Chapter Text
Summary
Charlie Spring embarks on a new adventure as he flies down under to begin his traineeship at the Australian Academy for Zoo Keepers. He arrives in Sydney and meets his new flat mates and new cat mates and attends his first day of lectures at The Academy.
Charlie
Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to begin our descent into Sydney.
Charlie Spring awoke with a start as the Captain made his announcement.
For those of you seated on the left-hand side of the aircraft, you will start to see the Pacific Ocean meeting the Australian coastline, and some of our beautiful surf beaches as we approach Kingsford Smith Airport.
This journey had felt like the longest 24 hours of his life. Charlie removed his eye mask and emerged from his cocoon of airline blankets and tiny pillows. As he flicked the blind up, Charlie’s eyes were met with bright blue skies as far as the eye could see. He pressed his face against the Perspex and cast his eyes down. Racing below him was the vast blue Pacific Ocean, with the occasional white tip in the distance. His eyes scanned the view for his first glimpse of the land down under.
Charlie was both excited and apprehensive to embark on this new adventure, training and working at one of Australia’s premiere zoos. This was, as clichéd as it may sound, his dream job. However, it was also a stepping stone to follow his ultimate dream of working at the giraffe sanctuary in Nairobi, to help protect the magnificent endangered species. He knew he needed zookeeping experience before going to work with the giraffes, and The Australian Academy for Zookeepers was the best place for him to train and gain that experience.
Despite never having any pets of his own growing up, Charlie had always loved animals. He took every opportunity to visit friends with pets, or take trips to the zoo. He had happy memories of weekends at Richmond Park, hanging out with the deer and searching for squirrels. Charlie idolised Sir Davd Attenborough, and had read all his books – including his autobiography – and hoped to meet him one day. As a young boy, he’d pored over animal encyclopedias and watched nature documentaries, and he now followed a range of wildlife warriors, conservationists and photographer’s on Instagram including the recent addition of all of Robert Irwin’s pages.
His dream from a very young age was to become a zookeeper. Despite his mother’s reservations over the years – Why would you want to be a zookeeper? All you will be doing all day is cleaning up animal shit – Charlie was now determined to follow his dreams. Even now, years later, Charlie could still feel the sting in her words, and felt demoralised that he had let his mum talk him out of that dream.
It had not been an easy path, though. Since Charlie was good at all school subjects, especially maths, his parents had pushed him into going to university to do a mathematics degree, with the intent of getting a high-paid job in finance. After university, Charlie managed to obtain a graduate position at one of the top 5 banks. So, while his parents were extremely proud of his academic and work achievements (they loved to boast to their friends about his success) it just wasn’t lighting his fire, and he couldn’t hide from the fact that the world of finance was not for him.
The final push was a bad break up with his supervisor (he should have known better than to have a work romance), that prompted him to change his life and apply for traineeships at zoos all around the world. From San Diego to Singapore, he eventually landed his dream job in Sydney with a full scholarship.
Charlie couldn’t wait to start his training and begin a new life away from high pressure big corporate, and now that he was almost there, his tummy felt funny with nerves, excitement and anticipation. How would it go? Would he be able to do this? How would he adjust to living so far away from everything he had ever known? What were Australians really like? Would he miss his friends and family? Would his housemates like him? What would his new boss be like?
With such a distance between his past and his future, he was also secretly hopeful for some form of sweet Aussie romance. Maybe he could meet someone nice, and kind, who he could have a laugh with – maybe a nice tall Australian guy, who at the very least was happy to hang out with him on the weekends and show him the local sights.
Cabin crew, prepare the cabin for landing.
Charlie was snapped back to the present by the Captain’s announcement, and pressed his face back to the window. And there it was – the coast of the wide brown land. He could see green vegetation tinged with blue eucalyptus leaves, the rocky and sandy coastline with large white waves crashing against the sandstone cliffs. As he stared out of the window, the land coming into closer view, he saw the outskirts of Sydney and smatterings of sprawling suburbia popping up, yellow sandy beaches with white breaking waves weaving their way up the coast.
