We awoke earlier than the alarm – at least I did - far too excited to sleep! Our driver, Darren, showed up early and we found ourselves the only occupants of the Croc Tours minivan – a personal chauffeur to the zoo! Darren is a full time high school teacher (English and Humanities) and taught us a lot about the history of Australia, the Australia zoo, the different aboriginal tribes – I mean, the JOURNEY to the zoo was incredible just listening to his stories.
We saw the nurses working with a baby roo, who they brought over to the window as if we were new parents standing outside to greet our young one. It was absolutely adorable.
After that, we headed back over to the zoo and met our guide for the day, Jade.
First stop – Komodo dragon with her keepers Jimmy and Bruce (Dublin). She was absolutely beautiful! I never thought I’d be petting a Komodo dragon like a puppy, I won’t lie – it was spectacular. The zookeepers were really wonderful telling us about Komodo dragons, their behavior in the wild, and what the sounds she made meant so we wouldn’t be worried or afraid. They directed us where to sit/stand and how/where to pet her – keeping a watchful eye on her to make sure there wasn’t any unexpected behavior. I never for a moment felt afraid or unsafe – just in absolute awe. Jade was not only our escort for the day, but also our personal photographer - so we could really relax and enjoy the experience.
From there we went and met an Echidna named Dame. Dame is a male echidna, but they didn’t actually realize that at the time he was named and it didn’t seem to make sense to rename him once he’d adjusted to it. We again snapped some photos and then spent some time with the keeper learning about echidnas and their behavior.
Next, we drove to Bindi’s island and met the ancient tortoises (who thankfully were not mating) and the lemurs that live on the island. There are 11 lemurs on the island, and we were able to find 9 nine of them. Jade was completely enamored with them and their orange eyes – she said you can tell them apart by their eyes, which range from soft orange to nearly glowing fluorescent orange.
Visiting the Asia section of the park next, we met with the Tiger keeper and learned a lot about Sumatran Tigers. No, we didn’t get to pet this one or get anywhere close to it – but it was kind of neat.
We then talked with the elephant keeper for a bit. The three female elephants at the zoo are Sumatran elephants, which are the smallest of the Asian elephant species. The keeper explained that they brought the females over first to get them acclimated to their new home before bringing over a male for breeding, but then Covid hit and everything kind of came to a halt. Apparently, transporting large animals (like elephants) requires several years of planning, permits and paperwork – so they are hoping to get a male within the next few years to see if they can breed some new baby elephants.
We also were lucky enough to see the Red Panda climb down from their perch for a wee. (I mean, seeing the Panda was really cool - not the wee part.)
Throughout the day, everyone we spoke with reinforced the zoo’s focus on conservation and preservation – a philosophy they’ve followed since it first opened in the 1960’s, run by Steve Irwin’s parents. We were also reminded several times that the fee we’d paid for the Platinum tour went a LONG way towards helping the animals. Since this was BY FAR the most expensive thing we’re doing in Australia, it really did make me feel good to know that it wasn’t just a guilty pleasure (getting to interact with beautiful creatures) – and that our dollars made a difference.
After the elephants, we went to a grassy field where there were multiple trainers waiting for us, each holding an animal or two. We took a group photo and then had the opportunity to interact and learn about each of the animals. My favorite was EASILY the koala – who was so incredibly soft and cuddly I didn’t want to give her back. Her handler, Birdie, was VERY protective of her and made sure I was holding her the right way – and then took her back long before I wanted to give her up. No matter how much I begged, pleaded or bribed, Birdie refused to let me smuggle the koala home with me.
In addition to the koala, there was a shingle scaled lizard, a little turtle, a non laughing Kookabura, a gorgeous python that I willingly kept around my neck for a good long while. (he python handler was really good looking, so I was somewhat distracted by the fact that I had a python around my neck), a wombat, a dingo (who was too shy to interact) and a gorgeous Macaw.
This is when I realized that we are the ONLY two people on the VIP tour today – Jade says they only do Platinum tours once or twice a week because it requires so many resources to pull off this many amazing encounters. That’s partially why they are so expensive.
After the many photos and conversations, we headed to the Steve Irwin lodge, which opened only a few years ago. The idea was that Steve wanted people to experience the zoo without having to rush or drive to and from town – unfortunately, they were WAY too expensive to actually stay in. We could have stayed at the lodge OR taken the platinum tour – and I’m glad I chose the tour!
At the lodge we enjoyed a delightful lunch next to a window overlooking a field with kangaroos and emus just lounging in the sun. The food was lovely, but it took about an hour and twenty minutes to get our food even though the restaurant was empty – so we had to eat it in about 10 minutes with no time to wander around.
The shuttle took us back over to the zoo where Jade was waiting with the golf cart to take us to our VIP tickets for the big show – the Crocodile feeding show. Okay, it was REALLY hoaky. They had two hosts with really bad jokes trying to rile up the crowd to yell larger than the other side. I had my hopes up that perhaps one of the Irwins would participate in the show, since they’d done so yesterday – and since today was a public holiday – but it wasn’t to be. Once the jokes were over, there was a really beautiful display of the trained birds at the zoo (although the bird that’s supposed to fly into the crowd to steal a five dollar bill out of a volunteer’s hand flatly refused, to the great amusement of everyone in the stands).
I mean, I UNDERSTAND they do this every day, and there are about 20-30 additional keepers standing about watching for unexpected behavior ready to jump in and cause a distraction or something – but even knowing all this, it was TERRIFYING. They showed where the croc was most dangerous (overhanging the water or within 2 meters of the shore) but simply reiterated over and over to simply stay out of the water. The croc was definitely a highlight. I asked keeper Bruce, who was one of the watchers near the VIP section if Damian and I were going to get to pet that one (pointing at the croc). He laughed and said, “Not today.”
