Jump for joey

We packed up our things and said goodbye to Penrith. We’re starting our slow drive down south, starting with a weekend retreat in Long Point. But before we get too far, we decided to spend the day at Featherdale Wildlife Park.

I have a vague memory of the park from my visit in 2006. The collection is everything Australian: koalas, kangaroos, wombats, wallabys, Tasmanian devils, etc. We decided to buy the photo with the koala, since we wanted to get close to one. We wandered the park for a couple of hours. I think we could have stayed at the koala section for the entire time. We intently watched a mother with her joey clinging to her back. She didn’t seem bothered by the cling-on and appeared to easily move around with the extra weight. We also saw a little joey in a kangaroo pouch. His hairless tailed poked out of the pocket and made his mother look more like an excited male kangaroo. The joey eventually flipped around and poked his tiny head into the sunlight. We could see little ears for a bit, before he rolled over agin and dove headlong into the pouch; once more, not quite getting his tail to follow. Did you know that a female kangaroo can be dealing with three young at once. It’s possible for the kangaroo to be pregnant, have one in the pouch, and have a third out of the pouch but still nursing. I have a new respect for moms kangaroos.

As we entered another enclosure, we saw an albino wallaby. I suspect they’re probably very rare, and this one certainly looked unusual compared to the others. We moved just up the path and with a cup of kangaroo feed, we held our hands flat and let them eat out of our palms. The little ones were gentle, doing more of a vacuum move, while a large gray kangaroo slobbered all over my hand. Luckily, hand washing stations are thoughtfully placed around the park just for situations like this. During our wandering, we discovered that echidnas are quite fast, Australia has some wickedly weird birds, and wombats sleep a lot.

Our photo session with the koala was a high point. She was very friendly and allowed us to pat her bum. She was as soft and fluffy as any koala looks, and those ears! So cute.

After lunch, we headed to Long Point to meet up with Lauren, Pat, Angelique and others for a relaxing weekend.Read more