Charlie took off his fluffy plane socks, put on his black Converse sneakers, and tied up the laces. He started packing up his things into his sky blue Kanken backpack, including the latest issue of Australian Geographic – featuring an article on dingoes – and clutched an oversized navy jumper that he would probably never need in the Australian summer.
The plane banked left and was getting pretty close to the water – it literally felt like they were going to land in the sea. The runway suddenly appeared out of nowhere, the wheels of the plane hitting the tarmac with a solid bump, and a sudden screeching of brakes as the wing flaps were raised and the plane slowed to a taxi.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Sydney, where the local time is 9am and the temperature is 22 degrees, with an expected high of 28 degrees, and clear skies for the rest of the day.
Charlie listened as the Captain gave the usual speech, waiting patiently as the other passengers started to gather their things.
…passenger cards and passports ready. As a reminder, you cannot bring any perishable food or fruit and vegetables into Australia, to protect our flora and fauna. At the sound of the Captain’s words, Charlie felt a slight sense of panic and dread – what did this mean for his carefully packed “smallish” stash of Penguin biscuits and Cadbury Oreo chocolate bars, buried deep in his suitcase? Charlie loved chocolate, and had brought supplies, as he had heard the chocolate tasted funny in Australia – something to do with the heat. Was he going to get in trouble? Was he going to get kicked out before he got in? Would they make him destroy his delicious treats? Before he spiralled, he quickly checked the incoming passenger card declaration again and it looked like packaged chocolate was okay – unless it counted as an animal product. Phew!
For biosecurity reasons, the cabin crew will now spray the cabin…
Charlie watched as the cabin crew walked down the aisles with an aerosol spray in both hands spraying the cabin above their heads – allegedly for insects, but who knows what it was actually for. He hoped it wasn’t toxic to humans. Welcome to Australia , he thought, where they have mosquitoes the size of flies, spiders the size of your hand, bucket-sized box jellyfish that can kill you, sharks, and stingrays, as well as the ten most venomous snakes in the world! Charlie did love animals – he just didn’t love the ‘bitey’ ones quite as much as the cute furry ones.
✈️✈️✈️
The Qantas A380 connected to the airport terminal via a sky bridge, so Charlie didn’t get to experience his first breath of fresh, warm Australian air or the bright Australian sunshine straight away. He followed the crowds and the signs to the baggage claim carousel, and waited for his suitcase.
Walking down the ramp to passport control, Charlie started watching the strategically placed digital screens showing messages in multiple languages about Australia’s beaches, and staying safe by swimming between the red and yellow flags. Statistics about how many tourists drown each year were staggering and terrifying – apparently, if the sharks didn’t get you, the rips and currents would. Charlie couldn’t wait to experience the warm salty waves, and would definitely be safe and swim between the flags – although, having seen the lifeguards on the reality TV show Bondi Rescue , he would happily be rescued by a lifeguard any day.
Charlie joined the long queue for international passport control, fidgeting nervously. Even though he had nothing to hide and nothing to declare, he still found the whole process very intimidating. He was about to change his life, and it all hinged on his ability to make it through Australian border control. He was still a bit worried about the Penguins, but as he slowly made it through the interview and x-ray, with no invasive bag check or chocolate confiscation, his nerves about being kicked out of the country shifted to worries that his new housemates would not be there to greet him.
When Charlie was accepted into the Australian Zoo Academy, the Academy staff had been quick to put him in touch with his new student cohort based in Sydney, adding him to the WhatsApp chat group where he was able to find a house share and with someone called Darcy, their girlfriend, Tara, and a guy called Isaac. They also lived with two cats, and the occasional wildlife rescue creature that stayed temporarily. It sounded perfect.
Darcy and Tara had arranged to meet Charlie at the airport to show him how to catch the train to his new home. They had been exchanging messages and started following each other on Instagram. So far, they had been hitting it off. Darcy, in particular, had been excited when they discovered they had ‘found another one’. It sounded like he was going to have a fun time.
