Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Both the boys woke up very excited. This morning, we were going to have 'Breakfast with the Birds' at Wildlife Habitat in Port Douglas. That's where the wildlife park put on a big smorgasboard for breakfast in their huge bird aviary, and we eat breakfast with the birds. Jo and I first discovered this 18 years ago on our honeymoon, and we both knew we would do it again when we returned. The day we arrived, we'd established that it was still running, and had told the boys what it was, and how it all worked. When we first did it 18 years ago, you got your plate of food, sat down at a long trestle table, and the birds would fly down out of the trees, and eat your food from your plate on the table beside you. They'd freely walk all over the table, from plate to plate, picking and choosing what they wanted. They'd climb up your arm and sit on your shoulder, and pull your hair or play with your collar, it was really interactive, and a lot of fun. We loved it then, and knew the boys would love it also...
It's slightly different now! The area is massive, and it's a purpose built restaurant because it's become so popular. There aren't nearly as many birds that come in, and they're brought in by keepers, and you can only touch certain ones. Others are there, but they don't come to the tables or interact with the people, they sit in their branches, watching from the sidelines. There's the odd 'playful rebel' that refuses to comply with the rules (in our case a very large cockatoo), and the keepers run around trying to stop them from eating the food off our plates. We're not allowed to encourage these rebels either, by feeding them, but their antics are hugely entertaining, and their personalities are very playful, which makes them very hard to resist... I suppose it's all become a lot more formal now. The rules surrounding 'health and hygiene' around animals and food, coupled with OH&S regulations, and even the animal welfare groups not wanting birds eating food with people have probably quashed the interaction we were expecting. Who knows, maybe someone got a finger bitten off and they got sued... Anyway, it was still a great amount of fun, our cockatoo had the keepers running in circles, they were getting very frustrated (which he knew), and that made it all the more enjoyable, and the boys talked about it all day. That's good, that means we've made a memory that will last... Dylan was particularly thrilled that a little lorikeet named 'gypsy' took a liking to him and hung around for a while...
Wildlife Habitat has also undergone massive change in the last 18 years. It's enormous. Whereas before, it was primarily a bird aviary with a couple of other animals attached, now it more resembes a small zoo. And it's obviously very successful. As well as breakfast with the birds, it also does lunch with the lorikeets. The bird aviary is probably three times the size it was, and there's entire new sections of animals from all over the country. It took us most of the morning to walk around and see it all. There's marsupials and reptiles, koalas and turtles and lizards and crocodiles and snakes and all the stuff that we all love to look at and cuddle (maybe not the crocodile?) They're very good at what they do too. They are the only animal park that has successfully bred a black necked stork (?) in captivity. They are also the only animal park that has successfully bred a tree kangaroo in captivity. Two facts they're enormously proud of. The enclosures and displays are very well cared for, and there's staff every where you look. It was a great way to spend the morning, and Dylan was beside himself when he found out he could feed the kangaroos and wallabies again... Who knew such a small thing would mean so much?
The weather today was supposed to be wet. Very wet! We'd been told to get ready for heavy showers, and weatherzone on iPhone confirmed these reports. 90% chance of rain, over 40mm... But it didn't, not a drop until really late this afternoon, and then only scattered light showers, which goes to show, they're no better at weather forecasts up here than they are back home... We should take that as good news, but the problem is that we'd not planned anything because it was going to be pouring down with rain. We had the afternoon spare, and didn't know what to do with ourselves, which is always an issue, cause that's when Jo remembers there's loads of washing to do, and food shopping, and we can have dinner at home tonight.... The list goes on, but it doesn't get any better... So, with no alternative, and knowing we were fighting a lost battle, we reluctantly agree that there is 'housework' to be done, and head back to the park... We spent the afternoon doing most of the stuff on her never ending list of brain numbing boredom, and the boys manage to get a swim in the pool somewhere amongst it all.
Jeremy and I have booked ourselves on a quad bike tour through some rainforest trails tomorrow afternoon, and as I sit here listening to the occasional showers on the roof of the caravan, I'm thinking how good that is, the muddier the better. Dylan is still too young to participate, which means he and Jo are going back to Wildlife Habitat to feed more kangaroos on a free return pass. I think Jo's secretly happy about this, as it means she gets out of the quad bike tour and the mud, and as much as she wants all of us to participate as a family, I'm not sure the quad biking was up her alley... Dylan doesn't seem to mind either, he's happy to be going back to the kangaroos. Jeremy and I just can't wait to get covered in mud...
The following day we are planning to do a cruise out to the reef, and spend the day snorkelling with the fish. (There's no sharks out there, I've already asked!) Is it too much to ask it to rain tomorrow, but be sunny the following day? It might be pushing the friendship, but that's what we're hoping for. It would bring our visit to Port Douglas to the most amazing conclusion, and set us up for a couple of nice educational days in Cooktown before our visit to Cairns, which both the boys think will be the highlight of their trip...
I don't know what the highlight of the trip for me will be, I'm not sure I could pick one thing. I do know that we've enjoyed this so much, that we're already talking about where the next one should be. Maybe that's the highlight? The trip itself. Not the destination or an activity or a sight as such, but just the journey... And this one isn't even nearly finished yet!
- comments