Yesterday Mel and I went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary with our friend Eddie. The actual sanctuary (previously known as the bird sanctuary) is home to many animals native to Australia including kangaroos, koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, crocodiles, snakes, many different birds etc.
We went to a few different shows, my favourite was the free-flight bird show. They had all of these amazing birds which flew directly over you.... a little scary with the falcon and eagle, but definitely a sight to see! Some of the other ones we went to were about snakes, koalas and wombats, and one with a 1tonne croc that ate a whole chicken and a kangaroo tail right in front of us.
My favourite experience of the day was visiting the kangaroos. Up until this point I had only seen wild kangaroos from a distance, so it was great to go up to interact and feed them so close. The area was like a large park and the kangaroos were just everywhere. There were mothers with joey's still in their pouches...that was really neat because it looked so weird seeing a tail and feet coming up out of the pouch. They were very tame...they ate food out of the palm of our hands. Apparently, they're not so tame in the wild, we were told that they can actually become quite vicious and they have very powerful tails.
After the kangaroos, Mel and I did the 'Extreme Green Challenge' which is like a canopy rope course above the sanctuary. It was probably one of the freakiest things I've done. We were literally on top of the trees, walking between them with just a rope beneath our feet and one to hold onto. Of course we were attached with a harness, so it was safe, but looking down from that height is a bit creepy. The course ended with a 150m flying fox (which is just when you attach a pulley to a long rope and glide through the air) which went over the crocodiles and other exhibits in the park. The whole course was supposed to take about 30-40 minutes to complete....it took Mel and I over an hour! I guess we're not as sporty as we thought... there were quite a few freak out moments.
We left the sanctuary and ended our day with dinner and drinks at a surf club overlooking the water. It was so beautiful; having the water right in front of me reminded me of dining on a cruise ship...same magnificent views.
