The 100 Best Volunteer Vacations to Enrich Your Life Part 25

* Car radios.

* Black box flight recorders.

* Electric drills.

* Ultrasounds.

TASMANIAN DEVIL APPEAL.

save the tasmanian devil.

TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA.

Bugs Bunny (looking in an encyclopedia): Here it is: "A strong, murderous beast, jaws as powerful as a steel trap-has ravenous appet.i.te-eats tigers, lions, elephants, buffaloes, donkeys, giraffes, octopuses, rhinoceroses, moose, ducks..."

Taz: Rabbits.

Bugs: Rabbits? It doesn't say rabbits here.

-Taz's Looney Tunes debut cartoon, "Devil May Hare," 1954 90 Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes character of Taz, a whirling, s...o...b..ring tyrant that devours everything in its path, is based on a real animal, a rare black-and-white carnivorous marsupial the size of a small dog. Unfortunately, the real Tasmanian devil, extinct except in the Australian state of Tasmania, is not faring nearly as well as the cartoon character that, in a 1995 poll, was recognized by 95 percent of all Americans.

Like the Tasmanian tiger before it, the last of which died in 1936 in a Hobart zoo, the devil, so named for its blood-curdling yowls, may be on its last whirl. There may be as few as 20,000 Tasmanian devils left on the planet, due to a contagious facial cancer that has decimated the remaining population. Devil facial tumor disease (DFTD), a mysterious cancer that kills its victims within three to eight months, wasn't even discovered until 1996. Initial research indicates the Tasmanian devil will be lucky to survive for the next ten years.

In a race against extinction, the School of Zoology at the University of Tasmania sent healthy devils to zoos and sanctuaries on the mainland of Australia and then set about doing everything possible to stop the further spread of the disease-believed to spread from devil to devil through biting-in the wild. The university's scientists are containing wild populations, trapping and culling diseased devils, and conducting a variety of disease suppression trials. By monitoring and tracking the evolution of DFTD, they're hoping to not only prevent the Australian icon from going extinct, but also to provide insight into the rare disease. As one of only three cancers which are known to be contagious, devil facial tumor disease may open doors into the understanding of other transmissible diseases.

That's a lot of work for a project that's only been funded since 2003. Luckily, Tasmania's Wildlife Management Branch of the Department of Primary Industries and Water (DPIW) recruits volunteers for five-to eleven-day survey and trapping trips in the wilds of Tasmania. Volunteer fieldwork moves around the island of Tasmania, the smallest of Australia's six states. Rest a.s.sured you won't be far from the island's dramatic coastlines and mountains, 44 percent of which is protected in World Heritage areas, national parks, and other reserves.

On the field trips, volunteers bait and set traps, check and record data, and help university scientists microchip the endangered devils. Most of these radio tracking and mapping field trips take place in Tasmania's breathtaking national parks.

There's no charge to volunteer on the five-to eleven-day field excursions that include accommodation, food, transportation from Hobart, and wildlife pa.s.ses.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Tasmanian Devil Appeal, University of Tasmania Foundation, Private Bag 40, Hobart, Tasmania 7001, Australia, 61 3 6226 2053, www.utas.edu.au/foundation/devil.htm.

TWIST AND SHOUT.

After years of fighting the Tasmanian government over the rights to the Taz character, Warner Brothers, which has made a fortune on him in his 55-year life span, finally ponied up for some scientific research. Judy Jackson, Tasmania's environment minister, fought for years to get the company's a.s.sistance. They also gave the Tasmanian government restricted rights to sell stuffed Taz dolls to raise more money and increase awareness about devil facial tumor disease (DFTD). During 2007, the company also sold Looney Tunes DVDs in Australia and donated a portion of the profits to fighting DFTD.

Let's hope the real Tasmanian devil recovers as resoundingly as the cartoon character did. Taz was axed soon after his 1954 debut in a cartoon short called "Devil May Hare." Edward Selzer, head of the Warner Brothers Animation Studio, ordered Robert McKimson, Taz's creator, to discontinue the new character on the grounds that he was "too obnoxious." Eventually, though, the big cheese himself (Jack Warner) saved Taz after receiving lots of mail from viewers who enthusiastically endorsed the wild and crazy character.

