billabong sanctuary

got another taste of australian wildlife visiting billabong sanctuary, which is located only a short bus ride away from JCU. some of the animals were contained in enclosures, while others were free to swim/hop/fly around. i got super excited about the kangaroos, who were extremely docile and would let us go up and pet them.

feeding a roo!

we also went around and got a look at lots of other animals, including some reptiles, wombats, and koalas. side note: i don't understand the hype about how koalas are so cute.. i think they look more like weird sleepy old men. people could pay to have their photos taken with the koalas, and apparently koalas have a strict working agreement that they can only work two hours a day every two days. sounds ideal to me.. 

 wombats i found to be really adorable- and i previously had no idea what they even were. other marsupials here included the pademelons; these look like a cross between a tiny kanga and a mouse. cute! 

and while i am slightly terrified of snakes, i did like watching them and getting the chance to hold them. we got up close and personal with the inland taipan, which is the most venomous snake in the world (don't worry, we weren't allowed to hold this guy). 

another highlight of the visit was watching the adult croc feeding, where we got reassured that salt water crocs (the most dangerous croc in the world), are in fact found in estuarine environments on occasion. guess i won't be back to the river for a bit.. while smaller, the female crocodiles are more dangerous than the males because they have flexible necks.

the dingos look just like dogs!

and more pretty flowers..