Each Saturday afternoon, for more than two and a half years, Lyn and Dave Hughes have been driving from Ballina to do their shift at the Care Centre. It’s a time of the week they both enjoy. “Calming” said Dave. “Working together for the koalas” Lyn chimed in.

Lyn and Dave have been together for a long time. Both nurses, they met at Lidcombe State Hospital back in the early 70s. They married and had twins, Bronwyn and Megan, both married themselves now and both Friends of the Koala members.

Nursing is demanding on family life so Dave started thinking about other options. There were family ties in the Northern Rivers and they found a take-away and video rental business in Casino. The Hughes were in Casino for about 10 years and with the girls in good jobs, Lyn and Dave thought it was time for something different.

They didn’t know quite what they were looking for, but Dave found it on the Net – managing a tourist camp on Mornington Station half way up the Gibb River Road, north of Fitzroy Crossing in the Kimberley.

Mornington was still a bit rough and ready in the 90s (the property is now operated by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy) – over a million acres and still vast tracts of unknown country which they had opportunity to explore.

After four years of living in a tent out bush, Lyn and Dave moved in to the ‘big smoke’, Derby. Lyn was housekeeper/cook at the King Sound Resort Hotel and Dave worked at the Community Day Centre with a largely indigenous clientele.

They both loved what they were doing but had to return south for family reasons and that’s how they came to be in Ballina. Caring for elderly parents took over their lives for the next five years and continues even now.

The Northern Rivers certainly isn’t the Kimberley but Lyn and Dave have found 20 acres in the Upper Clarence along the Pull A Log Along Creek, they will be calling home. Dave found it on the Net. “I fell in love with a photo of the dam” he said, “Right away I knew it was right for us. About eight acres is still bush and home to the odd roaming koala.” At present Dave is spending about half his time on the farm building a house. When that’s finished he’ll start on a rammed-earth, yurt-shaped studio for his painting and photography and Lyn’s leadlight glass.

Lyn and Dave heard about Friends of the Koala on the ABC and came along to the 2007 Basic Training Day. They signed up on the day and Jennifer Creed quickly organized them for her Saturday shift. Whilst they had had no particular background other than their propensity for wild places, Dave reckons Lyn has always had an empathy with animals.

Dave holds the rescue phone and rescues when he’s in Ballina. He also transports koalas north for Clarence Valley WIRES when requested. But it is the routine of doing the runs which gives both Lyn and Dave most satisfaction. Perhaps it takes them back to their early days on the wards, all those years ago?