Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Koala at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

When I think of Australia, I think of kangaroos, koalas, kookaburras and beaches.  We barely caught a glimpse of some kangaroos in the distance on our way to Fraser Ialand, and my only koala sighting was a small grey blob way up a tree in Noosa.  I could barely make out his ears.

Hmm, I'd rather see the real thing.

So, what's a girl to do?  Go to a wildlife sanctuary.  Which we did.  The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary just outside Surfers Paradise is a real treat.  It's a huge area that can be walked, but there is also a little train for those with mobility issues or if you just don't feel like walking.

Koala posing.  

Same koala pretending to ignore me.

Thinking about maybe climbing up.  

The train at Currumbin - looks a bit like a toy!  There are
several passenger cars.

The kangaroo enclosure is huge and is open to everyone to walk in and interact with the animals.  There are several park volunteers walking around with food that you can hand feed to the kangaroos.  They seem to enjoy people, and willingly take food from you or pose for pictures.  They nibble very gently and it feels like a piece of fur is being dragged across your palm.

Love the pose!

This little fellow ate food out of my hand and then
posed for a selfie.  Adorable!

Glen attempting to photograph the kangaroos.

I think this was a wallaby - so cute.

They like to pose!

These are tree kangaroos - I didn't even know they existed.
Apparently they are an endangered species.
We weren't able to get as 'up close and personal' with these ones.

Look closely - not a creature I was ecstatic to see.  yuck

There are a number of native birds in the park as well - some part of the exhibits, some that are wild and just hang out there.  

This emu was quite willing to have people touch it.  The feathers
felt like touching a very spongy sponge!  Check out the talons.

This guy is called a Cassowary and he was kept in a large enclosure.  The
sign says to avoid placing any body part or item through the fence,
and not to enter the enclosure under any circumstance.  Apparently
they are considered the 'world's most dangerous bird'.  They are
related to the emu, and have no natural predators, so evolved to become
flightless.  Human introduction of dogs, foxes and cats to their environment
has created a problem for the survival of the eggs in the wild.  It was
quite large - similar to the emu.

The elusive kookaburra - this was as close as I
could get!

Lorikeet feeding time.  This happens twice daily at the park
and is a major attraction.  Literally hundreds of the birds come
to be fed by park attendants and tourists (who fork over a bit
of cash for the privilege)

Beautiful rainbow lorikeets - so colourful

This happened to several people!

This happened to several people as well!

Bush turkey - we've seen these everywhere in Australia.

Thanks to my birder friend, John Chandler, this has been identified
as a "Noisy Miner"

The Australian White Ibis - another bird we see all over the place,
usually poking their long beaks into the grass.  Not sure what
this one thought he'd find on the fence!

As we walked through the park, there were a number of lizards running around freely, and others that were kept behind glass or in enclosures.  For obvious reasons, I suspect!

Seen on a pathway - I think he thought he was hiding under the
railing.  

The tail is about 3 times the length of the body.

Wouldn't want to run into this guy in the wild.

I watched this one for about 5 minutes.  It never
closed its mouth the whole time.  

The Australian plants and flowers are so beautiful, and I've taken many pictures for my memory bank.  Here are a few that caught my eye today.

Kind of a weird 'hairy' palm tree.

Beautiful flowering tree 

These were spectacular - close up below.

I wish I knew the name of this.

There are a number of shows throughout the sanctuary during the day, and we managed to catch two of them.  

Sheep shearing demo - highly entertaining actor/shearer.

Aboriginal dance and didgeridoo performance

The guy sitting is the didgeridoo player.  I managed to get
a very small part of the performance on video before
my camera ran out of memory.  Sigh.  

I got a full dose of all the animals I wanted to see while here, with the exception of the Tasmanian Devil.  Just saw his little face poking out of his house, but it wasn't very visible.

Ever heard of a Quokka?  Me neither.  This is one!

Dingo in the distance.

We thought we'd be there for an hour or so, and four hours later we reluctantly left.  It was a wonderful afternoon.  One thing I learned a little bit too late was that I should have checked the Groupon or Experience Oz websites - we could have paid considerably less for admission.  However, the full price was definitely worth it, and if it supports the sanctuary, then great.