Posts in category Australia

Australia: Days 10-13

Dec30
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Morgan

Day 10: After Yellow Water, our time in Kakadu is unfortunately over. We drive out of the park to Katherine. When we finally get there, we go to the main street and look though the many didgeridoo shops. I get to look through each shop and pick the didg I want. I play each one in the shop that looks interesting. Then I move on to another down the street. Here I find one that sounds perfect, and I get it. We go to set up camp and after we are done Zach and I go to practice with our didgeridoos. While playing, we see wallabies and kookaburras as the sun sets behind the gum trees.

Day 11: Today we just did the usual, pick up camp and move to another place out in the bush, set up camp, hike, swim, and look for crocs and snakes at the beautiful Katherine’s Gorge. I couldn’t really think of a better day. It is a deep gorge with a diverse variety of plants and animals, however, the most common are the wallabies. They are all around when you are making dinner, eating dinner, hiking, and sleeping, but I can think of worse camping neighbors. Today we hiked up to look over the top of the gorge and after dinner, Zach, Harrison, and I went to the stone country to play the didgeridoo and watch the sun set. As we sit there, we can see cockatoos and wallabies fly and bound about the landscape. At this time, I do not think there is any better place to be!

Day 12: From Katherine’s Gorge we head to Alice Springs. Today we do a lot of driving and eventually end up at one of the bush camps along the highway. Here we meet many really nice people, but the ones who really got our attention were some people traveling with surfboards. It looked really out of place out in the outback so we went over to talk to them. This was our first time talking to someone else about surfing for months so we were stoked. We talked for hours about everything from pros we’ve seen in the water to the places we surfed, and our favorite surf movies. They were really nice and like so many people we have met while traveling, became instant friends. After that, we watched the stars and went to bed.

Day 13: Once in Alice Springs, we check out the many didgeridoo shops in the town. At one shop, the owner notices our croc tooth necklaces and offers to trade us lessons for some extra teeth we have. We agreed and planned to meet him tomorrow. We checked the rest of the town and went back to our camp.

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Australia: Days 6-9

Dec30
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Morgan

Day 6: After exploring Litchfield, we got on the road again and went in the direction of Kakadu. Along the way we stopped at a Didgeridoo shop to check some out. It was really cool getting to try out each one, but the best part was seeing the baby wallaby the owner was raising! (See picture of the wallaby at the bottom of the page) After that, we continued to the outer edge of the park where we set up camp and make dinner.

Day 7: Today, on the way to Kakadu, we went to Shady Camp River, Here, we were told had the most crocs in the Northern Territory! I expected the place to be crawling with crocs, but unfortunately it wasn’t. We only saw 10 crocs the whole time, which makes me really appreciate Florida where you can go almost anywhere and see tons of alligators. After, checking out the river, we continued on to Kakadu. We reached the entrance of Kakadu, but we still had about 130 kilometers to go before we reached our destination of Jabiru. Jabiru is the only town in the park and not at all what I expected. It had a grocery store and hotel, which was in the shape of a croc. I thought this country was all wild land; I was a little disappointed to find it was not. However, it did give us a chance to get some supplies and food before we made camp for the night.

Day 8: In the North of Kakadu near the Aboriginal lands to the east is the Stone Country that shelters some of the world’s oldest art. Paintings here are dated to over 10,000 years and people have been living in the area for nearly 23,000 years. This is my favorite part of the park. As you stand up on the rocky escarpment, you can see all the flood-plains, billabongs, forests, and other outcroppings for miles around. Being here gives you a feeling that is hard to explain, one that is only found when you find a place of complete natural beauty. Later that night, Zach and I go to look for crocs and snakes by the billabong – unfortunately we are unsuccessful.

Day 9: Today we went to Yellow Water billabong, an area reported to also have a lot of crocs. On the way to the billabong we stop at another rocky area to hike up to the top and look out over the land. Again, it is a sight that is hard to compare to anything else. Once in the car, we finish the drive to Yellow water and stop of to look for crocs. We see several, which is awesome! Then, we go to our campsite put up our tents, and make dinner. Like usual, we stay out at night and look at the beautiful stars, which shine brighter here than anywhere I have ever seen.  We have a great view of the Southern Cross and The Milky Way.

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Australia: Days 1-5

Dec30
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Morgan

Day 1: I just finished watching the first Crocodile Dundee movie and listening to “Down Under” for the hundredth time when our plane touched down in Darwin, Australia. Finally, I am in the place I have wanted to be in since I was about 7 years old!  I have dreamt about this moment for such a long time. Everything about the country made me want to come here, the animals (especially crocs and snakes), landscapes, and waves all seem perfect. While I am still only in the parking lot of the airport, watching the sunrise, I can already tell, I love this place!

