Monday November 28

Last Sunday I went on my first tourist tour of my Australian adventure!! We went to a wildlife park where I saw:
- a real Tasmanian devil (they're nocturnal and carnivores and had just been fed so they (there are two but I only saw one) got up just to eat and then went back to sleep in their cave)..... So cute! But they are known to jump so there are signs warning against putting your camera and hands too close to the barrier cuz they will bite it off LOL
- a wombat (also nocturnal but vegetarian). Just as cute, if not cuter than the Tassie devil. The little guy that I took a photo of kinda woke up when I approached, so I tried to feed him but he was too sleepy so I just left the food there for when he woke up :P
- wallabies!!! And kangaroos!!!!!! With little ones in their pouches!!!! In fact, the first wallaby I ever saw had 2 little ones in her pouch, cuz she kept stealing the other wallabies' baby hahahaha. I petted them, fed them, generally played around with them, and got LOTS of photos!!!
- koalas. They were sleeping in their trees, and were SUPER cute, but they can rip your face off in three seconds flat. If I ever get reincarnated I'm asking to come back as a koala (not that I'll have a choice!!! Hahahahahaha). Did you know that Australia has over 200 types of eucalyptus but koalas only eat about 20 of those types? They are very fussy ;)
- emus. Creepy looking fockers!!  Feeding them was a terrifying lead-up to basically just a tap in your palm. (place the seeds in the MIDDLE of your palm with your hand flat. Then they stalk you and attack your hand, but not really.... They snap their mouth in the palm of your hand, taking some food with it and leaving the rest. Doesn't hurt, but the lead-up was enough to scare some girls off)
-Dingos. Basically dogs, but they are carnivores. They were neat....I guess.

Then we went to a place called 'swan lake' where we saw wild wallabies (!!!) and black swans. I even asked Natalie Portman for her autograph!! Just kidding ;) apparently black swans can been seen up close in Perth, so I'll be finding out if thats true or not in three weeks.

We went to the nobbies, which is a large rock and a smaller rock in the ocean, I think. I paid money to look in a telescope thing to see seals out on the smaller rock, and I saw them!!!!! Can't wait to see them close up, though.... Somewhere, someday!
It was really windy at the nobbies. And by windy, I mean my sweater hood AND my jacket hood were up on my head!!! Got some great photos of the intense waves :) on the way out, we saw a wild wallabie and I spotted two ducklings do the bus stopped so we could take photos! (but not get out, cuz we would have scared the poor things half to death)

We finished the day at Phillip Island to see the penguin parade. It was the cutest/most pathetic thing I had ever seen!!!! Let me explain:
The smallest of the penguin family, Korora penguins (called Little Penguins cuz they're the smallest of the species) have to wait until the sun sets in order to leave the ocean and go mate/feed their babies, because of predators. They are the only species of penguin with dark blue backs, so they can blend in with the ocean, and the predatory birds won't get them, since to the birds they will look like water.
It was so cute because the penguins are SO SMALL (one foot in height) and when they finally decide to move they waddle really quickly up the big hill (there were bleachers on both sides so the tourists can watch) but MAN it's a process!!! They come to shore riding the waves, in groups of 5-20. They precociously come out of the water, standing there in groups, until the waves come crashing in and sweep them in the water again. Once in awhile there is one brave penguin who starts going for it, and then chickens out and goes back in the water. Eventually that brave penguin will start to make the trek, and the others will follow.
It was really cold at the Penguin Parade, and I felt badly for the girls on our tour that wore shorts and sandals that day. I didn't even see all the penguins come out of the water, just a few groups, but I got the point. All along the boardwalk there are penguin homes and you can see them make their way home. I even saw a mommy feed two babies!!! They walk beside you on their path, right at your feet, but you cant take photos or pet them. It was definitely an experience :)

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, except for the football team coming through departures ;)

Today is Monday, November 28th and I start my 4th week today. Only three left; I'm halfway done my contract!! I'm not gonna lie, I wish it ended earlier, because I'll run out of free gifts by the end of the week (I'm already out of lip gloss, and will run out of mirrors by Wednesday, I think), but I'm prepared to go the distance. Still thinking of that money....

Lots of love and I'll post more later in the week, now that I'm at tony's with unlimited Internet (but it doesn't work with my computer. BALLS) je vous aime tous xoxo