As he exited Customs (with no invasive bag check or chocolate confiscation), he saw a large blue and white banner saying ‘Welcome to Sydney’ and another sign saying ‘G’day – Welcome Home’. He smiled as he realised – he had, indeed, made it to Australia. As he turned the corner, he saw so many welcoming, friendly, happy people – families with kids sitting on shoulders, some leaning on the railing, some holding ‘welcome home’ signs and balloons, and lots of hugs and tears and people reuniting. Then he saw it – a large, bright, fluorescent pink piece of cardboard with rainbows in the corners, and the words ‘WELCOME CHARLIE SPRING’ written in red glitter pen, being held by someone with short, spiky, blonde hair and an undercut dyed pink. They were here for him. Charlie made his way over with a shy smile.
“Hi, I’m Charlie. You must be Darcy.”
Darcy wrapped their arms around him in a big hug.
“Charlie, my guy, welcome to Australia,” they said.
Charlie felt a sense of relief and calm wash over him.
When Darcy finally released him, Charlie turned to the beautiful woman with tight braids standing next to her. She extended her hand.
“Hi, I’m Tara.”
“Thanks so much for meeting me! And for the cool welcome sign – I saw you straight away,” Charlie said animatedly. “Have you been waiting long?”
“We were actually running a bit late, as someone slept in,” replied Tara, nudging Darcy in the ribs. “So not long at all, really.” A flurry of questions were soon flying about, as Tara and Darcy talked over each other:
“How was the flight?”
“Was there any turbulence?”
“Did you get a window seat?
“Who did you sit next to?”
“Do you have all your bags?”
“Could you sleep on the plane?”
“What was airplane food like?”
“Are you tired?”
Charlie, a bit overwhelmed with the barrage of questions, tried to respond as best he could.
“We need to keep you awake for as long as possible today, so you won’t feel jet lagged and upside down for too long,” Darcy announced. “We also need to get you in the sunshine so you get some melatonin. So – how about we let you get settled, and then take you to the park and the shops?”
Charlie agreed to the plan; he’d heard the jet lag from the UK was a killer.
They walked towards the train station, chatting and getting to know each other better. Charlie had yet to feel the Australian air or see the sun, but they had a long route ahead of them. After a quick change at Central Station, they finally emerged in Newtown, into the bright daylight. As they turned out of the station, Charlie took in the view – a bustling main street with open-air cafes, shops and pubs.
According to his pre-departure Google search, Newtown was an eclectic and vibrant inner-city suburb that had a diverse community and a large population of LGBTQ+ residents. It had a myriad of trendy bars, clubs, restaurants of all nationalities, second-hand shops, hipster joints and pubs that still played live music. The vibe reminded him a bit of Camden in London, and he liked the idea of living there.
After a short walk from the train station, they started walking down a quiet street lined with adjoining two storey brick terrace houses that looked Edwardian. The street was covered with flowering trees that looked distinctly Australian, but Charlie knew they weren’t eucalyptus. The front of the houses were all very close to the road with wrought iron lacework railings, and small balconies on the second storey. They arrived at the house with a blue door and colourful flower pots on the narrow tiled terrace. Tara gave Charlie his key, and allowed him to open the door. There was a steep staircase in front of them, and they decided to drag his suitcase up the stairs together.
“It looks like Isaac is at work, but you’ll probably meet him later. Let’s show you to your room in the meantime,” Tara said, and started walking Charlie down the hall. “Our room is the master at the front with the balcony. Isaac’s room is here to the left, then this is the bathroom you share with him, and your room is at the back overlooking our tiny garden.”
Charlie opened the door, and saw a decent-sized room, with a double bed situated under the large bay window, a large wooden wardrobe and an upholstered armchair in the corner. The abundance of natural light made it feel calm and peaceful. Charlie instantly felt comfortable here, feeling happy to call it home for the next twelve months.
