One cannot of course, think of Australia, without thinking of kangaroos. Because we had the lovely, local Miss Natasha as our guide while in the land of roo, she most certainly knew of the best place to get a glimpse of one. However, we weren't quite prepared for how many we would actually see, or what was to transpire during our visit with the Aussie native animals. I promise you, you will want to read all of this post.
This was not your typical animal park.....
As you can quite clearly see here, demonstrated in this pictureNatasha was posing for, we were SURROUNDED by hundreds (yes, that is definitely NOT an exaggeration) of Kangaroos. All left loose in this wonderful animal park. The Park Officials simply take your money, hand you a bag of alfalfa pellets and turn you loose. What happens then is up to you. I am sure that anyone who has had a loved one go missing after their seemingly normal vacation to Melbourne, please contact local police and inform them to search this park.
This was a once in a lifetime experience for me and my family.
The kangaroos were actually really well behaved. (With one exception of which I will divulge further on....)
Because I do not want to appear ignorant or insensitive, I will clarify that this is not a kangaroo, it is actually a wallaby. (I want to be politically correct and not offend any of the wallaby population by calling them kangaroos.)
Lovely Wallabies....
The wallabies, surely due to their size difference, were definitely less intimidating than their cohabitants, the kangaroos. Once again, clearly demonstrated here ( and to be documented in subsequent sentences as well).
Kangaroo - In your Face
Wallaby - Sweet Kisses
Although Mothers usually are sweet natured, this one wants it to be known she doesn't like having her photo taken. Someone should inform her it is rude to stick your tongue out at someone!
Can you guess which this is? Wallaby or Kangaroo?
Baby seemed nice enough for the time being.
Now, to further elaborate on the differences in our experience with the kangaroos versus the wallaby, I present to you
Exhibit A....
Notice in the photo the firm claw grasp to Miss Natasha's arm, the menacing ears laid back upon the head, the head thrust into the hand as if he is going to eat the hand itself, rather than the simply tasty treat that lay within it. This my friends, is Mr. Greedy. Mr. Greedy started out nice enough, but soon his appetite for the scrumptious pea green pellets became to much for him to control. His demeanor changed rapidly until Natasha was quickly losing the battle with the furry native creature. She was so brave to keep the smile on her face.
Exhibit B
This photo will surely convince you of Mr. Greedy's intentions and guilt in this matter. Poor Miss Natasha was the complete victim of this vile molestation. (Notice those claws?)
I quickly put down the camera to run to her aid (hence, the lack of further photographic evidence of what was to transpire next.) Natasha had managed to free herself from the strong grip of the the claw, only by conceding her treat bag. After what he had done to her, I could not let him get away with the bag. No way was he going to win this battle. Before I could think, I grabbed the bag in Mr. Greedy's claw. However, his grasp was more firm than I had anticipated, and a several second tug o' war ensued. Back and forth, back and forth we swayed, until I had had enough. I ripped the bag from Mr. Greedy's hand, but he surely would not let me win without at least a battle wound. As the pellets flew, he clawed my arm in retreat. He may have wounded me, but the treat bag was mine, and my dear friend's molestation was over.
Now, I must confess, this story is true, however, my battle wound might be slightly exaggerated. In all actuality, it is a scratch merely a quarter of an inch long, barely breaking the skin. However, I have been pondering the thought of continually picking at the scab to leave a scar. That way, I can tell people it is from when I battled a kangaroo in the Australian Wild. Great story, don't you think? ; )
There were other freaky animals running free within the park.
After what had preceded, we were a little hesitant to co-mingle with the other animals. Especially Natasha.
At least these were kept behind a four foot tall fence.
Although, with these freakishly long necks, that fence really didn't contain them. I can't believe they allow people to feed these things! They look like they were the prehistoric stars in Jurassic Park the movie!
(These are NOT robotic, Natasha!!! LOL!!!)
(I hope my daughter doesn't have nightmares from this place)
Not everything we saw that day was this intimidating, it was actually one of the best vacation highlights from any trip we have taken. We did manage to encounter more normal animals as well.
And of course we did see these charming guys. Since they reportedly sleep 22 hours a day, they were a really nice change of pace from the kangaroos.
How sweet are they?
The Australians have great signage. Check this one out. It cracks me up!!
Alright everyone, that's all for now. I still have so much more to share with you, I hope you don't mind! I'll be back with more soon.
Have a great day!
xoxoxo, Tiffany
