Grays Down Under

Saturday we decided to take a road trip to a place called Phillip Island for an up close and personal encounter with some kangaroos, wallabies and various other animals. We went with our friends and fellow senior couples the Hydes and the Maughans.

We wanted to go there because we had heard you can feed and even pet kangaroos up close. It did not disappoint!

The kangaroos came right up to us and wanted the food we had to offer. They have some pretty long claws on those little front paws, but they were very gentle and we didn't get clawed. They would grab our proffered hand with the food in it and hold on until they had licked our hands clean. Some were a little more greedy than others and one mama huffed at me a couple of times because I was not getting the food out of my pocket fast enough for her.

As you can see by looking at the background in some of the photos, we were in an open "wild" area, not inside a cage. Obviously, these roos are pretty used to humans, so not totally wild, but certainly wild enough for us!

It was a really fun experience to be so up close and personal with a wild animal. So close, in fact, that you could see their eyelashes, which, by the way, were really quite long! They have powerful legs, and those tails are super strong and act like another leg to balance with. There were dark grey ones and light ones. Some a little more brown.

Patiently waiting for Brent to give him more food

Here is a mama Roo with her baby in the pouch looking out

Baby Joey in head first with just his legs sticking out. Haha!

All filled up and just chillin' now

Here's a little video you can click on:

This little guy is a wallaby; they are smaller than kangaroos and a little more reddish in color with dark ears, and are really cute

This is a Wombat. Weird name for something that looks nothing like a bat, but more like a pig and is actually related to the Koala family. He looked fat and cuddly though.

Two very pretty ducks and a colorful-looking emu-type bird

This very colorful Kookaburra has a very cool bird call. We only get to hear it once in a while where we live. Our office mates, the Hydes, have seen them and heard them several times on their morning walks. If you would like to hear the song of the amazing Kookaburra click here.