Out of nowhere, a chocolate-brown Burmese cat with green eyes appeared at Charlie’s feet with a brrriowww, and started weaving in between his legs, their tail raised up, tickling behind his knees. They seemed very friendly, so Charlie reached down to scoop the cat into his arms. They nuzzled into his neck, headbutting his face, and started purring loudly, demanding a scritchy scratch under the chin.
“Oh, I think Violet likes you, Charlie. She can tell you have good cat energy,” Darcy giggled. “Now, where is Crumble? She is also a Burmese, but more of a caramel brown. Here she comes, she’s also very affectionate and friendly.”
Charlie couldn’t decide which one he wanted to cuddle, as Crumble rubbed his legs with her head. “They came from the same rescue shelter, we’ve had them for 3 years,” Tara explained. “If they like you, they might even sleep on your bed, and if you’re lucky, they will wake you up super early demanding food – sorry, not sorry,” she laughed. Charlie scooped up Crumble with his other hand and had a double purring cuddle with his new cat mates.
Charlie decided to unpack, take a shower and explore his new area. He would need to go to IKEA before he started at the Academy, and he thought a desk would be a good idea, seeing as he was going to be studying again. He didn’t think that learning about animals and their routines would be as strenuous and stressful as mathematics, but he wanted somewhere to do his assignments. He was looking forward to the change and a new challenge and learning lots more cool facts about animals.
☕☕☕
After a long, hot post-travel shower, Charlie went downstairs, followed by Violet and Crumble, and had a look at the kitchen. At the end of the hall, the terrace opened up into an open plan kitchen and dining room. From the kitchen, there were a few steps down into a wide sitting room, with a high ceiling and full-height glass sliding doors opening into a small terrace garden. It was so nice to look out onto greenery through the glass, and it looked like they had a lemon tree in a pot. Charlie turned on the kettle and placed a packet of Penguin biscuits on the kitchen table.
As Charlie took the last sip of his tea, Darcy came bounding down the hall into the kitchen and asked Charlie if he was ready to go out and get some sunshine, melatonin and lunch. Tara arrived with a picnic blanket, and they walked down the street to something Darcy described as a ‘chicken shop’ to buy lunch. Charlie bought a hot chicken roll with chips – slightly confused when the server asked if he wanted chicken salt on his chips – and they walked to the park and set out the blanket so they could eat their lunch. The chicken salt did make the chips taste delicious.
Charlie watched the joggers, dog walkers and frisbee throwers enjoying the fresh weekend air. He could not get over how blue the sky was here, or how high in the sky the sun seemed to be. It was such a contrast coming from the UK in the depths of January winter. The weather was beautiful and if it was a day like this back in England, everyone would be lying on the grass in the park with their shirts off, trying to soak up the sun. He was going to have to buy some sunglasses, a hat and some more shorts as his tight black jeans were clinging to him and he was in danger of overheating.
The three of them chatted under the shade of a large fig tree, and the conversation flowed freely. Charlie learned that Tara and Darcy had met in high school and been a couple since year 11. Tara had studied dance when she left high school, and now ran a dance studio for kids and adults. Darcy had been doing a range of jobs since leaving high school, including working as the receptionist at the local vet. They were a volunteer wildlife carer for WIRES, and had decided last year to get qualified at the Academy so they could work with animals full-time.
By 4pm, Charlie was getting tired, and they walked back to the house so he could finish unpacking and setting up his room. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he could hear Darcy in his ear warning him about crashing too early. He couldn't wait for his boxes to arrive, with some of his favourite books, so it would feel more like home. Once he was done, he took some photos of his new room, and thought about the bits and pieces he wanted to buy to make it feel more like home.
Charlie spent the rest of the evening with Tara and Darcy, eating pizza and watching a movie called The Castle that Darcy had declared ‘an Australian classic that he simply had to watch’. Most of the jokes and slang went over his head, but he enjoyed the insight into Aussie humour and wondered if every house had a pool room. He made it to the end of the movie (just barely) and went to bed exhausted, but happy. Before he went to sleep, he sent a message with some photos of his new room to his ‘Spring Siblings’ WhatsApp group chat and the responses came in fast:
Charlie: I am here and getting settled. I am sooo tired, as my flatmates have tried to keep me awake and push through my first day.
