Roos and Wallabies x 2

On Tuesday, 10/2 (really freaking early in the morning - 7:45ish), I went to the Wildlife Center with the family. My favorite part and the only part that really needs to exist? The kangaroos and wallabies!!! For the first 30 minutes or so we were the only ones in this portion of the center. You buy bags of food at the front counter, walk down all these walkways, and arrive in a large open, natural kangaroo/wallaby habitat with NO fences (except for surrounding the crocodiles... there's fences there to keep the roos and wallabies from wandering in there and becoming dinner... oh yeah, and to possibly keep the visitors coming back).

The first animal I fed was a dark brown, sweet as ever wallaby. It walked right up to me, sat at my feet, and gently pawed at me for food. I sat down on a nearby, very short, wooden wall and just sat in awe as this adorable, gentle wallaby ate right out of my hand - for quite some time might I add. I pet him at some point and discovered their fur is actually very coarse and wiry. They aren't soft at all really, but I continued petting simply because I could and also because I couldn't believe I was petting a wallaby. While it was eating out of my hands it put its two little front paws on my hand and stood on its hind legs.

The second animal I fed was a kangaroo. I legit, real life, no joke kangaroo. They don't put their front paws on your hand like the wallaby, they just lean forward. They are also a lot more slobbery than the wallabies and you can feel their teeth, unlike the wallabies. I also pet them and they felt just like the wallabies - coarse and wiry, but a lot more solid. After a bit, I just sat there in awe that I was literally fingers length from a kangaroo that I not only pet but fed.

There were a couple very large pelicans (not sure if they were unusually large or if pelicans are always this big) with a crazy big wingspan just wandering around, as well as some emus. So naturally... I decided I should try and feed an emu. Note to anyone else who decides to feed the next emu they come across: Put A LOT of food in your hand or the emu WILL get your skin along with the food. That only has to happen once for you to learn. It was quite scary, but I fed it a couple times and the weird feeling never subsided.

In the right corner are the stupid ducks and geese I mention later

Afterwards I just walked around marveling at the fact that I was really doing this and really really here. I got to see some of the roos and wallabies really take off. The sound their feet make when they hit the ground sounds like large bricks slamming into seriously solid ground from a very high drop. In addition to that... they are fast!!! I would HATE to get trampled or kicked by a kangaroo, or wallaby for that matter. During my walk I came to a corner that was packed with wallabies. When they saw me they all straightened up and went stone still or ran and hid under a nearby bridge. When I took one step with my hand outstretched with food, they all shuffled closer to the fence or bridge. They were clearly scared and uncomfortable, so I stepped back and away, but close enough to watch them. At this point a group of about 4 people walked up, noisily, might I add. They seemed to be old teens, young twenties. Regardless of the many signs in the habitat that ask you to stay on the pedestrian walks and regardless of the animals' obvious fear... one of the guys steps off the pedestrian walk into the wallabies' space, walking backwards, facing his friend who has a camera to take a picture of him. She says, while laughing, "They are backing up", "You're scaring them". He is laughing as well, as each step backward scares the wallabies even more. He continues walking further and further into their space as the wallabies become cornered, backed into the fence with nowhere else to go, and clearly terrified. The 4 friends continue being loud and stepping off the pedestrian pathway. At some point the wallabies take off practically trampling the guy as he and his friends laugh. In my head I think, "After being around only Australians for 2.5 months... This seems like very unAustralian behavior..." I stood there in disbelief about what had just taken place. I then had to walk away before I could bite my tongue no longer.

The Group of Wallabies Huddled in the Corner - This was taken after I had unintentionally scared off a few

I went around feeding some more wallabies and kangaroos. As I was feeding one wallaby I faintly heard, "Wow, this girl's good! Look!" I ignored it and moved on to feeding a kangaroo nearby. That same voice then said, "Where are you from?" I thought, "That doesn't sound Australian..." and then answered the question while keeping my eyes on the animal. Once the food was gone I looked up and saw that it was the guy who walked into the wallabies' space and that was when I placed the accent... It was American. At that moment I was seriously ashamed to have the same accent as these... let's call them kids... because that's how they were acting. They were being your typical, arrogant, disrespectful, American tourists. Seriously, if you are going to come to another country while representing your home country, the least you could do is respect the wildlife. Anyways, enough about that, sorry, but it really irked me.

