Fri Apr. 11th - Day 4
Holy crap! The zoo was massive. I saw so many things, but I’ll just do the highlights. First (actually, last chronologically, but most exciting) I got to feed an ELEPHANT!!! I fed her a piece of cantaloupe. It was super cool. I’ll try to do the rest of my day chronologically.
For starters, the bus was late. But it came eventually and got me to the zoo, so I’m not too upset. On the way there, we watched a special on Steve Irwin. It was kinda sad, cuz it was made before he died and he talks about what he wants to be remembered for.
Once at the zoo, I started with the koalas and roos. They were cute, like always. There was another roo heaven, where you can go in and pet them. It’s a little weird, but I’m getting sort of blase about it. You know, like ‘you’ve pet one kangaroo, you’ve pet them all’ kinda thing. They’re still super cute and some of their mannerisms are just like people. I also got to pet another koala, but I didn’t get to hold this one. Also, I finally got to see the echidnas. They were right next to the kangaroo area.
Next I wandered through the aviary, which was really cool. It’s just this whole section of forest that’s under nets. As you walk through, the birds fly right around you. And they’re not particularly shy, cuz they’re used to people. Of course, the birds of prey are in another enclosure, which you are not allowed to walk inside. Most of them were nocturnal, so I couldn’t see many. There were a few kingfishers, though.
Wombats followed the birds. They are big, ugly rodents. I didn’t stay with them for too long. I moved right along to the snakes. They were divided into 2 sections; venomous and non-venomous. I love the snakes. They are just so cool with their slithering, and writhing, and smelling with their tongues. I spent a lot of time just looking at the different snakes.
I saw a bunch of crocodiles on my way to the camels. Being The Crocodile Hunter’s Zoo, all of the crocs have names and most of them have their own enclosures (sometimes shared with a significant other). So 5 crocs took up a whole lot of space.
I couldn’t see the camel, cuz she was in the middle of a show somewhere else. But I did get to see the fox, in the habitat next door. It was asleep at the top of a waterfall. I wasn’t surprised that he was sleeping. It’s what nocturnal animals do during the day.
Next we have some more Aussie animals. The Southern Cassowary is a flightless bird, almost as big as an emu. It’s way prettier than an emu, though, cuz it’s head is bright blue. Sadly, they are endangered. But the dingoes, which I saw next, aren’t. They’re just like dogs. And I think the ones at the zoo have been somewhat domesticated, so they don’t even have that fierce look that other wild dogs have.
The Tasmanian Devils, being nocturnal, were sleeping. But there was this cool viewing chamber that showed the inside of the nest, so you could still see them. They’re really cute. A little later in the day, I saw one of the trainers walking a Devil on a leash around the zoo, just like it was a dog.
When I ate my lunch, I got up close and personal with a few of the birds. They aren’t part of the exhibits, they’re just wild birds that like the easy pickings of the zoo cafes. One walked right up to my foot and another was watching me from the table behind me. Cheeky birds.
After my lunch, it was time for the otters to have lunch. And the cute trainer made them do tricks so that I could take pictures. Except that the shutter speed on my camera isn’t fast enough, so the movement made all the pictures blurry. Still, the otters (and their trainer) were cute. Before they were fed, they chased each other in a circle around the pond in their habitat. Over and over again. First one would chase, then the other. It made me tired just watching them.
Moving along, I came to the American alligators. They look pretty much like any other alligator I’ve seen. Then I saw another few crocs. It’s kinda like the kangaroos. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all. Except, one was moving around, and that was super cool to watch.
Then it was time for an animal show. It was in the Crocoseum. There were snakes, birds and a crocodile featured. The whole message of the show was conservation. Most of the animals were endangered species and there were tips throughout about how to be a ‘Wildlife Warrior’.
For the snake part, they brought out about 6 different snakes (one of which was a water python and they put it right into the pool) and did a snake bite demonstration. It was all quite funny, cuz it was aimed at the kids, but it’s still good stuff to know.
The bird show started with green wing parrots. They swooped right above our heads, way closer than at lion safari. Then there was a comedic interlude where some of the audience members made fools of themselves and then there were more birds. Cockatoos came out first followed by something else and they were followed by lorikeets. By the end of the bird demo there were about 20 different birds flying across and around the amphitheatre, all of them making their calls. It was super noisy and awesome to see.
Last, they brought out a croc named Murray. He was the very first croc at the zoo. They did some safety tips (i.e. how not to get bitten by a crocodile). Then the trainer fed him and made him do a tail walk. He was super cool. Random crocodile fact; Crocodiles as a species have not evolved in over 60 thousand years. They are the closest living link that we have to the dinosaurs.
That was the end of the show, so I moved to the Southeast Asia section. "Elephantasia" was where I got to feed an elephant a piece of cantaloupe. And the tiger temple contained - big surprise - tigers!! There were some cubs and then they brought out a mama. The sun was reflecting off of the glass, so I couldn’t get any pics of the babies. Got a cool one of Mama, though, just as she was coming out of the water. The cool thing is, the enclosure is just for display. The tigers actually live (and eat and sleep) somewhere else.
I saw lizards, too, including a Komodo Dragon. Those things are huge. I swear it was the same size as me. And at one point he came right toward me and stuck out his tongue. I think I looked like lunch. There were also monitors and skinks in enclosures, but some of the coolest lizards were wild ones. I took a lot of pics of them just stopped on the road. One even tried to scare me away. I saw him leave the bushes and froze to watch. He froze and puffed up his neck frill, then he quivered his jowls and ran a few steps toward me, before freezing again. I didn’t move and he repeated this a bunch of times, until he was past me. It was really cool.
Just before I left, I found the reticulated pythons. They’re separate from the other snakes, cuz they’re so big. They grow to about 5m. In an enclosure nearby, I also saw more kookaburras. These ones had been injured by cars and couldn’t fly. It was a little sad, but also happy, because they get to live at the zoo and don’t have to starve to death.
The bus ride home was uneventful. As was the walk from the bus terminal. I’m on a bus tomorrow for Surfer’s Paradise. I’m really excited, now. Today was the first day where we actually had the weather I’d been expecting. It was hot and sunny. And yes, I did remember sunscreen. I spent all day outside and didn’t even burn.
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