Kangaroos in the wild!

About a week ago, we were drivng & both kids fell asleep.  This has happened a lot down here - so we ended up driving around to let them both have a little nap.  We went in a different direction this time and tried to find a lake.  We never did find it but along the way we ran into these 'beauties'.

There were so many of them just hanging out there, eating the grass etc.  To say were excited would be an understatment!  We have been obsessed with seeing either kangaroos or koalas in the wild since arriving (well, probably just Janita!)  So this was amazing.

There was even a Joey - you can see it below jumping away when crazy kangaroo lady (Janita) chased them a bit to get them to hop away!

This guy let us get pretty close - he was curious too

But then he had enough & joined the others just a short distance away.

There was probably 20-30 of them all together in this area but along the road, we saw several groups just like this one.

So cool - too bad Kalyssa missed it but we took a few videos for her.

Back to the beach

We heard Cowtown is snowy & cold right now so we thought some beach pictures were in order :)

In reality, we have run into some VERY wet weather here with 2 full days rained out and another day we were chased from the beach at 3:30pm by a nasty storm.  We ended up losing power that night due to a close lightening strike.  We were in the dark for over 5 hrs! 
This area has made out pretty good though as a couple of the surrounding towns have had some serious flooding.  The past few days have been cloudy still but no rain.  It is actually better for the kids as its not soooo hot.

Sunshine beach

Tilman showing off his new swim duds!  We forgot what a handful they are this age.  He is crawling around all over the place- getting into trouble, as well as standing up & cruising around on the furniture....we have our hands full

 




He's got a bit of curl in his hair - wondering if its just the humidity or if it will stay?
Such a handsome fella

 

Look at those cheeks!  We swear he has been growing like crazy - he even has a bit of pudge!

Once again the waves broke a long ways out & ran in for a long time - making it great fun for Kalyssa to play in!



The beach was 'busy' as it was a weekend - lol!



Meet "Louie" - a big jellyfish we found washed up on the beach. He had long since died and didn't have his tentacles anymore so he was completely harmless. 

Kalyssa named him 'Louie the Bluey' and carried him around for the rest of the afternoon. She loved him.
We have seen a bunch of very tiny jellies wash up & 2 big ones in the sand on our very first day but really, they have been a non-issue for us here.

 

We even brought Louie home and put him in a bowl of salt water. He stayed there until we discovered that he had completely disintegrated -- yuck!!



The coolest ZOO - Australia Zoo!

A week ago, we finally headed to the much anticipated Australia Zoo.  We were expecting a lot and it lived up to everything and then some!  It is hands down the best thing we have done in Australia and everything was just perfect.  It rained pretty hard during our hour drive there.  We were bummed & considered not going in if it was still pouring.  Thankfully, we drove out of the rain and it ended up being a beautiful sunny day.  Too much actually as we were all a little overheated by the end of the day as it was in-land (ie. there was no wind!)

Australia Zoo is the zoo started by The Crocodile Hunter - Steve Irwin.  Tom and I were both big fans of his and enjoyed his show and especially his wackiness.  The Irwin family still runs the Zoo & it was one of the prettiest facilities around.  Gorgeous landscaping all over (there were even macadamian trees)  & it was ridiculously clean.  Staff were all over the place too so if you ever needed anything, there was always someone there.  We have a million pictures so grab a coffee.



Here is the "Crocoseum" it is an awesome 5000 seat arena where they have a wildlife warriors show.  We only caught the end so we only saw the exotic birds flying around the seats (one of their wings even touched Tom....so he says!) and a big croc.





Here is Steve Irwin- his image & his families images are all over the park.



with a Steve cut-out. 





There was a memorial tribute area on one side of the Crocoseum.  It was touching to see all the personal, handwritten notes (on his famous Khaki shirts) from those expressing condolonces and sadness when he died. 



On to the animals



This was the first little guy we ran into. In an area called Roo Heaven - the Wallabies and Kangaroos run around free.  It was so exciting seeing the first one shortly after entering their area. This is a wallaby!







K loved them immediately.





For a couple bucks, they sold Wallaby & Kangaroo food so you could feed them.  It was awesome :)

They were so cute & so gentle.  We could've stayed there all afternoon!



Tom trying to "box" with a wallaby.  Kalyssa wasn't having it though & tried to stop him - lol!





Kalyssa wasn't scared of them at all.  Their fur was extremely soft





The Kangaroos were quite a bit bigger but again very gentle & calm with soft fur

  

We went on a weekday so that it wouldn't be very busy.  We got a lot of time with just us visting them -- so awesome!!



Tilman got his feet licked by one of the Roo's!





See the Turkey in the background?  They are all over the place - we see them at the outdoor shopping areas, in the car parks at the beaches - everywhere!





Kalyssa could've stayed there and fed them all day!  She had SO much fun!




Their tails were so big and thick





This guy was over relaxing on the sand



Later Roo's - Off to the next adventure

KOALAS!

The Koalas were so sweet and fuzzy.  They are also very mellow and move very slowly

 It was awesome to see them so close



Kalyssa was a little tentative with the Koalas at first but quickly warmed right up to them.They were so incredibly cute and cuddly



These Iguanas were everywhere

 More Kangaroos - these guys were the Red Kangaroos

Nice tongue hey?!

Lots of cool snakes here

This is a Wombat.  He is out for a walk. They do this a lot at the zoo - take certain animals out for walks around the park to meet the people.  We also saw 2 Dingos out for a walk on their leashes. It was all so cool!

Here is Cameron Crocodile.  It is a replica of how large actual crocs are thought to be able  to grow to - crikey!

 A little perspective with Tilman's stroller!


They had some free rides for the kids and a bouncy castle

There are many, many croc areas like below - so pretty

These birds were walking around the food court

A Croc feeding show - they were so cool & interesting

We got pretty close to the Camels

A Tasmainian Devil - they were small but super active and I guess very dangerous!



Crocs were predictably everywhere!





The Komodo Dragon was huge and creepy



An Australian Monitor - there were many reptiles



Bamboo forest at the park


Kookaburras



One of the info signs found at each of the exhibits. They all sound exactly like it was Steve Irwin talking :)



One last Iguana on our way out



It was truly an amazing experience!  We were very happy that we bought a 2 day pass so we will be going back to check out the rest of the park.  We missed a fair bit as its a huge place with SO much to see - a long day for 2 little kids.  We'll be back to feed the elephants, see the tortoise show & the whole crocoseum show, ride the safari shuttle to see the new Africa area where the giraffes, zebras & rhinos roam around free (including a baby rhino!) and of course feed the Kangaroos & pet the Koalas again.