Koala Bears, Dingoes and Croc's........Oh My!

Okay, so I am a bit depressed. Some of you may be wondering how could I possibly be depressed being in Australia in 88 degree weather? Well let me tell you why…… I didn’t watch the Steeler game. Let me rephrase that I couldn’t watch. Can you believe that Steeler Nation hasn’t opened up a Pittsburgh Steeler bar in Australia? The nerve, I thought for sure someone could get the NFL ticket half way across the world. NOPE. My friend Grant would tell me that I have let the city down. I know Grant I am ashamed. Not only did I miss one game but I will miss the next two. I hope Hines won’t be too upset with me for not being able to watch.

Yesterday I wondered what could possibly cheer me up…..then it came to me that I needed a hug from a Koala Bear. So I headed to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and see some real Australian animals. The Lone Pine Sanctuary has over 130 Koala Bears. The one that I got to hug his name is Tigger. Holding Tigger was one of the coolest things I have ever done. Tigger was very soft and he really clung onto me. I must admit I was a bit nervous holding him because I was afraid I might drop him. Then I realized this koala is not going anywhere once he has a hold of me. I really wanted to bring him home but I do not think customs would approve. Oh well.

I also fed some Kangaroos. This might have been the strangest part of the day. All these kangaroos were just hanging out in an open field. I bought some feed at the gift shop. I was a bit hesitant at first after I saw one of them hoping across the field. I figured my luck one would knock me over. I sat and watched some people feed the kangaroos for a bit. I then decided I had nothing to be worried about. I held my hand out flat to one of the kangaroos and he ate it right up. I just couldn’t get over these kangaroos there were at least 30 to 40 kangaroos in this open field. Some were just lying around while others hopped all over the place. I guess they are used to humans by now.

I went over to the Tasmanian devils for a bit however one of the staff at the sanctuary said they were just delivered to the zoo yesterday and have been underground ever since. Oh well. I then went over to the dingoes to see if they were out and about. They have two dingoes one was up and moving around and the other was sleeping. One of the staff people told me that they one dingoes are very gentle while the other one is a bit feisty.

The sanctuary also has the world’s first artificially inseminated koala bear. I felt bad for this koala because he was in a cage all by himself. The sanctuary had tons of birds but I am not a big fan of birds so I sort of breezed right thru that section. I saw a few other animals such as crocodiles, wombats and possums. I took a lot of video which for some reason I cannot upload to the website right now. So I will have to share those later.