CITY FARM.

go carbon neutral in western australia.

PERTH, AUSTRALIA.

You don't walk away from a dream.

-Rosanne Scott, founder of City Farm.

91 In his rant, "The Planet is Fine," the late George Carlin was right about at least one thing: Environmentalists sometimes have a tendency to take themselves a tad too seriously.

But that is definitely not true about the people at City Farm, an inner-city garden and education center in Perth, Australia, where founder Rosanne Scott and hundreds of green volunteers get their point across in dozens of brilliantly creative ways. For example, they host tree planting dance parties and teach kids circus skills while throwing in tips on permaculture. They also host a high-energy street drumming samba group where even cynics can't help but tap their toes.

Founded in 1994 as an initiative of the Planetary Action Network-the youth branch of Men of the Trees in Western Australia-City Farm's work is all about community, getting all sorts of people together to live sustainably, eat locally, and in the process, maybe just save the planet. Their motto is "We not only grow plants. We grow people."

Even though Perth sits beside an ocean, rests atop an enormous underground aquifer, and has a river running through its heart, this vibrant city borders a vast desert. It is quickly running out of water due to rising temperatures, a significant drop in winter rainfall, and tremendous consumption. According to the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), climatologists say that Perth-with a population about to top two million-is the city most profoundly affected by global climate change. Australian environmentalist Tim Flannery predicted that if climate change and water use continue unchecked, this city of sprawling suburbs stretching 42 miles along the Indian Ocean could be the world's first ghost metropolis.

WE MAKE-A THE PIZZA, WE MAKE-A THE PIE.

Turns out the gourmet pizza champion of the world is not an Italian, but just might be an Australian.

A chef named Andy Parisi, owner of La Trattoria and Parisi Caffee in Adelaide won several Australian pizza bake-offs, including the national t.i.tle in the 2004 Dairy Farmers Caboolture Best of the Best Pizza Challenge. The self-effacing chef actually chose not to enter the state finals compet.i.tion, eschewing celebrity cooking, but his daughter, Chantal, secretly put his name in the running. The enterprising chef then got to take it to the next level by vying for the international t.i.tle in the United States.

He commented about competing: "Well, over the years Australians have developed a taste for fresh ingredients, technique, and good quality products. That has evolved in the last ten years. In New York we only cooked one pizza instead of the regular three pizzas we cooked where we won the Dairy Farmers Caboolture's Best of the Best. But, we did a lot of demonstrations of different pizzas for the crowd between the compet.i.tions. We hunted ALL over New York to get fresh food. It was very expensive when we did find some."

The switch from the three pizzas (vegetarian, marina, and potato) to just one (marinara pizza with fresh chopped tomatoes, cheese, and a mixture of seafood, including a garnish of freshly cooked mussels in their sh.e.l.ls) and insistence on fresh ingredients paid off for Parisi. At the inaugural America's Plate compet.i.tion in New York City, amongst a field of gourmet pizza bakers from across the globe, Andy Parisi was crowned world pizza baking champ.

Another Australian, John Lanzafame, took the 2005 t.i.tle (there wasn't a t.i.tle in 2006). In 2007, though, the Aussies were unseated by Fabian Martin of Spain. In 2008, Finn Jarmo Valtari's reindeer pizza took home top honors (Italy's Carmine Mauro came in second, and Australia's Brandon Farrell came in third).

That's one of the reasons City Farm is working so hard to educate its citizens about green living. They figure if their army of volunteers can turn what was once a contaminated sc.r.a.p metal yard and battery recycling plant into a 25,000-square-foot garden oasis and transform abandoned warehouses into artists' studios and cla.s.sroom s.p.a.ce, anything is possible. They might even teach Perth's avid gardeners a thing or two about how to grow plants with less water.

