We took a couple different buses to get here, and I am a little surprised we arrived unscathed. Upon checking in, we realized that they did indeed offer koala pictures, and we headed over to that area immediately. We each took a turn holding Ginger, one of a couple very amicable little koalas they use for photos. She was incredibly soft, with layers upon layers of coarse fur. When she was placed in my arms, she immediately latched onto my body, just as she would a tree branch (where they spend 18-20 hours a day sleeping). It was so adorable, it felt as if she was trying to give me a big hug. They have them very well-trained - they look right at the camera and even seem to smile. After snapping an overly sufficient amount of pictures, we moved toward the next big part of the sanctuary - the kangaroos. On our way there, we passed the tasmanian devils, the wild birds, and a bunch of free-roaming lizards. But none of these could compare to the wonder that was the roo territory. I wasn't really expecting much, because my only previous exposure to kangaroos was in the zoo, where they were behind bars...
Boy was I wrong. We opened the gate to the enclosure, and BAM. Kangaroos. Everywhere. We quickly went and got some food for them from the little vending machine they had, and selected our first kangaroos to feed. Many of them were lying on the ground, perfectly content with relaxing and being hand-fed. They were very friendly and photogenic, as well. We saw all kinds of kangaroos and wallabies of all ages, including a family of kangaroos (with the joey sticking his head out of mama's pouch!!) We easily spent over an hour playing with these adorable little guys. It was so much fun.
After that, we saw some of the remaining animals, including a HUGE salt-water crocodile. The whole place was very well kept, and you could tell that care had been taken in making sure the animal exhibits were safe for both creatures and humans.
Our ticket also included a pass into the high-ropes adventure course they had at the sanctuary. We decided to check it out, figuring it wouldn't be too much effort. After getting suited up in NASA-style suits and watching the most ridiculous safety video ever, we took to the course. There were three different levels, green, red, and black, each increasingly difficult. Everybody started on the green level and could opt to do the others. Among the challenges on the green course were a giant fireman's pole, a rope swing onto a loose spiderweb net, a couple ziplines (both dragging yourself upside-down and going feet-first quite quickly), and various rope and wooden ladders. We concluded this course with not too much difficulty and were all panting by the end. Because we only had enough time for one more, of course we chose the black course. This was not something for those who had any sort of fear of heights. Or fear of falling. Or fear of speed. Or fear of anything. Or for those prone to heart attacks. Or anxiety attacks. Or panic attacks. This was serious stuff. There were many obstacles on this course including a large net to climb (harder than it looks, especially when you're already exhausted), a long rope swing, triangular metal swings you have to walk across, and wooden ladder bridges. The scariest part, however, was the dreaded single-rope pass. Basically, you have one metal rope to stand on, and one above you to hang on to. Now, this would be fine if both of the ropes weren't reminiscent of slacklines or they weren't up 30 feet in the air swaying in the breeze - EVERYBODY froze in the middle. The course concludes with climbing a ladder to a platform above the treetops - over 60 feet in the air - and ziplining down to almost ground level on a flying fox-style wire more than 250 feet long. By the end of this, I felt like I could conquer the world.
The whole day was fantastic, and we felt like we definitely got our money's worth (a problem we encounter quite often here!) I am absolutely exhausted, and I guarantee I won't be able to move tomorrow, but it was well worth it.
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