December Wrap-Up - Part 4

On the 20th December - the day after our return from Margaret River, we drove in two cars to Caversham Wildlife Park, about 30km (28miles) away.

This is a privately run wildlife park located in Whiteman Park, home to several Australian native animals like kangaroos, koalas, possums, wallabies, wombats, dingos and Tasmanian devils, and is wholly funded by the entrance fees and donations.

Jose stayed home as he had just returned from a physio appointment, having had sciatica pain for a few days while we were away, so he had to avoid walking a lot.

Karina, Isabelle, Max, Benoit and Thomas

Map of Caversham Wildlife park, the various koalas in the "Meet the koalas" enclosure

The park has various shows throughout the day, and the "Meet the Koalas" show was about to start, so we headed there and got into the long line to go and pat the koalas.
From the long line, each person or family go into booths with a koala and a keeper, and can stand next to a koala and pat its fur (not the head) and take photos of course.
Our koala was Eric, although truth be told they all looked the same to me. (4th one from top in the koala photo lineup).

Next we started following the path along the map to see as much as we could before the next show with the Wombats - the pelicans, kookaburras, owls, birds, penguins....




The huge kangaroo enclosure is one of the most popular, as the kangaroos roam around freely, seem to be quite pacific and patient with adults and kids who pat them the whole day.
There is a food bin, and I took a handful of food but the ones I approached just weren't interested in eating.  Most of them were more interested in having a snooze.




I was lucky to see a joey entering and exiting his mother's pouch, and managed to make a short video of him exiting the pouch. He seemed far too big to go in, but he did! 
Hope you enjoy it 😉

The next show we attended was the "Wombat and Friends" and while we waited for the doors to open we took photos in the photo booths.

At "Meet the Wombat and Friends" show

Closer to opening time we joined the queue but it all went very quickly. There were two keepers with two wombats and the families or individuals sat down next to them and could just touch the wombat's legs, the other keeper would take the photos, and out again.

Then we went around the barn looking at the exotic birds and small mammals on display. 

Various Australian birds on display

At Molly's Farm, which is open daily from 9,30 to 4,30h, they have farm shows like sheep shearing, crack a whip, lamb feeding, or sheep dogs mustering the sheep.

In the animal shed the chickens are running around, there are ducks, an ostrich, the llama ... very nice for young kids to see.

Chickens, the llama, a quokka, ?, camel

When we left the animal park we looked for a place to eat nearby and settled for Nando's Chicken , so Isabelle wouldn't have trouble with the food.

                  

Our next stop was the Pinnaroo Valley Memorial Park Cemetery about 20min away.

Why the cemetery you might ask? Well, this cemetery is a very different concept to what we are used to in most countries. This one is just used for cremations, so there are no buried coffins, and families just have a little plaque with the loved one's name around the lakes, on a bench, or a tree.

A lot of ducks and kangaroos roam around, even though it's right next to the freeway.

No fresh flowers are allowed, as the kangaroos eat them.

It is not unusual to see people jogging, or walking around, even having a picnic on the lawns.

We ended our day with a visit to Hillary's Boat Harbour (and shopping centre) about 10min away.

It was a beautiful day and many people were still enjoying a swim on the small sheltered beach.

We had an ice-cream first, then walked around the harbour, and then back to the car to head home. 

Entry to Hillary's Boat Harbour

At Hillary's Harbour

Hillary's small beach

Back home we decided to order food from the nearby Japanese Restaurant - Yuki.

We love Japanese food, and so do Karina and Thomas who recently visited Japan, but Isabelle was not too keen. Luckily we still had leftovers from the night before, and I warmed that up for her dinner. It was a fabulous meal.

Delicious Japanese food for our dinner

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Linking to Saturday Critters