Meeting the Natives

Day 6: Day of the Roos!

Yesterday was pretty relaxing, starting with our first official visit to Revolution Gym. When we arrived, a program had been drawn up for each of us that detailed the type and amount of exercise we were to do based on the evaluation from the day before. We were given a tour of the facility and a starting point for the weights was recorded. Then while Caroline was walked through her program, I jumped on the elliptical and got to work. After about an hour and a half, we were thoroughly tired and sweaty and headed home to shower.

After lounging all day, we took the train in to Melbourne for the Queen Victoria Night Market. Each Wednesday during the summer, half the city of Melbourne crams into a few block’s space for a night of diverse food, live music and hand-crafted goods. Most items were things like screen printed tees, purses, jewelry, candles, and artwork. The food ranged from ‘exotic’ American foods: corn on the cob, lemonade, and pancakes to sausage and sushi and Australia’s attempt at Mexican food. What did I have for dinner? Why, the all-Australian Roo Burger, of course! Tastes just like cow!

We ate with Caroline’s brother’s wife Tanya and her new-found friend, Marc. Marc is from Spain, backpacking his way across the globe, 29 years old and mouth-wateringly available. He is single-handedly the reason Spain is just under Ireland on my list of other countries to visit.

Today is Thursday, and we headed out at mid-morning for Healesville Sanctuary. Home to all your stereotypical Australian species, this sanctuary provided all-day entertainment. After a beautiful hour-long drive through the mountains, it promptly turned cloudy the moment we pulled into the carpark and proceeded to drizzle on and off until we got back in the car to leave. Melbourne has a very strange way of making one feel unlucky. But the sanctuary itself was gorgeous and I hope you take the time to browse all the pics. I decided to upload the Award Winners straight to the blog.

First up, the Emu:

Next, we wandered into the Roo exhibit just in time for the 'meet the keeper' session, where the woman in chage came out and let everyone feed the animals. Carrots, in case you were wondering. Notice the happy, trusting look in this guy's eyes just before I told him I ate his brother last night:

After scarring this animal for life, we went to the bird show and saw the lovely Red Tailed Black Cockatoo:

And how about a Koala, mates?

Probably my favorite part of the day was seeing the wallaby. Cute little guy was eating a plant so I thought I'd be of assistance and pick some for him, which he gratefully accepted--and then proceeded to eat the red devil keychain on my purse.

In the same exhibit, some adult kangaroos looks all-too-thrilled to be on display:

Back in the bird display, a cute little Swift:

In my opinion, the Tasmanian Devil is one of the meanest animals alive, just under the wolverine and the premenstral human female.

The dingo:

For Melanie, as requested, some ‘ass’:

Now for the Cream of the Crop... (and yes, I testify that all pics on this blog were taken by me)

The adult Kangaroo:

The baby Roo:

And the drinking Roos:

While watching the platypus scratching whatever water-louse they were infested with, we dimly heard the closing call and decided to swing by the nocturnal wombat and Tasmanian devil one more time, as they were holed up the first time we looked. We were rewarded!

Finally, after satisfying our need for capturing the animals in pixels, we headed for the exit. One more surprise was in store, however, as the gates were padlocked and not a soul was in sight. Slightly worried, Caroline called the emergency service and explained, and the dispatcher put us through to the fire department, who (despite being located half a mile away) would not come out to free us unless it was a life or death situation. Which it wasn’t. And wouldn’t be, providing we didn’t try to share the Devil’s burrow.

So next we called the security company who provided the alarms on the gift shop window and explained the situation to them, who were not shy about telling us we were standing in our own grave because ‘we must have stayed until well past closing time’. The operator then said he would try to contact the owner and to we would just have to wait for a call back. Okay, fine. We checked the gates one more time, and yes, they were still padlocked, and then sized up the fences one more time, and yes, they were still too high. Then, wandering around to the baby stroller bay, I could see the padlock hanging on the gate but decided to double check it too, just in case. And no surprise there, it was locked too, but the revolving gate next to it moved when I pushed it. We were free!

Feeling incredibly incompetent, we called security back and told them to cancel the monumental effort they were making to free us, to which they were all too happy to oblige.

An hour later, we picked up some yummy fish and came home. Caroline made a wonderful impromptu dinner with lots of fresh veggies and fish and we enjoyed it while watching a TV show were doctors pulled copper screws and blades of sheet metal out of the hands of small boys. Quality Aussie TV at it’s finest!

Don't forget, more pics at Photobucket.