Matt and Cece's Wild Safari

Okay...time to go over a list of some of the animals we've seen on our little trip so far. I'll try and distinguish between which animals we saw in the wild and which ones we saw in captivity. Pictures are included where available.

NEW ZEALAND
Kiwis - we saw these little flightless birds in a habitat at a Maori cultural center and geothermal park in Rotorua. They are extremely endangered and are nocturnal so they're not really easy to see in the wild. Also, they wouldn't let us take pictures in the habitat so you'll have to take our word that we saw these guys.

Dolphins - we saw a bunch of dolphins swimming alongside our boat as we cruised around the Huraiki Gulf in Auckland's harbor.

Sheep and cows - they're everywhere.

AUSTRALIA
Okay, things really pick up a little here.

Kangaroos - the animal most people associate with Australia. I was fortunate enough to see 40-50 bouncing around a golf course in Canberra with Cece's Uncle Harry (Cece was at a quilting party). They ranged in height from around two feet tall all the way to six feet tall. They were used to humans being around them but are still wild animals so they started hopping away from us when we got within about 30-40 yards away. We also saw a couple at an animal park in Tasmania. These guys were pretty tame. They come around the animal park during the day for some lunch and water and then take off again at night. The fences at the park aren't very tall so they just hop right out.

Koalas - the other animal you probably think about when you hear "Australia". We have seen these guys both in captivity and in the wild. There were three living at the animal park in Tasmania. They were pretty lazy. They just hung out in their little enclosure. They slept most of the time but they woke up a few times to munch on some eucalyptus leaves. The ones in the wild were much more active and fun. There's a little town on the Great Ocean Road down in Victoria called Kennett's River. If you turn off the main road and drive about 500 meters up the road into the woods you're surrounded by gum trees. We saw a family standing around their car gawking at something above their heads. Sure enough, there was a little koala about fifteen feet off the ground, just munching away on some leaves. We parked quickly and joined the gawking family. As we checked out our little friend we noticed another, bigger fella hanging out not too far away. He was a little more shy and started climbing up the tree. Let me tell you, koalas are a heck of a lot faster than I thought. This guy got up to the top of that gum tree in a hurry. As we scanned the trees we spotted another one about 30 meters into the woods. He just sat in the same spot and didn't move too much though.

Wallabies - other than birds, this would be the little animal we've seen the most of. We spotted our first little wallabies (they look like miniature kangaroos) on the trail we walked in Freycinet National Park in Tasmania, less than five minutes from the beach at Wineglass Bay. Cece spotted a little guy standing on our path. As she snapped some pictures he hopped into the bush, where he met up with another little friend. We saw a few more on that hike and several more feeding along the side of the road that night. We then saw several more at a city park in Launceston and Cece got up close and personal with a fella named Hopper in Lake St. Clair National Park. There were also several at the animal park.

Pademelons - these guys are like pygmie wallabies. They had a little orphan at the animal park and Cece got to pet him. We saw a few more at Mt. Field National Park just a few minutes later when we went to see Russell Falls.

Tasmanian Devils - unfortunately these little guys are being devastated in the wild by a facial tumor. Hopefully the vets and wildlife scientists will find a cure soon. So we were only able to see a family of devils at the animal park. The park we went to is part of a state wide breeding program that will help repopulate the wild with healthy devils.

Platypus - the little duckbilled mammals live all over Australia, but we saw ours in Tasmania. The wildlife park we went to backs up to a river and a family of platypus live in the river. We saw one little guy swim across the water and do a little dive down for some food.

(TO BE CONTINUED...)