Wildlife and Not-So-Wild Life, Too

In Sydney, we paid $52 (Australian) each or a ferry ride and admission to the Taronga Zoo. If we had wanted to meet a koala up close and personal and have a photo taken with one, there would have been an extra charge. Thursday in Perth, we went to Caversham Wildlife Park, paid $25 (Australian) each to get in, and, well getting up close and personal with koalas, kangaroos, wombats, and more was not only included but encouraged.

When we visited two years ago, the wombat encounter was with one 15-year-old, 30-kilo wombat named Bub. You can read about that visit here. I got to see Bub again on this visit, and she was every bit adorable as she was two years ago.

The joke two years ago was that I pushed several elderly people out of my way to get to Bub. I don't remember doing that, but I know I didn't do that this year, though I did make a beeline for Bub after I'd entered the barn.

According to the keeper, wombats are the largest burrowing herbivores in the animal world. The fact that Bub is 15 means that she would likely be dead in the wild. Due in no small part to motor vehicles, wombats tend to live from 10 to 15 years. In captivity, they can get to as old as 25.

After re-establishing myself with Bub, I visited a few other native animals. Younger son will probably say that I should have been holding the entire python, but the keeper did not seem too eager to release his control of the head.

We also got up close and personal with koalas and kangaroos. You can get extremely popular with kangaroos if you have a handful of kangaroo food.

Here are a few more shots of one very comfortable kangaroo, a joey inside its mother, a possum, and one bird very intent on something I may not want to know about.

Yesterday was the Western Australia quilt and craft show. While it was a very good show, people who know me well know that I have a serious aversion to being in a crowd of people. After 90 minutes, I knew that if I didn't get out within about two minutes I would have a very real meltdown. Fortunately, I was on my way to the exit when this knowledge came. Unfortunately, that left me two hours to kill before the time we were all supposed to meet. I passed an hour of that with a flat white and scone before sending 30 minutes sitting and taking playful photo shots, some of which are below.

Last night, we had a raucous dinner at Miss Maud's Swedish Hotel. Today is lunch in Fremantle and a quiet evening. Tomorrow, the husband and I get on the Indian Pacific to Adelaide. Off one our own, with no native host or hostesses, our real adventure begins.

Here are some random shots of a street statue, a yarn bombing, a quilt or three, and several of those playful photos. Since I don't expect there will be wireless on the train, the next post will likely be from Adelaide on Tuesday (here). Stay tuned for photos of the Nullarbor Plain.