HPU in Australia: July 2008: Day 13: Australia National Maritime Museum & Koala Park Sanctuary

Ok, so it's hardly stopped raining since I mentioned that it hasn't rained much. On the group's last full day in Sydney, we were able to duck the showers long enough to visit the Maritime Museum, which houses surfing, boating, and other water sports exhibits. In addition, several tall ships are docked there, including Cook's ship that was used in three sailings in the Pacific, two "supposedly" discovering Australia and New Zealand and one looking for a route through the Bering Strait (turned back by icepack).

Darling Harbour is a great place to shop, eat, and just be, but it's heavily populated by an equal mix of tourists and businesspeople. After the museum visit, we ate lunch and shopped for last-minute items. An unusual note about the mall is that dozens of random birds with long, curved beaks were walking around the food court. Must have flown in a door, and no one bothered to shoo them out.

Then we were back on the bus and off to the Koala Park Sanctuary, about 40 minutes away from Darling Harbour. Due to the poor weather conditions, we were among the few people there.

Upon entering, we were skeptical about what we would get to see and do. We made our way past zoo-like cages and barriers with one of this and one of that in each cage. I don't blame the animals for hiding where it's dry. We also had to remind ourselves that many of the animals we were seeing are marsupials and are accustomed to sleeping during the day and prowling at night. So when our group gathered for the koala feeding, the poor girl was less than happy to wake up and entertain us. Those who wanted got a photo with her, although we had to be careful not to get too close to her mouth.

Same with the wombat. We had to approach from the side to keep her calm. Note: A wombat is the size of my 90+ pound chocolate lab. Much bigger than the small possum I was expecting. Peacocks stutted throughout the park, and I was able to get a couple of them to eat out of my hand. Or rather get close enough to lunge beak and neck fully extended and snatch the food like a snake strikes its prey.

We also saw a sheep shearing, not nearly as rough as I expected it would be on the sheep, although I'm sure he was quite cold afterward (outside temp was 12-14 C).

The most fun (for me anyway) was getting into the pen with the young kangaroo and wallaby (smaller species than kangaroo). Rain pouring down, and I didn't care. I walked through the mud and poo to feed each one--petting their coats and talking to them like they were human. I know, I know. Ridiculous. My favorite was a wallaby who thought I was going to pull my handful of food away from her. To protest, she grabbed my hand with both "hand" claws and held on tight until every piece of food was gone. It didn't hurt, but it felt like a "watch this" moment when she first grabbed me.