City Farm describes the types of projects its staff and volunteers work on by using the acronym PEACE, which stands for: Permaculture & Environment.

Education.

Arts.

Community & Personal Development.

Enterprise.

Creative school programs are one way that City Farm spreads the gospel of green, but it also hosts a weekly organic growers market and a monthly artisans market. In addition, the group has public events throughout the year, such as a street arts festival, harvest festival, the Kamberang Festival, and even the Save the Faeries Festival, held in May 2008. All of the group's work is done for love alone by volunteers.

According to Scott, anybody is welcome to show up and pitch in. Volunteers are needed daily to water, prune, plant, and dig at the thriving demonstration garden. Others are needed to feed animals, collect eggs, make posters, lay bricks, and brew fair trade organic coffee. The need for volunteers is never ending.

There's no charge to volunteer with City Farm, but you will have to find your own place to bunk.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

City Farm Perth, 1 City Farm Place, East Perth, Western Australia 6004, 61 8 9325 7229, www.cityfarmperth.org.au.

TARARU VALLEY SANCTUARY.

preserve a rain forest.

CORAMANDEL PENINSULA, NEW ZEALAND.

The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all, our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it, and foster its renewal, is our only legitimate hope.

-Wendell Berry, author and farmer 92 Maori, New Zealand's indigenous people, believe every place has mana, a natural essence that should be honored and respected. Unfortunately, the mana of the Tararu Valley, a temperate rain forest on the North Island's Coramandel Peninsula, got jacked up between 1870 and 1920 when miners and loggers decimated the gigantic kauri, rimu, totara, miro, kaihikatea, and tara trees.

That could have been the end of the story. But in 2000 a group of volunteers put their heads together and decided, "Maybe it's up to us to to restore the natural mana to this special place on planet Earth." They set up the Tararu Valley Conservation Trust, bought back the land, and have been planting trees and restoring the native habitat ever since. Their hope is that some day, these ma.s.sive trees will be once again be alive with the same species of birds, lizards, bats, and giant insects that inhabited them 200 years ago.

And that's just the first goal. The Tararu Valley Sanctuary (TVS), where the committed environmentalists set up shop, also has become an international center for green education. People interested in living in harmony with nature flock there to learn about minimizing their ecological footprints.

These green volunteers come to live at the remote sanctuary and help with all kinds of projects, from tree planting to straw bale building. And since TVS is a big believer in the old adage "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy," each week they intersperse three to four days of volunteer work that involves a lot of what they call "playing in the dirt" with a free day and one or two "adventure days." Volunteers put down their gardening tools and tree-planting gloves and take part in such quintessential New Zealand activities as rock climbing, sea kayaking, and bush walking.

CORAMANDEL WHO?.

Although the Coramandel Peninsula, jutting into the Pacific Ocean like a giant thumb hitchhiking to Asia, is a popular holiday spot with Kiwis, it's not a destination on many tourist itineraries. And that is a shame.

It has wide beaches, quaint mining villages, ancient kauri forests, and the inimitable Doug Johansen, whose great-grandfather, a Dutch gold miner, settled here in the late 1800s. Known as Kiwi Dundee, this indefatigable tour guide is built like a rugby player, always wears shorts, and once, when the Tairua River rose unexpectedly, rescued 11 people who were stranded in the jungle. He simply stuck them under a cliff ledge, built a bonfire, and jumped into the river's raging torrent. He returned several hours later with food in a waterproof backpack.

He chatters away about the region's natural wonders like a school kid extolling a crush. On his bush tours, he points out three-eyed lizards, kamarahoe leaves, and black ferns-one of the peninsula's 200 endemic ferns.

Johansen takes visitors to magical spots where glowworms light up the night with a metallic blue glow and to Shakespeare's Cliff, which early explorer Captain Cook thought resembled the bard's profile. He'll also show you the way to Hot Water Beach. Arrive at sundown, when the tide is right, dig a hole, and create your own hot tub as warm, soothing mineral water seeps up through the sand. Kiwi Dundee Adventures Ltd., Doug Johansen & Jan Poole, P.O. Box 198, Whangamata, New Zealand, 64 7 865 8809, www.kiwidundee.co.nz.

