Billabong

Hello, it's been a while again!

I haven't been able to do much lately, as I currently have stitches in my hand. They're in the palm, in that crease where my index finger joins my palm to be more precise. So this little tiny wound is proving to be very limiting to me! It's also on my left hand, and I am a leftie, so even worse!

This means that even though I had a very quiet week this week work-wise, I haven't been able to do much else of interest. Not much exercise as I can't let my hand get too sweaty (too much information perhaps!), no swimming or anything as I need to keep it dry. No countryside walks as I need to keep it clean and not go anywhere too dusty. No crochet as the stitches are right in the way - and it hurts to move my finger... You get the idea :)

But as I hadn't posted for a while, I did want to write something, so I thought I would just share a few pictures from a day out I had with a friend and her little one last weekend - before the stitches went in.

The place we went to was a local wildlife park, called Billabong Sanctuary. I have been really looking forward to visiting this place as they have wombats there. You can even have a picture holding the wombat for an extra charge, although I didn't do that on this occasion as the little miss who was with us was kind of tired, and not in the mood for waiting around for me. We did get to stroke the wombat though, and that was pretty awesome anyway :)

Billabong is a relatively small wildlife park, so its draw is not the scale of the place, or the exotic animals. It's more about the up close and personal encounters you can have with the animals there, which are mainly native wildlife. Of course, coming from the UK, the native Australian wildlife is pretty exciting for me anyway!

So, here are a few of my favourite pictures from the day:

These ducks and geese are wild, but they eat from your hand at Billabong!

These kangaroos eat from your hand too. And they come over and tap you to let you know they want feeding!

Mamma and Babba

This little furball lives in an enclosure, so no handfeeding. But look how soft and fluffy it is!! It's called a rufous bettong, although they used to be known as rat kangaroos.

This is a cassowary. Pretty rare,and pretty dangerous too. The dads bring up the chicks, and they are capable of disembowling if they feel the need to defend themselves!

These river turtles were pretty fascinated by my camera! They were so funny to watch as they stalked the lens!!

"Me! Me! Get a picture of me!"

This is Tonka the wombat - the main guy I had wanted to meet! He loves cuddles and human contact, having been hand raised after his mother was sadly killed on the road. Apparently the mother's pouch is so protective that even when they are killed by cars, a joey in her pouch can often survive the accident. Tonka loves people so much that when the park had to close for a while once for cyclone repairs, he went right off his food and got quite poorly. Once the park opened again and he had visitors, he perked right back up again!

Cuddles with Tonka!

I really loved these plumed whistler ducks. So friendly and pretty!!

Well that's about the limit for my typing at the moment, as my stitches are starting to get sore as the movement of my fingers pulls on them. Hopefully they'll come out soon and I can get back to normal!

I hope you enjoyed the animals, and I'll be back soon I hope :)