Max, Riley and I took a trip up to the Healesville Sanctuary
about 80 miles northeast of Melbourne. The
devastating bushfires in February 2009 had burned within a few miles of
Healesville. Luckily the fire didn’t go down the hillside into the Sanctuary.
The day was overcast and a little too cool for our liking
but it was a good opportunity for us to see the Australian wildlife as Miranda
had flown up to the Gold Coast for a couple of days to visit her friend Michele.
We had been to Healesville 3 years ago when Riley was 5 and
Max was 2. Riley said he remembered some
of it, Max, nothing. Despite the cool
temperatures we had a fun time with the emus, kangaroos, wallabies, echidnas,
wombats, Tasmanian devils (they say “Tazzy” devils!), blue-tongued lizards, etc. One of the koalas was awake and looking
around. Last visit they were all sound
asleep.
They have a raptor show in a small outdoor arena which is
fun. Falconers with heavy gauntlets
bring out eagles, owls, buzzards (a Black Breasted Buzzard named Beatrice to be
exact) and hawks. They fly right over
the heads of the audience close enough that Max said, “His wing touched my
cheek!” None of my photos of the birds
turned out as my shutter speed was set way too slow. Every photo was a blur of feathers!
On the way out we stopped in the gift shop to see if there
were stuffed animals that we DIDN’T have, and sure enough we came home with a
kookaburra and platypus.
Miranda came in that evening and had insisted on taking the
bus into the city from the airport, then catching a tram back home. Several hours later she arrived a little
frazzled. Public transport is good in
Melbourne but you need a little patience.
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