Every five to six weeks (many volunteers stay that long or even longer), what they call an "epic trip" is scheduled for exploring other regions of New Zealand, such as Mount Ngauruhoe, which had a starring role as Mount Doom in New Zealand native Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films.

You'll live to the rhythm of the sun here. Even on work days, usually a few hours after breakfast and a few hours after lunch, there's plenty of after-dinner relaxing time where volunteers can partic.i.p.ate in group bonfires, games, yoga, art, music, and meditation. Volunteers at the sanctuary even built their own climbing wall.

Cost per week is NZ $595 (about $345), including accommodations in an eco-friendly visitors lodge, organic meals, and all adventure days and epic trips.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH.

Tararu Valley Sanctuary, P.O. Box 5, Thames 3540, New Zealand, 64 7 868 8988, www.tararuvalley.org.

GLOBAL VOLUNTEER NETWORK.

be the change.

LAKE TAUPO, NEW ZEALAND.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

-Martin Luther King, Jr., clergyman and civil rights leader 93 You're ready to take on the world. You want to make it a better place. Your pa.s.sion for doing good is burning a hole in your paycheck. You're game to kiss the job goodbye, to start your own social enterprise, to use your skills and talents to, to, to...well, okay, your plan's not quite formulated yet.

How about signing up for a Be the Change workshop held each year on the banks of New Zealand's famous Lake Taupo? Sponsored by Global Volunteer Network (GVN), a New Zealand nonprofit that sends volunteers to needy communities around the globe, this weeklong workshop provides would-be social entrepreneurs with the resources they need to go out and truly make a difference. This intensive course, led by GVN founder Colin Salisbury and staff, is designed to give you the skills and confidence to make your dreams a reality. In this life-changing workshop, you'll learn to hone your message, tell your story, raise funds, and run a campaign.

SOUNDS FISHY.

Even though Lake Taupo is world-famous for its wild rivers and feisty trout, restaurants in the area don't list the tasty delicacy on their menus. Why? They view procuring trout as a strictly do-it-yourself endeavor. Plenty of the 10-pound beauties are served up in Taupo restaurants, but only if you bring them in yourself, an easy enough task since Tongariro, Tauranga Taupo, Waitahanui, and other nearby rivers are br.i.m.m.i.n.g with trout and their banks are br.i.m.m.i.n.g with full-time fly-fishing guides.

Jan Reid, who attended Be the Change in July 2008, returned home to Alabama to start A Helper's Hope (www.ahelpershope.org), an organization that connects teachers and therapists with kids in orphanages in developing nations. In July 2009, Reid's group will take volunteers to a children's home in Anta, Peru, through a partnership with Peruvian Hearts (www.peruvianhearts.org), whose executive director is 2007 attendee Danny Dodson. Laura Dinham and Taryn Lilliston, 2007 partic.i.p.ants from Colorado, started Eat So They Can (www.eatsotheycan.org), an organization that raised $37,000 in aid for African kids in its first year. And Rafe Steinhauer, a 2007 partic.i.p.ant from New York, started Benefeast, a social enterprise that supports a wide range of charities.

NETWORK FOR GOOD.

Have you ever been truly inspired by a story you've read in the newspaper or seen on television, but had no idea how to follow through on that emotion? What if every time you were inspired to help someone or contribute to a worthy cause, such as disaster relief, you could do so as easily as ordering a book from Amazon.com?

That, in a nutsh.e.l.l, is the mission of Network for Good. The organization makes it easy for individuals to use the Internet to donate money, find volunteer opportunities, raise money for a favorite cause, or purchase a charity gift card-the Good Card-or gift basket.

They also make it simple and affordable for nonprofits to recruit volunteers and donors, as well as collect and track donations. And they make it easy for companies to support charitable causes through grants or employee donations.