Later that night, we went to see the fireworks for Territory day. It was really cool and we watched the fireworks and giant flying foxes cover the sky.

Day 2: There are so many crocs in Darwin you can’t even swim in the ocean! And, while I absolutely LOVE crocs, I wanted to go for a swim.  So Zach, Harrison, and I went to the town’s wave pool.  It was really cool even though it had the mushiest waves I had ever seen in my life! After the pool, we walked around the park, taking in the smell of the gum leaves and searching for frogs and snakes in the streams.

3: We head to Litchfield Park, which is about an hour and a half south of Darwin.  We camped just outside of the park tonight. It is very beautiful and there are many wallabies (small kangaroos) and cockatoos all around. This is our first night of camping in Australia!

 

Day 4: Today, we headed into the park. Our first stop is to see the magnetic termite mounds. From there, we drove to the waterfalls and plunge pools. It was amazing to swim around one of the most beautiful natural pools I have eve seen. After we finish swimming, we walk on the trail through the forest to the waterfall. Along the way we see a goanna, a tree snake, and a 10 ft olive python! It is the largest wild snake I had ever seen! Can you get any luckier?  After the waterfall we went to pitch camp farther down the road at yet another waterfall. This one was by far the most beautiful!  After dinner, we went up to the top of the falls to watch the sunset. As the sun dipped over the horizon, it left the sky and surrounding wild country in a red glow, occasionally broken up by the silhouettes of giant bats.

Day 5: Today we hung out around the falls, swimming, hiking and looking for animals. It was a great day and at night we went to see the sunset. It was so beautiful again and after, we went to swim in the plunge pools under the falls. From the water, we could again see the giant fruit bats that live in the far north of Australia. Finally, we got out of the water and walked into the forest with only the light of the moon.  It was getting late and we headed back to our tents to get some sleep.

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Australia Zoo

Dec29
2011 Leave a Comment Written by coon1906

Steve Irwin has always been one of my heros. His message for conservation and his passion for wildlife still exist today, even after his death. The Zoo was his home and the forefront for his battle to save the world’s natural places and animals through education, appreciation, and understanding no matter how big, small, or dangerous the creature. After arriving at the zoo that we have seen on tv so many times, it felt like a dream come true. Morgan and I were so exited to be volunteering at the mecca of all things dealing with saltwater crocodiles, which Steve loved so much.

One thing we found while volunteering at the zoo is that it is just as clean as when you see it on TV! In fact, it is probably the cleanest, most well taken care-of animal facility I have ever been to, and that is not just the view to the public, but the behind the scenes areas as well. Another thing is that the animals seem happy, not confined or suppressed as they seem in some other zoos.

The most exciting thing for me was seeing the crocodiles: Acco, Agro, Scrapa, Monty, Murrey and Casper. These crocs are just a few of the many that I have grown up watching on animal planet. For anyone who loves Crocodiles, it is like seeing your favorite actor in front of you. Every lunch I ate in front of Acco’s exhibit able to observe my favorite crocodile in the world, while on break.

I never thought I would be able to pet the kangaroos, but while passing them every day, I found some that really stood out. By the end of 3 weeks of volunteering, Annie the wallaby as well as Flopsie and Fragles the mother and joey grey kangaroos are three that I looked for every time I passed through roo heaven.

The conservation role that the zoo has carried on from Steve’s lead is the thing I love the most. Everywhere you turn you can see information about animals that need our help and the wildlife warriors organization set up by Steve.

The wildlife hospital is an amazing state of the art facility that I feel privileged to have volunteered at. So many animals come and go, rescued and rehabilitated, all because of the wildlife warrior organization set up by the Irwins. We spent two days cleaning, feeding, and giving fresh eucalyptus to the sick or injured koalas.

Being able to go to the zoo is something I have been waiting for almost my whole life. I enjoyed every day that I had there and was very sad to leave. It was a solid month that we spent, working at the zoo during the week, and on the off days going hiking, surfing, herping, or hanging out with friends we knew or met while we were there. I cant wait to go back and someday visit my favorite zoo in the world… Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo!

 

My day by day schedule at the zoo

Day 1: Kids zoo
Day 2: Native mammals
Day 3: Koalas
Day 4: Bird show
Day 5: Primates
Day 6: Big Cats
Day 7: Crocs
Day 8: Reptiles
Day 9: Bird show
Day 10: Reptiles
Day 11: Koalas
Day 12. Big Cats
Day 13: Wildlife Hospital
Day 14 Wildlife Hospital
Day 15: Native mammals
Day 16: Koalas

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