Featherdale

One of our favorite places so far is Featherdale Wildlife Park. It is a super sweet tourist destination (although the locals seem to like it too) right outside of Sydney. This was one of the first places that BabyDaddy and I began to realize the immense difference of population here in Australia compared to the US. If this place was in Cali it would have been packed. But it's not, so it wasn't. We had heard that it was a cool place to check out native Australian Wildlife so we were all keen to check it out.

This was one of the first critters that we saw. Dude, were we psyched! I took about 100 pictures of BabyDaddy so close to this little wallaby. We were shocked that this was the fence keeping the park animals apart from the visitors. It gives them a place to go if they get tired of all the attention, but they come and go as they please. We were happy with being this close, but then we turned around and...

Ahhhhh! Those are my kids petting a wallaby! Actually the way it happened is that after I shot the first 100 photos of the picture above this one we broke out the video camera. BabyDaddy was filming the park and the kids and some birds and all of a sudden I heard him say "oh my goodness." And there was DudeMan on his knees right next to this fuzzy little hopper giving him some scratches. OK, I'll admit totally dorky foreigner moment. We freaked, like geeks... 100 more pictures. And it just kept getting better.

The first time we went was actually for DreamBoat's 4th Birthday. (Pictured here lookin' cool, and chattin' it up with his new buddy Wally) It had been exactly a month since we had moved to Sydney and we didn't know very many people. The kids had been asking to see some Koalas and Kangaroos, so I did some research and found this place.

The Second time we went to Featherdale was to take Uncle Crazy and his SweetThang.

It seriously took us awhile to get comfortable with this "free petting" mentality. I mean this is an owl... who walks up and pets an owl?! Well, we all did eventually, and a Kookaburra as well. They were very sweet and soft, and I hope they are all given extra treats for their seemingly "play it cool and don't get too annoyed by the crazy Americans" act.

And here they are folks. Koalas. They are everywhere. I loved this group. Talk about a workin' Momma. Can you see the little one on her belly too ?

Yep. We got to pet these guys too. Super soft and sleepy. These party animals rock the Z tunes for about 22 out 24 hours a day, or something like that. They are hilarious actually. They just hang out on these little V branches totally knocked out. When we were petting them I felt like they might just fall out if we pushed too hard. And no, none of us tried to do this. We are all doing our best to set a good example for the Septic Tanks (that is what Americans are called) over here.

Once you walk through the Koala "display" you enter into the feeding area. There are kangaroos and wallabies and emus that you can feed. You donate money on the honor system (yes I gave heaps of cash, it's that King Kong conscience of mine) and then take a ice cream cone and scoop up some feed to pass out to the obviously starving and neglected animals. This little guy won my heart. Most of the other overly fed chunkies just laid on their side and allowed you to bring the food right to their mouths. We needed a leaf fan and some grapes to make the look complete but you get the point. But this little one grabbed my hand with both forepaws and I was butter in his paws. I think we really had something special, and I'm sure next time I go back he will bound to me because he has been waiting on bated breath for my return.

It's a true Australian romance.

Here is Uncle Crazy with an Emu. They seemed to like the cones more than the feed... and whatever is stuck to the bottom of your shoe. They kept peeking under our feet... ? I've decided that emus are not the sharpest tools in natures shed. However, they are ambitious and entertaining.

SweetThang with an albino Roo.

This rollie pollie is a wombat. These guys are way cute. However, they bite. I learned this the hard way. I now read the signs over the animals enclosures. But, you gotta admit that being bitten by a wombat is kinda cool.

Whoa! Bet you didn't think they had any of these in Australia. No, they are not native, however they are totally wild. Actually, the funniest part about this little photo op is that there are no lambs or pigs in Featherdale...

A goanna, or Australian Monitor Lizard. Uncle Crazy and SweetThang saw these in the wild on their 4 week jaunt around the country.

Echidna.

Small little compact bundle of bristles and muscles... with long, weird, sticky tongues.

We actually got to pet this funky little guy too.

But not this guy. This is the Tasmanian Devil.

I have to admit I was surprised by his size. He is puny. Please don't tell him I said that. No matter the lack of size, I still would not like to piss him off.

And one of my personal favorites, the Cassowary. This guy is about the the size of an emu but with much more bling. Check out his headdress. It is actually called a casques and is made of keratinous skin (think fingernails) over a core of firm foam like material. The verdict is still out and why this king has such a crown. Scientist can't agree on whether it's primary purpose evolved to be a weapon, a tool, or a secondary sexual characteristic. Well, I for one, have always heard that you can tell a lot about a guy by the size of his forehead.

There are many more fun furry, feathered, and scaly friends at Featherdale. So, chances are, if you come for a visit, we will drag you here too.