Back in March our wonderful friends Jade and Levi took us to the
Symbio Wildlife Park so that Clark and I could experience some native Australian animals first hand. It was unbelievable. There was a huge grassy area where you could pet and feed grey kangaroos, and kangaroos were in abundance. We were also able to pet a cuddly koala. Unfortunately, the park didn't have any red kangaroos (these are the massive kangaroos) and the wombats the park did have were burrowing in their hollowed tree stumps and chose not to make an appearance.
About a month after that experience, Clark and our two other wonderful friends, Joanne and Ivan, went to the Reptile Park (Not Symbio. This was a totally different park North of Sydney)--without me! Due to my work schedule at the time, I was sleeping and decided to rest instead of make the trip to the Reptile Park with them. And I missed out big time! They all got to pet a red kangaroo AND wombats! I was so bummed out and told Clark that we would have to go back to that exact park before we left Australia.
So at the end of July, we did. We set out with our friends Graeme and Jade, looking forward to seeing and petting a red kangaroo and wombats. When we first got inside the park, we didn't see any kangaroos. There was a rest area (aka kangaroo sanctuary) for the kangaroos, so we checked out that area, and there they all were. Resting where no humans were supposed to cross the single barred fence to annoy and touch them. We didn't see Big Red (the red kangaroo we had nicknamed prior to our entrance into the park) but assumed he would be around somewhere. We walked through the park, viewing alligators (Yes, American alligators. The park only had one crocodile and he was mostly submerged in water and hard to view.), tasmanian devils, emus, grey kangaroos, bats and birds, koalas, wallabees, a massive tortoise and WOMBATS! I don't think I've ever been as excited to see any animal as I was when I saw the wombats. Well, kangaroos are pretty exciting too, but wombats... my goodness, they are just too cute. I can't imagine that they can get that aggressive in the wild, but supposedly it happens.
After our afternoon snack of meat pies and fries, we asked a park employee where the red kangaroo might be hiding out. And the dude hit us with devastating news: Big Red died a couple of months ago and the park is currently awaiting the autopsy. DAMN. I even asked the employee who sold us our tickets if the park had a red kangaroo and she responded in the affirmative! Clark was lucky, he must have seen Big Red right before his death.
I have to admit, I was pretty devastated. We drove all that way to see a red kangaroo and wombats. At least we did see the wombats! I guess this just means Clark and I will have to travel back to Oz in the future and work in the Outback, where red kangaroos are often roadkill due to their overabundance.
Now for your viewing pleasure:
Outside the gate to the park!
The artificial crocodile was pretty intimidating and hostile.
The slowest turtle I have ever seen. And largest.
Fruit bats. These guys are so awesome and massive. I've never seen such huge bats before coming to Australia. These are the same bats we saw back at the
Sydney Botanical Gardens.
Look at him hang on to the wire with his....hand? Foot?
A little Joey getting all cuddled by the momma koala!
An American alligator. Clark and I were shocked to learn that the park only had one crocodile and several American alligators.
More gators.
Turtles lovin' on each other.
Our friends, Jade and Graeme.
Clark appearing less than enthused in this photo.
The kangaroos at Symbio were better in my opinion. These kangaroos were so disheveled and dirty...and lazy. Unless you shook a bag of food in front of them, they didn't socialize at all.
Yes, we shook the bag of food in front of this fellow, and he got up for us!
As if the kangaroos weren't getting enough to eat, one snatched an empty paper bag from an unsuspecting person and started to eat it.
An exhausted dingo.
An echidna.
Common sense.
Tasmanian Devil.
We couldn't really manage a picture of a platypus since they live in dark water and require that habitat and such. So I figured a picture of Clarkman and the sign would do.
And last but definitely not least, the WOMBATS!!
I just love how they lay on one another like kittens do.
Hello, cutie.
He's smiling in this one :)
Ohhhh, look at that adorable face! Wombats actually get much, much larger than these guys. Typically adult male wombats weigh 50 kilograms or approximately 110 pounds. These guys are only young teenagers.
Petting and feeding the wombats. Their teeth are actually very strong and they can eat through just about anything but steel or an equivalent type of metal.
I could not get enough of these wombats! I kind of want to blow this picture up into a poster and put it in my room when we get settled. Kind of like the popular kitten posters that people used to put up on their walls in the 90's. You know you remember that.
I know what I want to be for Halloween this year. A wombat. I wonder if I could fit my body into this child's costume?
So even though we didn't see a red kangaroo, it was still a successful day and I came to the decision that if we do go back to Australia to work in the future, I will strive to become a
wombat carer.
