Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Today I went to the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary---it was a little over an hour away in Queensland, Australia. This place is know for their aviaries and lorikeets-very colorful birds that are openly flying around. I was not too excited about this, but just had to run through the first part of the zoo to get past the bird feeding area.
I started by going to a pen of kangaroos which were just lounging basking in the sun. They were so cute and soft. I fed a few of them and even got to see a joey up close and personal. Such precious animals. Next I got to see a Didgeridoo performance---this is a wooden instrument developed by Indigenous Australians. I got to hear the techniques in playing a didgeridoo and all the different sounds one of these instruments can make.
Then it was to feed the pelicans and eels---I stayed back for this feeding, but took a glimpse of the eels---they were huge.
Then it was off to hold a crocodile. This baby croc was about 6 months---it was only about a foot long---pretty soft and scaly---only squirmed a little bit. Then I was off to Reptile show where snakes, dingos, goannas (large lizard) and even got to hold one of the snakes. This was neat---the snake slithered all over as I held it and was very scaly and cold. The one I held was about 5 feet long and had a painted black face.
After touching the snake, it was lunch time---picnic in a park was on the schedule---mmmmm delicious sandwiches, apples, chips, and cookies!!!
Now after being stuffed, it was time to hold a koala. He was precious! I got to hold him just for a minute or two and grab and picture. He was so soft and was very lazy. He held on to me and just sat there in my arms! He was like a huge cotton ball--just adorable!
The Sanctuary also had a high ropes course inside which is where I spent the rest of my day. We all had to put on these "beautiful" large jumpsuits. These things were really warm--"hot" one-pieces, but who was I impressing? We had a few minutes of training and were off onto the course. We all started in green which was for beginners and then moved to red which was more intermediate and then some of us went on to black which was extremely challenging. I was climbing obstacles at 50-60 feet in the air. My heart was racing every time I had to unhook and re-hook my carabiner hooks. One of the hooks had to be always on on the cords. The first two courses were not very challenging but fun to zip-line, rope jump, ladder climb, but the most challenging was getting to the black course----crossing loose tight ropes, swinging on rings, and keeping my balance---the best were the flying foxes---which were long and fast zip-lines! What a thrill---it had my heart pumping for a few hours!
The last thing I did was watch an Aboriginal dance performance. The 5 young dancers (all wearing paint) were very entertaining---I was even taught a short dance with clapping and hand gestures. The group used a lot of chanting/clapping/arm and leg movements and were very good.
We left the park at about 6 and got back to make family dinner--chicken patties, salad, pasta salad, and fruit---and everyone was starving mmmmm delicious!!!
Boy was everyone drained from this awesome day-----I hung out in the cabin the rest of the night---very warm out!