By now it was time for breakfast, but I wanted to try and get a better picture of the Tree Kangaroo, so while everyone else went on to breakfast, I stayed behind and told them I'd catch up with them shortly. On my way to the Tree Kangaroo I noticed a mama wallaby with her joey's feet and head sticking out of the pouch, so I stopped and took a few (which means 75 in my language) pictures and watched as I encountered my first marsupial mama and baby interaction. Had I been a minute later, or chosen not to try and get a picture of the tree kangaroo, I would have missed this entirely. The baby was hanging out in the pouch and then out of nowhere started clambering its way out and fell ungracefully to the ground, but he didn't seem to mind. He kept trying to climb back in, but the mom refused to let him in for quite some time. She kept cleaning her pouch (or so it seemed). The baby finally got back in and I went to breakfast. *Upon further inspection of my pictures when I got home I realized the mom was actually trying to clean a second joey that was in the pouch.*

Breakfast was super yummy - lots of fresh fruit - and really cool because we ate in a bird habitat. The birds were free to roam around the habitat, although they mostly stayed put. There were trees and water and feeders all around. A lady brought a Rainbow Lorikeet to our table and everyone got a chance to hold it. After breakfast we walked around another exhibit where I saw my first Kookaburra, a black necked stork, a Pterodactyl (or at least that's what my mom thought it was because I was on the phone with her and it turns out it was just a black cockatoo thing), and a Cassowary (the ugliest darn birds EVER, but for some reason very intriguing and hard to stop staring at). I also got to see two koalas... sleeping... go figure... They are cute animals, but very very boring animals.

Kookaburra

My Mom's Pterodactyl

Cassowary

When you pay for admission to the Wildlife Centre, a 2 day free re-entry pass is included, so while waiting for the taxi home, I spent my time thinking about how I could possibly get back here to spend more time with the kangaroos and wallabies... And I'll have you know I figured it out!!

Taxi - Too expensive. Walking - Too long. Bus - Too unreliable. Next obvious option? Bike!!

It is approximately 3 miles to the Wildlife Centre from the resort (so essentially I did a 6 mile bike ride) on a relatively flat road that is pretty much a straight shot there, so I figured... why not?! I hired a bike (and helmet - it is a law in Australia to wear a bike helmet or else you pay a $90 fine when the police catch you) from the resort and was on my way. The ride there was harder than the ride back because on the way there I was riding against the wind. Going both directions however, was absolutely beautiful scenery of blue blue skies, lush green  tropical trees, and mountains. Another reason I wanted to go back was to go and just experience. I wanted to be able to focus entirely on the experience and the animals and not the camera, so there are no pictures of this time. There were times when I wished I had someone to take a photo of me, but a photo doesn't beat being able to truly and fully experience.

Not too thrilled about the whole helmet thing, but it keeps me from a $90 fine

On Thursday (10/4) I left the resort around 7:30 and got there at 8:05, just a few minutes after they opened, and there was a short line. I was kind of bummed that I just rode all this way and there were going to be all these people in the park and the animals were going to be scared, etc etc etc. Well I bought my one bag of food (why I didn't buy 3, I don't know) and headed to the roos and wallabies.

I walked in and to my wonderful surprise discovered that I was the first and only person in this section of the centre. Immediately a light brown wallaby came right up to, followed by another, and another, and another until the next thing I knew I had food in both hands with 2 wallabies eating out of each hand - one of them was a mama with a joey in her pouch. After I fed them for quite awhile, I went further into the park and fed 2 wallabies that just seemed desperate for food. The smaller one bit me, but it was completely on accident. He was trying to fight off the ducks, geese, other birds, and the slightly larger wallaby that was eating out of the same hand and at the same time the food in my hand had nearly ran out. It didn't make me love him any less, however, I do have a new found immense hate for geese. The ducks, geese, and birds are so obnoxious. They crowd around you, make all their loud, annoying sounds, and stare you down. In addition to that... They peck at the wallabies backs!!! That right there ticked me off!! Don't you dare peck my wallabies or I'll kick you in the face you stupid bird!!! And that I did!! Well, my foot never made contact with a bird, which I never wanted to, I just kicked my foot close to them and in their direction to scare them away. One duck actually had the guts to take the food right out of my hand while I was trying to feed the wallabies. Anyways, enough about the annoying birds.

I went further into the park and fed 1 kangaroo and some more wallabies until I ran out of food. I quickly left the habitat and bought another bag at the front counter and quickly returned (I was on a time crunch and wanted as much time with the animals as possible). I managed to feed several more wallabies and all 3 of the kangaroos. The main male was extremely slobbery, but he was so eager for the food that I didn't care. Around 9 or so, a few other people had entered this area of the park. There was one woman with her friend and she was trying to feed the kangaroos, but kept throwing the food on the ground when the kangaroo opened its mouth in her hand. I ended up talking to her and it turns out she didn't like she could feel their teeth, but she was realizing they wouldn't eat it off the ground, so she felt bad for the animal and felt like the food was being wasted. So I ended up putting my cupped hands underneath hers so if/when she dropped the food it would land in my hand and the kangaroo could still it eat.

By about 9:20 I had run out of food, but I so didn't want to leave (hence why earlier I said I should have bought 3 bags), so I just stood around watching and petting while other people fed the animals. At some point I actually picked food up off the ground to give to them. By 9:30 I decided I really really needed to leave or I would miss my 10:00 appointment (to hang glide!! next post =] ) so I managed to slowly pull myself away from the animals and turn my back on the habitat. This might seem silly, but this was so hard to do. I could have stayed there all day long and never gotten bored or lose my sense of awe. Guess I'll just have to go back one day (fingers crossed that'll be next September ;).

Okay, okay. Just ONE last picture! They are too freaking adorable!!!