Squee! My cuteness-o-meter just hit critical! Ok, let me back track. Several days ago I bought tickets to go to the wildlife sanctuary. I knew I was going to encounter some of the local wildlife, just not to the degree I met them. The tour started as most do, a greeting, short background story of the sanctuary and then move to the first exhibit. The first animals we saw were koalas. They were so chill and relaxed. The ranger said that they sleep most of the day because of their nutrient poor diet. Then he told us we could go in and pet the koalas! I was so excited I squeed and started hopping up and down (my natural reaction to most animals). We met one of the younger koalas named Ray Charles, a blind koala. This little koala was surrounded by a swarm of uni students getting up close and personal and he didn't even bat and eyelash; he just keep on eating and then fell asleep!
We also got to meet what I thought was the cutest animal at the sanctuary, not just because he was fluffy, but because of his history. I’m referring to Tonka the wombat, this gigantic marsupial nearly the size of a bear cub. The ranger brought him out and he looked so sleepy and relaxed (wombats are nocturnal, so he was tired!). The ranger told us that a cyclone hit Townsville in February and they had to close down Billabong temporarily. During this time Tonka stopped eating and was listless. After he lost weight and took him to the vet they discovered that Tonka was depressed; he missed getting hugs from the visitors! (He was raised by humans since he was little, so he thinks he’s a human!). Since the park has reopened he’s gained his weight back and is now happier than ever. I made sure to give him a big warm cuddle and pat on the head.
Hopping outside the enclosures were dozens of kangaroos. You could walk up to them and pet their fur; it was so soft! They weren’t the big kangaroos you normally think of (those are red kangaroos) these came up to around shoulder height. I fed a little kangaroo, he was adorable; hopping on his little legs and eating out of my hand (don’t worry it was feed handed out by the park keepers). I also held a baby crocodile, python, and joined to feed the turtles!!! It was so funny watching them eat raw fish whole! I missed the turtle race because the bus came early, oh well. I did manage to bring a little friend back from the sanctuary; maybe I’ll introduce him some time soon.
I enjoyed Billabong a lot! We closely interacted with the animals and had a wonderful tour guide. He was informative and very funny, which seems to be the normal Australian attitude. I wasn’t a fan of the new cockatoo being acclimated to humans though. They put it on a branch and clipped its wings. Poor thing was freaking out as people crowded it. The rest of the sanctuary was fun though.
Yesterday we went to ReefHQ the largest coral reef aquarium in the world! The coral was gorgeous and the fish were so colorful! This one type of fish, called an orange spot surgeonfish (because their fins are sharp and used as defense) change their color right in front of me. It turned from black to silver grey. Apparently this change occurs when the fish becomes less hostile and wants to invite cleaner fish to groom it. They also had the largest nurse shark I’ve ever seen! It was easily 6 feet long and very big. Since we had a private tour we were lead to the sea turtle hospital. They had several green turtles in tanks recuperating from various things, mostly from garbage in their stomachs.
On the way back to campus we saw the forest fire that has been burning for the last several days. Ok, before anyone freaks out, it was a prescribed fire. This means that they intentionally burn some of the underbrush so when wildfires happen they don’t spiral out of control. It is controlled and monitored closely and they do this often, so don’t lose your head. It is pretty to see it in the middle of the night though.
Aussie word of the day: joey= infant marsupial
p.s.: You can see more pictures of my first week in my new facebook album "Aussie Welcome Wagon"
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