Kangaroos, Koalas, and Crocodiles... OH MY!

No trip to Australia is complete without a visit to see some of Australia's cuddly marsupials... and a few not so cuddly crocs, too.  And of course, I always insist that anyone who visits,  MUST partake in the near-nirvana experience of holding a koala.  So, off we went to the Koorana Crocodile Farm and the Cooberrie Wildlife Park. 

We started at the croc farm.  I hadn't visited this place yet, and I had heard great things about it and was really looking forward to it. Koorana Crocodile Farm is a family owned place, and the guy who owns is like the Steve Irwin of crocodiles.  It's really neat because he even does all the tours himself.  He was full of stories about crocodile encounters, rescues, and lots of croc factoids.  There was a day care group on the tour with us, and my favorite part was right at the beginning of the tour when he warned the kids that anything that hangs over or pokes through the fence is property of the crocodiles.  Needless to say, they were very well-behaved after that warning.  It's pretty insane that these reptiles have lived nearly since the time of dinosaurs, with little to no evolutionary changes.  At any rate, here's a little of what we saw.

  

 

 

 

 

Next, we headed to the Cooberrie Wildlife Park.  I couldn't wait for my parents to pet their first kangaroos and hug the heck out of a koala! 

Aussie Birds: Emu (these things freak me the heck out) and Cockatoo

Dingo

See its cute little spotted bum? Each koala's spots are unique and serve as camouflage while up in the trees (the spots resemble sun light and shadows coming through the branches)

Mom and Zorro the koala

Dad meets Zorro

Koalas need two thumbs for climbing and holding on tight to branches

I dare you to convince me that this is anything but a koala hugging me through a wall.

 

 

 

This one had a joey in its pouch!

This 'roo was very interested in my camera.  Kangaroo kiss?

 

I love how they sit with their paws crossed

Evolution of a Sunset - 1770

These photos were taken from the balcony of our amazing beach shack in the town of 1770.  Although we were on the East coast of Australia, we were able to watch the sun set over the ocean because we were on a bay that was actually west-facing.  At any rate, this sunset was one of the most beautiful I've ever seen.  I'll let the photos do the rest of the talking...

Can you spot my mom sitting on the beach?

 

 

 

 

 

I mean seriously.  Is this real life?!

Beaches and Boats - 1770

Although we were slightly out of season for spending a day at the beach, we managed to put in our fair share of beach time while in 1770.  The water was just a little too cold (for us anyways, there were plenty of brave people swimming), but the weather was perfect for sitting in the sun with our feet in the sand. 

My mom kept saying how soft the sand was and how it looked like brown sugar.  I had never really noticed it myself before, but the beach sand in this part of Australia really does have that appearance. 

Walkway to the beach in Agnes Water

 

Mom admiring the amazingly sparkly water

These two have walked many a beach together

 

We spent one afternoon on a LARC tour.  This is one of those amphibious boats that can go wherever the heck you want it to.  Water?  Easy.  Sand or other land mass?  Why not.  At first I thought this pepto bismal pink vehicle was a little hokey, but it was actually a really fun tour.  It's perfect for a place like 1770 since there are so many sandbars during low tide.  Our tour guide got a kick out of driving full speed off of some of the really steep edges of the sand bars in order to try to splash us... or throw us off the boat. 

Sweet ride

Sparkly water with our boat tracks on the sandbar in the background

Interesting pattern and texture left on the sandbars during low tide

1770

Not the year, the beach town.  Yes, 1770 is the name of a beach town about an hour and a half away from Gladstone.  My parents and I spent three days in this lovely place as a relaxing first Australian adventure for the start of their visit. 

We stayed in the most adorable place ever- "The Beach Shacks."  Don't let the name fool you, these surely were not shacks.  Instead, this place consisted of about 6 or 7 separate apartment-style lofts that were built ascending the side of a hill.  Which meant that each one had a beach view.  Our "shack" was the very front one, so not only did our apartment have a beach view, we had the best view- completely unobstructed.  The best part of where we stayed was the awesome porch (or veranda, as Aussies call it) that we had.  It was the perfect place to read, relax on a rocking chair or hammock, or watch numerous breathtaking sunsets. 

After getting settled into our shack, we quickly made our way next door (literally about 30 steps) for lunch and drinks at the patio restaurant, "The Tree."  This is easily the best restaurant I've been to "near" where we live.  It's too bad that it is an hour and a half away.  I'm so restaurant deprived... but that's a story for another day.

 

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the area and hiking along a few viewpoints along the water.  1770 is considered the birthplace of Queensland since it was one of the first places where the explorer Captain Cook landed when he "discovered" (in the year 1770) what is now Queensland.  So a lot of the areas where we hiked and explored had historic monuments along the way. 

 

 

 

 

We ended the afternoon by exploring the beach right in front of where we were staying.  1770 is actually located on a bay, so our view and beachfront was a beautiful bay where heaps of boats were anchored.  The tide changes in this area are really drastic.  As you can see in the photos below, during low tide there are huge sand bars that make it look like the boats are beached. 

 

 

 

While walking along the beach, we noticed these strange "sand ball" designs.  They almost looked artistically designed.  As we were trying to figure out what created them, we saw a tiny crab (a soldier crab) appear.  In a matter of just a few seconds, he dug a very small hole, and as he did so he made perfectly rounded balls of sand with the sand he removed from his hole and deposited them around the hole he dug in a seemingly random placement.  It was really strange, but also really impressive.  Nature is pretty neat. 

 

 

More 1770 to come!

 

 

Laugh, Kookaburra, Laugh!

Australia is all over the place when it comes to its creatures and creepy crawlies.  They've got it all here... freakishly scary, adorably cuddly, and even deadly creatures.  So far, I've managed to limit my animal encounters to those of the huggable variety.  And I hope to keep it that way. 

 

However, I've recently added a new animal to my Aussie obsession list.  While not exactly huggable (although I probably would cuddle the crap out of them if I thought I wouldn't peck my eyes out...), these guys are my current faves.

 

Meet our neighborhood kookaburras! 

 

Tell me I'm not the only one that grew up singing the "kookaburra sits in the old gum tree..." song?  Isn't that random that American kids learn that song?  To be completely honest, I think for a long time I thought that song was about a made up bird.  But now I have these guys in real life in my own backyard! And I'm afraid I might be turning into a crazy bird lady because of it.  Oh, and also important to note- these birds really do LAUGH!  Their song/call absolutely sounds like a bunch of monkeys laughing (in my opinion).  In fact, they laugh their little kookaburra heads off every day- sunrise and sunset just outside our house.  You can't see them in this video, but you can hear them laughing.

 

 

There are anywhere from about two to six kookaburras that like to visit our porch ledge in the late afternoon.   

 

Imagine my excitement when I discovered that one of our neighbors feeds them each afternoon and invited me over to help one day.  They are carnivores FYI, and LOVE kangaroo meat. 

 

Said neighbor is out of town right now and has asked me to water her plants every few days.  So I've taken the liberty of taking over kookaburra feeding duties at her house as well.  Yep, that means I actually bought kangaroo meat.  Sorry 'roos!  They are so tame and will let you get within just a few inches of them.  It's so cool!  Definitely never thought I'd see a kookaburra in real life, much less feed them in my own backyard! 

 

 



This one was trying to impress me by fluffing up his feathers.  It totally worked.



Didn't get the best photo of it, but they have a really pretty blue stripe on their wings.


 


Staring contest.

 


This is a photo of what my finger looked like about 0.025 seconds before I got bit.  It was totally my fault... I was too focused on taking a photo that I forgot I had food in my hand.