Sydney Wildlife World April 12, 2011

Today began with Skyping Cooper's buddies and their moms.  What a great thing Skype is. We got to talk to them AND see their faces. It was the perfect beginning to another great day.  After our Skype call, we headed out for the day. First stop, of course, say it with me- Starbucks. :) Then we walked over to Darling Harbour where we were the very first day.  Another gorgeous day for a walk.

While walking, we peered into the harbour and saw a ton of jellies just swimming in the water by the pier. It was quite a site.

jellies

Sydney Wildlife World was the big adventure for the day. We really did not expect much from this place. The aquarium we had visited last week was next door and it was fine, but not spectacular. But this place was cool!  We once again saw all sorts of insects and reptiles.  We even saw Australia's deadliest snakes (which apparently there are quite a few different types) which are the most dangerous snakes in the world. Love that.  Anyway, then we got to the cool animals. First KANGAROOS!  Not just kangaroos behind glass, but kangaroos right in front of us- no more than 5 feet with NO GLASS. So freaking cool!  There were about 6 of them. Some were lazing in the sun and one was quite social and seemed to like entertaining the crowd a bit.  What a fascinating creature. After all those years of teaching and having my students "research" animals including kangaroos, I never realized how large and powerful they are.  Their tails are literally another limb and when they sit down they use their tail as much as their legs.

We also saw a cassowary which is a huge bird that is actually the most dangerous bird in the world. Its talons are long and very sharp and they have been known tear people to shreds!  Little known fact for Jeopardy or Millionaire. :)

Cassowary

Another favorite was the Rocky Wallaby. They were just darn cute.  The wombat was asleep so we did not get to see it move around. It was just snuggled up snoozing away.

Rock Wallaby

The kookaburra was another big hit. We did not hear it sing, but we sang to it.  Cooper was really excited because his Aunt and Uncle have been asking if we have seen one yet and now we have! The first words out of Coop's mouth when we saw them was "I have to tell Aunt Mary and Uncle Peter!"

Kookaburra

Then came the ever-adorable koala. There were two. Once again one was awake and the other was out cold in the trees.  I got pictures this time!

Koala

The last big hit of the day was the butterfly garden. We must of stood still for 20 minutes waiting for one to land on Coop.  Finally, one of the keepers brought out a new batch and placed one in Coop's hand. He was beyond thrilled. How are we going to beat this tomorrow?

Butterfly garden