wildlife

After spending a week in Townsville it was time to head to Mackay.  We had a lovely visit with some relatives who we’d last seen in Tasmania! It is exceptionally nice to see someone you know after months on the road.  This lifestyle offers continuous opportunities to meet new people, but those relationships are fleeting.  Life on the road can actually be quite lonely despite being surrounded by other travellers, so meeting up with someone you know is both comforting … Read More

DAY TWO!  Day one is here, here, and here.  This is the last one, I promise! So….we liked our day at the Billabong Sanctuary so much that we opted to come back the next day.  You can get your ticket stamped before you leave to visit the next day for free.  We came back the next afternoon to see some of our favourite things.  We headed back over to see the cassowary and got a good look at these black … Read More

Here’s part one and part two.  I wish I could remember the details about this (stuffed? preserved?) croc.  (Bad tourist!  Always take a picture of the sign!)  This was a real crocodile that had lived at the Billabong Sanctuary (I think) and he’s huge.  We were careful not to touch him (as requested on the sign I forgot to take a picture of).  I was surprised he was out where he could potentially be mishandled but he’s been around awhile … Read More

Part one is here! We were so happily feeding the roos and ducks that we missed the wombat talk.  We got there just at the end, just in time to get to give one a pat.  This is Tonka.  He was rescued from his mother’s pouch and has grown up at the Billabong Sanctuary.  Tonka loves to greet his adoring public each day.  (The woman holding Tonka was a volunteer, she told me she was doing an internship for her … Read More

One of my favourite stops on our trip so far was the Billabong Sanctuary in Townsville.  It’s a unique zoo experience, full of Aussie animals with scheduled talks and hands-on sessions throughout the day.  When we arrived we headed straight for the cassowaries where the ranger talk had already started.  There are two cassowaries and we were lucky to be able to feed them grapes! Cassowaries are the third largest bird in the world, behind the ostrich and emu.  They … Read More

Look! A cassowary crossing roadsign!!  Southern cassowaries live in a very small region of the Queensland coast, so this was pretty much my only chance to get this one.  We weren’t lucky enough to spot any cassowaries in the wild but we did get to see (and feed!) some when we visited Townsville (post to come!). In Kuranda is a placed called BatReach.  We were really hoping to visit but they were closed when we arrived.  Their website (which has … Read More