Travelling with Cate and her two kids has been a real highlight these past couple of days. This morning we started with a walk to Scallywags Cafe for brekkie. Coffee and a big breakfast would start another big day. Why didn't my parents take all of us on a big journey when we were kids instead of buying us a million Christmas gifts? Cate had an extra ticket to visit the koala sanctuary and she invited me. At first I was reluctant because I've visited several wildlife parks in Australia, including the Koala Park in Sydney, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane, and Healesville Sanctuary in Melbourne, among others. I assumed this one was more or less the same, but after having a look on the sanctuary's website I decided I was joining Cate and her kids. The people you meet certainly "wow" you with where they invite you to. It reminds me of how, years ago in Seattle, I sneered at the idea of a tour of Microsoft headquarters because I wanted to go to Vancouver. I ended up having an absolute blast at Microsoft and I wouldn't haven't been able to go if I wasn't invited. Once at the koala sanctuary, we were greeted by a myriad of Australian wildlife. A creature that is very familiar to me is the bearded dragon. My brother, Sean has had three bearded dragons as pets over the years. The coolest creature of the day is the blue-tongued lizard.
This guy looks something like a "python with legs" but the other difference is that snakes don't have ears. I don't mind having a python around me...
Seeing some Australian wildlife in their natural habitat has been easy whereas other creatures hasn't. I've seen thousands of kangaroos and wallabies in the wild but I've only seen four wild koalas, two echidnas, one wombat, and one platypus. I've never seen a cassowary, a dingo, or an emu in the wild. I've also seen plenty of goannas but, surprisingly, very few snakes. In about seven years I've spent in Australia I've only seen about four snakes. This koala today looked very content in the carer's arms.
Going to the koala sanctuary I really felt like a kid again; I had so much fun. Earlier today I was thinking of going for a walk whilst Cate and her kids were at the sanctuary, but I walked out of the gate with a beaming smile. Cate's brother would join us for the butterfly walk, which I was advised to do by someone who stopped to offer me a lift earlier.
Cate and I would decide not to go out to eat since we spent so much last night but we opted to go out for a few drinks, and chat and laugh about all the cool things we did today. These have been two really fabulous days on Magnetic Island, chock full with wildlife, walks, great food, cane toad races, butterflies, and the whole lot, and we'd be up into the early hours laughing. Thank you Cate, we had such a great day!