Back in the cart, we headed to the Africa section of the park and had an incredible encounter with DJ, the rhinoceros. This was in a back paddock away from the publicly accessible part of the zoo, where DJ liked to hang out. His three girlfriends were in the public area, but DJ prefers to be left alone during the day – and then they all return to the rhino barn at night for a cuddle.
DJ was MASSIVE – with skin that could exfoliate a rock easily. But if you put your hand between his belly and the fat upper portion of his leg, where he hadn’t been explosed to the sun and the mud bed, his skin was incredibly soft. (That’s what baby rhinos feel like according to the keepers). Also, if you grabbed the skin roll by his upper legs you could really feel how thick his skin was. Again, I never thought I’d get to pet a rhinoceros let alone fall in love with one – but he was BEAUTIFUL. His head weighs about 250 kilos, so raising his head takes a tremendous amount of muscle, which you can see when he does it. He spends the majority of his day out grazing on the grass and laying in the sun (or mud).
You can really tell that DJ’s keepers are incredibly fond of him – we got that everywhere we went, but especially here. And again, they were wonderful about explaining how best to approach him and what to do / not to do. For example, we had to stand no further than his front let – because if for some reason DJ wanted to quickly turn his head (not even in an aggressive way), that 250 kilo bulldozer of a head would definitely knock you flat. As with all the animals, the keepers discouraged fast phrenetic movements and speaking with a soft and comforting tone. They gave us so much time with this beautiful creature, answering all our questions and telling us about the dangers to rhinos in the wild (primarily trophy hunters and horn poachers.) It makes no sense to me because 1) after spending time with DJ, you would NEVER want to see this beautiful guy harmed; but 2) the horns are made up of keratin – the same stuff as your fingernails – so despite ancient Asian beliefs that rhino horn could cause sexual arousal and heal multiple diseases, there is absolutely ZERO science to support it. Most rhinos in the wild have had their horns cut shorter by rangers (but not too short as to cause them harm) to keep poachers from going after their horns.
We washed our now filthy (but wonderfully soft and exfoliated) hands and headed over to the meerkat enclosure. I thought, Meercats? Really? That's going to suck after seeing a RHINO up close and personal - but it was SO MUCH FUN.
Five little meercat sisters scrambling all over us while the keeper spoke to us about meercats and fed them. Meercats jumping on your shoulders, your head, your hands, Damian’s hat, throwing each other off and screaming at each other as they were vying for food. (I was very grateful the keeper explained this ahead of time – meercats fight like siblings – they aren’t aggressive, and it certainly isn’t aimed at you – you’re just a pathway to the pouch full of food!)
We played there for quite a while, with all the zoo patrons looking on with envy as we played with the meercats. No doubt Damian and I will show up in many family albums and YouTube videos – although again, we were just the climbing apparatus.
Next we went over to the giraffe enclosure and fed a giraffe. I’ve done this before, so it wasn’t that big a deal – but it was fun to walk up to the front of the hoards of people lined up and simply step up, feed them, get some photos, and then head back towards the golf cart. Jade gave us the rundown of all the giraffes in the enclosure – including the Guinness World Record holder for the tallest giraffe in captivity, Forest, who stood at 18 feet, 8 inches. He's the primary breeding male, and there was the cutest four month old baby giraffe hanging about the paddock.
From there (and I know you’re getting tired reading this – so you can imagine how exhausted we were at this phase) we had an inside tour of the Wildlife hospital.
It was, well, very boring. It was an animal hospital. We saw empty operating tables. Empty x-ray machine. Empty holding pens. Empty barometric tank. Not a single animal. So I asked Jade if we could cut it short and move on, which we did. By this point, it’s 4:00 and the zoo is closing in less than an hour – and there is so much we haven’t seen!
Then we stopped to see the Tasmanian Devil. They were called devils because of their red ears and how they can glow at night in reflection and look like devil eyes.
Next we headed over to see the Quaca – I was really excited about seeing them (I'd never even heard of them before) but the handler had just put them all to bed at 4:00. BOOOOO! Here's a generic picture of a Quaca that we didn't see, just because I know you're all wondering what the heck a Quaca is.
Finally, the kangaroo feed. Jade gave us some kangaroo food and we went into a field full of lounging kangaroos - most of whom had been fed by tourists all day so weren't even bothered to look at us. Damian tried feeding one of the wallabys, but they weren't quite so people friendly (very shy).
Jade left us here to feed the kangaroos and the wallabies while she went and loaded up our photos she’d taken throughout the day. We fed them and headed over to the retail shops, where I bought some gifts and a piece of artwork (a photograph by Robert Irwin) to hang at home. Jade picked us up, gave us our photos and a bag of free swag, then took us back to the front of the zoo to meet Darren our driver.
This was a MAGICAL day. Absolutely extraordinary – and everything I hoped it would be (which is nice, considering the cost). I LOVED IT. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
We tipped Jade quite well and jumped into the van with Darren for the drive back to Brisbane. I swear it took three times as long to get home, although we were very lucky with traffic since it was a public holiday. He again entertained us with stories, but mostly personal ones about his life in Australia, his fiancée, etc.
Arriving back at the hotel about 7, I texted Anna and Mark and told them if we were gonna go out, we needed to go out NOW because I was tired and hangry! We walked to an Irish restaurant in the middle of town – the food was good, but I was just overcome by the day and felt extremely sick after eating. I headed back to the hotel and was asleep before Damian even made it back. Dreaming of all the koalas......
No comments:
Post a Comment