We flew from Sydney to Brisbane today, rented a car, and drove down to Gold Coast for the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Finally I saw all the Australian animals I haven't been lucky enough to see in the wild!
In addition to wildlife, the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary also hosts a few 'challenge courses' that contain rope swings, wire walks, ziplines, and more. Naturally, you are required to wear special suits to play on these courses.
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| Chilling like rockstars. |
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| All geared up! |
The ropes went over the walkways, and I really enjoyed pretending to fall as people walked under me. :)
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| "Ahhhhh!" |
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| My grandma on the zipline! |
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| My mom on the zipline, looking somewhat less coordinated. |
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| These things are difficult when you can barely reach them and they're slippery to boot. |
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| At the end of the course. Go, momma, go! |
There was a big area where you could pet and feed kangaroos! There were also emus walking around but they don't seem very friendly. Or sanitary.
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| Kangaroos are softer than they look. |
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| Emus are dirtier, greasier, and scarier than they look. |
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| Joey! Look how big his feet are compared to his head. Adorable! |
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| I got the vibe that this kangaroo was old. |
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| "Who, me?" |
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| Really, doesn't he just exude oldness? |
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| This face haunts my nightmares. |
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| Those eyes... those beady eyes... |
And of course there were koalas, which my mother adored. Personally, I couldn't get over their smell. They absolutely reeked of eucalyptus and poo.
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| Sleepy koala. |
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| Cute koala! |
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| Their noses kinda weird me out, though. Seriously, what's up with the nose? |
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Trying to get a whiff of fresh air? Trust me, it's a possibility.
The smell was horrendous. |
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| The face is cute, I guess. |
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| Awww, alright. It's kinda cute. (Minus the claws.) |
We also got to hold a koala and take a photo for free! Unfortunately, even after a mini-tutorial and several practice shots, my grandmother proved unbelievably bad at photography.
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| And this was the best of several shots. Really, it's almost impressive how poor her photography was. |
And there was more! Tasmanian devils, for example, are cute from afar, but absolutely terrifying close up.
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| "Aww, look how cute they are, all sprawled out!" |
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| "Yeah! Cute!" |
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| "Cute!" |
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| "Oh, look at those claws..." |
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| "Uhhhh..." |
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| "Oh god... the teeth... the slobber.. the wet nose... RUN AWAY!" |
And a variety of other lovely creatures:
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| Green tree snake! |
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| Lace monitor lizard! |
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| I tried really hard to get a photo of his tongue flicking out, but I was unsuccessful. :( |
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| My spirit animal, the water dragon. |
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| Some kind of parrot, eating some kind of live worm. Blegh. |
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| This bird was not part of the zoo! |
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| Dingoes are indistinguishable from normal dogs, at least to me. They're really cute! |
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| Another cool but unidentified bird. |
And I've saved the best for last: tree kangaroos.
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| Tree kangaroos, like many animals, are cuter from afar. |
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| Rock on, buddy. Rock on. |
Stay tuned for photos of Stradbroke Island tomorrow! We've got dolphins, spiders, and unidentified beach objects!
Cheers,
Ashton
if you think emus are bad, meet the cassowary, the closest living relative to dinosaurs! but the emus do look greasy and scary :(
ReplyDeletethat was one of the oldest-looking kangaroos i've ever seen, read about how tasmanian devils give birth, dingoes have interesting characteristics that distinguish them from dogs, including that they don't bark- they yelp and whine, much like the basenji dog (read more on the basenji wikipedia page to see how dingoes are different than dogs), the tree kangaroo's tail looks like a giant penis, aaaand i've heard that koals smell like shit
Koalas smell absolutely awful. It's like those eucalyptus cough drops mixed with poo. As for the cassowary... I'd rather not meet one, I think my insides would get ripped out. :(
ReplyDeleteThe basenji sounds pretty awesome! They jump straight up to look for stuff? No barking? And featured on the Wild Thornberries? If we can just make sure they don't do that crotch-sniffing thing, I might want one of these guys. I love their little curly tails!