Tori: Looks very nice - how are the flatmates?
Charlie: The two I have met are very nice and welcoming, plus I also have 2 adorable cat mates called Violet and Crumble.
Charlie: photo of Violet and Crumble
Tori: Met any local creatures yet?
Charlie: It's only my first day!!!
Olly: What time is it?
Charlie: It is just past 9pm and it only just got totally dark.
Olly: Wow! Can you send us photos of a kangaroo when you see one???
Charlie: Kangaroos don’t just hop around the city streets Olly. I am starting at the Zoo on Monday, but don't know what I will get to see on my first day
Olly: Hopefully a giraffe!
Charlie: 🤞🤞🤞🦒🦒🦒
Tori: Have a good night – hope you can sleep, and if you can’t send us a message
Charlie: Thanks – I’m super nervous but also excited! Darcy is starting Monday too. Stay tuned
Olly: Good Luck on Monday – send lots of pics 📸
Charlie: Night – actually good morning I guess
Tori: Night – sleep well xoxo
🐱 🐱 🐱
As he hoped, he slept through the night, awoken only by gentle paws and purring as Crumble came into his bed for a morning snuggle. Pushing through on that first day seemed to have done the trick. After a surprisingly long and refreshing sleep in his new comfy bed, accompanied by a purring Crumble, Charlie came down to the kitchen on Sunday morning and found a man sitting at the kitchen table, reading a book and drinking coffee.
“You must be Isaac, nice to finally meet you in person. I’m Charlie.”
“G’day Charlie, welcome! Sorry I didn't get to meet you yesterday, I was at work all day and then went straight to my local book club evening.”
“No worries. What are you reading?” Charlie asked.
“Oh, this one is just for fun, I read it all the time,” Isaac replied, holding up the well worn cover of Emma . “You should come down to Goulds Book Arcade sometime and check it out – we sell new and second-hand books, and it's just on King Street.”
“Awesome, thanks! I love rummaging through second hand book stores – I would love to pop in next weekend sometime, if you’ll be around then?”
“Yeah, great. Thanks for the Penguin biscuits, by the way. They remind me a bit of Tim Tams actually. Have you tried Tim Tams? They are the best!” Isaac exclaimed enthusiastically.
Charlie raised his eyebrows with suspicion, doubting that these ‘Tim Tams’ could be better than his precious Penguins. “No, I haven't tried them. There are so many new things I am looking forward to trying, though.”
“Tim Tams are delicious, especially dunked in coffee and then you suck the insides out of them – we call it a Tim Tam Slam.”
Charlie laughed at that idea, imagining the mess it must make. He busied himself in the kitchen making himself some toast, making a mental note that he would need to do a food shop.
“If you make a coffee we could try a Tim Tam slam if you like and then when you are ready, you can compare it with a Penguin?” Suggested Isaac.
“Sounds good - do you have any Tim Tams?” Charlie asked.
“Yes in the fridge.” Replied Isaac.
Once it was ready, Charlie brought his coffee and the packet of Tim Tams over to the table so Isaac could demonstrate the delicate process.
“Let’s start with the original.” said Isaac, taking a Tim Tam out of the packet. “You bite a little off each end like this,” He said as he was nibbling, “and then you lean forward, dunk the biscuit in the coffee and suck.”
Charlie watched in awe as Isaac slowly dunked the chocolate biscuit, leaned over his cup, and then sucked the coffee through the biscuit and then quickly shoved the whole thing in his mouth and grinned.
“Delicious - now you try.” he said as he was still chewing.
Eager to see what the fuss was all about, Charlie tasted a little bit off each end of the delicious biscuit, savouring the flavour and lent over his cup and sucked until he felt the soft chocolate centre flow into his mouth with hot coffee. It was an amazing sensation, until the biscuit collapsed and fell completely into his cup!”
