Michelle Bailey, 51, Coal Valley, Tas shares her story about leaving her office job and starting her own animal sanctuary…
Trudging up the hill, I approached the old farmhouse.
I’ll get my steps up living here! I thought.
It was 2018 and I’d purchased the property in Coal Valley, Tas, after selling my home in the suburbs.
For 30 years, I’d worked a government job in Hobart, but most weekends I was out bushwalking, riding horses, and volunteering as a registered wildlife carer.
When local animal shelters were at capacity, I’d take in an injured critter and nurse it back to health.
At my desk, I’d dream about paddocks full of animals, so I’d decided to get a place in the bush.
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Moving in, I named it Sloth Hill, because there was no way anyone was racing up the driveway.
I kept my job in Hobart, but my 10-minute commute was now an hour each way.
It’s worth it to live among the gumtrees, I reasoned.
The property had been advertised as a “fixer-upper” and fencing was the first job.
“You’ve got a nice place here!” the fence repairman, Darren, 46, smiled.
Chatting to him, I discovered we shared a love of the bush, trekking, and animals.
I found myself listening out for his ute coming up the hill.
“Who are you looking after today?” Darren would grin.
I had all sorts, including wallabies, wombats, and native birds.
One day, I showed Darren how to bottle feed a baby possum.
He was great with animals.
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Soon we became a couple and a few months later, Darren moved to Sloth Hill.
We’d spend hours feeding and cuddling animals, and building enclosures for them.
We were married in February 2019.
“Not only have you joined me in this union, but you’ve committed to care for a crew of critters,” I said in my vows.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Darren laughed.
For our honeymoon, we went to Cradle Mountain, bringing with us two baby ferrets we were hand-raising.
Soon after, we took on some permanent residents at Sloth Hill, including Taro – a lamb with sight issues, Misty the pony who became best friends with a turkey named Goliath, and Bucky the wallaby, who sadly couldn’t survive in the wild.
However, most of our animals were released after they’d been rehabilitated.
Last year, I left my job and took work at another local animal shelter.
Now my days are stacked with critters and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
We even have people volunteering to help us at Sloth Hill.
I’m living my dream surrounded by horses, pigs, roosters and ducks.
My love of animals has given me everything, even a husband.
I hope to share that love by opening Sloth Hill to the public, letting guests meet our furry and feathered friends.
So stay tuned!
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