Making My Mark...My Travels Through the Sunshine Coast!: Crikey! There are Crocodiles Everywhere!

Feeding the Elephants!

I went to the world famous Australian Zoo last Sunday and I must say, I approve! Plus if Oprah says it’s amazing, then it must be true. So we arrived at the the zoo and of course I forget my wallet which had my student ID. Admission is 58 dollars if you’re a non-student. Oprah didn’t mention that. The price almost gave me a heart attack. Besides the cost, it was such a beautiful place. There were so many wonderful animals! Australia has one of a kind wildlife with a range of plants and animals that are found nowhere else on earth. We went to the famous “Wildlife Warriors Show” which featured flying birds, elephants and jaw snapping crocodiles. Yes, crocodiles. Now I’m not talking your everyday average crocs. No these were freakishly large, man eating, twilight zone looking crocodiles. They were so huge I feared the thing was going to eat the animal keepers. After a few tricks, such as making the crocodiles jump in the air for food, we left and headed for “Kangaroo Heaven.” That’s exactly what it was, a large section where kangaroos and wallabies roamed freely. You could purchase food for 2 dollars and feed the cute creatures. At first I was a little scared. I mean I've never actually seen a kangaroo in person, so feeding one seemed completely unreal. There were so many! All types of people were feeding the animals, even 3-year-olds. So I told myself, if a little kid can do it, then I could too! I walked up to the kangaroo, bent down and fed him. He reached up with his two arms, grabbed my hand and began eating. It was so cool! Several kangaroos later, I got more confident and tried feeding two kangaroos at the same time. It wasn't such a good idea, because the two animals stood on their hind legs and attempted to take the food from me. I thought about the documentary I'd seen on Kangaroo attacks and freaked out, luckily the two just ate the food and hopped away. Kangaroos reminded me of large rabbits. They have two front teeth just like rabbits, facial features like them and obviously hop around like them. After rubbing and feeding the kangaroos, we went to view all the wetland birds. We saw everything from red pandas, Australian snakes (12 are likely to inflict a wound that could kill you), rhinoceros iguanas (which looked like mini dinosaurs) and a Komodo dragon (the largest species of lizards found in the Indonesian islands, whose saliva can kill you!). We saw Tasmanian devils (which by the way do not risible the cartoon but instead look like little mole rats), dingoes (which look like regular dogs), wombats (which looked like giant furry round gerbils), and a giant cassowary bird (which was a cross between a turkey and ostrich). We finally ended our tour viewing my favorite, the cute koalas and elephants! Here are some cool koala facts. They are NOT bears. They can sleep between 18-20 hours and have a very large digestive system. They eat eucalyptus leaves which are hard for them to digest and is the reason why they sleep so long! They curl into tight balls when they are cold, and when it's hot they lay out with their legs spread to let their stomach get air because the fur is thinner there. They're also very territorial creatures and are sadly on the verge of being extinct. They're killed by vehicles and mostly dogs due to the fact that they sometimes roam in people's backyards. After learning so much about koalas, I thought why not hold one of these cuddly creatures! So with courage, and a small fee of $20, I held a koala! It was like holding a baby, minus the fur and claws. I believe the koala and I had a connection. After a few poses later, I had a very adorable picture! Next, we went to feed the elephants which was amazing! Until next time loves!