Thursday, June 28 - Cairns Tropical Zoo...and the last night!

This day was when I started hating the idea of going back home. For the past few days I had been kind of homesick, which I hate to admit, but I had good reason. This was the first time I'd been out of the country for more than a week, or away from home for more than a week for that matter! We planned our day to be packed with everything left we wanted to do while we were there. At this point, there was only a couple of things left to do. The zoo was a must, since these animals aren't seen in the states. Other activity ideas included white water rafting and bungee jumping, but both of these can be done at home, so it wasn't as important on our budgeted list.

Amanda drove us to the Cairns Tropical Zoo on Thursday morning. We got there right before it opened, so that we could beat the crowd. It was the cloudiest day we'd seen during our time in Cairns, which was no big deal. We'd been so lucky for the weather we had thus far! Here are a ton of pictures from the Zoo experience, which was really worth the money spent.

 Pelicans!

 There was a section to feed the kangaroos. You could come in whenever you wanted during your zoo visit to feed them. They were so cool! They were pretty timid, until another 'roo came for food! At one point, when I was feeding them, one stood up, as tall as me, to swat his small hands at the other and growled. We were a bit startled, so we came back later to get rid of our feed. they walked, they didn't hop. These kangaroos were very small compared to the bigger ones that we saw in a different area.

They  were too far to see from where we were standing. But, they were huge.

 Here is a picture of what teeth we saw that they have! Cute little buck teeth.

 Below is a wallaby. The difference between a wallaby and a kangaroo, you ask? The size. Kangaroos get a lot bigger than wallabies. We mostly saw wallabies in the wild, kangaroos are much bigger and reside more in the desert areas, I believe.

 Next, the Cassowary. These animals are extremely violent. They have a large horn on top of their head. The females don't have them. This one was pacing back and forth and looked angry, so we didn't get too close. They are very dangerous birds in the wild.

 I was walking along the zoo path and saw this guy on the edge of a bridge rail. I literally got this close to him. He was just chillin.

 Ring tailed lemurs from Madagascar!

                

 The endangered Red Panda! He didn't sit still very long...









An Emu!

 Cokatoo's are very popular birds in Australia. We saw some wild ones outside of the zoo, and some in the zoo. Beautiful birds!

If you haven't heard the laughing Kookaburra, you should look it up on YouTube. It's hilarious to hear in person!

 To the right is some rodent, I thought he was cute. Then, some turtles and a juvenile crocodile.

 Right and Left: This is an American Alligator. Pretty small and in a tank. No fear here!

 Some lizards and snakes. The one on the right stuck his tongue out for me. Believe me, he did it fast so this wasn't easy to capture.

 Look at the teeth on these bad boys!

Wombats!

 The pictures above are from a bird show we saw at the zoo! These guys flew right over our heads, and I had to duck every time or else I would've been clawed!

 Dingos...these are the equivalent of our wolves here in America. They seemed very harmless.

 Look! They have peacocks in Australia too!

                   I got to pay to hold a koala bear for like two minutes. They smelled like pee, but they were extremely soft and cuddly.

After our zoo visit, Rachel, Jeff and I were deciding whether or not to walk back to the lodge. Before we made a decision, we saw that there was an Opal Mine attraction right next to the zoo. We thought we'd go check it out. We got to learn about how opals are rare and extremely expensive. I saw the price range from $52-$13,000! I was in shock, but the stones were gorgeous. The best I got was a picture of the sign.

We then continued walking back to the lodge, a whole 7 miles in flip flops. Don't try it, it's not worth it. 

That night, Amanda, Jeff, Ken, Rachel and I decided to eat on the Esplanade for our last night in Cairns. We hadn't had a nice meal out, considering we already had food paid for in the lodge and it was expensive to eat elsewhere. The Esplanade was the place to be for tourists, there was a wait everywhere! Amanda took us to Rattle N' Hum, which was an awesome scene. We played a game of pool while we waited for our table. Everyone, except me, grabbed a drink, and I ordered some pasta, because I hadn't eaten any and was craving it. Here are the last pictures I have during my time in Australia! 

 Below is the epitome of our friendship.

 Amanda took pictures of me packing!

I didn't want to leave :(
 

Jeff and I had a 3:30am shuttle pick-up time so we decided to stay up so that we would sleep on the plane. Jeff, Ken and I stayed awake by watching "The Prestige". I fell asleep a little bit of the time, but woke up, grabbed a shower, and was ready to go on time. The shuttle ran late (4am). Just as we thought it wasn't going to come, we were going to have to wake Amanda up so that we would make our flight. As we went to wake her, the shuttle arrived. Jeff and I said our goodbyes' to Rachel and Ken. We then began our long journey home. 

I will write a reflection post of my trip next. I hope you've enjoyed the trip and its' descriptions! Cheers!