We arrived in Australia! The first day was somewhat uneventful. We rented our caravan, found out what to do the next day and walked around the city for about three hours. Birch bought a boomerang! It's really cool!
The next day we set off on our journey. We heard from someone about a kangaroo golf course. The kangaroos live on the golf course and you can go see them, but you're not allowed on the turf. I think it was Birch who spotted the first group. They were eating, but too far off to get a good look. We parked in the parking lot and Dad saw a joey and its mama on a patch of grass that wasn't technically on the golf course. We grabbed our . . .
The next day we set off on our journey. We heard from someone about a kangaroo golf course. The kangaroos live on the golf course and you can go see them, but you're not allowed on the turf. I think it was Birch who spotted the first group. They were eating, but too far off to get a good look. We parked in the parking lot and Dad saw a joey and its mama on a patch of grass that wasn't technically on the golf course. We grabbed our . . .
cameras and headed over.
The mom was tagged and her name was Kelly. They were so interesting to watch and we kept creeping closer and closer. Birch almost touched Kelly's tail, but she hopped a few feet away. Kelly always made sure she was in between us and her joey. Did you know that kangaroos balance on their tails and use it as an extra leg sometimes? And that their tail can break your leg if you get too close (Kelly was used to humans - that's the only reason why she didn't thump Birch)? Ya, I wouldn't take my chances.
The mom was tagged and her name was Kelly. They were so interesting to watch and we kept creeping closer and closer. Birch almost touched Kelly's tail, but she hopped a few feet away. Kelly always made sure she was in between us and her joey. Did you know that kangaroos balance on their tails and use it as an extra leg sometimes? And that their tail can break your leg if you get too close (Kelly was used to humans - that's the only reason why she didn't thump Birch)? Ya, I wouldn't take my chances.
The same day we went to a beach to swim. When we got out we saw a bird walking along with the seagulls. Well, several of them. They were wild parrots! They had white feathers tinted yellow and a combed back yellow mohawk. When they are scared they puff it up to a full size mohawk! Birch suggested they were cockatoos, so that's what I'll call them. Birch ran to the car and got a piece of bread. It was fun feeding them and they were so gentle with their beaks that you could hand feed them! Dad got more bread and some trail mix and we all started feeding. But then things got out of hand.
More and more started coming. One landed on Dad's shoulder to get his attention. Seeing that work, two more landed on Birch's arm. One tried landing on Mom, but she flapped them way. I told her to stand still and let them land, but (what a hypocrite I am) when one tried to land on my head I just screamed and ran to the parking lot. So I decided to watch the scene from there since you couldn't walk around the picnic bench because there were too many. Ya, I admit, I wasn't very brave. At all.
Birch put some seeds on his hat and two came. Remember I said they're gentle with their beaks? Well, they are not gentle with their claws. Birch got scratched all along his arms and we ended up leaving when a bird thought that his finger was a seed and bit it and wouldn't let go. Don't worry, we have a good supply of medicine (golden-seal, thanks to Auntie Jen) and everything cleared up fine.
Birch put some seeds on his hat and two came. Remember I said they're gentle with their beaks? Well, they are not gentle with their claws. Birch got scratched all along his arms and we ended up leaving when a bird thought that his finger was a seed and bit it and wouldn't let go. Don't worry, we have a good supply of medicine (golden-seal, thanks to Auntie Jen) and everything cleared up fine.
The next day we went to see koalas in the wild. They eat leaves from a tree called eucalyptus (a.k.a. gum) and they're very hard to spot. The most exciting part was when a koala waddled down a tree and across the road. Birch found some green gum leaves and followed the little guy. When the koala started climbing a tree Birch started to feed it. I didn't see him do it, but he proclaimed that he actually touched it! Don't try that at home. Even if you have access to a wild koala. Koalas make a sound like a bear so they scare their predators into thinking they're huge. Is that why they're called koala bears? Dunno.
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