew my things up like the dogs. I started to read about farm animals, goats, sheep, cows and horses. I had been Vegetarian almost my whole life and I love animals. I had meat when I was younger for about a year. I didn’t want to continue to contribute to them suffering in any way so I went Vegan. I loved Sunshine so much and I knew I could never give her up.
Once you start to rescue one farm animal the others just find you somehow. I realise I couldn’t go back to my flat in Sydney so I quit my job I’d been in for 10 years. I stayed in Broken Hill for 2 years. Sheep would come to me then a pig called Sugars came to me. A woman had a mini pig business which wasn’t making money so she sold the mums and babies for slaughter. I managed to get one and her name is Sugars. I had Sugars the pig, Sunshine the goat and I realised I needed to look after them for the rest of their lives.
My family lives in the Northern Rivers, my dad who I’m really close to and my stepmom who’s amazing. I love this area so much so I bought an 8 acre property here in Wyrallah thinking it would be big enough. I lived in my parents shed for a year to save up. A local farm sanctuary closed down in Kyogle just as I bought my place so I ended up with more goats….Oh, can you take some pigs too? Sure! And suddenly I had a Sanctuary, a totally unplanned one. Sugarshine Sanctuary. Sugars and Sunshine are both still with me 5 years on.
It’s been very hard and I’ve lost 2 relationships directly as a result of having the sanctuary. The first one I had been with for 18 years and he didn’t want to live surrounded by animals and the next one…same thing. I was pretty desperate and dateless and I thought..No-one is ever going to want me, I hate Tinder because Tinder has all these guys holding fish and they’re not wearing shirts. All holding fish or just a photo of their car. I don’t get it. Tinder’s not for me but I love being in a relationship. I love being in love. I’m a true romantic so I contacted Kate at Dusty Attic and said I hate Tinder! Can I do a speed dating event at your place? She said..Yep! This Saturday, you have 4 days to organise it. Everyone had so much fun. There were about 6 matches made and they went out partying afterward.
So the request to take in farm animals has quadrupled since the drought started. We are being asked to take in small herds of cows and horses. We just can’t take them all in. The drought has had a massive impact on us as well. A bale of Lucerne used to cost me $8 and now it’s $39. It’s huge!
(Whoops, Stephen the naughtiest goat decided to try and eat my cane bag and jump on my lap in the shelter we are sitting is which is now full of goats, sheep and a big pig. Every one has a name. The goats are on Kelly’s lap. It’s hysterical). Stephen enjoys the sheep getting shorn. He unplugged the Shearers machine, knocked over his water, ate his towel. He’s such a trouble maker. I got him from the RSPCA. Luckily we have been able to agist some of our animals at a nearby 60 acre property which has made a huge difference. It means we are able to take in adult cows which we couldn’t before. We could only take in bobby calves. We’ve been able to have our animals on pasture which has been amazing. It’s not a permanent home and a property owned by Sugarshine would be ideal.”