“Oops - better luck next time - you need to be quick!” laughed Isaac.
“I think I will need a lot of practice!” Charlie sighed as he scooped the remnants out with a spoon.
“How are you feeling about the Academy?” Isaac asked. “Darcy has been so excited. We haven't heard about anything else for weeks!”
“I’m feeling good,” Charlie answered honestly. “I’m really excited to get started, and find out what we need to do and where I’m going to be based.”
“Can’t wait to hear all about it! What are you up to today?”
Charlie thought for a moment before answering. “I really need to go to an IKEA so I can get a desk for my room,” he replied.
Isaac’s face lit up. “Tara and Darcy love IKEA – I’m sure they’d love to go with you!”
Darcy must have heard the word ‘IKEA’, and magically appeared in the kitchen, wide-eyed.
“Did I hear we are going to IKEA? I love IKEA! When are we leaving?” they asked.
After a successful trip to IKEA – including a delicious meatball lunch – Charlie was ready and set up in his room. After a brief flatpack-and-Allen-key struggle, he got his desk assembled, and connected his laptop to the house wifi (‘LAN_Down_Under’). He logged into the Academy student portal and followed the instructions to set up the student app, ‘Zootopian’, on his phone. He looked through all the course outlines and found himself getting excited by the practical assessments taking place at the zoo. He was so ready to get started.
🦒🦒🦒
Early on Monday morning, Charlie and Darcy packed their bags and made their way to The Academy, buzzing with excitement for their first day. Full of hopes and dreams, and a few nerves, they arrived at the main gates of the zoo and headed for the staff entrance to sign in as students.
When they got inside, there were about thirty other students gathered in a spacious atrium, all chattering and talking and introducing themselves. As he was enjoying the buzzing atmosphere, all Charlie could hear were different iterations of Australian accents.
“I can’t wait to feed the tigers.”
“Did you hear about the student last year who got bitten by a python and they had to get the vets to remove it from their arm?”
“Where do you want to work first? I want to be in the African Safari Section.”
“I hope I get to work with the otters. They’re so cute!”
“Can’t wait to get our new uniforms!”
“I heard someone got bitten by a quokka on their first day. I didn't think they were the bitey type!”
Charlie was wondering a lot of these things and more. He was crossing his fingers he would get to work on the African Safari section first, so he could get up close and learn about the giraffes.
Eventually, a very officious-looking organiser with a pin-covered lanyard around their neck unlocked the door to the lecture room, and they funnelled in.
The medium-sized lecture room looked very fresh and modern, with multi-coloured seats. Not wanting to seem too eager, yet not sit too far away, Charlie and Darcy chose seats in the middle, several rows from the front. At the front of the lecture theatre, a laptop situated on a small table projected a PowerPoint slide onto a large screen. On a background of forest-green, bold white writing read ‘Welcome to the Academy – and welcome to Cammeraygal Country’. To the right of the writing was a very large photo of a koala, chilling, eating a gum leaf.
As they sat down, Charlie’s attention was grabbed by someone in a zookeeper uniform walking into the room. The chatter quietened down, and all eyes fell on the man who made his way to the front. The man was tall, maybe thirty years old, and Charlie could not believe his eyes: standing in front of him was the perfect incarnation of the ‘Aussie guy’ he had been dreaming about.
His muscular arms and thighs practically burst from his sandy-beige safari-suit-style uniform with its green koala logo. His floppy blond sun-bleached hair was tucked behind his ears. He had fair freckled skin, and a tattoo sleeve covering his entire right arm which depicted a variety of different animals. Oh, wow . Charlie was going to need to get a closer look at that tattoo. His heart raced and his stomach swooped as he stared into the sparkling brown eyes of the man standing in front of the room.
“Hi, everybody, I’m Keeper Nick. Welcome to your first day at the Academy,” the man said with a dazzling crooked smile.
And there he was – this was either going to be a very good distraction for Charlie, or a very, very bad one.
🐨🐨🐨
Next time we meet Nick as he prepares for his first day at the Academy.
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